Part 5

"Mom, do you see Daddy?" asked Zeenya, impatient to see Celena alone there.

"Daddy is at his workplace. What's wrong, dear? Is there any problem?" asked Celena in a slightly worried tone when she saw Zeenya's face, which didn't look fine.

"Mom, I have something to tell Daddy and Mommy, and I want to say it directly right now. I want Daddy and Mommy to know the important news that I'm carrying right now." Zeenya said so while looking at Celena uneasily.

"But, Daddy... I think we should just go to Daddy's workplace," Zeenya asked hurriedly and impatiently. It's clear from her face that what Zeenya wanted to say is very important.

Although Celena is only a stepmother, she can clearly see the anxiety that Zeenya is feeling. All of that can be seen in Zeenya's eyes, which are incapable of lying. Celena noticed that her stepdaughter appeared to be in a hurry to share the news that she had brought.

"Indeed, what's wrong, dear? You can tell me first if you're impatient. Then I'll tell your dad later."

"Now let's sit down, dear."

Celena, who seemed to feel that something had happened to Zeenya, tried to respond wisely. Celena led Zeenya to sit down on the sofa in the living room.

Zeenya didn't usually behave like this. In the previous days, Zeenya always told Celena everything that happened to her.

Even so, Zeenya had always taken Celena's advice to convey all important matters to her father when they didn't have time to meet in the evening.

"No, Mom. I can't delay any longer to tell you the news I want to tell you. If we wait for Daddy to come and meet us, I think it'll take a little longer. So, I think we should just go upstairs to see Daddy."

Zeenya looked at her stepmother with teary eyes. Her heart ached. Her chest squeezed as she remembered the events of the previous few hours.

"You don't need to go and meet me at my workplace, Zeenya. I've already gone from my workplace, come down, and met you." Abra Roxelie, Zeenya's biological father, was seen coming down the stairs. He, who was upstairs, was disturbed by the sound of his daughter calling out in the night.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. I beg you to understand my situation." Zeenya began to tell her story with tears in her eyes. She can't bear to hurt her parents' feelings about this news.

"Dear, what's wrong?" Celena, still standing, hugged Zeenya from the side.

"Say whatever you want to say, Zeenya! We'll listen," Abra said, looking sadly at Zeenya's shabby face.

Abra understood that Zeenya was not fine. Although he had not heard his daughter's words directly, the blood bond between them can make Abra feel the pain of something that made her daughter cry.

"I can't continue my engagement with Axelo, and I can't get married with Axelo, Mom," Zeenya admitted as she looked down, not wanting to look her stepmother in the face.

"I want you to fulfill my wish to cancel my marriage with Axelo. I can't, I can't," Zeenya said as she shed tears and shook her head vigorously.

Zeenya's words that went straight to the point of her purpose of returning home made Abra and Celena stare at each other as if they were asking what was going on that made Zeenya want to cancel her wedding, which would happen in only two days again.

Zeenya didn't immediately explain why she did that. Zeenya couldn't afford to raise her voice and call attention to Stasi's disgrace. She was afraid that the news would upset her parents and hurt their hearts.

"But why, dear?"

"Is there a problem between you and Axelo?" Celena asked Zeenya with an uncomprehending look.

As for Abra, the middle-aged man let the stepmother of his daughter ask for more explanation. Abra was so sure that Zeenya had a reason for her request.

"If you give a logical reason, maybe we can consider your wish to cancel the marriage. But the reason must be justified, and it must be possible for you not to marry Axelo."

Celena tried to seek answers from Zeenya with understanding and patience. There's clearly love between a stepmother and a daughter who likes her own biological mother.

"Mom, Dad, I can't get married to Axelo because..."

"Because ...." Zeenya was unable to continue. She just continued to cry while shaking her head.

"Because of what? Why, dear?" asked Abra, who couldn't wait for his daughter's answer.

"Because of Axelo and Stasi..." Zeenya closed her eyes tightly. Surely this reason will hurt her stepmother's feelings, but after all, Stasi's actions can't be justified.

Hearing her biological daughter's name mentioned, Celena frowned as she asked.

"Stasi? What's wrong with Stasi, dear?"

"Stasi and Axelo, they're..."

Before Zeenya could continue her sentence, a woman's voice coming from behind them made everyone stare.

"What's wrong with me, Zeenya? What's wrong with me?"

Glek!

Zeenya swallowed her saliva badly. She stared in horror at Stasi. It was not because she was afraid that Stasi would lash out at the truth of this news, but because Zeenya was afraid that Celena would hate her because she thought that Zeenya had accused Stasi of nothing.

"Mom, Dad, what's wrong?" asked Stasi with an innocent face and a smile full of delight on her face.

"Zeenya, what's wrong? What's wrong with me?" Now, Stasi turned the conversation with that question to Zeenya. It was clear that Stasi was mocking Zeenya's condition behind that mysterious smile.

Ignoring the existence of the Stasi, which immediately made her heart ache, Zeenya became focused again on her father and mother. She must tell them this news. The family must know what Stasi did in order for the marriage to be canceled, Zeenya thought.

"Mom, Dad, I beg you to cancel my marriage with Axelo because Axelo and Stasi..."