Sometimes a wife’s intuition is never wrong, and that was the case with Zahra. Normally, even if Axell came home late, Zahra would never call. But today, she suddenly did."Where are you, dear? Sounds like you’re on the road?" Zahra asked."No, I’m still at the office. I'll be home soon," Axell replied, slightly nervous.Zahra stared at her phone screen; something was off about Axell. Yuda had said Axell wasn’t at the office, but Axell claimed he was."Maybe dear Axell was in another room," Zahra murmured, trying to stay positive about her husband. She knew Axell had never lied to her before.Axell arrived at the office and went straight to the bathroom, cleaning up. He waited until his hair dried before heading home. The guilt towards Zahra haunted him."Earlier, Mama called, and I looked for you but couldn’t find you in your office," Yuda mentioned as they were on their way home."My stomach was really upset, so I was probably in the bathroom," Axell replied nonchalantly while delet
"Zahra is not daydreaming, darling," Zahra denied."Alright, I'll take a shower first," said Axell as he headed to the bathroom, his clothes smelling of cigarette smoke. Even though Zahra never complained about it, Axell respected his wife by ensuring he didn't smell of smoke when near her."Okay, darling," Zahra replied softly. She was puzzled by her thoughts, even though Axell hadn't shown any unusual behavior since he got home."Astaghfirullah," Zahra muttered, shaking her head, and immediately started preparing a change of clothes for her husband.Axell came out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, his face looking refreshed. He quickly took the clothes Zahra had laid out for him."What's the matter? Why are you staring at me like that? Handsome? Sexy?" Axell teased Zahra, who was staring at him without blinking."Oh, come on, darling. My husband is always handsome," Zahra replied with a smile.---Axell, Zahra, and Rikel were ready to head to a mall to let Rikel play to his
"Dad, Mom, what are you looking at?" asked a beautiful woman who looked like a model."That's your brother," said her father, pointing at Axell and Zahra who were eating.The woman immediately turned and gaped when she saw Axell in person."Let's go over there, Dad," she suggested."No," her father replied.At the same time, Fred and his wife and child were also enjoying dinner at the same restaurant as Axell and Zahra."Who's the man next to him, Dad?" asked Alin, Fred's daughter."That's his bodyguard," Fred replied, without taking his eyes off Axell."Wow, so low-profile, even eating at the same table with his bodyguard," admired the child."Yes, his foster mother is really good and has raised him well. If he was raised by Celline, he wouldn't be like that," said Fred."Just like you," murmured his wife."Is that his child?" asked their daughter, curious."That's the child Axell took from the orphanage and is raising with Mattew's grandson," Fred replied.Fred's youngest daughter,
Axell watched Zahra as she walked back to their room, struggling to stay awake. He smiled at his wife."Goodnight, Zahra," Axell said softly.Axell finished his now-cold coffee, smoked another cigarette, then went to the bedroom and tried to sleep again.Zahra was already sound asleep, hugging her bolster."Forgive me, Zahra," Axell said, looking at his wife's serene face.He gently kissed Zahra's forehead for a long time.Axell lay down beside his wife, hugging her until he fell asleep.In the morning, Axell woke up to find Zahra was not beside him. She had probably gone to the kitchen to help Mrs. Rasi prepare breakfast after her dawn prayer, even though Mrs. Inah and Mrs. Sri were also helping.Despite being told not to help multiple times, Zahra insisted on helping, as she was used to waking up early and doing household chores.Axell checked his phone and saw a message from Emily."I miss you too, Axell," the message from Emily read.Axell immediately deleted the message and did n
"What time will they be back?" Axell asked Zahra. "They said they were on their way," Zahra replied. "Okay," Axell answered briefly and sat on the sofa, playing with his phone. Zahra, who was putting on her hijab and niqab, glanced at Axell who was smiling at his phone. Curiosity stirred in her heart, but she chose to remain silent and never pried into Axell's phone. Zahra was too afraid of the truth, scared of finding something hurtful. It's not that she was suspicious, but she knew who her husband was. There must be many women offering themselves to him, even if Axell didn't respond, it would still hurt to see him being flirted with by others. "Honey, let's go downstairs," Zahra said, now fully dressed in her hijab and niqab. "Are you ready?" Axell asked. "Yes, let's go down and wait for Tama while watching TV," Zahra invited, pulling Axell's hand. "Let's go," Axell responded. They descended the stairs and found Mrs. Ania and Mrs. Celline watching television while en
"Can you play chess, Mr. Axell?" Yuda asked. "No, I can't play chess. When I was a kid, there was no time for that. I could only play when the basket of fried snacks was empty," Axell chuckled, reminiscing about his childhood full of struggles. "Mr. Axell likes to be humble," Yuda replied again. "I'm not lying. I grew up in an orphanage, and our orphanage didn't have regular donors. Only occasionally did someone donate, and we were grateful for it. For daily needs, the caretaker sold things in front of the orphanage, and we older kids would sell around the village," Axell explained. "Hard work never betrays the results, Sir. Now, you've become a successful person," Yuda added. "The wheel always turns, Yud," Axell said, taking a drag of his cigarette. Jojo and Yuda nodded. Meanwhile, the fierce chess battle between Rido and Rigo was still ongoing without a clear winner. "Earlier, young master Tama cried, wanting to take Ms. Emily to the mall," Jojo said. "Didn't Emily t
Ding.Notification of a message popped up on Axell's phone that he was holding."I've arrived home," the message from Emily read."Is Jojo acting weird or rude?" Axell replied."No, he's unusually quiet. All the way home without a sound, not even music," Emily replied with three laughing emojis."Good," Axell responded."Why?" Emily replied again."I'm jealous," Axell answered, ending the conversation and closing the previous message tab after deleting Emily's messages from his phone, then he sighed in relief.Zahra only observed her husband's strange behavior silently."Do not let me have bad thoughts, Allah," Zahra thought to herself.Zahra sat beside Axell, glancing at the phone in Axell's hand, but Axell promptly put the phone in his pocket and tightly hugged Zahra's shoulders."Darling, haven't you taken a shower?" Zahra asked as she moved away from Axell."I have," Axell replied shortly."The shirt smells. Change your clothes, dear," Zahra said.Axell was surprised but complied,
Mrs. Ania ran to call one of the guards to prepare the car, Axell carried Zahra out. Meanwhile, Mrs. Celline, who was initially indifferent and annoyed with Zahra, became panicked seeing Zahra completely powerless."Mom, what's wrong?" Tama and Rikel asked as they came out of their playroom hearing the commotion outside."Mom is sick, Tama and Ikel, stay here with the maid, okay?" Mrs. Sri persuaded."I want to go with dad," they shouted when they saw Axell, Mrs. Ania, and Mrs. Celline getting into the car heading to the nearest hospital. Jojo hadn't had a chance to turn off his car from dropping Emily off and immediately hit the gas to the nearest hospital."Zahra," Axell called, holding Zahra's pale cheek.Mrs. Ania appeared to apply eucalyptus oil on Zahra's neck and nose, but Zahra still showed no signs of waking up."Hurry up, Jo, turn on the hazard lights," Mrs. Celline, who sat next to Jojo in the front passenger seat, said."Yes, ma'am," Jojo replied and turned on the hazard l
Slowly, the ground began to rise; Zahra was truly gone forever and never returned.From a distance, a man accompanied by two other people seemed to be watching Zahra's funeral procession and saw how fragile Axell was left by his wife. He was Axell's biological father, namely Fredd Waned.Slowly, the mourners left the cemetery area, leaving only Axell, Mrs. Ania, Mrs. Celline, her father and mother, Zahra's older siblings, and Jojo and friends.Axell hugged Zahra's gravestone while kissing it."Come on, son, be sincere, be sincere," said the father, reminding Axell and patting Axell's shoulder.Ari and Frans also waited in the distance.Meanwhile, a man dressed all in black had entered a car and was watching Axell, who was still stunned beside the mound of red earth on Zahra's grave, which was full of flowers from inside his car."Come on, son, let's go home," said Mrs. Ania to Axell.Axell only shook his head slowly and was still stunned by his position."Son, let's go home. It looks
The recitation of the holy verses of the Qur'an echoed throughout the room, sounding so compact. Those who had just arrived took their respective positions and immediately became absorbed in reading the holy verses of the Qur'an."Mom," Tama called softly when Emily and Aunt Sri invited the two children to dinner."Let's eat first, son, or you'll get sick," Emily coaxed Tama and Rikel."Do you want Mama's omelet?" Tama said a moment later.Making Emily and Aunt Sri look at each other."Mama will make it, son?" Emily said and went straight to the kitchen. Aunt Inah, who saw that, approached."What do you want, son?" asked Aunt Inah."Auntie, help Emily, Auntie. The children want Mama's omelet," Emily said hoarsely.Aunt Inah, who had seen Zahra make vegetable omelettes several times, tried to make them."Hopefully the children like them," said Aunt Inah, handing over two of the children's favorite vegetable omelets."Thank you, Auntie," replied Emily, who walked towards the dining tabl
"Alma Putri Waned" was the name they gave to their beautiful newborn daughter.Everyone rejoiced over the birth of the biological daughter of Axell Waned, who was once an abandoned child and is now a respected young person.Axell was stunned when he looked at his wife, who was being treated by a doctor and several nurses. Doctor Bella's face looked anxious."Zahra," Axell called to the body, which was already pale and limp.Zahra opened her eyes and smiled at her husband. Axell saw Zahra, who was so beautiful when she smiled, even though her face looked pale."Hang on, dear," said Axell, holding Zahra's hand with tears in his eyes."Hang on, dear, for the sake of our child Alma," said Axell hoarsely.Zahra just nodded weakly. Axell held on and continued to kiss his wife's hand. Meanwhile, his father and mother were also at the tip of Zahra's head.Father continued to recite verses from the Qur'an, Mother continued to whisper the name of Allah in Zahra's ear, and the doctor, assisted b
Rigo drove the car at high speed towards the nearest hospital, where Zahra usually had her check-ups, and also where Doctor Bella practiced.The road conditions on the weekend were more congested than usual, even though Rigo had turned on the hazard lights but still seemed to have difficulty breaking through the traffic jam."Be careful, go," Axell warned Rigo, who honked several times at two-wheeled drivers who seemed to be breaking through the traffic jam."Yes, sir," Rigo replied."Also, look at the pedestrians," said Mrs. Celline."Yes, ma'am," Rigo replied without taking his eyes off the road.Zahra had not felt any severe pain, only occasional pain, and it went away."Honey, forgive Zahra if I did something wrong. Be pleased with Zahra, honey," Zahra said softly."Yes, honey, honey apologizes too. Honey is always pleased with you," said Axell, hugging Zahra tightly while crying."Mom, Zahra apologizes," Zahra said, looking at Mrs. Ania.“Yes, dear, I have forgiven you, and forgi
"Ehm," said Emily, making the couple who were watching the fish in the pond turn their heads."Emily! Come sit here," invited Zahra enthusiastically."Sorry to bother you; I brought breakfast and want to have breakfast together here," said Emily with a smile."Sure," replied Zahra.While Axell just stayed silent and still held Zahra's hand tightly,."Let's have breakfast; Aunt Inah has prepared it," invited Emily."Aunt Celline told me to call you both," continued Emily again."What did you bring?" asked Axell."Uduk rice, fried food, plus siomay," answered Emily happily.“There are so many menus; Aunt Rasi and Aunt Inah also cooked?” asked Axell.“No, because last night I called Aunt Inah and said that I wanted to bring breakfast here and eat with you,” laughed Emily while scratching her head that wasn’t itchy.“Okay, honey, let’s have breakfast,” invited Zahra while pulling Axell’s hand.Axell just nodded, walking, holding Zahra’s hand, and following Emily, who walked first.“What d
“What’s wrong with you?” asked Axell while framing Zahra’s face with both of his hands.“It’s okay, honey; I just want to leave Alma with you,” answered Zahra softly.“Don’t tell me you want to leave, honey.” said Axell.“It never crossed my mind, honey; Zahra never thought about leaving,” said Zahra, holding back her sobs.“So what?” Axell.“None of us know how long we’ll live, honey; we don’t know how long,” answered Zahra.“Honey, I understand; maybe you’re scared of giving birth, huh?” asked Axell.Zahra just nodded.“Think positively and be enthusiastic; we’ll raise our child together. "Darling, I'm always there for you," said Axell, hugging his wife."Don't be afraid; we pray together to Allah. Ask for help and protection," said Axell, gently stroking Zahra's hair while holding back his tears.Axell also thought about what Zahra was afraid of. And he was very afraid of it happening, imagining his child being raised without a mother.Axell lifted his face up, holding back his tea
Zahra lowered her head. However, who would have thought that the woman would walk closer to Zahra?"Zahra, right?" asked the woman.Zahra held Axell's left hand. Axell realized something, turned his head, and put the cellphone in his right hand's pants pocket."Yes, ma'am, what's wrong?" asked Axell."Ma'am? Do you think I'm your mother?" asked the woman rudely to Axell."But the women here are the ones who want to check their pregnancies, so where did I go wrong?" asked Axell in surprise.And now they were the center of attention for the waiting patients."Ma'am Zahra," called the nurse on duty.Coincidentally, Zahra's name had been called, and Axell embraced Zahra casually, leaving the woman.The doctor checked Zahra's pregnancy; everything looked fine. The child inside was also growing very well and moving actively."The gender is already clearly visible," said Doctor Bella.“Doctor, you’re just curious, so what’s the gender, doc?” asked Axell.“It looks like a girl,” answered the
“We’re going to the doctor today, right?” Axell asked Zahra while she was getting ready to go to work.“Let Zahra be alone, honey,” Zahra said while preparing socks for her husband.Axell stopped the activity of his hands that were buttoning his shirt.“What’s wrong?” Axell asked then.“Nothing, honey; who knows, honey is busy. It’s a weekday,” Zahra replied, looking away as she made eye contact with Axell.“It’s normal, right? We check on weekdays. And what’s wrong with that?” Axell asked.“Yes, Zahra is afraid of disturbing honey’s work; who knows, honey is busy,” Zahra replied, pretending to be busy with the socks in her hands.“I work for my own company, Zahra,” Axell replied.“Even though it’s my own, you can’t just set a bad example for your employees, right, honey?” Zahra asked.“What’s wrong with you?” Axell asked, approaching because Zahra always avoided him when their gazes met.“What’s wrong, honey? Zahra is fine, honey,” Zahra replied.Axell held Zahra’s hand as she was ab
"According to my biological mother, he is my biological father. But I don't know if it's true or not, because I can't find his whereabouts," said Axell, looking down."Are you looking for him?" asked Alin."Yes."“Why shouldn’t he be the one to come? You’re already famous, and your mother has appeared in the media admitting that you are his child,” Alin teased.“I was hoping for that, but years after his mother appeared, she still didn’t come. Maybe she’s happy with her family because I’m not the child she expected,” Axell said quietly.“Maybe she’s embarrassed, because he’s a businessman who disappeared without a trace,” Alin argued.“Why embarrassed? I already know the story,” Axell said.“Will you continue looking for him?” Alin asked.“Yes, because I’m afraid of my future descendants. I’m afraid of meeting a blood relative, and we don’t realize it,” Axell said.“Hmmm… Sorry, sir, our story has deviated far from business,” Alin said, smiling.“Ah yes, I was just confiding in you; f