Mentari in the Night Sky

The Past: Protecting

I can still feel the loud slap Ken gave me. I feel like I will continue to feel this slap for the next few days. Slowly I held onto my cheek which was beginning to swell. It would be very difficult to cover up the wound on my cheek right now from my father or it could be that now I already know everything.

"Did it hurt?" ask Stephanie.

I just shook my head and lowered my hand from my cheek. Arthur keeps watching you from the front-view mirror. Several times he was busy with his cell phone, I'm sure he was telling mom. There's no way he's been able to tell dad or William because Arthur never did that. For him, father or William would know everything that happened to me by itself. Just leaving a mother who won't know anything before we tell her.

A cold bottle was given to me. Stephanie kept nudging the cold bottle in her hand to me so I could compress my cheek. I don't like the cold I feel. Not only my cheeks would feel the cold but my whole body considering how sensitive my body was to the cold.

I shook my head and pushed the bottle in Stephanie's hand.

"Is it really not sick?" stephanie asked once again.

"Hmmm," I replied while nodding.

Stephanie and Caroline decided to come home with me. They want to make sure I'm okay. The definition of fine for them is tears. They wanted to see me shed tears as a sign that I was okay. They thought I was hiding my true feelings and they didn't want me to cry alone.

"Have you ever seen me cry when Ken hurt me?" ask me for the umpteenth time. I'm tired of having to ask that question over and over again.

"This time he's outrageous. He didn't even listen to the explanation. She's..."

Caroline stopped her words, making me stare directly at her who was now trying to stop herself from crying. Stephanie patted her twin sister's shoulder gently and left Caroline's head on her shoulders.

"Can Uncle use this airpod?" arthur asked as he put the two airpods in his hand into the driver's ear. He did not even wait for the driver to answer him and immediately did whatever he wanted. The typical Allison family man, always moves without waiting for anyone's approval.

Anyway, I like Arthur better than William is more pushy. William won't ask a single question, he'll take immediate action. In contrast to Arthur who will ask questions first so that the person who is ruled by him is not too surprised. Even so, both still do not provide an opportunity for others to give their opinions.

"Tell me what really happened."

"They?" stephanie asked me for permission to tell her everything.

I nodded and immediately turned my attention to the streets. Stephanie recounted everything she heard at the cafe where we met Natasha and Uncle Parker's secretary by accident. He repeated every word Natasha said in great detail. I even forgot all that talk. How could he still remember?

I occasionally watched Arthur's face remain flat. She is neither shocked nor guilty of her attitude towards Ken, so different Stephanie and Caroline are showing their guilty faces. I think what Ken did to me left a deep hatred for Arthur. I thought Arthur would show an expression of disbelief in what he heard. This time, he preferred to show his adult side.

"Father and William won't care about it" Arthur said as Stephanie finished telling the story.

"What about Brother?" my many.

"A moment where he hasn't slapped you, I can understand it but right now I hate him so much. I'll do anything to make him suffer."

"He suffered enough."

"..."

"Zeta, I want to ask you one thing. Why don't you just tell Ken straight away if it's all just a misunderstanding?"

"Steph, Ken didn't listen to her," Caroline replied.

"When Ken hears it or not, Zeta always tells the truth."

"If I tell you the truth, Ken will know everything about Natasha" I replied.

"Zeta!!!" yelled Arthur, Stephanie, and Caroline at the same time.

"After everything he did to you? You still want to save her?!" caroline did not believe it.

"Carol, you said a few days ago that you would treat Ken well after knowing what really happened. Where'd that Carol go?"

"Zeta, this time it's different" Stephanie said.

"What's different?"

"Many people are involved. And now that Ken slapped you, would Uncle Allison and Brother Will just shut up?"

Sure didn't. Neither father nor William would hate Ken any more. I'm pretty sure today's events are going to make me want to cancel my match with Ken even more. I'm also pretty sure William is working out a plan to make Ken suffer. And I'm also sure Uncle Parker will finish off Ken.

As my mother told me, the word love that comes out of our mouths will cause a lot of trouble..

"Why do you want to protect her?" arthur finally gave up on me.

"I want to protect the last smile that Aunt Lily tried to protect. The smile only appeared when Ken was with Natasha. I want to protect that smile to the end just like auntie did."

"What are you going to do when he knows all this? Including the fact that you helped him. What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna make him not know all that stuff."

"How is it?"

"Make a deal with Uncle ..."

"All right."

"Sister Arthur!!!" stephanie and Caroline shouted at the same time.

I looked at Arthur's face from the rearview mirror. The face of a person who recalls his past memories. Memories that I have not been able to open up until now. The look in his eyes showed a longing for the past, a protection that he probably would not be able to treat because the antidote that could treat the longing had not yet appeared.

Unlike William who is certainly seen to have a secret, Arthur who always shows a cheerful face of his own also has a secret, a secret that he thinks is quite dark. Even my parents didn't know what secrets he had, only William was the only one who knew about his secrets. Dad is not too curious about his secrets because for father it is natural that members of the Allison Family have one secret in his life. My own mother was the same as me trying to ask Arthur the secret. Mother has given up on knowing her secrets and I still haven't given up. I was waiting for the right time for her to tell her a dark secret. Time I might never get.

"Please promise me one thing. You'll keep doing all those things with me, no matter what."

"I promise," I said as I thrust the little finger that was immediately greeted by him.

"And you two, if this is heard by William. I'll make you regret."

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