Point of No Return

Friday night.

Rain poured relentlessly as Jani hurried toward the bus shelter. The wet pavement shimmered beneath the city's neon lights, reflecting ribbons of gold and white. Hugging her bag tightly against her chest, she quickened her pace. Her mind refused to rest. Bills. Debts. And her last conversation with Bastian.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. Eki. She answered immediately.

"Sis…!" her younger brother's voice was filled with panic.

"What happened?"

"Mom collapsed!"

Jani froze. "...What?"

"It happened at the food stall. The neighbours helped take her to a clinic. I was lucky I was already on my way home, so I went straight there."

Jani didn't wait to hear another word. She stepped away from the shelter and hailed a ride through an app. The bus ticket she'd already paid for became useless, but she didn't care. The car arrived within minutes.

"Please," she urged the driver. "As fast as you can."

Outside, the rain fell even harder. Inside, her heart pounded so violently it hurt. Less than twenty minutes later, she rushed into the clinic. The first thing she saw was her mother sitting upright on the examination bed.

Conscious. Alive. Relief nearly made Jani’s knees buckle. Eki stood beside their mother.

"The blood pressure spike was caused by exhaustion and prolonged stress," the doctor explained. "Her condition isn't critical. But she needs plenty of rest."

Jani nodded. Her eyes drifted to the medical bill lying on the counter. It had to be paid immediately. Her mother's national health insurance had lapsed months ago.

The amount wasn't enormous. Under normal circumstances. But for them right now, it felt crushing. Deep inside, Jani felt something begin to crack. She had spent months fighting. Searching for work. Sending out applications. Saving every single rupiah she could.

Yet one hardship after another kept finding its way back to her. Even after landing what should have been her dream job, a job that paid more than she'd ever imagined, life somehow refused to become any easier.

---

They returned home together that night. The rain had finally stopped. The streets were almost empty. Eki helped their mother into bed before quietly leaving the room. The moment Jani entered her own bedroom, a text message arrived.

Nathan.

The message was almost identical to the last one he'd sent.

Mr. Bastian is waiting for your answer tomorrow.

Jani stared at the screen. Of course. She hadn't seen Bastian in several days. Sooner or later, she would have to give him her final decision.

That night, sleep never came. Two o'clock. Still awake. Three. Still awake. Four. Still staring into the darkness.

Finally, she climbed out of bed, opened her laptop, and typed one name into the search bar: Adrian Herlambang. Pages of results appeared instantly. Business magazines. Interviews. Corporate awards. Investment reports. Expansion projects.

Then one article caught her attention. It mentioned an accident during an internal company event two weeks earlier. Oddly enough, it revealed almost nothing. Neither Adrian's family nor Interglobe's management had been willing to disclose what had actually happened.

Jani frowned. So that's what left him in a coma...

His photographs were everywhere online. Young. Handsome. Charismatic. There was a cold confidence in his sharp eyes, paired with a faint smile that revealed almost nothing.

Every article painted him as a brilliant visionary. An influential leader. But strangely, there was almost no information about his personal life. Nothing meaningful about his relationship with Shahnaz Mahendra, despite both of them belonging to prominent families.

No social media accounts. No casual photographs. No interviews beyond corporate matters. It was as if Adrian Herlambang existed only as the face of Interglobe.

Nothing more.

The more she read... the stronger her suspicion became. Interglobe was clearly hiding something.

Something enormous.

---

The following morning, another phone call came. Not from Bastian. Not from the office. From the cooperative where her mother had borrowed money.

The man on the line remained perfectly polite. His message, however, was unmistakable. They could not wait any longer. If payment wasn't made soon... asset seizure procedures would begin.

Jani lowered the phone and squeezed her eyes shut. Too many problems. Too little time. And through every thought, one number continued to haunt her.

Five billion rupiah.

Late that afternoon, just before work ended, a secretary approached her desk.

"Ms. Anjani, Mr. Bastian would like to see you."

Jani looked at the woman for a long moment, then quietly stood.

"All right."

She followed the secretary upstairs. Bastian's office looked exactly as she remembered. Elegant. Quiet. The kind of room that made anyone entering it feel insignificant.

The moment she sat down, Bastian spoke.

"So, have you made your decision?"

Jani drew a slow breath. She had to make sure she chose the right path.

"I have one condition."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And that is…?"

"If anything happens to me, if this assignment has consequences, it’ll stay out of my family."

"Agreed."

She nodded once before continuing.

"And I want to know how dangerous this really is. Your company seems to be hiding far too many secrets."

To her surprise, Bastian laughed.

"I'm glad you've noticed. It means we chose the right person," he leaned back. "There are risks. And now that you've sensed them yourself, I can honestly tell you that things may become far bigger than any of us originally anticipated."

Jani's heartbeat quickened. It wasn't reassuring. Not even slightly. Yet somehow, his honesty calmed her more than comforting lies ever could.

For the first time, someone wasn't pretending everything would be fine.

"If I sign..." she looked him straight in the eye, "...can I still back out later, after signing the contract?"

He slowly shook his head. "No. The good news is that the assignment has an end date. Only three months."

Silence settled between them. Jani closed her eyes. She pictured her mother. Eki. The unpaid bills. Their rented house.

When she opened them again... her answer was ready.

"...All right. I'll do it."

There was no triumphant music. No overwhelming relief. Only silence. Bastian gave a slow nod.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Jani's voice remained cold. "I still think this is a terrible idea, at least for me, and for my family."

"It may well be," Bastian's expression didn't change. "But opportunities like this don't come twice in a lifetime. Your lifetime."

A few minutes later, a thick stack of documents was placed before her. A confidentiality agreement. A special employment contract. Behavioural regulations. Security protocols. Jani turned the pages one by one. With every paragraph she read, a cold sensation crept up the back of her neck.

Then one clause stopped her completely.

"I have to move out of my house..." she looked up, "...for three months?"

"Yes. You'll be living at Mr. Adrian's official residence. "

"What about my mother? She's elderly. She runs the food stall alone. We don't have a maid, or someone who help her in the food stall. My younger brother studies in another city. He doesn't even come home every month."

Bastian answered calmly.

"Once the advance payment of two and a half billion rupiah reaches your account, which can happen today, right at this very moment as we speak, you'll have countless options. You can hire employees to help your mother run the food stall. You can employ a live-in assistant, even a full-time personal caregiver if you're worried about her health."

Jani bit her lower lip.

"But what am I supposed to tell her about that?"

"Tell her it's an overseas assignment. Business training. A temporary placement at one of our international branches. Anything along those lines. We'll prepare all the supporting documents."

He paused.

"However... there's one more clause in the contract. One that may change your mind."

Jani slowly lifted her eyes.

"What is it?"

Bastian met her gaze without blinking. "You'll have to marry Mr. Adrian."

Jani's eyes flew wide open.