Hazel's family held a hidden treasure— with the power to reshape the world. The knowledge of this secret led to their demise at the hands of Nikolai, a remorseful killer. But fate brought Hazel and Nikolai together again, as master and servant. Hazel was on a quest for vengeance while Nikolai longs for death and redemption from his dark past. But when her father's shocking involvement in their family's death was revealed, Hazel was faced with a different zeal. A zeal to save Nikolai from himself. With rival mafias closing in and a dangerous alliance forming, Hazel and Nikolai had the entire world against them.......
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Pov: Ben
[Dek, sudah kutransfer ke rekeningmu, ya! Jatah bulanan untukmu, untuk tabungan, juga ibuku!]
Kukirim pesan singkat dengan foto bukti transfer bernominal 8 juta melalui aplikasi berwarna hijau pada Mila, wanita yang sudah lima tahun menjadi istriku. Ia sebatang kara, anak tunggal, dan yatim piatu. Ayah dan ibunya sudah meninggal sejak ia masih gadis.
Aku bekerja sebagai ahli teknik pada perusahaan pertambangan. Kerjaku berpindah tempat. Mengikuti lokasi proyek yang akan dikerjakan. Sewaktu belum memiliki anak, Mila selalu ikut kemana aku di tempatkan. Tapi sejak ia mengandung dan kami sudah memiliki anak, aku melarangnya untuk ikut bertugas denganku.
Sebelum menikah, aku sudah memiliki rumah hunian yang cukup nyaman dan mewah untuk di tempati. Semua karena kerja kerasku sewaktu masih bujangan, yang jauh dari kehidupan anak muda yang hanya bisa berfoya-foya.
Gajiku sebagai ahli teknik pertambangan sangat cukup untuk kebutuhan keluargaku. Bahkan bisa dibilang, lebih dari cukup. Dengan gaji 15 jutaan, aku dan istriku masih bisa menabung 5 juta tiap bulannya. Sisanya untuk keperluan rumah tangga, jatah istri dan anak, juga nafkah rutin untuk ibuku.
Tapi, kali ini jatah nafkah untuk istri, anak, dan ibuku, juga keperluan rumah tangga, kukurangi. Itu karena aku berniat ingin menikah lagi. Menikah dengan wanita idaman lain, yang sudah dua bulan menjalin hubungan terlarang denganku.
Sejak dua bulan aku di tempatkan di daerah Kalimantan, aku bertemu wanita yang membuat aku jatuh cinta untuk kedua kalinya. Hasrat untuk terus memilikinya begitu dalam. Ditambah, aku yang selalu kesepian sejak jauh dengan Mila, istriku.
[Loh, Mas ... Kenapa nominalnya beda? Berkurang banyak! Jauh sekali selisihnya? Kamu salah transfer?]
Balasan pesan Mila ketika tahu nominal yang kukirim untuk jatah bulanan, kukurangi. Karena 2 jutanya untuk peganganku, biasanya uang yang kukirim sebesar 13 juta. Yang nantinya akan dibagi-bagi, untuk ditabung 5 juta, ibuku 1 juta, dan sisanya 7 juta untuk keperluannya dan Radit, putraku. Tapi kini, aku hanya mengirim sejumlah 8 juta saja. Aku tak mungkin mengatakan hal yang sebenarnya. Dari jauh-jauh waktu, sudah kusiapkan alasan yang benar-benar bisa membuat Mila percaya tanpa merasa dibohongi.
[Oh iya, aku lupa kasih tahu. Kalau gajiku sekarang sudah tak sebesar kemarin. Hanya kisaran 10 jutaan. Perusahaan tambang yang kupegang, sedang berada pada masa-masa pailit. Makanya semua pekerja, termasuk aku, gajinya dipangkas. Tapi hanya untuk sementara. Doakan saja agar tak terus-terusan. Karena bisa membahayakan dapur keluarga kita!]
Aku tersenyum saat menekan tombol kirim. Rasanya tidak mungkin Mila curiga kalau aku sedang berbohong. Aku tahu sekali sifat Mila, dia wanita yang tak punya prasangka buruk dengan siapapun, apalagi denganku, suaminya sendiri.
[Ya Allah, Mas ... Yang sabar, ya. Mudah-mudahan segera berlalu. Insya Allah aku coba irit-irit agar bisa ketutup semuanya sampai akhir bulan. Terima kasih untuk keringatmu yang sudah banyak kamu korbankan, agar bisa mencukupi keluarga. Kamu sehat-sehat ya, Mas, di sana. Jika rindu, pandang saja potretku selama yang kamu mau, aku pasti akan langsung masuk ke dalam mimpimu yang indah.]
Apa? Masih saja, selalu aku disuruh memandang fotonya kalau rindu ini menerpa. Aku tersenyum lagi. Ingin sekali kubalas pesannya, bahwa aku sudah tak perlu memandang fotonya dan berhalu seakan-akan aku bisa melepas rindu yang "satu" itu hanya dengan memandang fotonya. Karena, rindu itu sudah terlampiaskan dengan kekasih yang sebentar lagi akan sah menjadi istri keduaku. Menjadi istri yang akan selalu di sampingku saat aku sedang di tempatkan ke luar pulau. Tapi jika tiba waktunya aku kembali ke rumah, istriku hanya Mila seorang.
[Tanpa kupandangi fotomu, aku pasti akan selalu memimpikan kamu! Aku sangat mencintaimu, Mila. Lebih dari apapun!]
[Mas Ben! Kamu tuh ya, bisa saja! Sudah ah, Mas. Aku mau ambil uang yang kamu transfer, sekalian mau ke rumah ibu. Kasihan ibu, pasti sudah menunggu dan mengharapkan jatah rutin yang kamu kasih untuknya.]
[Untuk sementara, tidak usah ditabung dulu uang yang kukirim barusan. Biar cukup seperti bulan-bulan biasanya. Tidak usah dipaksa untuk irit, kalau memang kebutuhan banyak yang mendesak. Gunakan saja dulu untuk kepentinganmu dan Radit. Kalau memang ada sisa, baru kamu tabung. Berapapun itu!]
[Iya, Mas.]
Rasanya memang sangat berdosa. Membohongi Mila, apalagi soal gaji. Tapi hasrat ingin menghalalkan wanita itu, menjadikanku suami yang tak kenal dengan dosa. Aku membenarkan perbuatanku dengan dalih menghindari perbuatan dosa. Sementara dosaku karena berbohong dan berhianat terhadap istri dan anakku, tidak kuhiraukan.
Dua pekan yang lalu, aku mendapat bonus dari direktur utama atas nama perusahaan. Semua bukan karena kebetulan, tapi memang aku pantas mendapatkannya karena pekerjaanku yang kompeten.
Dari situlah awalnya niatku ingin mempersunting wanita itu. Aku punya uang yang cukup untuk modal menikahinya. Dan berfikir mengurangi jatah bulanan Mila untuk kubagi pada istri keduaku nanti.
***
Hingga tiba di hari pernikahanku dengan Fika, wanita yang telah memenuhi ruang hatiku setelah Mila. Jiwa jantanku bersorak penuh kegembiraan. Tak ada satupun garis yang menyiratkan kesedihan di wajahku dan Fika. Kami benar-benar saling mencintai. Fika sendiri tahu, aku sudah memiliki keluarga. Karena cintanya, Ia rela kujadikan istri kedua dalam kehidupanku.
Malam pernikahan kami memang tak seperti malam-malam pengantin yang baru melepas masa perjaka dan kegadisannya. Aku dan Fika sudah lebih dulu melakukan hubungan berdosa itu saat masih berstatus kekasih. Namun, tetap saja malam pernikahan ini, menjadi malam yang sejak lama kurindukan. Kami akan menyalurkan hasrat cinta dalam diri dengan status pernikahan yang sah. Sebagai suami dan istri.
Cling!
Suara pesan dari ponsel kudengar. Aku baru saja ingin memagut mesra gincunya yang tipis menggoda. Namun rasa penasaran dengan masuknya pesan di ponselku, membuatku urung melakukannya. Buru-buru kuambil ponsel yang sebelumnya kuletakkan di atas nakas samping ranjang.
"Mila?" kataku pelan.
Tak menunggu waktu lagi, kubuka segera isi pesan yang ia kirim.
Ternyata Mila mengirim beberapa foto.
"Astaga!" ucapku ketika kulihat foto yang Mila kirim merupakan fotoku.
Ya. Fotoku dengan Fika yang tengah melangsungkan pernikahan. Fotoku dan Fika ketika sedang akad. Fotoku dan Fika yang tertawa bahagia di atas pelaminan.
[Aku tak terima kamu menghianati aku dan Radit seperti ini! Aku harap kamu segera pulang, dan kita urus perceraian! Ingat, kamu pulang hanya mengurus perceraian, tanpa membawa apapun yang ada padaku, Radit, dan rumah ini. Cukup kemasi pakaian-pakaianmu!]
Mataku terbelalak hingga menelan salivaku. Aku langsung teringat, dua tahun yang lalu ketika Mila berhasil merayuku agar mau memindahkan semua tabungan yang semula atas namaku menjadi namanya, dan membalik nama rumah mewah yang sekarang sedang ia tempati dengan Radit menjadi namanya.
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Bersambung ....
HAZEL'S POV:"TELL ME, I'M I A CLONE?!" I asked. Silence. The bastard whom I called Father refused to speak. He couldn't even look me in the eyes. "Answer me," I raised my voice. "I need to know if my life has always been a lie."Father kept quiet. Then for the first time since we met, he met my gaze. "Clones have surgical marks on their chest," he said. "If you were a clone, you'd have one on you."Neither Nikolai nor I saw any need to check. We both knew I don't have surgical marks on my chest. "Now you have your answers," Father said. "You're my original daughter.""And how are we certain you're the original Arthur Flamecrest and not a clone?" Nikolai asked. Father unbuttoned his shirt and showed us his chest. "Take a good look."He was real enough. He wasn't a clone. I buried my face in my hands. My brains couldn't process the truth. "How could you," I didn't recognize my voice. It was filled with rage. "You hired Nikolai to murder our family just so you could keep the min
NIKOLAI'S POV:We've walked right into a trap. I could tell because the evidences were staring right at us in the face. Hazel was shaken, but I give her credit for remaining calm. "A bomb," Hazel said. "Why would anyone plant a bomb in the study of all places?""Because they knew we'll come here," I answered her question, my brain thinking fast. "This is probably the only room in the chateau that leads us right into the tunnel.""So if we attempt to force our way through the secret passage, the bomb gets triggered and explodes."I smiled. "You're incredibly smart for figuring that out. But if my hunch is correct, they're probably waiting for us to walk in the study, then they'll blow the entire place up.""We have to get out of here," she said, alarm jumping in her eyes. "And fast.""I couldn't agree more," I rushed up to her and picked her up in my arms. Before she could protest, I sprinted out of the study and ran down the stairs as fast as I could. We hadn't reached the landing
HAZEL'S POV:Nikolai had a somber expression on his face as he finished confessing to me. I stared at him for the longest time possible, my jaws ajar. The silence between us was grave and packed with tension. Nikolai pulled up before the rusty gates of the abandoned chateau. I had been so engrossed by his revelation I forgot we had arrived at my family's domain. "We're here," he said, killing the engine and leaning back on his seat. "If you've got something to say to me, say it."I had a million things to say but I couldn't find the words nor the voice. "You're not kidding about what you said about my father, right?" I asked in a crooked voice I didn't recognize was my own.He nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm not kidding."I exhaled the air I held in my lungs. It all made total sense now. I had been vengeful against the wrong man all these time. The true villian here was my late father. He orchestrated everything. The rain had built up more fiercer than ever but inside the car, it was
NIKOLAI'S POV:5 years ago....I arrived at Emberfalls with my father's two best men before dusk, and stayed at the local hotel. My instructions were simple; eliminate the Flamecrest family. Having a lot of time on my hands, I scouted the small town and interacted with the old men at the pubs. I learnt quite a lot about the Flamecrest family. There was a revolution about revoking the monarchy system in Emberfalls. Everyone wanted a fresh start with their mysterious ruler out of the way. Initially, I thought eliminating the Flamecrest family would be doing the people a big favour, and the client, whoever he may be, would benefit from their demise. Little did I know the client who wanted the Flamecrest family dead was none other than Arthur Benjamin Flamecrest. Just before sunset, I received a cryptic text message from the client to meet him at the forest. Following his directions, I met him after dark in the forest. There was a heavy rainfall but that didn't stop our meeting f
NIKOLAI'S POV:Hazel was awfully quiet as we drove away from Richard's resident. It was a full moon night but it looked like it might rain later. Dark clouds were forming, gradually obscuring the moon from sight. We were alone in the car; I had instructed Kwame and Vladimir to stay behind and wait for us. Where were we going? The Flamecrest chateau. A narrow road led deep inside the forest. The deeper we drove the more quieter and eerie it gets. "You know, now that I think about it," Hazel began, breaking the silence. "Lord Richard maybe right after all. I am a devil."I glanced at her. She was leaning her head against the window, her eyes sad. "What makes you say that?" I asked. "As far as I remember," she began softly. "I never had any friends. Mom and Dad never let me and my brothers play with the other kids. We were isolated from everyone else.""That must be hard," I managed to say. Hazel continued. "My brothers and I were home schooled. We had this big open field where w
HAZEL'S POV:Emberfalls, a small quiet kingdom was ruled solely by the Flamecrest family for ten generations. It's landscape was dominated by vast forests and planes surrounded by tranquil waters. It's populace were mostly farmers and fishermen with a modest number of just five hundred people. Deep in the hearts of the forest was my family's home— the Flamecrest domain. It's a chateau built by the first king of Emberfalls. The chateau had been standing there for ten generations without collapsing but now it's nothing more but an abandoned building. "A new Lord assumed control over Emberfalls days after your family's demise, isn't that right?" Nikolai asked as we drove into town. We had touched down into the UK after an eight hours flight."His name's Lord Richard," I answered. "He's been in a long-standing political conflict with my father for years over the kingdom's ownership."Nikolai lit up a cigarette. "Tell me what happened after that night?"I turned to stare at Nikolai
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