The Girl Next Door's

Past Times

Deril stood in front of Doctor Stephen's house with ice-cold hands. His jaw hardened because he was feeling tense. A few seconds ago, he had rang the bell of the mansion in front of him. However, there was no sign that the front door would be opened.

"What was that just a small talk?" murmured Deril to himself. Deril turned around, wanting to just go back home.

Suddenly the gate opened itself. Deril jumped in shock. He darted here and there looking for who opened the gate.

"Come in!" the voice was heard from Intercom.

Deril according to. He came in and passed the front yard of Doctor Stephen's house. Nothing has changed. Fake flowers remain a decoration there.

"Welcome!" Doctor Stephen welcomes Deril. He was not ceaselessly smiling. It made Deril feel nauseous. "Let's go in! Mika was waiting in the dining room" he said, pulling over, giving Deril room to enter the house.

"Excuse me" Deril said as he passed Doctor Stephen.

With his long legs, Doctor Stephen guided Deril towards the dining room. The place had a faint fragrance of lavender, covered by the aroma of cooking on the table. The lights on the dining table are deliberately made rather dim, adding to the relaxing impression in the room.

Mika looked over when she heard the sound of footsteps. His black hair was neatly intertwined. This time, Mika uses a blush and lipstick. Although her makeup is thin, but Deril can realize the change in Mika's face.

"Hi!" Deril threw a smile at Mika. I don't know how many times they met, but Deril's attitude was still awkward in front of Mika. "Said Mom, it's not good to come empty-handed. So I brought a snack for dessert." Deril approached Mika and placed a box of nastar cakes next to Mika's plate.

"You'll have plenty of time to chat after dinner" Doctor Stephen sat down next to Mika.

Deril sat in front of the girl of his heart. That's the only seat left. This is not the first time I've sat face-to-face with a girl. However, Deril's heart continued to jump around unbecoming.

"Just relax, son," Doctor Stephen flipped his plate. "After eating, I'll tell you something."

Deril has no chance to talk, as Doctor Stephen and Mika have already started taking food to their respective plates. Inevitably, Deril had to be patient and wait for their dinner to finish first.

No conversation took place as long as they enjoyed dinner. The dining room was filled with the twang of spoons that were met with expensive ceramic plates. Deril stared at the food until he was not left. He hesitated to raise his head, or simply retort Doctor Stephen's gaze. Deril didn't like that guy's smile.

"Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"

"Uhuk! Uhuk! Uhuk!" Deril chokes, shocked by Doctor Stephen's unexpected question. "Y-yes!?"

"Haha! I'm just kidding!" Doctor Stephen chuckled, unaware that his joke was not funny to Deril. "I thought you were traumatized by your father's incident yesterday."

Deril rubbed his mouth with a tissue. "There is no one who is not afraid of being poisoned" Deril replied logically.

Doctor Stephen nodded. "I like the way you think. My son thinks the same."

Deril turned to Mika who immediately returned her gaze. "really?"

Mika replied with a deep look. His facial expression did not change at all. He really just stared at Deril without blinking.

"alright. As I said earlier, I wanted to talk about something about Mika." Stephen's doctor distanced his plate, indicating he had finished dinner.

A thousand questions popped into Deril's head. A sense of alert makes Deril's heart can not relax. Both hands were sweating. He really wanted to know about Mika. After all, she liked Mika.

Mika who rubbed the tip of her lips turned Deril's attention for a few seconds. Deril admired every graceful move Mika made.

"When she was raped."

"What!?" pekik Deril's. His eyes widened. His heart seemed to stop beating. 'What does that mean? Does he want to admit that the tea party was just a cover? Or is he willing to divert my assumptions all this time?' conjecture for conjecture continued to appear in Deril's head. But, not a single question came out of his mouth.

"When Mika was five years old, Mika was raped" Doctor Stephen repeated his sentence.

Deril wanted to ask who did it, but also didn't want to know who did such a heinous act. So, Deril just kept quiet, waiting for Doctor Stephen to continue his story.

"There's a tramp named Ardi who came into this house when my wife and I weren't home."

'I've heard Ardi's name from Bayu, ' Deril immediately remembered Bayu's story when they met at the Arisan event. Ardi is a vagrant who was declared missing ten years ago. To this day, no one is looking for her because she has no relatives. Police closed Ardi's case as a child who left the area after his father died.

"When it's about to catch Ardi and take him to the police station, the boy goes missing without a trace. Since that incident, the jolly Mika changed as she is now. He remains my favorite son. In order to make Mika's condition better, I sent her abroad to be treated by the best doctors. When that happened, my wife disappeared without a trace." Doctor Stephen was silent for a moment. His sight looked far away. His face was sad. "I didn't expect. In my successful career life and abundant wealth, misfortunes like this even hit me."

Deril's mouth remained tightly closed. He decided to be a listener. Nothing Deril can value at this time. What he saw was definitely not a fantasy. Doctor Rendi was there with Mika that day.

"Does the Doctor know where the Doctor's wife is going?"

Doctor Stephen shook his head. "Nobody knows. My wife's family, my family, our friends, even the police, no one can find her. Actually I know that my wife has a mistress. But, I don't want to be prejudiced before I find her."

'Any!' Deril warns her when her pity begins to feel. 'It's weird! He seemed too calm for size to tell his wife's disgrace to others. That's a story of the past. But, doesn't that include injuries for this family. And again, he told her bad things about his wife, in front of his own son.' Deril glanced towards Mika. Deril was surprised not to play when he saw the look on Mika's face.

"Mika is my only child. When I couldn't find my wife, I decided to focus on taking care of Mika. He didn't I put in public school, because there was a dangerous place. Many threats lurk my dear daughter."

"So, Mika went to school from home?" Deril turned his face away from Mika. Trying to look unperturbed with Mika frozen like an undead.

"No" replied Doctor Stephen. "Mika doesn't need school. I have a lot of money. He will live happily even if he just sits quietly at home. Mika likes to paint. It's the only thing that's harmless. Brushes can't make my son hurt."

"Someone said, Mika occasionally went berserk," Deril's fishing rod.

"really. The only thing I can't change is her desire to have sex*sexual. He'll go berserk. Mika's like crazy about this."

Deril did not dare to glance at Mika anymore. From the corner of his eye, Deril could see Mika. He could no longer describe how Mika was currently. "Doctor Rendi..."

"He helped me fulfill Mika's desire" replied Doctor Stephen.

Deril's hand clenched tightly until it trembled in anger. There was an emotional upheaval she felt.

"Every time Mika wants to, Doctor Rendi will come and fulfill all Mika's wishes. Maybe it's because there's no mother role in Mika's life."

'LIED! HE'S LYING! DON'T BELIEVE!' Deril shouted that sentence many times inside his head.

***