After saying all that, Rachel finally turned her head towards Lilia. The woman's eyes were red and swollen from crying too much.
Lilia tried her best not to spill her tears. For as long as they'd been friends, she had never seen Rachel like this. The Rachel she remembered was an extraordinary girl leading the school's volleyball team as captain. She was always smiling and looked cheerful, adding spirits on those around her.
But in just 5 years, that young girl had lost her light.
Rachel rose from her chair. She stretched out her skinny trembling hand and held Lilia's hand, "Help me." She whispered, "Lilia, I don't know who else I can trust but you. My dad didn't answer my calls and my boyfriend left me. I… I…" Rachel couldn't continue her sentence and started sobbing. She hated crying the most, but that was all she could do right now.
Lilia hugged her best friend tightly, "I'm right here, Rachel. Everything will be alright. I will not leave you, I promise." She comforted the woman.
"This is my fault, this is all my fault! Why am I so stubborn?! Why don't I throw away this stupid pride?!" Rachel continued to blame herself, "Lilia, I don't know what to do now! I've lost my mother, I don't have anyone here anymore… "
*****
Lilia closed the door gently as she walked out of the hospital room. Her chest tightened as she thought about how hard life had been for Rachel these past five years.
She was shocked when someone reached out and wiped her tears. Lilia looked up, her gaze met with Jean who had been waiting for her in the hallway.
"Are you alright?" Jean was worried.
Hearing the concern in that man's voice, Lilia couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She threw herself into the man's embrace, her hand gripping Jean's shirt tightly as if she would drown without it. The sound of Lilia's sobbing echoed through the hospital hallway.
Jean stroked Lilia's back, trying to calm his fiancée, "Don't cry. I'll feel sad if you cry." He said softly.
"I feel like a failure as her best friend..." Lilia muttered to herself.
Jean sighed and pushed Lilia away. He rubbed Lilia's tear-scarred face with his handkerchief as he said, "My subordinates will come soon to help take care of Mrs. Gunawan's funeral. Take this time to think about how you want to help your best friend, okay?"
Lilia looked at Jean gratefully. She nodded and hugged the man again. After feeling Jean's great love and care, Lilia didn't know if she could live without Jean.
*****
As Jean said, his subordinates took care of all matters relating to Rachel's mother's death. After the cremation of her mother was finished, Rachel met Lilia and agreed to go back to her hometown.
A day later, Rachel returned to Indonesia with Lilia and Jean. She left behind all her bad feelings and memories in Milan to start a new chapter in her life.
In the private plane, Lilia watched Rachel, who was fast asleep. The woman tightly hugged the jar filled with her mother's ashes as if afraid of losing it. Lilia wrapped a thick blanket over her best friend before going to the chair behind her.
Lilia sat beside Jean and stared at him closely, "Jean, thank you for helping out with all this. If you're not here ..."
Lilia's words were interrupted when Jean suddenly grabbed her hand. The man then landed a soft kiss on the back of her hand like a knight declaring his loyalty, "Don't worry. I will always be by your side." He promised while stroking the woman's hand
Lilia's face suddenly turned red. She hurriedly pulled her hand away from Jean's and looked away. Her fiancé chuckled at her reaction.
"Until when are you going to be shy like this?" Jean teased her, "Although I have to admit that your behavior is also cute."
"I don't know how you can do such a t-thing without feeling embarrassed!" Lilia protested.
"What kind of thing do you mean?" Jean rested on his chin while smiling mischievously, "I won't understand if you don't say it specifically."
"L-Like… like…" Lilia's neck and ears turned red as she tried to explain.
Jean really enjoyed Lilia's reaction whenever that man teased her. He felt that he would never get tired of seeing Lilia's beautiful face flushed red and her eyes filled with tears.
"…Forget it." Lilia grumbled as she noticed the amusement on Jean's face.
Jean chuckled while stopping Lilia who got up from her chair. He handed the woman a document.
"This is the information about the Gunawan family's immigration five years ago. Since you want to help your best friend, you should first understand the situation of her family before you make plans for the future." Jean explained.
"Okay." Lilia nodded and accepted the document.
"Oh, one more thing." Jean added, "About our marriage certificate. You said you would sign after coming from Milan. When do you want to take care of it?"
"Ah…" Lilia remembered the promise she made before she left for Milan. At the same time, the contents of William's message came to her mind again.
"… Other men will never love you because of who you are."
Lilia didn't want to listen to William's words, but she had to admit that he had a point. Was marrying Jean the right choice? What if she made the same mistake she used to— surrender her heart to the wrong person? Lilia would never be able to recover if she were betrayed by the person she trusted once more.
"Lilia?" Jean's voice broke her thoughts.
"Um… about that, do you mind if we postpone it for a while?" Lilia said the first thing that came to mind.
"Why?" A faint irritation crossed Jean's face.
This made Lilia even more convinced to postpone her marriage, "Because I want to focus on making sure Rachel can adapt to her return to Indonesia. She recently lost her mother and had to return to a place that gave her bad memories. I want to be there for her." Lilia answered firmly.
Jean stared at her intently for a few moments. Lilia kept her expression neutral while meeting Jean's gaze. She tried to show that there was nothing she was hiding.
"…Okay." Jean took a deep breath and exhaled a heavy sigh, "I won't mention it again until you're ready."
As their plane landed at the airport, Rachel stared at the view of the city she had left for 5 years. She unconsciously clenched her fists tightly. She would rebuild her life and take revenge on those people!
Suddenly Rachel felt someone grab her hand. She turned and saw Lilia who was looking worried. The warmth of her friend's hand helped warm her cold heart.
Rachel lowered her gaze, "Lilia, thank you ..."
Those two simple words were not enough to describe how she felt right now. After being abandoned by her family, Rachel had lost hope and her future looked bleak. Lilia's presence felt like the sunrays chasing away the darkness in her life.
Lilia poked Rachel's forehead, "Why are you suddenly being formal with me?" Asked the woman with a smile to lighten the atmosphere.
Rachel smiled too. She felt grateful to be reunited with her best friend.
*****
Thanks to Milan Fashion Week, Lilia Pangestu's name became famous. When the mass media found out that she was scheduled to return home today, reporters and photographers immediately gathered at the airport to intercept her.
Before getting off the plane, Jean put his jacket on Lilia's shoulders, "Ken will take you and Rachel home from here. He will also arrange the funeral."
Lilia looked at Jean in confusion, "How about you? You're not coming with us?"
The man reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Lilia's ear, "I have to go back to the office first. I have an empty apartment near your house. If Rachel doesn't have a place to live, she can use the apartment first. The access code is 0601."
Lilia was about to nod when she realized something. Wasn't that the same code as Jean's cellphone's password?
But Lilia didn't have time to ask because the flight attendant came and asked her to get off the plane. Lilia decided to keep her question to heart.
Before separating, she told Jean that Rachel was going to live in Vivi's apartment for a while. It was not that Lilia wanted to refuse Jean's help, but she didn't want to see Jean too often for a while. She needed time to think.
The three of them went down a special hallway for private plane passengers to exit to the pick-up area. Before getting into the car that was waiting for her, Lilia turned around and saw Jean getting into a different car. She kept staring at the car until it was out of sight.
On the way to Vivi's apartment, Lilia got a call from Harold.
The manager grumbled at length because he had bothered to arrange for Lilia's return to be highlighted by the mass media, but Lilia didn't show herself at all. Harold felt that Lilia was wasting a good opportunity to get public attention.
But Lilia just laughed at Harold's scolding. They both know that Jean would never allow Lilia to be exposed by the mass media without his supervision.
"Then? I'm sure you didn't call me just to nag." Lilia said.
Harold sighed, "You know me well. I'll be back to give you work starting in two days, so come to the office tomorrow. Take your rest well because you will be very busy after this. Your job offer has doubled since Milan Fashion Week!"
Lilia smiled proudly, "Luckily, my trip there was not in vain. Alright, I'll stop by the office tomorrow. See you later!"
As Lilia hung up the phone, they arrived at Vivi's apartment.
The landlord was waiting at the front door with an uneasy face. As soon as Rachel got out of the car, Vivi rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.
"Rachel! It really is you, right?! Jeez, I miss you so much! You're just getting thinner, are you having a hard time there?!" Vivi said excitedly as she took a good look at Rachel.
Lilia said goodbye to Kenny before getting out of the car, "Vivi, take it slow. You scared Rachel." She said with a laugh.
Rachel hugged Vivi back, her face already filled with tears, "Yes, it's me. I miss you too, Vivi! "
The three of them spent the night chatting and letting go of homesickness at Vivi's apartment. Rachel talked about her life in Milan, interspersed with Vivi's passionate comments. Lilia was mostly silent and watching Rachel tell her stories. She was relieved that her best friend started smiling like before again.
Their sharing session lasted until 2am.
Vivi put her wine glass on the table loudly, "So that Antonio cheated on you and betrayed you?!" She asked angrily.
Rachel took a sip of red wine before replying, "Yes, but I don't know if I should hate him or not." The woman smiled bitterly, "After all, he's been helping pay for my mother's medical expenses for half a year. I can't blame him for choosing another woman who is more stable than me."
Vivi looked closely at Rachel, "So you will just forgive him?!" She asked.
Rachel just shrugged, "It seems so for now. But I might change my mind if we meet again."
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