Silent Circle: The Vow of an Heir

Chapter 8: Anger

Darian raced after the shadow. His heart was pounding, his feet hitting the hard ground as if each step brought him closer to something unexpected.

His adrenaline kept rising. But all he found was a large deer, bowing its head calmly as though it felt no threat. Darian stopped, his breath heavy, almost irregular.

The tension that had once gripped him dissipated, slowly replaced by a sweet sense of relief. He turned around and climbed the cliff. He reached the top, in front of a simple, small house.

However, the atmosphere was different. A thick layer of dust covered everything, indicating the house had been abandoned for a long time. The wind blew, carrying dust in the air, creating a quiet atmosphere.

The house looked old and worn but still stood firm. He entered the house, dust swirling with each step he took. The faint smell of wood and earth lingered, buried under the scent of dust and the passing of time.

He walked toward the backyard, toward his parents' grave. Next to it, a new grave stood firm, a simple gravestone reading "Eyang Surya." Tears of emotion filled his eyes.

Memories of Eyang Surya, the grandfather who had raised him, flooded his mind. Now, he had joined his parents.

Darian knelt before Eyang Surya's grave, offering a prayer and words of gratitude. He didn’t feel alone, even though the house was quiet and dusty.

He had a place to return to, filled with beautiful memories and loved ones.

However, the quiet, dusty atmosphere seemed like a metaphor for the heavy responsibility he had just taken on—a weighty burden, one that might change his life forever.

The afternoon sun began to set on the western horizon, painting the sky with shades of orange and purple as Darian approached Grandfather Ronan Adinata’s mansion.

After several months away from the city, he returned hopeful, wanting to reunite with Grandfather Ronan.

But the atmosphere surrounding the mansion felt different. There was an unspoken, eerie silence, unlike the usual bustling he had experienced. The air felt heavier as if it held a secret yet to be revealed.

Before entering the large gate, he was stopped by two mansion guards. Their faces were weary as if something was missing from them. One of the guards spoke, his voice a whisper full of sadness.

"Young Master Darian," he said, his voice so soft, as if afraid to hurt, "Grandfather Ronan... Grandfather Ronan passed away a month ago from a heart attack."

Those words hit Darian like a blow to the chest. He froze; shock and grief filled his entire body. He hadn’t expected this bad news. He had just left the mansion a few months ago with no way to know about this sorrow.

The world seemed to stop, and for a moment, he felt lost.

With slow, heavy steps, he entered the mansion. The air inside felt cold and quiet, filled with a faint scent of incense.

He made his way to the family room, where several members of the Adinata family were gathered. The atmosphere was tense, filling the room as if each second became heavier.

Arum Wijaya, Karina, and Sekar’s mother looked at him coldly as if he were an unwanted stranger. "Why are you back?" her voice was sharp, like a knife. "Are you here to beg us and hope to inherit Grandfather Ronan’s wealth?"

Sekar, Karina’s younger sister, remained silent, looking at Darian with an unreadable expression, unsure of whose side to take.

"I... I don’t know..." Darian said, his voice trembling, trying to hold back the emotions that threatened to explode. He felt hurt by the harsh words, but he tried to remain calm.

He wanted to explain, to tell them how he had just gone to visit Eyang Surya, who had been ill, but because something happened to Eyang Surya, he ended up being gone for months. Yet, the words got stuck in his throat.

He felt so tired of facing all this. He just wanted to express his condolences, but instead, they accused him. Satria Adinata, Karina and Reynand's father added with a biting, sarcastic tone, "Respect? You don't deserve respect! You're just a poor mountain boy who got lucky."

The words pierced his heart even more. He felt cornered, surrounded by hatred and anger. Yet, amid his sorrow and shock, his gaze fell on Karina, his fiancée.

He saw Karina, now lovingly embraced by Reynand, her lover. Karina's belly was slightly swollen, a clear sign of pregnancy. Darian’s world seemed to crumble in an instant.

Darian stood frozen, his eyes burning, blurred with the rapid pounding of his heart.

Karina would pull away every time he tried to get closer as if an invisible wall separated them. He often felt like he was in a relationship a whole distance, even though they were engaged.

But today, the reality was far more heart-wrenching—Karina, his fiancée, was now in the arms of another man, someone more than just a friend, someone who had taken his place in Karina's heart.

He wanted to scream, to rush forward and question everything, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He felt like he was being played by time, as someone lost in a story he thought was his own, only to discover it was merely a part of someone else’s tale.

"Karina..." The whisper escaped his lips, his voice barely audible, like a scream deep within, buried in his heart. Darian felt short of breath as if the world had stopped. Everything around him became dark and hollow.

He had not only lost Grandfather Ronan but also Karina, the woman who had once been his fiancée. The stabbing pain filled his heart—a mixture of sorrow, disappointment, and betrayal.

Everything he had hoped for and believed in shattered in an instant. Even though Karina had never loved him, the arrangement made by Grandfather Ronan had been sacred to him.

He had always believed that the engagement was not just a formal bond but a promise that tied their hearts and souls, even if Karina herself had never felt the same.

Darian staggered backward, feeling a wave of strong emotions hit him. He had to find the strength to face all of this, to find a way out of the despair that gripped him. But amid the emptiness, he felt even more trapped.

He felt alone and isolated in a family full of hatred. His heart and mind wondered if he had made a terrible mistake by returning to this place. Had he forced himself to come to a place he could never truly call home?

The wave of emotions intensified. A year of insults, a year of inhumane treatment, a year of hopes now shattered into pieces by Karina’s betrayal—everything exploded in a fit of fierce anger.

This anger was not just ordinary rage. It was anger that had been buried for so long, suppressed, now erupting with incredible force.

He stared at Karina and Reynand, then shifted to Arum Wijaya and Satria Adinata, and finally to Sekar, who remained silent, watching.

They all seemed shocked by the change in him, but Darian felt something inside him shift. Something more substantial, more profound.

Darian’s eyes lit up with a strange light, different from usual. He felt something new—power he had learned on his journey.

He had delved into many things, including ancient knowledge almost forgotten—the art of hypnosis, the power of the soul, with Kai.

He felt that now was the time to use it. In a low voice but filled with authority, he began to speak.

"You all... You have all maltreated me. You have insulted me, belittled me, and treated me like garbage. You all... will feel what you have done to me."