Chapter 14

That morning, the atmosphere inside Dewangga Investment’s headquarters felt like an isolated bunker. Dewangga sat behind his expansive desk, but it was no longer covered with trillion-dollar project proposals. Instead, it was buried under debt files and horrifying reports of declining assets. Amid the chaos, a large brown envelope with no sender’s identity lay on top of the pile.

Dewangga frowned. There was no postal stamp, no company name—only his personal name typed stiffly across the front. With suspicion gnawing at him, he tore it open.

Inside was a medical report from a fertility clinic he had never visited, along with several neatly printed copies of digital conversations. At the top of the report, one name stood out: Vanes Amara.

Dewangga’s eyes scanned the data. His heart began to pound as he reached the conclusion section. It stated that Vanes’s pregnancy had already entered its 14th week, while he clearly remembered that their renewed intimate relationship had only begun around 11 weeks ago. Even worse, there was a note about Vanes’s medical history indicating complications that made it highly unlikely for her to naturally conceive a male child—contradicting her confident claim that she was carrying the Nasution family’s “crown prince.”

“Damn it! This must be Serena’s doing!” Dewangga crushed the papers in his hand. “She’s trying to frame Vanes so I’ll divorce her and crawl back to her!”

His pride refused to accept the possibility. He shoved the documents into a drawer and locked it. To him, this was just another dirty trick from the film world Serena came from. But a seed of doubt had been planted—and like a weed, it grew rapidly in the darkness.

That night, Dewangga returned home with a pounding headache. The mansion felt cold and empty. Emely had gone to a social gathering, leaving Vanes alone in the living room.

As Dewangga was about to step inside, he stopped behind a large pillar. He heard Vanes’s voice. She wasn’t watching television—she was on the phone, speaking in a low, urgent tone filled with panic.

“I told you, don’t contact me on this number again!” Vanes hissed. “Dewangga is starting to get suspicious. I transferred the money you asked for this morning. That was the last time, Reno!”

Dewangga froze. Reno? The name sounded familiar. Wasn’t that someone from Vanes’s past he had once heard about?

“Listen,” Vanes continued, her voice trembling. “This baby is my ticket. If Dewangga finds out who you really are, we’re both finished. Just wait until our marriage is official and I gain access to his company shares. Now hang up!”

She ended the call and exhaled deeply, trying to steady herself. She had no idea that behind the pillar, Dewangga was clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. The anger he had directed at Serena now shifted, striking his own heart with full force.

The image of the “crown prince” he had proudly boasted about in front of the media, the toys he had bought while neglecting Clarisa, and the sacrifices he had made for Vanes—all of it now felt like the cruelest joke imaginable.

Dewangga did not confront Vanes immediately. He was a cunning businessman; he knew that accusations without undeniable proof would only give her room to lie again. He needed evidence that would silence her forever.

The next day, he visited a private laboratory known for serving elite clients with absolute discretion. In a closed room, he met a doctor who had long been his “business acquaintance” for unofficial matters.

“I need a prenatal DNA test,” Dewangga said bluntly. “Without the mother knowing.”

The doctor frowned. “Mr. Dewangga, a NIPP procedure requires the mother’s blood sample. It’s very difficult to do without her consent if you want accurate results.”

“I don’t care how difficult it is!” Dewangga snapped, his eyes gleaming with obsession. “Take her blood during her routine checkup tomorrow. I’ll bribe the nurse if necessary. I need to know whether that fetus is truly mine—or if I’ve been raising another man’s child!”

The doctor sighed, realizing Dewangga was on the brink of madness. “Very well. If you can ensure she visits our partner clinic tomorrow for her vitamin check, we’ll take an additional sample discreetly. The results will be ready in three days.”

“Do it,” Dewangga muttered. “And make sure no one knows about this. Not even my mother.”

In her luxurious apartment, Serena sat with Haris Nasution, watching a monitor displaying activity around Dewangga’s office. Her loyal assistant, Reno, had just arrived with a report.

“The bait has been taken, Ma’am,” Reno reported with a faint smile. “Dewangga just left Medika Utama Laboratory. As predicted, he ordered a secret DNA test.”

Serena sipped her green tea calmly. “Good. Dewangga is a man full of suspicion. Once he feels betrayed, he’ll destroy everything in front of him without thinking. He’ll expose his own family’s disgrace.”

Haris looked at her with admiration. “You really know how to move the pieces on this chessboard, Serena. You don’t even need to dirty your hands to destroy them.”

“I’m simply giving the truth to a man who has lived in lies,” Serena replied. “He was too busy looking for faults in me to realize the real snake has been sleeping in his own bed.”

Serena stood and walked toward the balcony, gazing at the glittering city lights. In her mind, she could already picture what would happen in three days when the test results came out. It would mark the beginning of the total collapse of the Nasution dynasty—once ruled by Dewangga’s arrogance.

“Vanes thinks she’s the best actress in this drama,” Serena murmured to the night breeze. “She doesn’t realize I’ve already cut her scenes before the film even ends.”

The conflict burning within that grand house was now waiting for its final spark. Dewangga was walking straight toward the abyss, carrying a DNA test that would become the death sentence of his so-called “true love” with Vanes. And behind the scenes, Serena Zea was savoring every second of the real-life script she had crafted so perfectly. Once the truth surfaced, there would be nowhere left for Dewangga to hide from his own shame.