Cahyo looked down, his breathing labored. He knew that there was no way out of this situation. Zavier had caught him at his worst-weak, tempted, and helpless. Cahyo bit his lip, trying to find the courage to answer.
“I... I do not know Nayla's whereabouts, Mr. Zavier,” Cahyo stammered, his voice hoarse. “But... I know where Mando is.”
The name Mando took Zavier by surprise. He had thought Mando, one of his bodyguards, had long since disappeared. However, if Cahyo knew where Mando was, this could be an important clue to finding Nayla. Cahyo may not know directly where Nayla is hiding, but Mando... Mando could be the key.
“She's not dead?”
Zavier let out a long breath, thinking quickly. Mando had always worked in the shadows, hard to find and harder to understand. However, if Cahyo had information on his whereabouts, Zavier would not waste this opportunity.
Cahyo shook his head with knees that trembled with fear.
Zavier covered his nose as a pungent odor came from inside the room. Zavier's wheelchair was moved in, followed by Cahyo who now looked very scared.Mando looked at Zavier who was sitting in his wheelchair. “Mr. Zavier, Mrs. Kayla... she locked me up,” Mando said in a low voice. “I knew you would look for me sooner or later and find me.”Mando was powerless to rise from the rundown bed he was currently occupying.“What happened to you?” asked Zavier sympathetically, seeing Mando's unkempt state.Before Mando could answer, Zavier squinted, looking at Mando. “Do you know about Nayla and her whereabouts?”Mando chuckled, as if the question was expected. “Nayla? Is the Master not with her?”Mando turned to Cahyo, “He should know.”Zavier quickly turned to Cahyo, fists clenched, refraining from shouting. “Don't mess with me. You know where he is.”Ca
“Cooperate for your own good. Don't you like being a Doctor?” Zavier got all his words out loud and clear.“What if I want more than just money, Zavier,” Bram finally said, his voice sounding flat. “I need a guarantee that after this, you won't come looking for me again. No one will be looking for me at all. I will disappear, and you will never hear my name again.”Zavier gave a small smile. “That can be arranged. Once I find Nayla, my business with you is done. I have no reason to look for you again.”Doctor Bram paused, seemingly in thought. Zavier's offer was hard to refuse, especially when he knew that his life would not last long if he was constantly pursued without sufficient resources.“Tell me, what do you want?” asked Zavier, getting impatient.“All your assets in Kyoto!” said Bram in a high tone.“Wh-what?” Zavier was so shocked that he wanted to st
Zavier's men immediately moved according to his instructions. Zavier knew that Bram would not be easy to track down-he was slippery, smart, and very good at covering his tracks. But Zavier had an extensive network, and he would use all his resources to find the man.As the team prepared, Zavier sat in silence for a moment, trying to control his explosive anger. He stared up at the sky, his mind filled with images of Nayla. She must have been going through hell all this time, and he wasn't there to protect her. A feeling of guilt snuck up on him, but anger was bigger than that. Bram had to pay for all of this-every betrayal, every lie.Once the team was ready, Zavier ordered them to comb the area of Bram's house. Bram's car was parked in front of the mansion's courtyard.They were going to start at Bram's house, but Zavier knew Bram would have beefed up his security. He couldn't rely on speed alone, he needed a good plan.As expected, Bram's mansion was su
The sun stung and morning greeted Nayla from her deep sleep. She was so confused by her current state.Her head felt heavy and her whole body felt crushed. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find a man's hand on her stomach.Nayla was shocked to find a strange man beside the bed and their bodies were bare.“Aarghh! Who are you?” asked Nayla frantically while pulling the blanket to cover herself.Bram squirmed and smiled softly, “We were just making out last night and you forgot about me so quickly?”Nayla held her head which still felt heavy. She had even forgotten her own name.“Me, who am I? Ahh, how did I end up here?”“Nadia...” Bram pulled Nayla into a hug. Although Nayla tried to resist, but the strength of the man she definitely could not defeat.“You are my wife and last night was our first night. You and I were very drunk, but don't tell me you forgot ev
Zavier stared into the distance from his glass window with a sad face. Apart from failing to get Nayla back, he also had to pay some fees for damaging property and making accusations without evidence.Meanwhile, Doctor Bram came out of the operating room exhausted and claimed that his house was broken into by Mr. Zavier Abraham while he was struggling to save the life of the patient he was operating on, thus tarnishing Abraham's name.Abraham's stock began to plummet and the angriest of all was Sefia along with Kayla.Kayla immediately contacted Zavier through her cell phone. When the call was connected, Kayla immediately said in a high tone, “what have you done. Why so stupid?” Kayla was beside Cahyo. The man had served her repeatedly to the point of exhaustion.“Zavier! Answer your mother!” Kayla exclaimed through her cell phone. However, Zavier grunted and only replied briefly.“Don't ever feel like you're my mom! Y
Little Joen smiled and wrapped his arms firmly around Zavier, showing him great love. Even though the boy was not very good with words, Zavier could feel the immense love from his little angel.“By the way, Papa Puzzle, there's one more...”“Hmm, what is it, dear?”“Joen saw on the television earlier, there was a story... a family and a story... of love, they met and got together. Is Papa Puzzle and Mama like that too?” Joen linked his two forefingers with sparkling eyes.Zavier frowned, considering what movie this kid had seen. “What do you mean?”“That, Papa... met and got married?”“Ohh, of course. Papa and Mama got married.”Little Joen shifted his butt sitting on Zavier's lap. “Story!” He said enthusiastically.Zavier's eyes stared blankly ahead, there was a pain that could not be hidden behind the small smile he tried to carve for the litt
The young servant paused for a moment, seemingly unsure of Nayla's question. “Mr... Mr. Bram, ma'am,” he replied slowly, his voice trembling slightly. “He's been looking after you all this time.”Nayla closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the situation, but her mind remained foggy. “Bram? Who is he? I don't... don't remember who he is,” she muttered in a confused tone.“You didn't answer my question. What's my name? Do you know?”The young maid looked down, uncomfortable with Nayla's confusion. “Madam... your name is Nadia. Nadia Anderson. And you are Mr. Bram's wife.”“You were just married last week and someone caused Madame to have an accident,” the little maid said with her head bowed.Nayla's eyes widened, a mixed feeling of confusion and fear coming over her. “Wife? An accident? But I don't remember anything... how can I be his wife?”“Who is
The maid seemed hesitant to answer, but before she could elaborate, the door to the room opened slowly. In the doorway stood Bram, his face worried yet calm.“Nadia,” Bram called in a deep, yet gentle voice. “You're awake, darling. How are you feeling?”Bram walked over with steady steps, his eyes thoughtful as he approached the bed where Nayla lay. Wordlessly, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the forehead of the woman he claimed as his wife, as if it was his way of calming Nayla's troubled mind. The touch felt cold and unfamiliar to Nayla, who was still struggling to remember who the man before her was.“Didn't you say this gentleman would be home by six?” Nayla glanced at the waitress who was beginning to feel awkward and at fault. The little girl stepped back with her head bowed.“Glad to see you're awake, dear,” Bram said in a low voice. He then turned to the young waitress who was still standin
Nayla sobbed, still in a state of confusion, and Bram felt his heart break at the sight of his wife. “I'm sorry, Nadia” he said softly, but his guilt was still burning.He wanted to give her a kiss, but once again Nayla immediately looked the other way.Seeing that, Bram tightened his jaw once again. His own body was already wet and he felt cold.After finishing wiping Nayla's body dry. Bram picked her up again and carried her to the bed. While Nayla was still shocked and confused, she could not fully understand the situation that was unfolding.Once on the bed, Bram laid Nayla down gently, but the anger and frustration building up kept her from thinking clearly.Without warning, he lowered his head and kissed Nayla forcefully. The act left Nayla shocked and feeling trapped, helpless.“Bram, please, don't!” Nayla shouted, trying to get
However, Nayla just stared at her blankly, not understanding what was being asked.“No, I don't want to,” she replied softly, but with clear refusal. She felt trapped in a body she didn't fully recognize, and Bram's commands felt increasingly oppressive.“I'm a painter and look, is it pretty?”Bram looked down at the canvas that contained only rough scribbles. It was no good at all and he knew full well that being a painter was his sentence, Nayla had absolutely no talent in painting anything!Anger began to simmer inside Bram. He felt as if he was facing a wall that he couldn't break through. “Nadia, this is not the time to refuse. You need to take care of your hygiene and health! You are so dirty!” his voice began to rise.Nayla, already in a fragile mental state, began to feel depressed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to avoid her
She finally found Zavier's office. Once inside, she cast her eyes around, looking for any documents or clues that could give her a clearer picture of what was really going on.Sara opened Zavier's drawer carefully and found some surprising documents.“What are these?”Among them, there was a signed divorce document, indicating that Zavier and Sefia's relationship might not be as strong as she thought. However, the most shocking was Nayla's contract marriage document, which stated that Zavier was in a coma.Not understanding, Sara continued her search.Moments later, Sara found a photo album in the corner of a drawer. Quickly, she opened it and saw photos of Zavier with someone who looked a lot like his mistress, Nadia.There was also a photo of another woman who was no less beautiful, but Sara didn't recognize her, Sara questioned herself about th
The long-awaited day finally arrived for Sara and Joen. An unplanned coincidence was that Sefia and Zavier had to attend a business meeting out of town for a few days.This was certainly a golden opportunity for Sara to realize her plans without any obstacles from Joen's family.Sefia wouldn't be around to interfere or suspect anything, especially since it was Fernando who meticulously organized everything.Fernando, who had noticed the strangeness in Joen and Sara's relationship, had started to notice the movements of the strange woman who seemed eager to get close to Joen with just a few baking recipes.However, Fernando chose not to mention it, especially since Joen seemed happy and unsuspecting of anything.Sara had prepared well, arriving on time to Joen's house, bringing some extra ingredients for the apple pie they were going to make together, and had also copied some othe
Part of her felt strange hiding something from Joen, especially with his friendliness and sincerity so visible. But on the other hand, Sara knew, bringing Joen together with Nayla at this time was too big a risk.“How about this weekend?” asked Joen, still full of enthusiasm. “I'll make sure everything is ready.”Sara nodded. “The weekend seems perfect. I'll make sure I have some free time.”As they parted, Sara felt relieved but also a little uneasy. Although she managed to postpone the meeting at his house, the feeling that things could get even more complicated continued to haunt her.***That night, Doctor Bram went home hoping to enjoy a quiet dinner with Nayla. However, like the previous nights, the same silence enveloped them.Nayla sat across the table, her eyes blank, no meaningful conversation. Only the sound of c
“Well, you know, Brother Fernando. I just wanted to see him again, I think there was a misunderstanding about the phone number,” Joen said with a chuckle, but Fernando could sense a little unease in his brother's heart.“Don't you like apple pie too? Our father loves it too, and that recipe looks better,” Joen continued, trying to convince his brother.“Aren't there lots of recipes on the internet? Why don't you look them up?”Joen shook his head and scowled, “inherited recipes must taste different from the common recipes on the internet!”“If you don't want to accompany me, that's fine,” Joen said and with her lips still pursed, she turned around and was about to return to her room, but Fernando quickly pulled her away so that the little girl fell into his lap again.“Yes, yes. Brother will accompany you tomorrow.
While Zavier soaked in the warm water while imagining the past times where he was so obsessive about torturing Nayla every day, until she got pregnant and so much happened.Suddenly, Zavier was surprised as the masculine side of him reacted again. He quickly stood up and got out of the bathtub and wrapped himself up by wrapping a towel around his waist.Zavier came out of the bathroom with his hair still wet and went to see his wife, but she had already fallen asleep crying.Seeing that, Zavier sat on the side of the bed and stroked her hair lovingly. Zavier's masculine side fell asleep again but the man did not demand anything.With leisurely steps, he was about to return to the bathroom, but suddenly realized that he no longer relied on a cane to walk.“I can walk normally!” he exclaimed in a stifled voice, not wanting to wake Nayla up.Zavier r
Sefia was combing her hair, smiling sweetly in the mirror, then turned around and returned Zavier's embrace affectionately. She brought her face closer, about to kiss her husband, but suddenly Zavier gently refused. He turned his face away, making Sefia stop in place.“Zavier, what's wrong?” Sefia asked, her voice shaking between anger and disappointment. “You're always like this... why?”Zavier sighed, confused by what he was feeling. Logically, he knew that the woman who was holding him right now was the woman he had missed for months, the woman he loved. Yet, somehow, his feelings did not align with the reality before his eyes. That face, that body, belonged to his wife-yet something inside him refused to come any closer, let alone kiss her.“I'm... tired, Sefia,” Zavier replied softly, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse. “It's been a hard day. I just needed some time
“That little girl, Joen. She likes apple pie,” Nayla murmured in a half-whisper but could still be heard by Sara who was standing very close to her.Sara held her breath, feeling that something was beginning to change in Nayla. “Maybe with Joen, ma'am?” she suggested cautiously.But Nayla shook her head softly. “No... not with Joen... I remember someone, but it's not him. But why do I feel this pie is so familiar?”“A man...”As the words left her lips, Nayla's body suddenly felt strange. Her head started to get a little dizzy, and fatigue returned to her body.“Aargh, my ears are ringing again,” Nayla said in a voice trembling with pain.“Madam...”Quietly, Nayla placed the piece of pie she had taken a small bite of back onto the plate, trying to compose what was goi