The clock showed 11:20 pm as a girl grumbled outside a convenience store, annoyed at having left her wallet at home.

Indeed, Chaca was famished with no one at home, and so she ventured out to buy some food. But luck was not on her side as she forgot her wallet. After making multiple trips between home and the supermarket, Chaca headed home once more.

"Darn, darn, darn!" Chaca kicked stones in frustration. "I feel like an orphan in situations like this," she muttered while walking back to her house, carrying a plastic bag filled with instant noodles and snacks.

"Everything on my own! Find food on my own, sleep on my own, alone at home, might as well make money on my own," she continued to mumble.

"Do you want company, miss, so you're not alone?" said a thug who suddenly blocked Chaca's way.

"No, thank you!" Chaca responded and tried to walk away, but the thug grabbed her arm.

"Come on, let me keep you company," the thug persisted.

"I said no, and that means no. Are you deaf or what?" Chaca shouted, shaking off the thug's hand.

"Wooo... quite fierce, aren't we!" said the thug, laughing. "But I like a woman who's feisty. Let's hang out, come on."

"Let go! Let me go, help!" Chaca screamed, but nobody passed by. Usually, her complex was bustling with street vendors, but due to government restrictions, the vendors no longer set up there.

"Help!" she cried again as the thug pulled her more insistently. "Let go, let me go, help!"

"Mama! Papa! Help!" Chaca screamed in tears, haunted by shadows of the past that set her body trembling.

"No need to scream, miss, I assure you you'll enjoy it," the thug sneered but suddenly, someone arrived and kicked him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Damn!" The thug got up and counterattacked the newcomer. But the stranger was more skilled in self-defense, leaving the thug with a bruised face and broken limbs.

"Get out of here, or I'll call the police," the stranger said in a cool, even tone.

Without a second thought, the thug scurried away to avoid further damage.

"Are you okay?" the stranger asked Chaca softly, but she could only shake her head and cry with her face buried between her knees.

"Hey, the thug's gone, why are you still crying?" he asked again. But Chaca couldn't stop crying, and the man knelt, embracing her.

Instantly, Chaca felt warmth in the stranger's hug. She felt safe and comforted. After a while, Chaca looked up to take in the face of the stranger who had calmed her.

Thump!

Chaca's heart raced, not with fear but enchanted by the handsomeness of the man before her.

"Feeling better?" the stranger asked, eliciting an affirmative nod from Chaca.

"Thank you," she said, wiping her tears.

"Hmm, where's your house? Let me walk you home," the man suggested with his impassive expression.

"No, it's okay. I can go by myself," Chaca demurred, but that seemed to irk the man.

"So you can be accosted by thugs again?" he scoffed.

"I just don't want to trouble you further," Chaca retorted, pouting slightly.

"No one feels troubled," the man insisted, standing up from his squat.

"But sir..." Chaca began feeling awkward.

"No buts. Let's go." He took Chaca's hand to his car and drove her home.

In just a few minutes, they reached Chaca's gateway.

"Thank you, sir," Chaca said earnestly before getting out of the car.

"Don't wander about late at night again," the man stated coolly.

"I wasn’t wandering. I went out because I was hungry," Chaca replied peevishly.

"Do you live alone?" he inquired, ignoring her complaint.

"No! I have a family, but it’s like I'm an orphan," Chaca let slip, inadvertently revealing personal matters she tended to keep private—even her closest friends were unaware of her family and home.

"Don't pout. Get inside, and try not to eat instant noodles too often," he said before departing, leaving Chaca frozen by the gate.

"Typical nosy man," she grumbled, then entered the house.

Chaca Anindita, a beautiful, cheerful, and kind-hearted girl. Although she lived with her family, she often felt alone and lonely due to her mother's disregard, leading her to grow into a strong and resilient young woman.

Chaca was adept at hiding her feelings, appearing tough and rarely crying, but in solitude, she poured out her heartaches—known only to herself.

Her recent encounter with the handsome stranger piqued her curiosity about him. Chaca, always up for a challenge, felt compelled to approach the man.

'I have to get to know him. Oh God, if he is meant for me, let us meet again, please reunite us,' Chaca whispered to herself with a private smile.

'Eh, why am I headed to my room? Wasn’t I hungry before? Ugh...' Chaca realized she was going to her room instead of the kitchen.

Feeling her hunger fade, she decided against cooking the instant noodles. She lay on her bed, continuing to daydream about the attractive stranger who had helped her.

'Goodness, why can't I stop thinking about him?'

'Is this what they call love at first sight?' Chaca mused to herself with a smile.

Lost in her reverie and thoughts about the handsome rescuer, Chaca eventually fell asleep dreaming.

To Be Continued 😊

Chaca was leisurely relaxing, engrossed in a novel within the confines of her room. However, the sound of a door opening diverted her gaze from the pages. She craned her neck upwards to see Lana entering her room and standing before her bed.

"Chaca, you're coming with mom to JF restaurant," Lana declared abruptly.

"Why, mom? You don't usually ask Chaca to come along," Chaca inquired, lacking enthusiasm.

"I'm introducing you to the son of a business associate," Lana revealed, causing Chaca to react with surprise.

"What! No way, Chaca doesn’t want to!" Chaca exclaimed in refusal.

"You have no choice but to want to," Lana asserted with piercing eyes.

"Why does it have to be Chaca, mom? Why not Leona? She’s older than Chaca, why not her?" Chaca protested, baffled.

"Your sister already has a boyfriend," Lana responded nonchalantly.

"Chaca has a boyfriend too, mom," Chaca retorted, clearly annoyed.

"Hahaha, mom doesn't believe that! You have to come, period," Lana stated before leaving Chaca's room.

After Lana left, Chaca immediately went to find Leona in the adjacent room. "What is it?" she asked, containing her irritation, only to find Leona relaxing with her nail polish.

"What is what?" Leona asked, turning the question back.

"Why does it have to be me?" Chaca asked again.

"Because you’re the only suitable one," Leona replied nonchalantly but with a sting, "Just accept it, he’s a good guy and he's got money too."

"I don't need his money!" Chaca yelled, frustrated.

"Hahaha, your attitude is so outdated, get out of my room!" Leona shooed Chaca away.

***

While Leona, Faris (Chaca's father), and Lana (Chaca's mother) had left earlier by car, Chaca opted to ride her motorcycle. Ever since childhood, Lana treated Chaca differently, always favoring Leona over her.

Upon arriving at JF restaurant, Chaca spotted Hanna and Arlan enjoying their dinner. Unenthusiastic about meeting the offspring of her parents' acquaintance, she chose to join Hanna and Arlan, despite potentially annoying them.

Some time later, Chaca decided to leave Hanna and Arlan's table. As she was heading out of the restaurant, she unfortunately ran into Leona, who was arm-in-arm with her boyfriend.

"Oh hello, my dearest little sister," Leona greeted smoothly, her tone as soft as silken tofu.

Without a word, Chaca chose to walk away, but Leona forcefully grabbed her arm. "You haven’t met our dad’s friend's son yet, have you?" Leona interrogated.

"I don’t need to. I don’t want to!" Chaca stated, attempting to pull her arm away, but Leona gripped it firmly.

"You have to. Come on, I’ll take you," Leona insisted, her smirk betraying her pretense of kindness.

"I don’t want to! Let go, I want to leave, I don’t want to!" Chaca screamed in rebellion, attracting whispers from onlookers who assumed the sisters were fighting over a love interest.

The tug-of-war escalated until Chaca inadvertently pushed Leona, causing her to fall to the ground, just as Lana exited the restaurant, searching for Chaca.

"Chaca, what have you done to your sister?" Lana screamed in disbelief, witnessing Leona's tumble.

"Mom, I... I didn't mean to..." Chaca confessed truthfully, as Leona feigned greater injury for Lana’s benefit.

"Mama... my knee hurts so much," Leona whimpered, holding her slightly bloodied knee.

"You're beyond ungrateful, truly a curse!" Lana accused, roughly pulling at Chaca's hair.

"Why are you always biased against me and Leona? I'm your child too, mom. Why do you always trust and prioritize Leona over me?" Chaca cried out in anguish.

"Because you bring misfortune," Lana pronounced harshly.

"But I’m your child too! You can't treat Chaca like this, it's not my fault I bring misfortune," Chaca shouted again, tears streaming down her face.

"You're truly ungrateful and unthankful. We've been waiting for you inside, but here you are, torturing your sister!" Lana continued to berate.

"I didn’t intend to hurt Leona; I love her and would never harm her," Chaca pleaded weakly.

"Lies! Chaca deliberately pushed her so that Leona would fall. Chaca is jealous and angry because mom loves Leona more," Leona exacerbated the situation.

Lana, provoked by Leona's words, shoved Chaca backward, sending her crashing onto the pavement just as a car entered the restaurant area.

"Aaaaah..." Chaca's scream elicited a rush of concern from the restaurant's patrons, including Faris and his business associate.

Thud...

Chaca’s body skidded slightly, fortunately the car was moving slowly; a faster speed could have caused more serious injury.

"Chaca!" Hanna cried out, rushing to the scene, horrified to find Chaca bleeding on the ground.

"Call an ambulance, hurry!" Hanna wailed to Arlan while in tears.

Arlan’s attempt to call emergency services was cut short when he recognized the person emerging from the car that struck Chaca.

"Brother..." Arlan whispered disbelievingly.

"You were driving," he stated before hurriedly lifting Chaca into the backseat of the car.

"Hurry up, A," Hanna urged, quickly taking the passenger seat next to the driver. As for Lana and Leona, they were left speechless and expressionless on the sidelines.

"I never thought you could be so cruel, Le," Johan said coldly, walking away from Leona.

"Jo, I can explain everything. Johan..." Leona called out, but he didn't listen.

To be continued...

For three days straight, Chaca had been confined to the hospital, yet her mother hadn't once made an appearance to visit, which elicited a bittersweet smile from her. Throughout her hospital stay, it was only her father who showed up to see her and bring her meals, along with Hanna and Nayla who were ever present, keeping Chaca company and lifting her spirits.

"Um, Cha, I'm kinda curious about something but, um," Hanna hesitated mid-sentence, unsure of how to proceed with her inquiry.

"Just spit it out, Han, relax," Chaca said while peeling an orange.

"She is really your birth mom, right Cha?" Hanna asked softly, causing Chaca to chuckle.

"I'm 100% her biological child, Hanna. No need to be so tense about asking," Chaca replied.

"But how can your mother be so cold towards you? It seems so cruel," Nayla chimed in this time, prompting Chaca to exhale softly.

"Yeah, I'm my mom's biological kid, but I'm not my dad's," Chaca finally revealed, disclosing the story she had held close to her chest, a tale that weighed heavily on her heart. Now, she decided to share it with her two friends.

"Wha—" Nayla and Hanna were taken aback in unison.

"When Leona was three years old, mom took her to an amusement park, and that's when mom was assaulted by someone, resulting in her becoming pregnant. She suffered severe trauma from that violation, and then I was born. Mom grew to loathe her life even more, but dad always remained patient and accepted my mom, even when she rejected my existence. Dad was always there with open arms, bestowing upon me the genuine love he had," Chaca recounted, her revelation unwittingly bringing tears to Hanna and Nayla's eyes.

"Dad continued to stand by mom because of his deep love for her, and by the time I was about two years old, mom had started to recover from her depression. Yet again, she would take her anger out on me, her biological child. That's why I was always treated differently from Leona; despite us both being my mom's biological children, Leona had a clear status, and I was just the illegitimate one," Chaca said, laughing bitterly.

"Chaca," Nayla and Hanna immediately wrapped their arms around Chaca tightly. They never suspected that the always upbeat and tough Chaca had such a dark side. Sometimes a person has to pretend to be happy to cover up the pain they carry.

"Hey, why the tears, haha," Chaca laughed, though her own tears also began to fall.

"We're friends, Cha, forever. Whatever you feel, we'll always be here for you," Hanna promised sincerely, and Nayla nodded in agreement.

"Oh man, you guys make me miss Jenar. How's her honeymoon going?" Chaca shifted the conversation to prevent the mood from sinking again.

"Hey, why don't we do a video call?" suggested Hanna.

"NO!" Nayla and Chaca exclaimed in unison.

"Jeez, you two are so in sync," Hanna pouted.

"If we call her, we'll be interrupting the creation of Jenar vs. Arya Junior," joked Chaca, laughing.

"Oh right, Han, how did you end up at the restaurant when Chaca had her accident?" Nayla asked, genuinely curious about what led to Hanna and Arlan getting together.

"Ah, that's because, um," Hanna's cheeks turned pink at the memory of the romantic moments from the previous night at the restaurant before she could answer Nayla's question.

"He was on a date with Mr. Assistant," Chaca interjected casually, "Looks like someone is no longer single," she added.

"Really, Han?" Nayla asked excitedly, which Hanna confirmed with a bashful nod.

"Aw, look at you breaking the long-distance barrier, haha," Chaca said, elated, with Nayla joining in the cheer.

"When Jenar gets back, what do you say about the four of us going out to eat?" Nayla proposed.

"That sounds good, but when exactly is Jenar coming back?" Hanna pondered.

"Your boyfriend is Jenar's male assistant; why don't you just ask him?" Chaca said impatiently.

"Oh, why didn't I think of that?" Hanna laughed at her own oversight.

"Because you're slow, LOLA," Nayla teased.

"It's okay, at least I'm not SINGLE," Hanna shot back, emphasizing SINGLE, which made Nayla and Chaca click their tongues in mock disdain.

"Damn you, just because you're not single anymore, you think you can tease us," Nayla retorted, flinging orange peels at Hanna.

"Hahaha," Hanna could only laugh at Nayla's irritation.

Chaca felt incredibly happy now that she had three friends who were a constant presence in her life. Previously, Chaca seldom had friends, mainly because those who approached her did so only because she was Faris's child, leading Chaca to lose interest in friends who would only flatter her.

But Jenar's arrival was different for Chaca; her genuine, unpretentious nature, along with Hanna and Nayla, made Chaca feel fortunate and less alone.