Chapter 1

Ring! Ring!

Bayu’s phone rang again. The man quickly excused himself from his parents before getting up from his chair and looking for a quieter place to answer the call.

“Excuse me, I need to take this call,” Bayu said as he walked away from the dining table.

After making sure the area around him was quiet enough, Bayu answered the call.

“Hello, sweetheart. What’s up?”

“Where are you? I’m bored sitting alone in my room.”

“Just wait a little, sweetheart. I’ll be there soon. But I’m having dinner with my parents first. It wouldn’t be polite to suddenly leave them.”

“Fine, I’ll wait. Hurry over, okay?”

“Of course. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. All right, I’m hanging up now. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

After hearing his girlfriend’s reply, Bayu immediately ended the call. He slipped his phone back into his trouser pocket before returning to the dining table.

“What is it, dear?” Puput asked when Bayu sat down again.

“I have some important documents that I need to finish. After dinner, I have to go back to the office to work on them,” Bayu replied without hesitation.

Of course, it was all a lie.

Tonight, Bayu actually intended to spend the night at his girlfriend’s apartment and enjoy some time with her.

To hell with this arranged marriage!

From the very beginning, Bayu had strongly opposed the arrangement. However, his parents had stubbornly insisted that he accept it. Kalindra and Eva had even threatened to cut him off from his entire inheritance if he dared to refuse.

In the end, Bayu had no choice but to agree to the arrangement.

But how long would this arranged marriage last?

Bayu himself had no idea.

Actually, he had been planning to meet Rianti for some time to discuss their arranged marriage. He wanted to ask her to work with him to cancel their planned wedding.

The problem was that Bayu had yet to find the right time to meet her.

He had not even seen Rianti’s face in person.

“But you’ll come home after you finish your work, right?” Eva asked worriedly.

Over the past few days, Bayu had rarely come home. Instead, he had been spending most of his nights at the office, claiming that he had too much work to do and needed to work overtime until late at night.

As parents, Eva and Kalindra were certainly happy to see their only son working hard to develop the family business. However, Eva was also beginning to worry about Bayu’s health because he kept pushing himself to work.

She wanted her son to take a break.

She wanted Bayu to spend some time sitting with them, chatting casually as he used to when he was still in school.

“Looks like I’ll be staying at the office again tonight,” Bayu replied casually.

Eva could only let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s not that I don’t want to come home. There’s just so much work at the office right now. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Dad,” Bayu said with a reassuring smile.

Eva merely nodded.

Whenever Bayu said something like that, she knew there was no way she could force him to do otherwise.

---

Thirty minutes passed.

Yet Rianti had still not arrived.

Bayu had been spending most of his time on his phone. Every now and then, he replied to messages from Sisi, his girlfriend, who kept asking when he would arrive.

Time continued to pass.

Eventually, the clock struck nine in the evening.

Bayu let out a long sigh. His patience was beginning to wear thin.

“Have you heard anything from Rianti?” he asked.

Bagas, who was sitting not far from him, immediately shook his head, his face filled with guilt.

“Not yet. I’m sorry. It looks like our family dinner is going to fall through again.”

Bayu fell silent for a moment.

If Rianti really couldn't make it, she should have let them know from the beginning. That way, his family wouldn't have had to wait for so long.

“In that case, I’ll head home first. I still have a lot of documents to work on at the office,” he finally said.

Bayu immediately stood up. After saying goodbye to his parents and Rianti’s family, he left the house without showing the slightest hint of disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Kal. I honestly had no idea things would turn out like this again,” Bagas said gloomily.

He felt terribly guilty and embarrassed.

Rianti had once again humiliated him in front of the Admaja family.

But what embarrassed him even more was Bayu’s reaction. The man had not gotten angry at all. In fact, Bayu had still tried to be understanding about Rianti’s absence.

“It’s all right. Our family understands,” Kalindra replied calmly. There was not the slightest trace of anger on his face. “Perhaps Rianti has a lot of college assignments to deal with.”

Bagas could only nod.

“In that case, let’s just continue with dinner,” Kalindra added.

Rianti’s parents nodded as well. They resumed enjoying the meal that had been delayed while they waited for their daughter.

Meanwhile, Bayu was already inside his car.

As soon as he started the engine, he immediately called Sisi.

“Hello, sweetheart. I’m on my way to your apartment now.”

“Uh... sweetheart...” Sisi’s voice sounded hesitant on the other end of the line. “I’m not at the apartment right now.”

Bayu frowned.

“Then where are you?”

His voice turned concerned.

Hadn’t Sisi told him thirty minutes ago that she was at her apartment?

“My friends came over earlier and invited me to a nightclub. So, I’m at the club with them now.”

Bayu fell silent.

Only then did he notice the loud pounding music coming from the other end of the call.

At first, he had thought Sisi was deliberately playing music at a high volume.

It turned out that she really was at a nightclub.

“Fine. Wait there. I’ll come pick you up,” Bayu said curtly.

Without waiting for Sisi to respond, he immediately ended the call.

He pressed down on the accelerator and drove through the still-busy nighttime streets toward the club where Sisi and her friends usually hung out.

---

At the same nightclub, a beautiful woman was sitting at the bar.

The woman was Rianti.

Tonight, she looked absolutely stunning. The dress she wore had caught the attention of several men, who had been sneaking glances at her all evening. Some had even approached her and asked her to dance.

However, Rianti turned them all down.

Instead, she preferred to sit with one of her close friends, occasionally taking a sip of the vodka in front of her.

“Don't tell me you came here because you skipped another family dinner?” Sinta, Rianti’s close friend, asked.

Rianti gave a humorless chuckle before nodding.

“I’m tired, Sin.”

She took another sip of her drink.

“I’m tired of being forced to accept an arranged marriage I never wanted. They never understand how I feel. All they ever think about is business, business, and more business.”

Rianti let out a bitter laugh.

“They even treat marriage like a business opportunity.”

Sinta looked at her friend with sympathy.

“Am I supposed to keep giving in and sacrificing my own happiness?” Rianti continued, her voice beginning to tremble. “I’m really tired of living like this.”

She lowered her head.

“Just when I’d finally found happiness with Hendra, they told me to leave him.”

Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“I want to be selfish, Sin. Just once, I want them to do what I want. But I guess that’s just a dream. No matter what I do, I’ll never be able to win against them.”

Rianti could no longer hold back the burden she had been carrying alone for so long.

She needed someone to lean on.

And with Hendra absent, Sinta was the only person she could count on.

“Just hang in there, okay?” Sinta said gently.

She didn't know what else to say. She had never been in Rianti’s position, and she couldn't possibly understand everything her friend was going through.

“But I’ll always be here for you. Whenever you need me.”

Sinta then pulled Rianti into a tight embrace.

She let her friend cry as much as she needed to.

At least tonight, Rianti wouldn't have to bear everything alone.

---

Bayu finally arrived at the nightclub.

The moment he stepped inside, the loud music assaulted his ears. Colorful lights swept across the crowd filling the dance floor.

Bayu scanned the entire room.

Amid the crowd, his eyes landed on a woman sitting alone at the bar.

From behind, she looked exactly like Sisi.

Without thinking twice, Bayu immediately approached her.

“Let’s go home. Now!” he shouted.

He grabbed the woman’s arm roughly and pulled her toward him.

The woman immediately yanked her arm away.

Slap!

A sharp slap landed squarely across Bayu’s cheek.

The man froze in shock.

His hand instinctively rose to touch his stinging cheek.

Bayu glared at the woman standing before him.

However, she showed not the slightest trace of fear.

Instead, she boldly returned his glare.

“How dare you lay your hands on me!” Bayu snapped. “Do you even know who I am?”

The woman let out a soft, mocking chuckle.

“Why should I be afraid of a jerk like you?” she retorted sharply. “You can't just grab someone like that! A man like you deserves to be slapped.”

“You filthy slut!” Bayu snarled, his anger growing by the second.

The woman was not intimidated in the slightest.

“So what if I am a slut?” She flashed him a sarcastic smirk. “Do you think you can treat me however you please?”

She folded her arms across her chest.

“Even if I were a slut, I could still choose who I wanted to sleep with. I would never choose a man like you, who knows how many women he’s already slept with.”

Her gaze grew even more contemptuous.

“I still care about my body. I don't want to catch a sexually transmitted disease just because I slept with you.”

“You!”

Bayu finally lost control of his temper.

He raised his hand, intending to slap the woman.

But before his hand could reach Rianti’s cheek, someone rushed over and grabbed his wrist.

“Don't!”

The person forcefully shoved Bayu’s hand away.

“Rianti, are you okay?” Sinta asked in a panic.

Sinta had just returned from the restroom when she saw Rianti arguing with a man she didn't recognize.

She had no idea what had happened.

All she knew was that the man had just tried to slap her best friend.

Fortunately, Sinta had arrived just in time.

If she had been even a little later, the man's large hand might already have left a mark on Rianti’s cheek.

Rianti rubbed the arm that had been grabbed roughly.

“I’m fine,” she replied coldly.

Sinta then pulled Rianti away from Bayu.

At the same time, a woman suddenly approached Bayu.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

Sisi gently touched Bayu’s reddened cheek, which had been left stinging by Rianti’s slap.

However, Bayu didn't respond at all.

Instead, his gaze remained fixed on Rianti and Sinta as they slowly walked away.

For some inexplicable reason, Bayu couldn't stop watching the woman who had just slapped him.

He didn't know who she was.

He also had no idea that just minutes ago, fate had brought him face-to-face with the very woman he had been wanting to meet to discuss canceling their arranged marriage.

Rianti.

The woman whose face he had never even seen before.

And the woman who had just slapped him without showing the slightest trace of fear.