Mentari in the Night Sky
The Past: The Weighing of the Truth
Right now the woman who was the same age as my mother was enjoying the dishes in this five-star restaurant very greedily as if nothing had happened or perhaps this woman was replenishing her energy. Just as I was just silently staring at the food in front of me, Ken did the same. He looked at me over and over again, trying to read my current feelings, feelings that I hope no one knows. This woman elegantly wiped her lips with a white cloth on the table and drank some wine to end her meal.
This woman or Alvin's birth mother now gave the servant a sign to take our plate and serve dessert after making sure neither me nor Ken would touch the plate in front of us. The waiter immediately came and picked up the dishes in front of us after confirming the return if Ken and I were really done which Ken only replied with a nod. Once again, Alvin's mother drank some wine and stared intently at me as soon as she finished.
"Seeing from Zeta's attitude, it looks like Zeta already knows who Auntie is."
"Sister Alvin's biological mother," I answered, making Ken look back at me.
"Alvin does not know if Aunt is his biological mother, he only knows if Aunt is the sister of his mother who is none other than the twin sister of Aunt. The introduction of the name Aunty is Seiya Nakamoto, Zeta can call Auntie with the name of Aunt Sei."
"..."
"May Aunt ask you something?"
"Please,” my answer is flat.
"Where does Zeta know all this? Aunty just sent William letters."
His words managed to make me return his sharp gaze. As if satisfied as I returned her gaze, Aunt Sei again drank her wine, this time to the end.
So, William already knew all these things about the truth. I wonder when he first knew all this or if he still doubted this truth to the point of not telling me and Arthur. Or, he was currently trying to find evidence for this truth.
"Does it matter if the Parker Family members listen to our conversation?"
"He's Zeta's best friend."
"Alright, looks like he's also Zeta's future life partner."
"..."
"Zeta knows if Zeta can't be with Alvin because he's Zeta's older brother?"
Without me knowing I've clenched both my hands. As soon as he heard Aunt Sei's words, Ken immediately silently stared before he finally saw both of my hands clenching and trembling. He pulled my little finger and connected it to his index finger. I immediately looked at him who was currently smiling, a smile that gave me strength.
I turned my eyes back to the woman in front of me who was currently laying out various kinds of documents brought by a young woman in her 20s who seemed to be her secretary. Many documents are on the table, some I can guess the contents because there is a writing at the beginning of the document. 'DNA Test Report', anyone can guess what the document is about just by looking at the title.
Aunt Sei was still tidying up the documents until some waiter brought a dessert that ended with her secretary asking the waiter to serve later. Without me noticing my hand moving trying to pick up one of the documents. Luckily, Ken held my wrist straight away, preventing me from picking up or reading any documents.
Aunt Sei looked back at me and Ken alternately saw how Ken was trying to protect me. Today, he even wears a small smile, a smile that I cannot understand because it has two meanings. First, a smile of relief because at least he wouldn't hurt more people because he saw me have someone to protect me. Second, a smile disappointed that he would hurt his child with the fact that someone who loved his child already had someone else who could protect him.
Aunt Sei issued a document containing the results of a DNA test with several photos in it. I thought there would be nothing else to surprise me but I was wrong, I was surprised once I saw that there were photos and DNA test results other than Alvin's. There were two DNA test results and two photos that had just been released by him. The current photo of Alvin and the photo of a woman I once met in a hospital elevator. The woman who dropped the handkerchief said 'Nakomoto'. This time, Ken removed his finger hook and let me retrieve the documents that had been thrust at me.
Apparently, I have a sister. Does your mother know this too?
"When Auntie met your mother, she wouldn't listen to everything until the end. She only knows about Alvin who is the son of her husband. She has not yet figured out another truth where her husband also has another child with Aunty. He's Sina Nakamoto, he's your sister."
"Did William know this too?"
"He already knew everything, Aunt sent him a lot of documents 1 month ago."
A month ago also coincided with the time when Ken treated me so badly. At that time he also had to take care of many things for the acquisition of companies. One month ago was a very busy time for him and it turned out that his burden had increased. Arthur and I knew nothing but always blamed him for being busy with our corporate affairs. He who covered everything from us, made us very bad sisters. In fact, how important is this family compared to itself?
"She also knows the fact that Sina has leukemia and is in need of a spinal cord transplant. Right now, William is in the hospital because Auntie is poisoning his food, Aunt wants to find out if her spinal cord is a good fit for Sina."
"Should it be by poisoning him? Zeta knows that Brother William is not Aunt's son but poisoned her.."
"Mad has no other choice. Your father's blocking Aunt from asking you and your two sisters directly. It's the only option left for Auntie's son."
"Sister Alvin too..."
"There's no way Auntie's doing it because she's going to be the successor to the Nakamoto Family and Auntie doesn't want to make her suspicious."
Right now I really want to hit the woman in front of me. Every sentence that came out of his mouth just made me want to hit him even more. I wanted to hit him more and more because the tone he used was very calm, not the tone of someone who was guilty of destroying a family. For the first time in my life, I really hated someone.
"Your father and aunt still love each other to this day. We often meet to discuss Alvin and Sina. Honestly, Sina also already knows who his real father is, something that Aunt really does not want to tell anyone. Do you know Zeta? Even after the presence of the three of you in your father's life, he was still looking for Auntie until we finally got back to having another child."
"Stop it" said Ken as he stared furiously at Auntie Sei.
"Tante was forced to do this because of Sina's increasingly severe condition and needed a bone marrow donor. Your aunt and father's bone marrow don't match. Aunty had to do this," she replied without regard to Ken's words, making Ken want to pull my body away from this restaurant which I responded by hooking my pinky onto his index finger.
"Is Aunt forced to cheat too?" my question made Aunt Sei a little surprised and opened her mouth slightly. The secretary who had been behind him was also now told to leave. It seems like he was quite embarrassed after hearing my question.
"Your father and aunt met at a family gathering. At that time the Allison Family and the Nakamoto Family were two families that had considerable influence even though now the Allison Family was above the Nakamoto Family. We fell in love at first sight, your father even asked Aunt's father to marry Auntie. But at that time Aunty still wants to pursue the job Aunty, still want to continue the ambitions of Aunt. Ambition that turned out to make Aunt lose the man she loved. Who would have thought your father would have married another woman, sacrificing our love."
"..."
"The ambition turns into regret. Regrets turn to envy. And this envy made Aunt tease your father even after her wedding. And we kept in touch even after we were both married. Dark secrets, right?"
"..."
"Let's go, Ken."
"Zeta, thank you for teaching Alvin the meaning of love and how to love properly. Thank you for being in her life as a woman. From now on, Auntie hopes you will only be a little sister in her life" said Auntie Sei before I left the dining table and walked out of the restaurant.
I also knew the moment when Mom told me all these things, then I would no longer be able to see Alvin again as a man and also Alvin could no longer see me as a woman. Both of us should not have the feelings that we are currently feeling. This feeling, we should be able to throw away and then go back to living life as if we never had feelings for each other, she said, it's like I never let her into my life and she never tried to get into my life.
"Zeta," call Ken and make me let go of my hand.
"Please, please, please, please," I said as I pulled up Ken's body, making me cry in his arms.
The moment I realized that Alvin wasn't meant for me, I didn't feel this painful feeling. The moment I realized that the father my mother loved so much had betrayed her, this painful feeling arose. The first love of my life, the second love of my mother's life, and the first hero of my two brothers' lives, we were betrayed by the same person. The one who always gave her love to us, the love that I finally knew a lot of lies in it. The one who always protected us family, the protection I finally knew was just a way we didn't know all these truths.
Ken pushed my body slowly, he aligned his height with mine. He wiped my tears with his finger, a finger that had not wiped away my tears for a long time. Once again he gave me a smile, a smile to strengthen me.
How can I accept that smile when I also know that the mastermind behind his mother's death is my father?
"Miss."
Someone's slow voice distracts me and Ken. Secretary Aunt Sei was now standing in front of us, making Ken immediately put his body over my tiny body. Seeing the defensive attitude we showed made the secretary just silently grin. Several times the secretary tried to get closer but her steps always stopped when Ken came back with me. Ken held onto one of my arms and pushed my body slowly in his footsteps, something he used to do every time I was bullied in elementary school, surely when no one knows my true identity and Ken.
"Mrs Zelia knew about the affair even from the first day of her wedding" the secretary said, trying to break the 'defensive' wall Ken and I had built.
"..."
"I am the son of Agatha Wycliff, the former secretary of Lady Zelia who was sent to be a spy in the Nakamoto Family."
I took off Ken's handrails from my arm and walked out from behind Ken's large body. I stared for quite a while at this woman in her 20s, a woman claiming to be the son of Agatha Wycliff. I know that name and that name. The name that mother always told me as the figure of her caretaker from childhood and the clan that always served the Norvin Family from generation to generation.
I had never seen the face of the name this woman mentioned but I also could not ignore that this woman mentioned the name of someone who devoted herself to serving my mother.
Ken tried to pull my body back behind his body after I looked at this secretary for 1 minute. Ken doesn't trust the woman in front of us and of course the name this woman says, Ken doesn't know because I never told him anything related to my mother's family. I followed Ken's involuntarily, making me see a special ring belonging to the Norvin Family servant on the woman's ring finger. A plain gold-colored ring with a front engraved with the symbol of the Norvin Family, a roaring lion surrounded by daisy flowers.
"If you've known since the wedding day, why would you tell Zeta now?" I asked so sure the woman in front of me was indeed using the mother's family servant ring.
"Zeta," call Ken who again prevents me from further contact with the secretary. I glanced at her at a glance then shook my head as a sign that the woman in front of us was not a bad person.
"During this time the mistress covered all this because she did not want to make her small family destroyed and make her children no longer trust her father. The madam regularly went to the psychiatrist during her 20-year marriage until 2 days ago the woman met the mistress directly at the Norvin Family home which finally made Miss' grandfather know all the truth behind her son's marriage. Miss Mother does not want her children to know this from others even though it seems that only Miss was told directly by the mistress."
"If you've known from the beginning of the marriage, then you also already know of other children besides Alvin?"
"No," the woman replied as she shook her head with a look of regret.
"My mother did not tell me about the birth of the second child because at that time Mrs Zelia already thought her husband loved Miss Zeta with all his heart. My mother does not want to break her heart for the umpteenth time if she knows her husband has 2 children who are not from her" she continued.
"They?"
"Miss?"
Two simultaneous calls I wanted to ignore. I want to disappear this second too. I want to feel the peace I once felt.
No. gabe.
The peace I felt was only a pain for the woman who gave birth and took care of me. I don't know how many lies you've done just to cover up the lies you've done. I don't know how much she covered up her desire to reveal all the lies she's been hiding. And I can't imagine how much pain I've received just to feel the love full of lies that you give, not the one you give to your children but the one you give to you.
"In the past before Miss's birth, Ms. Zelia once attempted suicide. I'm afraid it'll happen again."
Not just the mother who might want to kill herself, but me too.
...-----...
"Miss!!! I can't allow this" Uncle Stephan said in a high and firm tone as soon as he found me sitting in a park with Ken.
"Uncle, if Zeta asks Uncle to kill father, will Uncle do it?" I asked after being silent for a while with tears coming back dripping from both of my eyes, making uncle no longer give his angry gaze which was now replaced with a worried look.
"Miss?" call Uncle and make sure I'm okay.
"Please promise Zeta, Uncle."
"No, Miss. I won't make any promises."
"Never try to save Zeta again. Zeta please, let Zeta be destroyed."
...-----...
