A week had passed since Ariana left Zeroun's residence. But if Gerald noticed, the atmosphere at his home seemed normal. Even Axel, who used to sulk when going to school, now appeared just like before. It was as if things had returned to the way they were before Ariana entered their lives. The only one who felt Ariana's absence was Gerald. Yes. Every night, without realizing it, Gerald would wake up with his hand reaching out to Ariana's empty side of the bed. Then he would stay awake until the early hours of the morning, missing the woman who had been accompanying his sleep and patiently listening to his meaningless chatter. Ariana. Why was she doing all this? How could she be so heartless to her own child? How could she be so cruel to Gerald? Didn't she have any feelings for him? Gerald was convinced that Ariana had started to open up to him. If Ariana didn't have feelings for him, she wouldn't have agreed to be with him. She wouldn't have prepared his favorite meals, listened to

"Pull over, Amber..." Ariana whispered softly. But it seemed Amber didn't hear her. Eventually, Jody had to tap her shoulder and command her to pull over. Without many words, Amber immediately steered and parked the car on the roadside as fast as she could. "What time..." Ariana glanced at Jody, who was still watching her silently. Jody reached for his phone in his pants pocket. "A little past eight," he replied softly. Ariana nodded, choosing to close her eyes and lean her head back against the car seat. Besides the noise of passing vehicles outside, all they could hear inside the car was Ariana's heavy breathing. Both Amber and Jody could only gaze at Ariana in silence. "Ariana..." Amber released her seatbelt and turned around to face Ariana, looking at her with concern. "When was the last time this happened?" she asked, curious. Ariana opened her eyes. Her gaze seemed distant, but then she lifted her head and looked at Amber, then smiled. "This is the first time it's happened

"What makes you rush?" Mrs. Sri asked again. "Just so I can feel at ease," Ariana replied honestly. Mrs. Sri looked at her again with a scrutinizing gaze. "Your marriage is still in its early days. From what I know, marriage isn't easy, especially for those who are arranged like you and Mr. Gerald. Don't you need more time to get to know each other?" She asked again. Ariana just smiled. "In the end, I realized that we will never fully know someone who is close to us 100%. Throughout the marriage, we will always adapt to each other. And waiting for us to be perfectly matched might take a long time. Meanwhile, I can't wait. Axel will slowly grow up, and when his mind starts to comprehend the situation, he will question his status. And I don't want to give him ambiguous answers." Mrs. Sri nodded her head. "But you know that Axel also has family on his mother's side?" Ariana nodded. "That means you also know that it's not just your and Mr. Gerald's obligation to take care of Axel?" Ari

Mrs. Rosaline called the nearest servant to her. "Where is Yosef?" she asked the servant, who turned back to look at Mrs. Rosaline with fear in his eyes. Understandably so, her Christian face clearly displayed anger. "Um, ma'am, Mr. Yosef went out with Mrs. Ariana's guest earlier," the young servant stammered. Mrs. Rosaline simply nodded and went back into the living room, closing the door behind her. She grabbed her phone and searched for Yosef's name there. He picked up the call on the first ring. "Where are you?" she asked the middle-aged man who had devoted more than half his life to their family. "On the way to the hospital, ma'am," Yosef replied from the other end. He was now sitting in the car being driven by Jody, looking back where Ariana was held in Amber's arms. "Which hospital?" Mrs. Rosaline asked again. Yosef mentioned the name of a hospital well-known to Mrs. Rosaline. "Very well. Do as we discussed earlier," commanded Mrs. Rosaline before ending the call. Yo

Amber stared at Ariana with a sharp gaze. "What do you mean?" she asked, unsure. "I'm going away," Ariana replied again, deliberately repeating her words even though she knew Amber had heard them before. "As soon as the adoption papers are out, I'm leaving." Amber continued to look at her, confused. "Where are you going?" she asked, anger rising again. "Where do you want to go? Your family, your home, everything is here," she reminded her. "I've consulted with a doctor, Amber. I can't stay here for long," Ariana said softly. "So where are you going?" she asked again, her voice filled with frustration. "You want to leave? To whom? Your family, your home, everything is here," she reminded her. "I've consulted with a doctor, Amber. I can't stay here for long," Ariana said softly. "So where are you going?" she asked again, her voice filled with frustration. "You want to leave? To whom? Your family, your home, everything is here," she reminded her. "I need to go far away," Ariana answ