Chapter 23: Paris Literacy

"Actually, why do you have to keep Fiona as your daughter-in-law?"

In front of the dressing mirror, Noura had removed all her hairpins and buns. She combed while lamenting that her husband was reading something on his cell phone. The man half leaned on the bed cushion, half propped his legs up on the mattress. He was already in black pajamas, ready to sleep.

“Leonard likes her. Why should I forbid it?"

Hearing that answer, Noura's brows furrowed even deeper. She turned around and looked at her husband who was still busy typing on his cell phone. "But I don't like her."

These words were able to make Cornelius raise his face and look at his wife. “Don't start again, Noura. This is your son's wedding. Do you want your child to be unhappy?"

Noura groaned in amazement. “Since when have you thought about Leonard's happiness? You and I both know what problems will occur in the future. You said yourself that our war with the Marionettes won't be over until one of us actually stops.”

“Dead,” Cornelius said coldly. Noura took a slow breath then got up and went to bed. She rubbed Cornlius' shoulder while rubbing the man's hand.

"I don't want you to be impulsive like this. Why don't you just give up and let Marionette have what he wants, anyway? That way we can live peacefully without any more disturbance and terror from him."

Cornelius slightly pushed away his wife's touch. "Then you know what he wants?"

For a moment, Noura was silent.

"He's been bothering us for almost twenty years now. All this time I survived and secretly gathered my people to fight him. I know how much power he has in South Jakarta, but getting to Central Jakarta is not impossible. I control Central Jakarta, he controls South Jakarta. Touched in Senayan then revealed victory. Do you want the next time we meet Marionette to win?”

“It's not who wins. But who survived. If you marry Leonard to Giovani, we can get help from people in West Jakarta. You know that the Giovani family are all cosmetic conglomerates from West Jakarta. What's so difficult about asking for help from them instead of having to let a woman of unknown origin live in this house?"

Cornelius sighed. “This issue is just about me and Marionette. He started extorting people on the streets around Senayan and big malls. I got a lot of reports that he has also started to dare to set foot at the University of Jakarta, asking for 'tax' like a poor person."

From their intelligence report, they found information that the University of Jakarta was starting to have a lot of expenditures whose origins were unclear. After investigation, it turned out that the Chancellor of UNJAK was influenced by Marionette and started spending his money to divide taxes. No one dared to investigate this matter. Of course, it's all because of Marionette.

“But there's something good about it, isn't it? That way, he distributed evidence so that he could be arrested by the police. President Anwar doesn't know about this yet, right?”

Cornelius was pensive. Doubt suddenly came over him. "If he finds out, maybe he will end up."

“That's your win, right?” said Noura.

"Not really."

Noura glanced at her husband while complaining. "So what? You want to kill Marionette?”

“After what he did, of course, I would do that.”

Noura got up with panic on her face. “Are you for real? If you really want to kill him, I will leave this house!”

"What do you mean?"

“You are just as bad as him! Just put him in jail, why bother?"

“Prison doesn't affect him, Noura. His power trumps anything, maybe even President Anwar himself. Besides, when it comes to Fiona, she's just like our people. She was marked.”

This time Noura's mouth opened. "She has been marked too?"

Cornelius showed me the screen on his cell phone. A photo is displayed there. Noura's brow furrowed. The photo shows a party—either a party or a formal event in a luxurious building. In the crowd, the photo focuses on a slender girl dressed in a knee-length white dress who is seen smiling at someone she is chatting with. Behind the wall hung the same photo—a photo of the girl, but in a different pose holding a book.

“This photo was taken several months ago,” said Cornelius.

“That… Fiona, right?”

Cornelius nodded. “Me and her were both there. At the Paris Literacy Building. Do you remember me investing in the literacy community there? At that time two writers were popular. One author of erotica, one of literature. Their ages are ten years apart. And apparently, literature writers don't really like Fiona—because they think she only sells the 'erotica' of her writing. Since that party, the names of the two of them have become popular because they had a big fight at that party."

Cornelius' finger scrolled the screen, and then an amateur video appeared. Noura squinted to see more clearly.

In front of Fiona, there was a young adult woman who looked taller than Fiona. She starts with a sly smile and her speaking style looks elegant. Her face is quite the opposite of Fiona, who is slightly Asian. Not long after arguing, the woman who wrote literature started throwing drinks in Fiona's face until everyone exclaimed in shock. Fiona then reached out and roughly grabbed the woman's hair.

They ended up being disbanded by the people around them.

Cornelius put his cell phone away again. "More or less, that's the reason why Fiona went on holiday to Jakarta. Apart from the fact that she was cared for at an orphanage here, one of her family members is from Jakarta. Since childhood, she lived in Paris, but because there were clues connecting her family to Jakarta, the monks—who happened to look after the orphanage—had good relations with the orphanage in Jakarta. They moved Fiona a few years ago and returned to Paris because reportedly someone wanted to adopt her. Even though it was canceled, she returned to continue her life as a writer."

"How do you know all this?" Noura asked quietly.

"When I met her at that literary event in Paris, I accidentally met Marionette too."

This time Noura was surprised. She knows that her husband likes things related to literacy. Cornelius was interested in all kinds of art. Especially classical art from Europe. Cornelius always felt closer to things abroad because he was familiar with his childhood. But Marionette...

"What is he doing there?" Noura asked pensively.

But Cornelius just sighed as he put down his cell phone and pulled up the blanket. "If I had known, I wouldn't have kept Fiona here until now."