Leo rubbed the bridge of his nose when the work in front of him seemed to be making no progress, despite having been sitting for hours trying to finish it. Leo then glanced at the watch on his wrist, which already showed 10:00. He should have been home hours ago, having dinner with Alana, but the demanding workload kept him at the office. Leo's thoughts halted as the large door in front of him suddenly opened, revealing Pedro stumbling in, with the same disarray as himself, carrying a folder and walking towards him."This is my last task for now, and I'm off for a week. Remember, you promised, right? So don't postpone it again after weeks of delay," Pedro said, causing Leo to take the folder Pedro handed him and place it on his desk alongside other files."Yes, tomorrow you start your leave, but remember, just a week," Leo said, finally able to fulfill his friend's wish after weeks of postponement due to the piled-up workload at the office. Even if Leo dared to ask Pedro, he really wa
Alana didn't even dare to respond to her husband's pleading gaze, as if what he had just said was something wrong."What do you mean?" Alana asked, her voice like a whisper. Alana had already imagined the worst-case scenario that Leo now knew about. Previously, Alana had also considered that something like this might happen to her, but she never imagined it would feel so suffocating when experiencing it firsthand. Looking at Leo's disappointed face staring at her made Alana's heart ache terribly.Leo didn't immediately answer Alana's words. He reached out his hand and grasped Alana's hand tightly. Alana could feel how cold Leo's hand was as he held hers tightly, as if begging for strength with all the suspicions filling his mind."Say that everything I said was wrong," Leo said, looking at her with eyes full of disappointment."What do you mean?" Alana asked again, trying to ascertain what Leo really wanted to say to her."I want to be angry, I'm disappointed, and I even want to curse
Leo gently strokes Alana's head when she finishes recounting all the unfortunate events that happened to her. Alana continues to hold Leo tightly in her embrace, her eyes swollen, and anger now filling Leo as he hears Alana's story. Leo urges Alana to tell him everything without leaving out any detail. He feels useless as a husband for not being able to be a refuge for Alana. Even Alana hiding something as significant as this from him, as if she doesn't trust Leo to handle all the problems.“Why did you hide something this big from me?” Leo says, still disappointed with Alana's decision. Alana then loosens her embrace slightly and looks at Leo's face, which clearly shows disappointment. “I was afraid you would leave me, I was afraid you would be angry, and I was afraid you would look at me with disgust,” Alana replies, causing Leo to finally return his wife's gaze.Leo can't bear to imagine, let alone experience, what Alana went through, which fills him with anger. Especially Alana en
Rose stopped her hand from stirring the various spices she had just put into her fried rice when the doorbell kept ringing."Luda, could you please open the door and see who's there?" Rose called out to her maid. However, when the bell rang again, Luda still hadn't appeared, prompting Rose to put down the spatula she had been holding, still wearing her cooking apron. Rose hurried to see who it was, as Leo had been continuously pressing the doorbell of her house, but the next moment when the door opened wide revealing someone who hadn't even crossed Rose's mind standing in front of her house, Rose momentarily forgot how to breathe."May I come in?" Leo's voice finally came out, causing Rose to blink several times before nodding. Rose then led Leo to the living room of the simple house she had lived in for the past few years. Rose remained silent, unsure of what to say with Leo's sudden arrival, while Leo glanced around the house, as if examining every detail inside Rose's home."It's a
Leo sat anxiously in his oversized chair, waiting for the subordinate who was supposed to bring some evidence about the case but had not arrived yet. Leo even straightened up a few times and then sat back down. It had been over half an hour, but his subordinate had not come to see him, and he hadn't responded to the dozens of messages Leo had sent."If only Pedro weren't on leave, maybe it would be a little easier to handle everything," Leo realized that he was a bit struggling without his friend by his side. Leo's thoughts stopped when suddenly the door of his office was knocked, prompting Leo to tell them to come in as he saw the subordinate he had been waiting for hurrying towards him, handing him a brown envelope."Why did it take you so long?" Leo asked angrily, making his subordinate bow his head."I apologize," he replied."What's this?" Leo asked, trying to open the envelope he had just received."It's some photos taken from the CCTV footage, and inside there are also several
Leo had been knocking on the door of the simple wooden house for several minutes, yet there was still no answer from the occupants, causing Leo to glance at his wristwatch, which still showed 7 PM. In Leo's opinion, it was still appropriate to visit at this hour. Leo then extended his hand to knock on the door again, which eventually resulted in someone opening it, prompting Leo to immediately put on the warm smile he always wore. However, the middle-aged man in front of him looked frightened, as if seeing Leo as a criminal who would rob him."Patrick," Leo said, causing the former security guard of his house to appear flustered."Sir, what brings you to my house?" Patrick asked, with the clear fear in his eyes still visible, causing Leo to squint slightly. Even Patrick didn't invite Leo to enter first and immediately asked about his purpose, making Leo more convinced that this was indeed the right purpose of his visit."May I come in? It's uncomfortable to talk outside like this, I'm
Leo looked at Patrick as if assuring him that he could take over about Indra's current condition. Initially, Patrick was hesitant, but Leo's convincing gaze finally made Patrick leave Leo alone standing in front of Indra's door.Leo then knocked on Indra's door again, which was once again rewarded with a thrown object from inside, but Leo didn't stop there."Indra, can we talk for a moment," Leo said."Leave this house, never meet my family again, I still want to live!" Indra screamed from inside, making Leo take a long breath before exhaling slowly."If you still want to see your parents alive and well, you have to be willing to cooperate with me. Have you ever seen me ignore all my employees when they are in trouble?" Leo said, making Indra fall silent from inside, not saying a word in response to Leo's words."So, quickly open the door. We need to talk about the problems you're facing. I know you're being threatened by someone and playing with your life, and right now there is no o
Alana tried to contact Leo several times, but after more than five minutes without Leo picking up the phone, Alana finally took the initiative to send him a short message, stating that she would go to the bakery to meet a customer who suddenly canceled their order. Afterward, Alana immediately got into the car that was ready to take her to the bakery. On the way, she lamented the customer who suddenly canceled their order."I don't understand why there are people like that," grumbled Alana. "If they really wanted to cancel, they could have done it much earlier, instead of canceling when half of their order is already prepared." It only took about fifteen minutes for Alana to arrive in front of the bakery and she quickly got out of the car, instructing the driver to wait for her. Alana was immediately greeted by Camila, who had been dealing with the customer."She's still inside, of course, with his warm tea and the dessert he always orders beforehand," said Camila, almost mocking the