Adelia returned to the reception desk to answer the call.
[What did you say? Edward Ofel?]
[Yes, Mrs. Smule. Is something wrong?]
[Quickly show me the way to the presidential suite. He is the owner of the largest shipping share of the Ofel group. Don't let him down. Forget about any administrative records!]
[Ba-good, Mrs. Smule]
Adelia was about to hang up the call, but there was still a voice from the other side.
[Serve him well, or if he's disappointed, then I'll have to fire you]
[Ba-well,]
Adelia swallowed her saliva quickly and then immediately ran back to the lobby to bow respectfully to Edward Ofel who was still looking at her with a warm face.
“Sorry, Mr. Edward. Your room is already available. I'll take Tuan up to your room,” said Adelia in a huff and awkwardly.
<
“Sorry,” Edward said trying to be polite.Degh!Suddenly the elevator lights came back on, Adelia breathed with relief.“It's on,” she said, looking at Edward.“Your face is flushed.” Edward said with a smile. He found Adelia quite attractive.“Afgan is your husband and you just had a forced marriage?” Edward asked suddenly.Adelia was silent and chose not to look at Edward. She stared at the elevator button screen furiously, she felt like time was taking forever until the elevator finally reached the presidential suite floor.Ting!The elevator doors opened, Adelia spread her hands in a professional manner and then bowed her body while holding the elevator card and handing it to Edward.“Please Mr. Edward, this is the electronic card for the e
“How about I buy you dinner?” Edward said, breaking the silence between them.Adelia wiped away the flowing tears again hurriedly.“I just want to go home,” Adelia said softly.When they arrived in front of Afgan's house, Adelia got out of the car with a heavy heart. She thanked Mr. Edward for the ride he had given her.Just as she was about to turn around, Adelia realized something strange.“How did you know the address and drive me here?”Edward smiled warmly, “wasn't it very clear earlier, you are the newly married wife of Afgan, that arrogant heir.”Edward chuckled at his own words.“Afgan and I have known each other for quite some time.”Adelia nodded and then began to step into the house. The security guard opened the tall gate and
Just like the previous morning, Adelia arrived at the hotel where she worked with a sluggish step. After all, she had to keep working in order to pay off her father's debt, which was still outstanding even though she had received a substantial dowry.Hearing instructions from her CEO that there was a work meeting downstairs, Adelia went straight to the room where the hotelliers were usually briefed for the meeting.Adelia entered the meeting room with hesitant steps. There were already several employees there as well as the CEO, Mrs. Smule.Unsuspecting, she looked around the room, looking for a place to sit. When her gaze fell on the figure sitting in the middle of the meeting chair, her heart almost stopped beating. A deep sense of shock hit her when she realized that it was Afgan, the husband who hated her.“Afgan!?”She looked at him wide-eyed, her lips pres
Melinda said in a spoiled voice that was deliberately loud so that it could be heard by other people too, apart from Adelia.The other employees and hoteliers only smiled because they knew that Adelia was the character Melinda wanted to bother, so they chose to remain silent as an act of professionalism at work.Melinda said arrogantly, making Adelia upset. Especially when she found out that the owner of the hotel was her own husband.Apart from Melinda, no one knew that Afgan, the handsome but arrogant hotel owner, was her husband. Adelia clenched her hands tightly.However, Adelia couldn't do anything because their marriage was a secret, unknown to everyone.“What do you want, Melinda?” Adelia's voice was raised. A sharp gaze was directed at Melinda.Mrs. Smule and Afgan had finished talking and they returned to the meeting room to retrieve the
Honey, I'll pick you up later this afternoon after work, sorry if I can't join you for lunch.”The familiar voice made Adelia start to feel annoyed again. She chose to pretend not to see. Adelia knew that Afgan and Melinda were heading her way.“... but, I want to room with you.” Melinda's spoiled words made Adelia's blood boil even more.Grumpily, she left the reception desk and deliberately passed in front of the two disgusted lovebirds with a cardboard box containing quite a lot of documents in her hand.“You disgust me. Go find a room if you can't stand it anymore!” Adelia then glanced at Afgan, who seemed to have anger in his eyes.“As the owner of the hotel, of course you have the right to all the room keys, be careful!” Adelia approached Afgan and half-whispered, “Choose a room that doesn't have surveillance cameras!”
Adelia looked at Edward with a curious look. “Why do you have to stay until the weekend and what do you want to prove?” Adelia asked.Edward gave a warm smile and then wiped away the remaining tears on Adelia's cheeks with his thumbs.“I don't like seeing a woman as beautiful as you having to cry like this. How about I cheer you up by treating you to dinner? Hmm, you owe me two cups of coffee, don't you?”Edward held her hand on his chin with a warm gaze, making Adelia's heart begin to flutter. She tried to save her awkwardness by carrying the cardboard boxes to the warehouse.Edward helped Adelia put the cardboard box she had been holding into the warehouse. “What about my offer? What time are we having dinner?”Adelia still felt uncomfortable about going home at night. So far, Afgan's view of her had been very unfavorable, what if she still w
“How was your day, Adelia?” asked Afgan suddenly in a voice that sounded hollow, as if he was just trying to find a topic of conversation.“Fine,” Adelia replied briefly, without giving any details. Instead, she was busy sticking her head out to see what she could eat at the long table.They began to put food on their plates, but there was no other sound except for the sound of spoons and forks touching plates. Everything felt restrained and formal, with no warmth or closeness between them.Although the food was delicious, the cold and stiff atmosphere enveloped them like a night fog enveloping a city.Although they were in the midst of luxury, the emptiness in their relationship was obvious.Adelia still wondered to herself why Afgan had suddenly asked her to dinner. However, the delicious food made her not care about that. Her stomach was hungry and need
Adelia was in pain in her stomach. Stomach acid made her bloated and she felt pain in her solar plexus, so her vision began to spin. She was holding a plate of food when it fell to the floor.The sound of the broken plate reached Afgan's ears in the next room. No one was able to open the door despite Afgan's vigorous banging.Adelia held her stomach with a pale face and trembled with pain.“Help!!” she cried out in pain.Afgan had even tried to smash the door in panic, especially when he heard Adelia moaning, indicating that something bad was happening.The luxurious and strong wooden door was not easy to knock down. Afgan grimaced at the pain in his shoulder as he tried to break down the door repeatedly to no avail.Finally, the butler made a small run for the spare key and approached Afgan.The door opened, and Afgan immedia
Melinda approached him, gritting her teeth. "Time? It's been a year!""Shintya needs her father, now! You're going to ruin her first birthday with her father's absence?"Afgan growled, "You don't understand!""You don't understand, Afgan! You make Shintya and me feel insignificant!" Melinda shouted, eyes glazed over.Afgan felt stabbed by those words, but he persisted. "I'll be gone for a while, Mel. This is important to me.""And what is important to you, Afgan? What did you choose to miss this moment for?" Melinda tried to get his attention by grabbing the sleeve of Afgan's shirt."Let go!" she exclaimed.Afgan shook his head. "You can't just force me to leave Adelia.""She's dead, Afgan! Please come to your senses!"The argument escalated, and a tense atmosphere pervaded their home. Melinda felt disappointment and frustration growing inside her. Afgan, fixated on his inability to let go of the past, decided to leave w
Melinda felt a change in her relationship with Afgan. Although their home was again full of laughter and jokes, there was an ice that had slipped between them. Every day, Melinda felt like she was facing a cold wall that she couldn't break through. The once beautiful landscape became increasingly bleak.Melinda tried to find answers within herself. She brooded in the middle of the night, sitting on her bed with her mind in turmoil. The silence of the house was only interrupted by the wind tapping on the windows. "Why has everything changed?" she muttered to herself."Why is there no love from Afgan at all even though I got rid of that pesky woman?"Melinda always slept alone without Afgan. The cold nights were shared only with her little daughter who often woke up at night to ask for milk.A message arrived on Melinda's cell phone in the middle of the night, as she was giving milk to the little one.[Already asleep?]Melinda simply read the
That morning, the sun shone down on their house. Afgan sat on the terrace, gazing at the garden that was slowly recovering from its sadness. Today he wasn't working because it was the first day of 2024.All employees were closed and Afgan had no reason to work. The gaze of the man looked pseudo and passionless.Even though the house was quiet with most of the servants on leave, there was still the occasional sound of little Shintya crying.However, the man did not respond to the cries at all.Melinda came out of the house, realizing that their conversation last night still left a wound in Afgan's heart.“I'm sorry, Afgan,” Melinda said regretfully. Her hands made a tray of tea and glasses. Melinda stepped closer to Afgan and tried to soften the heart of the man who became her husband.“I know it's complicated, and I want to make you ha
“What do you mean?”Afgan begins to tell Achmed about Bayu and Melinda having an affair. However, Achmed didn't fully believe him until Afgan showed him the evidence from the recording.“Let's do a DNA test!”“Okay! Do as you wish, Dad!” Afgan refocused on his work and didn't respond to his father's words anymore.The DNA test was conducted, but Melinda cunningly managed to trick the test employee by taking a sample of Afgan's own hair left in her comb.A few days passed, and the DNA test results finally came out. Achmed held the results tremblingly, seeking reassurance over the doubts that crept into his mind. Afgan, who had kept his distance from the situation from the start, finally agreed to speak.“Dad, what's the result?” Afgan asked, his face determined.Achmed stared at the DNA test results, then nodded with disappointment. “This... this is impossible. The results show that
“You want to visit his grave? Yes! Go to the Sanjaya Cemetery in South Jakarta. Look for Adelia's name in block 7!” exclaimed angrily through the speaker on the cell phone. The man did not allow the security guard to open the door at all.Hearing the answer from Edward, Afgan's heart was like being struck by lightning and then slashed by several sharp daggers.“Go back to your country. I really hate you for letting Adelia's body go up in flames like that!”Edward switched off the call from the security cell phone. With languid steps, Afgan stepped back into his car.The fact that Adelia was dead made his life feel shattered. With his left hand, he called his father to check the whereabouts of Adelia's grave.The driver drove the car back to the airport. Afgan did not wait any longer, but went straight to the private plane that his father had prepared.“Go home, Afgan,” Achmed said wearily.“Adelia's grave is indeed there and the death
“What's going on, is she awake?” asked Afgan with his breath caught in his throat as he ran from the hospital parking lot to his mother-in-law's room.“No, she's not conscious yet, but we heard her delirious.”“Edward and Adelia?”Kanya nodded her head confidently, as did Achmed.“It seems that Adelia's loss has something to do with Edward.”Afgan snorted harshly then said, “that man has been gone since before the fire. He's already engaged to Emily and they've returned to Dubai.”“How could he be involved?” Afgan asked himself.“It's good you're investigating, Afgan. All the possibilities are there, after all you've been looking all this time.”“By the way, what about Melinda, have you forgiven your wife?” Achmed asked his son.Afgan looked at his father meaningfully. He couldn't bear to tell him the secret abou
“I'm sorry for everything I did that was unfair to her, Father.”Afgan's voice was hoarse and his chest felt tight.Achmed looked at his son with compassion. “We cannot control fate, Afgan. Life sometimes gives us difficult trials, but we must fight through them together. We will find a way out, and we will be stronger than ever.”Afgan nodded, the man wiping away tears with the back of his hand as he absorbed his father's words. Although there were still many questions and uncertainties ahead, he felt that his family would find a way to get through all the obstacles and rebuild their lives.The two sat together in the hospital waiting room, embracing each other in an emo-laden silence. They realize that in order to achieve happiness in the future, they must unite and support each other, even though the road ahead may still be difficult and full of challenges.“I'm going to go calm down, D
Achmed Al-Futtaim and Kanya, Afgan's parents, heard news that shook the peace of their lives. The news of their in-law's sudden shock and illness left them with a deep sense of anxiety. Their faces were etched with expressions of worry and fear as they walked at a brisk pace towards the hospital.On the way to the hospital, Achmed and Kanya's minds were full of questions and worries. They looked at each other, and their eyes reflected deep worry. They couldn't imagine that their lives would change in an instant due to this unexpected situation.“Really, what happened?” said Achmed in a hoarse voice, trying to calm himself and his wife Kanya's heart. “Hopefully this is just a temporary incident and everything will be fine.”“True, I can't imagine how Adelia would feel if she were still alive. We as a family owe so much to that poor woman who is nowhere to be found.”Kanya clasped Achmed's hand tig
“No! Bik Minah!”Brak!Afgan felt like his spine was broken. The pain of the wooden beam hitting his small body.He could feel the searing heat and hear the sound of small explosions. The scene grew darker, until Afgan felt as if he was drowning in a sea of fire.He vaguely saw in the flames Adelia waving with a warm smile. Next to her was Bik Minah and on the other side was Adelia's father.“No! Don't leave me!” Afgan shouted frantically.Afgan woke up with a gasp, his body covered in cold sweat. The morning sun shone brightly through the window of his spacious bedroom. He sat bolt upright in bed, still struck by the nightmare he had just experienced.His heart was racing, and his face was pale. His nightshirt was also stained with sweat. Afgan tried to push the shadows of the dream from his mind, but the memories of the extravagant events in his house continued to haunt him. The licking flames, the panic, and