Chapter 20 : Tasya

"What? Staying? At—at her boyfriend's place?” Tasya's brows furrowed deeply as if she felt like she was in another world that she had never touched.

Her best friend, Fiona Debrynostichia, finally went to sleep over at the house of someone she could call a boyfriend?!

"But Kian came earlier, and it seems he also likes Fiona," muttered Nia as she drank water from the kitchen. Tasya suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

"Kian was here earlier? If he comes here, it means he doesn't know that Fiona is staying over—wait, wait…” Tasya's mind suddenly started spinning. Nia approached while taking down a plate of grapes from the refrigerator with an innocent look.

Tasya's face suddenly froze. "Nia, which Fiona’s boyfriend do you mean?" Tasya's nape suddenly bristled. She glared at Nia. Conjecture touched the tip of her tongue and she didn't want to believe it until she heard it firsthand.

“But Leonard.”

Damn!

Tasya immediately fell and sat limp on the sofa. Nia looked at her confused. "Why is it?"

“He’s not Fiona's boyfriend! That—that's the guy who left his cell phone at home yesterday night!”

Nia nodded casually. “Oh yeah, right. He was also the one who stopped by here after a few days to meet Fiona. Listen. He looked really handsome, tall, white, wearing an office suit, like someone important. It's really, really dapper. Oh my, I'm so excited. But he's also really good. Not just what sounds sweet to the mouth. He—"

"How in the world do you know that he is not just a sweet mouth guy?" Tasya interrupted. As someone who knows what happened between Fiona and that perverted guy, of course this is not good news. Tasya thought that for several days Fiona had not answered her call just because the girl was busy and had started writing seriously again for her career. But it turns out that thinking was wrong.

This afternoon, when the phone was not answered, Tasya decided to go to her friend's house and leave time to visit. As a friend who has been with her for almost twenty years, Tasya knows better than anyone about Fiona. That girl is not easy to predict. However, Tasya herself does not deny how Fiona's charm easily attracts people's attention. That's why she often warned Nia not to bring just anyone home again. Especially after the incident with Leonard's cell phone being left behind. Tasya is just afraid that Fiona will really be raped and lose her virginity.

That's why she created an account on the dating application named Candy Pink and introduced her to Kian. On the list of people who are nearby, Kian is the only guy who looks 'normal' compared to the others. And after trying it, Tasya was right. Fiona seems to like the guy and his younger personality feels balanced to match Fiona's sometimes more mature thinking.

However, it all went smoothly before Leonard—the guy Fiona had taken from the bar that night to sleep with—showed up.

Tasya ruffled her bangs in excitement while Nia continued her innocent conversation.

“A few days ago, Leonard came. It was already quite late, but at that time Fiona had not yet come home from a trip to campus with Kian. Then I told him to wait inside, but he politely refused. Because Fiona hadn't come home yet, and I was sleepy, I permitted to lock the house and told Leonard to just go home. But he remained adamant and waited. And he ended up guarding the house while waiting for Fiona to come home. He said so that I don't have to get up to open the door. Then, I, just believe it and sleep."

Tasya's mouth dropped open. She was a little amazed to hear Nia's confession, which was so innocent, almost a little stupid. She doesn't know how strong Leonard's charm is to make Nia believe him like that, but this guy is definitely much stronger than Kian, who clearly asked Fiona out first.

Tasya rubbed her face in frustration.

"Where is he staying?" Tasya finally asked.

Nia's appearance was a little plain. She turned towards the landline telephone desk and handed her a piece of paper that had been written by herself this afternoon after Leonard called her to tell her about the situation. Tasya furrowed her eyebrows. The address on the paper felt strange and confusing.

"Where is this?" asked Tasya.

"Oh, I thought you knew the place. You are the one who has lived in Indonesia longer. Is there something wrong with the address?" Nia's eyes widened, fear visible in them.

"Who knows? I have to check first. The name of the area is actually around West Jakarta. But the housing... hmm," Tasya guessed. She rarely travels around West Jakarta, so she doesn't really understand it. Tasya opened her cell phone and accessed Google Maps. Try searching for the city name and postal code of the address. The digital map only shows a box of housing lots without detailed blocks like housing in general. What's this? Why does the address look like it exists and doesn't exist?

"Strange," muttered Tasya while struggling to herself. She zoomed in on the digital map while guessing again.

All this time, Fiona said that Leonard was an important person who worked in an office. What kind of office is it? Tasya doesn't know the specifics. But this all feels so strange. Why did Leonard give an address that was even difficult to find on a digital map?

"Nia, what if I want to call Fiona? There's a number you can call, right?"

Nia immediately turned the memo paper over and showed the number. Tasya immediately grabbed her cell phone and dialed a number.

A dial tone sounds.

But no one picked up.

*

The dinner ended quietly and serenely. The dining room is only filled with a large round table with various dishes on the table filling the view. On the side of the room, the window glass was left open, allowing a direct view of the tall buildings that outlined the night sky. The dim lights of the city's buildings usher in a calming splendor.

"Are you sure Fiona is okay?" Cornelius asked while cutting the tenderloin on his plate. On the table, there were only Leonard, Cornelius, Noura—his mother, and Giovani. The servants stood guard at the door.

"Well. She seems to have to adapt even more. I'm the one who forced her to come here, and I shouldn't have continued to pressure her," said Leonard without interest. Opposite him, Noura snorted lazily.

“What are you trying to drag trash here for? It's good to have diamonds in front of your eyes, instead, you choose a woman who doesn't have manners."

Leonard looked at his mother sharply. "A secondhand diamond, you mean, Mom?"

Giovani slammed the fork and knife on the plate, Noura gasped angrily.

"Watch your mouth!" Noura exclaimed.

"If you can stop talking bad about Fiona, I'll watch my mouth. But it looks like you won't be able to."

Suddenly the room felt so cold and tense. Only Cornelius chewed his meat in silence. Even though he was so calm, his thoughts weren't. And Leonard knew it. Especially after a secret report from an intelligence group that had been stalking the Schev Family in South Jakarta.

The situation seems worse.

And what's even worse is Noura's decision to still insist on wanting Giovani to be his wife.

"Tonight I will take care of all the weddings and Mom can't interfere with this decision no matter what," Leonard said straightly. From across the table, Giovani stared at him.

“Fiona doesn't like you. Why do you always insist? Besides, that's not good for your marriage in the future," said Giovani, surprisingly not as grumpy as he was this afternoon.

No one knows about this mission. Only Leonard and Cornelius secured the situation forcibly without telling the reasons and context of why they were saving and forcing this marriage for the sake of Fiona—a stranger he had not even known for a month. But… towards Fiona, Leonard clearly knew how he felt.

No guy doesn't like a girl as innocent, beautiful, and sexy as Fiona. Apart from Fiona's appearance, which always has incomparable excellence, there is one thing that has made her come to this point. Something he witnessed himself and he suspected would not end well if he didn't act like this.

Even though his decision sounded impulsive because he couldn't tell Fiona straight away, Leonard had to hold back until the right time.

From her place, Noura sighed. "Honey, are you going to just let Leonard decide this? Why don't you just want to have a daughter-in-law whose origins are unclear?" shouted Noura in a high and shrill voice.

This time Cornelius forced himself to look at his wife and take a breath before answering. “She doesn't have unclear origins. She just doesn't have parents and lives alone. She was alone and she was fighting for her life.”

"How do you know? You just let me have an explanation, right?”

Cornelius's eyes looked at his wife deep and calm. "Do I look like I'm composing?"

Noura was silent, and then for a few seconds, Cornelius spoke again.

***