CHAPTER 2

A bowl of hot soup became Robi and Amelia's breakfast menu. Nausea bothers Amelia, especially in the soup there is various seafood that tastes fishy when eaten.

The food was initially Amelia's favorite dish, but she forbade her maid to cook the menu with that pungent aroma since she was two. Now Robi is at home and he ordered the food for his beloved wife.

"Good, Mel?" Robi asked his wife.

"It's delicious, dear ..." she answered with nausea.

"Eat a lot, I purposely told Mrs. to make this soup, your body is getting thinner now."

Amelia didn't answer anything, she went back to continuing her breakfast even though cold sweat dripped down her body—holding back nausea caused by extreme cravings.

It's not Amelia's name if she can't survive. She can still finish her food even though she's tortured.

"I-I'll go to the bathroom first, Robi ... I'm desperate."

"Yes, dear."

Amelia calmly walked to the bathroom, she spilled all the contents of her stomach until she felt relieved. Her body went limp, but Robi shouldn't be suspicious if she lingered too long.

Amelia wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, trying to disguise them with the water on her face. Having had enough, she returned to the dining room.

Robi is tidying up the dirty cutlery with the help of their maid. That's the figure that makes Amelia feel dear to him.

Amelia feels a dilemma, Robi does have everything; rich, handsome, and kind, but he couldn't give her what he lacked—offspring.

Amelia is always embarrassed to be cornered that she is barren by Robi's big family. It turns out that she is fine, the proof is that she can get pregnant even though she is not Robi's child.

However, everything is like simalakama fruit, Amelia doesn't know what to do. Love begins to grow for her, the one who barges in between her and Robi.

"Unlucky!" Amelia muttered.

She took a deep breath, trying to think clearly to find a way out of all the complicated problems.

"Mel, we're going to Mommy's this afternoon."

Not to mention that her heart was at peace, Robi took her to visit the place of her most incredible torture—the house of her parents-in-law.

"But, Honey—"

"Come on, Mel. As usual, we'll make a deposit. Grandma wants to see you, I haven't been home in a long time."

Yes, Amelia can do nothing but obey. She nodded her head in response to Robi's invitation, even though she was starting to feel miserable deep in her heart because she had to meet people who hated her again.

***

The distance between their homes is quite far, it takes almost an hour to travel.

Initially, his extended family asked him to fill the Wijaya family's house. However, because Amelia kept whining about moving, Robi finally bought a place quite far away from home.

Amelia's heart has been going crazy since they left the house, don't know what else her mother-in-law will say to her—she thought.

Every time she accused herself of being infertile, she wanted to scream and admit that she was pregnant and that it was her husband—Robi. But of course, Amelia can't do that, she needs a good plan to trick Robi.

Meanwhile, at Mayang's house, the families gather to hold a routine meeting of the Wijaya extended family. Mayang has now taken over as the head of the family after her husband died, replacing her father-in-law, who had fallen ill.

Mayang felt uneasy when Robi had not yet arrived, she tried to peek through the window several times to make sure her son had come.

"Brother Robi will come, Mam," said Alan.

"How do you know?"

"Just my feelings, but I'm sure."

"You know what? Just be quiet, an illegitimate child has no right to speak. You don't even have the right to breathe!" she rebuked.

Yes, Alan is Robi's younger brother, the son of her husband's infidelity while still alive.

At first, she refused when her husband asked Alan to live under the same roof, but because she was threatened with divorce, she chose to stay as long as Robi's status as the primary heir was safe.

Mayang couldn't understand how her husband could suddenly admit his infidelity. The figure of Agus Wijaya—her late husband, was a person who loved his family.

Alan was speechless, Mayang's piercing words hit his heart. Offended? Of course, but he could do nothing but endure until his studies were over.

Robi and Amelia had just arrived, and the atmosphere immediately felt stifling. Amelia's chest was now nervous.

When Mayang and other family members greeted Robi, no one greeted Amelia.

"Mommy was surprised when your secretary said you came home last night."

"Sorry, Mam... today's a special day, so Robi can't just miss it."

"What's so special, when Amelia is pregnant—that's just special," she teased.

Amelia was speechless, she was used to hearing piercing words from her husband's family, especially her mother-in-law.

To them, Amelia might be a lucky money mad woman. Even when they got married, no one attended.

"Pray for Amel to get pregnant soon, Mam. The intention is, I want to try insemination."

Amelia was surprised to hear Robi's sudden statement like a thunderbolt in broad daylight. Her heart was restless, what if later the secret was revealed? This can't be allowed—she thought.

Previously Robi always avoided it even though she whined about checking himself together, but why...?

"Good then. If it still fails, how?"

"Yeah, just try IVF, Mam."

"If it still fails, divorce it. Don't let the descendants of the illegitimate child continue our business!"

Robi could only swallow Saliva, which was suddenly dry. He understood his mother's concern very well.

"Mam ... Stop calling Alan an illegitimate child. He's Papi's child after all."

"He is indeed your father's son but born to a mistress!"

Mayang was annoyed when she recalled how her husband betrayed their marriage, she wanted to spit out her anger at Alan.

"Ah, never mind. You meet Grandma. Mommy wants to calm down first."

"Yes, Mam," answered Robi and Amelia in unison.

Amelia could breathe a sigh of relief for a moment. Yes, only for a moment because there are still many people out there to meet, especially the real queen—Yustina, the grandmother of Robi Wijaya.

Ddrrrtt'

Her cell phone vibrated in her bag, Amelia immediately felt uneasy because she was worried if it was a message the man had sent for her.

"Honey, I'm going to the bathroom first, okay?"

"Okay, I wait here. Later, we will meet Grandma together."

"Yes, Honey ...."

Amelia walked quickly to the bathroom near the living room, she swiftly checked her cellphone. Sure enough, it was a message from him—Amelia thought.

[I miss you ...]

"Argh ... crazy, even though I told him not to send weird messages while with Robi," she mumbled.

[I told you, don't send creepy messages, what if Robi checks my phone?!]

[Wouldn't it be great if he knew?]

[Do not be crazy!]

[Fine, I'll wait until you're ready. Now, quickly get out of the bathroom, I want to see your pretty face]

Deghh'

Amelia began to feel restless, if he knew that she was in the bathroom now, it meant that he was in this house.

She quickly erased all the messages earlier to remove any traces.

Amelia immediately came out, looking around to confirm his whereabouts. Her eyes widened when she saw Robi was with him with several other people, having small conversations with a smirk on his face.

"Mel ...," called Robi.

Amelia stomped her feet shakily, wanting to run as far as possible from what seemed like hell to her.

"Hi, Mel," he said.

"H—hi...."

Amelia turned to look him in the eye but dared not say anything other than suppressing her fear.