Morning arrived with the sounds of birds singing in the trees and roosters crowing in the distance, while the noise of insects in the undergrowth began to fade. But it wasn't these sounds that woke Airin from her sleep—sleep that she knew she had only gotten a little of. Instead, it was the man who had been incessantly stroking her back. To him, it might have been a comforting gesture to help Airin fall deeper into sleep, but for Airin, it had the opposite effect, and Sakha was unaware of this.Airin opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by the sight of her husband's broad chest. Was he asleep? she wondered. She then looked up to find that his eyes were wide open and staring down at her."Why did you wake up so quickly?" he whispered. "Go back to sleep!" He gently patted Airin's shoulder with one hand while stroking her head with the other.Airin pushed against Sakha's chest to move away and then gave him an annoyed look. "How can I sleep if you keep bothering me? Ugh!"Sakha re
The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the sound of cicadas clinging to the trees was very loud. A middle-aged man ran hurriedly towards the stilt house where a man dressed well was sitting on the porch with an open laptop in front of him. Hearing the hurried footsteps, the man's attention was diverted. “What is it?” the man asked, his voice sounding heavy and firm. “Sir ...!” the middle-aged man stopped at the bottom of the porch stairs, breathing heavily. “Mr. Sakha, someone has fainted in the field!” he exclaimed with difficulty. Contrary to the man's panic, Sakha's expression did not change. He carefully folded his laptop and then stood up and approached the workers. “Where is she?” he asked. The man quickly showed the way to the field he was referring to. Sakha followed behind him. When they arrived at the field, the heat from the sun felt even more intense. In the middle of the cornfield, several people, also farm workers working in his field, were gathered around something
Sakha returned to his main house in Waru Village. Some workers greeted him as soon as they saw Sakha enter through the gate in his shiny black car. Sakha returned their greetings with a nod and a brief smile. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky; he was drenched in sweat and really needed a shower to get rid of the stickiness all over his body. When Sakha entered the house, he was immediately welcomed by his wives who were sitting in the living room. Safitria Ferdinan Putri—whom Sakha often called Ria—was the first to greet him when she saw his arrival. Ria, Sakha's first wife, a beautiful woman, immediately pulled Sakha into the living room, and Sakha did not resist. “It's rare for you to come home early, Mas,” said Henia—the third wife—while kissing Sakha's hand. “I’m only home for a short while,” Sakha replied. Agistia, Sakha's second wife, was the last to greet Sakha. “What do you want to eat, Mas? It’s lunchtime,” she said. Sakha refused with a smile. “I’m just here
Sakha returned to the field feeling still annoyed. He regretted having gone home earlier, even if only for a moment. Because his third wife, Nia, never stopped teasing him even though she knew that day was not her schedule. Sakha does not really like aggressive women and is always willing to interfere in his affairs. Nia knows that, not to interfere in Sakha’s business, even though they are husband and wife. The three wives of Sakha know this, but sometimes they often forget because they are controlled by their own feelings.Earlier, Nia had mentioned Sakha’s plan, which Sakha had never told anyone other than the person concerned. Sakha was so irritated that his wives began to feel entitled to take control of his life.“Sir!” Galih, who was watching the workers transporting sacks of corn that had been harvested into the box car to be taken to the warehouse, greeted Sakha who had just arrived.“Tonight,” said Sakha after standi
“One hundred and fifty million rupiah,” replied Sakha.Tia who was lying beside him immediately got up and looked at her husband in surprise. “One hundred and fifty million?” she repeated.“Hmm.”“If it’s a poor person who borrows that much money, of course now he’s rich.”“He borrowed it gradually.”“Then why did you let him when you knew he couldn’t pay?” asked Tia not understanding.“I am indebted to him.”Sakha’s second wife was heard chuckling softly, but then she smiled sweetly at her husband. “You are a good person. I salute you. Just let go of those debts, Mas, if he can’t pay. With God’s permission, you will get a much better reward from God.”Sakha wasn’t stupid not to realize what Tia was trying to do from the very beginning she asked about Mr. Jamal, even though now it was time fo
That night, Galih comes to the house and talks to Jamal.Airin wanted to go outside and hear what the man had to say for herself, but Yuniarti forbade Airin instead that she would convey her greetings to Galih and Mr. Sakha.Airin didn’t want her mother to do that.Yuniarti also understands the feelings of her eldest daughter. Even though Airin agrees to marry Sakha, Yuniarti can see very clearly that Airin doesn’t like Sakha. Yuniarti’s guilt is getting bigger.So Airin calmed her mother by saying, “After a while, Ririn will definitely fall in love, Mother, with Mr. Sakha.” Airin actually wanted to throw up when she heard those words come out of her own mouth.For a long time, Airin had closed the door to her heart and often thought that her feelings for a man other than her father had died. Airin is biased towards that kind of feeling. Because the only thing on her mind from the start was her family, until now that i
When Airin returned home, she was surprised by a familiar looking car parked in front of her house.Is that perhaps …? Airin thought with her body frozen for a moment. Imagining the man, who has three wives, is sitting on his simple living room sofa. Airin’s body was now covered in sweat and dust after working almost all day in the fields, so she hurriedly walked to the back of the house to wash her feet and hands in the water pouring from the jug.From the back door, Yuniarti walked briskly toward her eldest daughter. “Rin! Rin!” call her.Airin turned around. If her mother had acted like that, surely Airin’s assumption was correct.“What’s the matter, Mother?” said Airin.The girl’s calmness was in stark contrast to the anxiety that was clearly printed on her mother’s face.“Come on, quickly! Mr. Sakha has been waiting for you for a long time. I told you not to go to the fields today!
Airin totally disagreed with the idea that she would move into her future husband’s house earlier than she had predicted. Airin already knew that the day would surely come when she had to leave this house and live with her husband and his three wives whom Airin did not know.What will my fate be? Airin thought. Even just thinking about it already made her giddy.“It’s okay, Rin. After all, we are still in the same village. Later if something goes wrong, you can go back to this house,” said Yuniarti calmly while helping Airin tidy up the clothes which she put in the suitcase.This afternoon, Galih had explained to her family that the day after tomorrow was Airin’s wedding day with Sakha. However, today Airin was ordered to come to her husband’s house because the traditional ceremony will be held there, the performance will be quite large because it is also an event to appreciate the villagers who have received Sakha here.Airin