Infused with emotion

 "Eat! You said earlier that you haven't eaten yet, right?" Reynald ordered.

Riana handed the baby to Reynald, and the man immediately took it gently. In truth, Riana's husband was a good man, but his mother always made him hate her.

Riana walked over to the dining table and noticed several dirty plates that no one had bothered to clean. This made her sigh deeply.

"I'll just eat first and then clean all this up," Riana thought.

She smiled as she opened the lid to look for the food she had cooked earlier, assuming there would still be leftovers because her husband had told her to eat. Disappointment! That's what she felt when she opened the lid and found nothing. Just a few dirty plates with not even a little bit of leftover food visible.

Riana walked over to her silent husband with her head down. "There's not a single side dish for me to eat," Riana said sadly.

"Maybe Serly finished it earlier because she was very voracious," Reynald said nonchalantly.

"I haven't eaten anything," Riana whined.

"Just buy some side dishes to eat outside." Reynald handed Riana a red-colored bill.

With sparkling eyes, the woman took the money.

"For your mother only." Mayang's mother snatched the money from Riana's hand.

"But, Mom. This money is for me to buy food," Riana said nervously.

"Didn't you eat earlier?" Mayang's mother said sharply.

"I didn't..." Riana's words were cut off.

"Rey, please add more. Mama and Serly are going out for a while, so we'll leave Leo with you," Mayang's mother pleaded, making a pitiful face.

"Give the money to Riana, Mom. She said she hasn't eaten anything," Reynald demanded.

"She's already eaten a lot, Rey! Don't you trust your mother?"

Reynald sighed heavily, decided to remain silent, and gave the money as Mayang's mother asked. But when he took his wallet out of his pocket, his mother took all the money.

"Thank you, Rey," Mayang's mother said happily.

Serly and Mayang left immediately without looking back. Meanwhile, Riana lowered her head sadly; her stomach was starving.

"Rey," Riana called quietly.

"You saw how your mother took all my money, so just eat what is there!" Reynald left Riana and went into his room.

Riana sighed heavily and looked at Leo, who was playing with toys on the floor. "Leo, Auntie is going to the kitchen for a moment. So wait here, just for a moment," Riana said.

The baby, who could only sit, seemed engrossed in the toys he was holding. Riana left him after ensuring no objects could hurt or be swallowed by the baby. Then she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Her stomach was aching because she hadn't eaten since the morning. Besides, it was late in the afternoon.

"What can I eat?" Riana muttered to herself.

Riana opened all the cupboards, hoping to find some noodles or eggs. But there was nothing. The oil and onions were gone, and only some salt and MSG remained.

"Should I make fried rice? Plain fried rice with no onions or oil, just make it as spicy as possible."

Riana went to the side of her house to ask her neighbor for chili, then returned to the kitchen to fry the rice without oil. It didn't take long for her dish to be ready. The woman brought a plate of fried rice to where Leo was. She wanted to eat comfortably while watching Leo without worrying about the baby.

"Mmm, this is very tasty," she murmured.

After only a few bites, Leo began to cry loudly. Riana put her plate down on the living room table. "What's wrong, honey? Why are you crying?"

Riana carried Leo and noticed an unpleasant smell coming from him. "Oh, you made a mess, huh?" Riana chuckled.

She hurriedly took Leo to the back to clean his diaper. Just as Riana left, Reynald came out of his room when he heard Leo crying.

"There's fried rice." Reynald approached Riana's fried rice and began to eat it. After one bite, he threw it up.

Crash! A plate being thrown echoed loudly and reached Riana's location. The woman rushed to the source of the sound and was shocked to see her plate of fried rice scattered on the floor.

"Why did you... my fried rice..." Riana couldn't finish her sentence.

"Why? Because your fried rice is not tasty at all, that's why I threw it away!" grumbled Reynald.

"But I only ate a few bites!" Riana said, holding back tears.

"Just make it again! What's so hard about it?" Reynald went back to his room, taking Leo with him.

Brak, the door slammed shut. Feeling weak, Riana sat down on the floor and stared at her ruined fried rice. "This was the leftover rice, and now I have to cook it again, but we don't have any rice left," Riana whispered.

The woman let her tears flow, unable to hold them back. This time, she was very hungry. If only she had money, she might be able to eat outside instead of begging for food from her mother-in-law or her indifferent husband. Riana decided to clean up the broken glass, occasionally looking sad. Her stomach was in great pain, and her body was still shaking from not having eaten.

When she felt it was clean enough, Riana sat on her sofa to lie down. She didn't have the energy to get up anymore; luckily, her husband had taken Leo to the bedroom, so she didn't have to worry about the baby. Besides, Leo cried a lot, which would surely exhaust her or even make her faint.

**

"Sleeping so comfortably, huh! Meanwhile, her husband is busy taking care of Leo, who is crying!" grumbled Mayang.

"Just pour some water on her, Auntie," Serly suggested.

Mayang hurried to the back to get a bucket of water and poured it on Riana.

"Who?!" Riana exclaimed in surprise.

"Get up quickly and calm down Leo who is crying!" ordered Mayang.

"Useless woman!" cursed Serly.

Riana's patience was wearing thin as she continued to hear the insults.

"Why is it always me who has to take care of your child? Aren't you his mother? Where is your responsibility as a mother? Not only can you conceive, but you are not willing to take care of him! Oh, right. I forgot, your child is the result of an affair," Riana replied.

"Riana!" Sally shouted angrily.

"What?!" Riana refused to back down.

"Riana, don't talk such nonsense!" said Reynald.

"But it's true what I said! Everyone knows that Serly got pregnant out of wedlock, you just don't want to admit it!"