Aluna stopped her motorbike in the parking lot, she hurried to open her helmet and put it on the motorbike's mirror. For a moment, the woman looked at her cellphone and stared at the building in front of her. She seemed to be waiting for a chat reply from someone.
"Why hasn't Dad replied yet? Is he still in a meeting with his client?" Aluna muttered.
Aluna got off her motorbike while taking the paper bag she was carrying. Slowly, she walked towards the stairs. However, her eyes did not leave her cellphone. She didn't realize that there were two people who had just come out of the building and were headed towards her.
"Aluna?"
Aluna stopped her steps, she was stunned for a moment when she heard a voice she knew so well. Time seemed to stop spinning, suddenly the atmosphere became quiet. Slowly, Aluna raised her face. Her eyes met the eyes of someone who had hurt her. Now, those eyes no longer stared sharply at her, instead they looked at her with a surprised look.
"Mas Efendi," Aluna whispered, barely making a sound.
Aluna averted her gaze, her gaze fell on a woman who was holding her ex-husband's arm. Aluna's gaze fell to the woman's large stomach, her heart skipped a beat. Instantly, she realized that the woman was pregnant.
"I didn't expect us to meet again," said Efendi which made Aluna smile faintly.
"Yes, and how are you, Mas? Unexpectedly, you are married and your wife is heavily pregnant," said Aluna, showing an expression that she was fine.
"I'm very well, how about you?" Efendi replied.
Aluna nodded, all this time she had been blinking her eyes which felt watery. "Fine, very good. My life is much happier after divorcing you," Aluna explained.
Aluna's gaze shifted to the woman who is now Efendi's wife. She smiled at the woman who she thought was beautiful. It's been six months, Aluna still felt the pain that Efendi had inflicted. Then, now the man looks happy with his wife. Wasn't that unfair to her?
"You look heavily pregnant, how many months along are you?" Aluna asked kindly.
The woman looked down, stroking her stomach gently. "Entering nine months," replied the woman in a soft voice.
Aluna was stunned for a moment, she turned to Efendi who deliberately looked away so that Aluna wouldn't look at him. The woman's gestational age was clearly older than the age of their divorce. Aluna realized one thing, her husband divorced her because there was a woman he had to give a clear status to.
"Oh wow! Nine months, didn't we get divorced just six months ago? Oh, I see, you divorced me because you wanted to clarify this woman's status and the child she was carrying in court, right? Why didn't you say from the start, Mas, if you were cheating? Why did you have to blame me for not being able to take care of our baby, so you could divorce me, right? Great job you guys!" Aluna clapped, she was impressed with Efendi who managed to keep his secret.
Aluna turned to look at the woman who was now bowing her head, it seemed that the woman knew about Efendi and Aluna's problem. It was impossible for the woman not to know that at that time Aluna and Efendi were still legally married.
"You knowingly took someone's husband, Miss. The law of nature applies, you will definitely get what you deserve!" Aluna hissed.
"Don't blame my wife, Aluna! She's better than you! Look now, are you married yet? Tsk, I'm sure no man wants to marry a woman like you. Isn't it hard being a widow?" said Efendi easily which made Aluna's eyes widen.
"Listen here, Mr. Efendi! You think no one wants me huh?! Let me know when your child is born, I'll bring my husband who is better than you! You fish-brained man!" After saying that, Aluna left to enter the building. Leaving Efendi who was surprised by Aluna's words to him.
"Is it true that your ex-wife is married?" asked Efendi's wife with a confused look on her face.
"Impossible, who would want to marry a widow like her?" replied Fendi softly.
Meanwhile, Aluna, she wiped away the tears that had flowed with the back of her hand. The woman didn't want to cry either, but it felt like her tears were hard to stop. Because it didn't stop, she stopped and fanned her face so that her tears would no longer fall.
"Why are you crying for him?! Come on, stop, okay. Bring your real husband soon, it's okay to be handsome, the important thing is rich," Aluna muttered, comforting herself.
Aluna continued her delayed steps, until she stopped again right in front of a slightly open brown door. Aluna's intention was to just go straight in, but she actually heard several people talking. Slowly, Aluna peeked to see who was inside.
"Oh, Dad has a visitor. No wonder he didn't reply to my chat," Aluna muttered.
It could be seen that a middle-aged man seemed to be staring at the file in his hand. In front of him were already two men waiting for his answer. Slowly, the middle-aged man raised his face and looked at the handsome man with a firm face.
"Mr. Arvian, your case is very difficult. The rumors circulating will make it difficult for you to win in court. Money is everything, but the media trail is also very strong. Your late brother-in-law's family will win in court if your case is like this," said the middle-aged man to the man who was none other than Arvian.
"Mr. Rafli, you have been my lawyer for almost ten years. All this time the cases you have handled have never lost. But this time, is there no solution to this problem? My younger brother is still in a coma, while the family of his late wife is demanding custody of his son. As his uncle from his father's side, don't I have the right to get custody of my nephew from his mother's family? I don't want my nephew to be damaged if he is raised by their sly family!" Arvian snapped in suppressed anger.
"Sir, please calm down." Reza tried to hold back his boss's emotions, he was worried that the tense atmosphere would get worse.
Rafli Aditya, he is the best lawyer in town. In fact, Arvian made Rafli his personal lawyer in all cases. Including at this time, Arvian asked Rafli to win custody of his nephew in court. However, rumors about Arvian circulating were able to make Rafli feel uneasy.
"I don't want to play dirty. If you want a way out, there's only one way to keep your late brother-in-law's family from being able to fight back," said Rafli, which made Arvian straighten up.
"What? Tell me, I'll do anything for my nephew," exclaimed Arvian excitedly.
"You have to get married, sir."
"What?! That's impossible!" Arvian snapped in annoyance.
Rafli sighed slowly, correcting his sitting position and staring at Arvian who was staring at him intently. He knew what happened to Arvian. What Arvian experienced was indeed hidden from the media. Rafli didn't know who first spread the rumor that Arvian didn't like women and actually liked men.
"I know about the Gynophobia you suffer from, but others will only accept bad rumors about you. If you get married, the rumors will be refuted by the presence of your wife. Your problem is solved, isn't it?"
Arvian was silent, according to him, marriage was something scary. He would always be close to a woman. In fact, what he experienced forced him to stay away from women. How could Arvian get married if he had Gynophobia?
Because they couldn't find a solution, Arvian and Reza finally decided to go back. Arvian's head felt like it was about to explode, his problem was never resolved. A moment later, after they left Rafli's room. Reza crossed paths with Aluna who had been eavesdropping. He seemed familiar with Aluna's face which he thought was very familiar.
"Aluna?" Reza asked.
"Eh? Reza!" Aluna came to her senses, she stared in disbelief at Reza who smiled at her.
"What are you doing here? Where's Mega?" asked Reza familiarly. Meanwhile Arvian, he looked confused at the beautiful woman who knew his assistant.
"Mega is at home, I came here to bring lunch to Dad. In that case, I'll go in first." Reza nodded, waving kindly at Aluna who was about to enter Rafli's room.
Curious, Arvian tapped his assistant's shoulder to ask about Aluna. "She's your friend?" asked Arvian.
Reza nodded enthusiastically, he and Arvian continued walking while answering Arvian's question. "Yes, she's my friend. Beautiful, the campus belle. But unfortunately, now she's a widow because she got the wrong husband."
Arvian stopped, he thought of something. Seeing his boss stop, Reza also stopped. He must have been surprised by the look on his boss's face, as if he was thinking about something. For a moment, Arvian turned to look at Reza while holding his chin.
"Did you say she was a widow?" asked Arvian.
"Yes, sir," Reza replied with an innocent look.
Hearing that, Arvian turned and went back to Rafli's room. This, of course, made Reza immediately chase after Arvian. He didn't understand what his boss was thinking, he was just a subordinate and followed wherever his boss went.
Meanwhile, in Rafli's room, the man was seen opening his lunch box. He smiled seeing the food his adopted daughter brought. His gaze shifted to Aluna who was sitting opposite him.
"It's rare for you to cook and bring it to Dad's office. Where's Mega?" asked Rafli and spoon-fed a spoonful of rice and side dishes into his mouth.
"Beautiful Mama Maya cooked it, you know me and Papa Mega, we don't like to cook," Aluna said with a chuckle. Rafli shook his head, his wife's cooking, Maya, was always a winner on his tongue.
Bam!
"Eh, Sir!" Aluna and Rafli were shocked to hear the scream and the sound of the door being slammed shut. They both immediately stood up and stared at Arvian who walked towards them with a flat gaze. Meanwhile, Reza panicked when Arvian flung open the already open door with full force. Until it hit the closet behind him.
"Mr. Arvian, did you leave something behind?" asked Rafli with a surprised look.
"Is she your daughter?" asked Arvian, glancing at Aluna.
Rafli nodded, "Yes, but she's my adopted daughter. What's wrong? Did my daughter cause trouble?" asked Rafli in a panic.
Aluna, who was accused like that, immediately shook her head while waving her hand. She didn't even know Arvian, so why was she being blamed? Yes, she was wrong. Eavesdropping on their conversation. But, she didn't hear it all.
"Didn't you say that I have to get married to easily win this case?" asked Arvian and was answered with a nod by Rafli.
Arvian's gaze shifted to Aluna. Seeing the man's gaze, of course Aluna felt goosebumps. The man was very tall, making Aluna have to look up to see the man's face.
"Wh-why?" asked Aluna nervously.
"Marry me."
"WHAT?!" shrieked the three of them with their eyes wide open.
"I need a marriage certificate to strengthen my claim to custody of my nephew in court. No matter how much money you ask for, I'll give it to you."
Aluna swallowed hard, she glanced at Rafli who looked on in disbelief. Rafli also closed his mouth which had opened, he turned to look at Aluna who was still looking at him. Slowly, Aluna approached Rafli. She whispered to the middle-aged man.
"Dad, is his salary really that big?" Aluna whispered.
"Yes, he has many companies," Rafli replied.
"Just refuse, don't let you repeat the same mistake," Rafli whispered.
"Alright," Aluna muttered and looked back at Arvian who was waiting for her answer.
"Sir, I ... want to marry you!"
"HUH?!"
.
.
.
"I accept the marriage and wed Aluna Sagita with a dowry of one hundred million rupiah paid in cash!"
"How about the witnesses? Legal?!"
"Legal."
Aluna and Arvian were really married, the two of them were only married at the Office of Religious Affairs without holding a party. Arvian only needed a marriage book to refute what his late brother-in-law's family would later use as a weapon against him. Meanwhile, Aluna, she accepted Arvian to prove to her ex-husband that she could get a man who was better than her ex-husband. Good teamwork, right?
"You are now legally husband and wife and this is your marriage book. May your marriage last until death do you part," said a man while handing over two different colored books in front of the newly married couple.
Slowly, Aluna took her marriage book. With trembling hands, she opened the book and looked at her photo. Never thought that she would get a marriage book again after six months of being a widow. Aluna's gaze shifted to Mega, her best friend was sitting flanked by her parents. The faces of the three of them were staring at Aluna in disbelief.
"Mega, I'm not a widow anymore!" shouted Aluna and immediately hugged Mega tightly.
Arvian blinked, he turned to look at Reza who was massaging his forehead. His boss was too quick to make up his mind about something so sacred. Who knows, will there be new problems after this? Arvian's gaze shifted to Aluna who had let go of her hug with Mega.
"Aluna." Arvian's call made Aluna turn her head.
"Come home with me."
"Huh?"
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