That night, Lilia turned over on the bed. She tried to close her eyes, but the sleepiness didn't come. Lilia sighed while opening her eyes. The empty side of the bed brought a feeling of loneliness to the woman's heart.
She reached for her cell phone and checked the clock. It was 11:52 p.m., but Jean hadn't come back yet. Lilia turned on the small lamp beside her bed before lying back on her back. She stared at the ceiling of her room while thinking of the problem with the project partnering Pangestu Family.
What kind of problem had occurred? How big was this problem that Jean had to work overtime most nights? What could she do to help solve this problem?
Lilia didn't know how long she thought about it until she finally fell asleep. She only remembered that someone covered her and kissed her forehead. The person's actions were gentle and warmed her dreams.
*****
The next day was Sunday, but when Lilia opened her eyes, Jean had disappeared from the bed. She immediately got up and got ready, then headed for the front door. Just as Lilia was about to come out, she ran into Sister Mei. They exchanged greetings for a moment before Lilia continued on. She didn't say anything about her purpose and Sister Mei didn't ask anything either.
Meanwhile, Jean was listening to reports from his subordinates over the phone. Increasingly, the wrinkles on his forehead grew deeper.
"Are you sure that the funds were transferred to someone in Jakarta?" Jean asked in an icy voice.
Jean listened to the reply from his interlocutor for a moment.
"Very well. You can start tracing the account first before finding out the flow of funds." Jean ordered before hanging up.
He took out a cigarette and lit it. Jean exhaled the cigarette smoke while leaning back in the chair. This problem was worse than he had imagined and now made his head hurt.
Tok. Tok.
The sound of a knock on the door interrupted Jean's mind.
"Young Master, I brought you the breakfast that Madame prepared for you. I'll put it outside." Sister Mei's voice was heard from outside.
Jean straightened up and his cold expression immediately vanished. Hearing Lilia's name alone was enough to improve his mood, "Has Lilia eaten?" Jean asked.
For a moment, there was no answer from behind the door. Jean frowned with a suspicious expression.
"… Madame left without breakfast. I thought you told you about this?" Sister Mei hesitantly replied.
Now it was Jean's turn to be silent. He only listened to the middle-aged woman's advice to eat without replying to her words. Jean's hand played with the cellphone in his hand. He glanced at the cell phone and opened Lilia's number, but his finger suddenly stopped. Finally Jean closed his cellphone again.
*****
Meanwhile, Lilia got out of the taxi and stared at the gate of the house she had always passed through during her 24 years of life. Even though she had only left the house for less than a month, she already missed the place.
As Lilia entered the gate and headed for the front door, she ran into one of her maids.
"Ah, Miss Lilia! Welcome back!" The servant lady smiled as she greeted her. Hearing that greeting made Lilia feel like she was back to the time when she was young and just came home from school.
Lilia smiled back and asked, "Is Father at home?"
The servant nodded, "Big Master is in his study."
Lilia followed the maid in, but her pace automatically slowed down as she entered the living room. The woman looked from side to side with alarm. She let out a sigh of relief when she didn't see her mother's figure there.
The servant noticed Lilia's tension and explained, "Big Madame isn't here. I heard Madame went out of town."
"Oh okay!" Lilia smiled in relief when she heard that. She didn't want to always start a new round of fighting with her mother after the family experienced trouble.
The servant accompanied Lilia to the front door of her father's study. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Without waiting for Robert's answer, Lilia opened the door and stepped inside.
"Lilia?" Her father looked up from the documents on his desk. Shock colored his expression.
Lilia's gaze fell on the documents her father was reading. As if noticing her gaze, Robert immediately tidied up all the documents.
"Why did you come home today?" Robert asked with a friendly smile.
"I have free time today and suddenly I'm homesick. Am I bothering Dad?" Lilia asked innocently.
"Of course not, come and sit here." Robert pointed to the chair in front of his desk. The man observed his daughter's appearance carefully, "Two days ago, I heard the news about the assault. I was too busy to go to see you, so I sent your brother away. I'm sorry." Robert said with an expression of genuine regret.
"It's okay, I understand." Lilia immediately calmed him down.
"Even so, your brother forgot to tell me about your condition after he visited." Robert grumbled about Daniel's carelessness, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, the news on the internet is only exaggerated. You don't need to worry." Lilia said lightly.
She studied her father's figure carefully. Her father would turn 50 this year, but his movements were still lively and full of enthusiasm. Even so, his face looked as tired as Jean's. Lilia guessed that the two of them were both busy with problems in the collaboration project.
"Did Jean come with you too?" Robert asked as he poured tea for Lilia. His gaze was directed to the door of the study, as if expecting Jean to suddenly walk in.
"No." Lilia received the teacup from her father, "I came home alone."
When she said that, Lilia had the impression that her father looked relieved. She took a sip of her tea to hide her confusion. Lilia thought that Robert liked Jean, so why was her father relieved when the man didn't come with her?
"Since you're back home, why don't we have lunch here? I want to hear about how your relationship with Jean has been recently." Robert offered.
"Of course, fine with me." Lilia nodded obediently.
After talking about small matters for a while, Lilia finally left Robert's study. She returned to her room and stood stunned in the doorway. Seeing the bedroom that she had left behind gave off a strong nostalgic feeling.
Lilia slowly got inside and sat on the bed. Her hand stroked the little doll that she always displayed on the mattress. Her expression seemed very sentimental at this moment.
Then she thought back to her conversation with Robert in the study. Lilia didn't know what was wrong, but she felt that her father's attitude felt strange earlier.
Lilia shook her head and tried to get rid of the thought. Didn't she herself say that this was between Jean and her father's business? Why was he trying to interfere?
Lilia got up from the bed and took out her suitcase. She started packing up her favorite clothes which she could bring to the Lakeside Villas.
All that morning, Lilia felt like she had gone back to the time when she hadn't married Jean. She could freely do whatever she wanted. Lilia spent her time browsing the internet or reading books. But her mind kept returning to her father's strange attitude and Jean's busy activities lately. She couldn't concentrate on whatever she was doing.
At that time, Lilia got a call from Harold.
"Rina's case will be tried in two days!" Harold reported excitedly.
"Hmm…" Lilia replied halfheartedly as she flipped the pages of the book she was reading.
Harold's anger exploded upon hearing Lilia's answer, "That's all ?! Why do you sound so indifferent, even though you are the victim?! You can at least ask how long she will be in jail, you know!"
"How long will she be in jail?" Lilia repeated Harold's words without guilt.
Harold sighed and decided that it was useless to scold Lilia, "I will make sure that she is sentenced to a minimum of 3 years in prison. This time, I have found the most famous lawyer in Indonesia! With strong evidence such as her comments on the internet and the pictures that she secretly took, Rina would not be able to escape this time!" Harold said excitedly.
"Wait a minute, the comments on the internet?" Lilia tilted her head when she heard that, "What did she say?"
As far as Lilia knew, Rina never made strange comments on her social media. However, that woman still needed to maintain her image in public.
Harold exhaled his cigarette for a moment before replying, "She created a fake account and used it to bash you on various social media! I heard she's posted over a thousand comments!"
Lilia was stunned by the number. Rina must have plenty of free time to post that many comments!
After ending her phone conversation with Harold, Lilia closed the book she was reading. She got out of bed and opened her bedroom's window. The woman looked up at the clear blue sky with a big smile. Finally, Rina got what she deserved!
After Rina was thrown in prison, Lilia planned to go visit her. She couldn't wait to see that woman's expression when she saw Lilia coming to visit!
Several hours later, a servant knocked on Lilia's door to tell her that lunch was ready. When she went down to the dining room, there was only his father alone at the dining table.
Robert was pouring white wine into his glass half full, then slowly shaking the glass. He was the one who made Lilia a wine enthusiast.
"Dad, what wine is that?" Lilia asked while sitting across from Robert.
"Ah, this is one of my collections. Father bought this wine when you were born." Robert said with a soft smile. He put down his glass before asking, "How have you been lately, Lilia? Are you used to living with Jean?"
Lilia smiled and nodded, "So far, our relationship is fine. I'm still in the process of adapting, but you don't need to worry."
Robert looked relieved when he heard that, "Thank goodness. You two are young and never met before this marriage was decided. Father is worried that you will fight a lot after marriage. You need a lot of patience and control your emotions, understand?"
"Of course, Father." Lilia recalled the conversation she had with Sasha the night she married Jean. She decided not to tell her father that Jean's childhood friend still wanted to take her place. She didn't want to worry her father
"Plus, you've been involved in a lot of incidents lately, right? Your name appears on the internet a lot. You need to be more careful now, because you are married into the Widjaya Family." Robert advised her with a serious expression, "Even though they haven't commented on the recent incident, that doesn't mean they don't know about it. Actually, Dad would prefer it if you quit your job. You already have Jean, so you don't have to work."
Hearing that, Lilia lowered her gaze while frowning, "Dad doesn't have to pay attention to what's going on on the internet. Besides, my career is currently booming. Next week I'm going to Jakarta to shoot a film. So I don't intend to retire for a while. As for the Widjaya family..."
The sound of broken glasses interrupted her words.. To her surprise, she saw Robert's hand knock the wine glass down to the floor.
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