As Alexander busily paces back and forth, Casandra sits cross-legged on the bed, observing him. She is unsure of what to do. She doesn’t even consider speaking to Alexander since they never exchange words, except for important matters. Casandra doesn’t want to hurt herself by engaging in a conversation with Alexander, as he would only belittle her.
Instead of getting hurt, it’s better to stay silent, right?
“Now you call Mama!” Alexander approaches Casandra. “Tell her I’m done.”
Casandra’s face lifts up. “But, Sir…”
“But what? Don’t you want to? Whether you like it or not, you have to, so I can get out of here! As you know, my life is filled with work, unlike you, a village girl with nothing, let alone a future.”
“Yes, Sir, yes. I know I’m just a village girl with no future and a high unemployment rate. But that’s not the issue. If I call Mrs. Meri here, I’ll be questioned again, Sir. Do you want to be scolded again? I’m tired, Sir. You get scolded by Mrs. Meri, but I’m the one blamed.”
“No, anyway, you have to call Mama. I don’t care. However you do it, when Aunt Gita examines you, you have to no longer be a virgin.”
“What?” Casandra is stunned. “What do you mean by no longer a virgin, Sir?”
“I don’t know how, but I don’t care. Just make sure when Aunt Gita examines you, you’re no longer a virgin.”
“Well, it can’t be like that, Sir.” Casandra rubs her chest, searching and gathering patience. So she won’t get annoyed and scratch Alexander.
“It has to work. I want to work, Cas!”
Casandra rubs her face. “How can I not be a virgin without doing anything? Isn’t that insane?”
“What did you say?!” Alexander clenches his jaw.
Casandra shakes her head. “Nothing. I was just thinking about what excuse I can give to Mama.”
Alexander takes a deep breath, exhaling harshly, his hands resting on the wardrobe. “Now you call Mama and tell her you’re no longer a virgin.”
“But…” Alexander widens his eyes. “Alright.” Casandra gets off the bed, dragging her steps to open the door.
Ready to call for Meri and tell her that she is no longer a virgin. However, after Casandra calls once, she turns to face Alexander.
“If Mrs. Meri gets angry, I’m still a virgin, Sir, you’ll take the responsibility.”
Alexander nods. “Yes, I will take the responsibility.”
“Alright, then.” Casandra takes a deep breath. “Mama, Mama, I’m done, Ma! I’m no longer a virgin!” Casandra exclaims, knocking on the bedroom door.
Meri, who was in the living room, quickly got up and rushed to open the door. “Is it true that you’re no longer a virgin?”
Casandra nodded, although she felt guilty for lying to Meri. “Let’s lie down again, so Aunt Gita can check if you’re truly no longer a virgin.”
Casandra bit her lower lip, glancing at Alexander, who was still leaning against the wardrobe. Alexander nodded, signaling Casandra to follow his mother’s wishes.
Aware of the given signal, the girl followed Alexander’s request. She slowly lay down and prepared to be examined by Gita for the second time.
And as Gita entered, along with Meri, Alexander quickly took a thousand steps and ran out of the guest room.
“Sorry, I couldn’t do it yet. I can’t bear to sleep with that village girl and betray Cesilia,” Alexander shouted as he ran away from the guest room.
“Alex!!” Meri yelled in frustration with her son’s behavior. How could he refuse to comply with her wishes? How will they ever have grandchildren like this?
Casandra, who was asked by Alexander to deceive Meri, felt guilty toward her mother-in-law. She shouldn’t have done this, as Meri seemed sad being deceived.
“Be patient, sister. Maybe Alexander needs time to do it. After all, he truly loves Cesilia. We have to let everything flow naturally,” Gita reassured.
“It won’t work if we wait for Alexander to willingly do it with Casandra. Even when forced, he still refuses, Gita!” Meri sat on the bed, staring at Casandra.
“Well, it’s understandable that he doesn’t want to, sister. Being forced like this, and they only met yesterday, right? Besides, until now, Alexander doesn’t know who Casandra really is. Yet, you yourself said that Casandra is better than Cesilia. So, let them get closer first. I’m sure Casandra is a sweet girl who can win over Alexander’s hardened heart.”
“But how could he be willing? He always belittles Casandra. You saw it yourself, didn’t you, how Alexander has no manners when dealing with Casandra.”
“Yes, I know, sister. But I believe that with time, Alexander will eventually change and open his heart to Casandra.” Gita turned to Casandra, smiling. “My dear, Aunt sees that you have an incredibly high level of patience. Always finding a way to face Alexander, who constantly belittles you. That’s why Aunt believes you can conquer his hardened heart. Will you try, my dear, so that everything can go according to what we want?”
Casandra shook her head. “I can’t, Aunt. It’s not that I don’t want to or that I’m avoiding the agreement I made with Mama Meri, but I won’t be able to win over Mr. Alexander. I’m afraid I might fall in love, and he remains the same. I’ll suffer so much if I fall in love and bear Mr. Alexander’s child. I can’t bear the thought of him rejecting me. So let it be like this, so that when he asks for my child, I won’t feel hurt or wounded,” she explained, revealing her inner feelings.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to. When Meri asked Casandra to bring grandchildren for her, the same went for Cesilia’s request. Casandra will be married to Alexander, and if she gets pregnant, she must be willing to separate from her own child.
Based on how Alexander treats Cesilia and looks at her, Casandra isn’t confident that their love story will end like the fairy tales she hears on the radio.
Gita turned to Meri, not being able to say anything because of Alexander’s behavior.
Gita also knew from Alexander’s father that his son truly loved Cesilia. However, Cesilia never wanted to have children for fear of damaging her career.
Who knows how long Alexander will be asked to wait and keep waiting while he gets older.
Alexander, who successfully escaped, immediately left. Instead of changing clothes or taking a shower, he could be caught by his mother. So he decided to do it outside instead of facing his mother’s nagging.
That’s why he only went to the room to take his phone and car keys. During the journey, he called Cesilia again, hoping her phone was turned on. And this time, Alexander could breathe a sigh of relief because the call went through, which meant Cesilia had turned on her phone.
“Darling, where are you? Have you arrived in Bali, my love?” Alexander called out. “Darling.” Once again, he received no response from Cesilia.
“Darling, are you still there?” Alexander furrowed his brows, staring at the phone screen that still showed the outgoing call duration. However, there was no sound coming from the other end. So Alexander dialed again, but this time Cesilia didn’t answer the call.
His wife rejected him, as if she didn’t want to be bothered at all. Shortly after, Alexander received a message from Cesilia saying, “I arrived in Bali yesterday. I’m tired and busy taking care of myself. See you the day after tomorrow.”
Alexander snorted, a bitter smile forming as he read the message sent by Cesilia.
Indeed, Cesilia had always been busy, but she had never been out of town or unreachable like this. She never even had time for a simple conversation. Yet, he missed his wife dearly.
With a disappointed heart, Alexander walked through the city streets, looking for a mall to freshen up and change his clothes before meeting his new business partner. They needed to discuss the advertising campaign for his upcoming product launch.
Why not use Cesilia’s services? After all, she was a famous model.
It wasn’t that Alexander didn’t want to use Cesilia, but she never took jobs related to Alexander’s company or his business associates. Cesilia wanted to secure clients through her own efforts, without any favoritism. That’s why Alexander never knew who she worked with or what products she advertised.
“Why did you activate my phone?” Cesilia murmured, trying to open her heavy eyes.
“I didn’t want Alexander to worry about you.” A man sat next to Cesilia and handed her his phone.
“It’s useless, even if you send a message. Alexander will always worry about me because he loves me so much.”
Cesilia sighed heavily as she saw a message sent to Elang, but it wasn’t typed by her. It was sent by the man sitting next to her.
The man caressed Cesilia’s cheek. “I love you more than Alexander. The proof is that I always support whatever you do and support your career. I’ll never have a problem with whether you want to have children or not. Because happiness in life doesn’t solely rely on having offspring. I can make you happier than he can, I promise.”
“Don’t say too much. We’ve promised that this will all end in two years.”
Cesilia reaffirmed what the man said.
The man tugged at one corner of his lip, running his thumb along Cesilia’s lips.
“Two years won’t be enough to enjoy you. Being with you, exploring the beauty of your body.”
“Shut your mouth, Maxime!” Cesilia pushed away the man’s hand, who was now her new business partner, the son of Alexander’s new business associate.
It was this man who intentionally offered an enticing proposal, with a strange agreement for Cesilia. Only to be close to her because he had feelings for Cesilia for a long time.
Precisely since Cesilia decided to become a model. Back then, he didn’t have the position to pursue Cesilia. And when the company’s shares fell into his hands, now Maxime could do it.
“I want to go home, I miss Alex so much,” Cesilia complained, scooting over and sitting up, making sure the blanket covered her naked body.
“You can’t do that. You can go home when I desire it.”
“But you said we’re only here for two days. Besides, I haven’t done a single photoshoot since becoming the brand ambassador for this product. I’m afraid Alexander will suspect that I’m selling myself instead of showcasing my talent.” Cesilia’s eyes welled up.
“There’s no need to rush, my love. Let’s just enjoy the moment. Besides, two years is not a short time. I’m sure you can do the photoshoot the day after tomorrow, next week, or next month. It doesn’t have to be now, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be now, but I don’t want Alexander to know that his wife is willing to trade her body for this contract.”
“It’s not selling yourself, it’s accompanying me. It’s not selling yourself but allowing me to spend two years with the person I love, while also proving that I’m more deserving than Alexander. I’m sure that during these two years, you will change your mind and leave Alexander.”
“I will never leave Alexander because I love him deeply.”
“It’s what you say, but let’s see in these two years. I believe I will be the winner,” the man named Maxime pulled Cesilia’s chin and kissed her lips.
Cesilia avoided him, refusing Maxime’s touch once again. Honestly, she was tired of Maxime’s relentless pursuit ever since they set foot in Bali.
Maxime doesn’t like being rejected, he forcefully grabs Cesilia’s hair, holding her head in place so she can’t refuse what he’s doing. The man also throws away Cesilia’s blanket so he can savor every inch and curve of her body.
Maxime wants Cesilia to cater to him no matter what, whether the woman is tired or not.
Cesilia refuses and pushes Zein away because she feels guilty towards Alexander. While she does desire the contract, this is not the way to go about it.
If only Alexander knew, he couldn’t imagine how to live without his husband.
“Oh, God. I hope my husband never finds out about all of this. I promise this is the last two years I’ll postpone having children,” Cesilia muttered to herself before Maxime pinned her down. Forcing her to satisfy the desires that always burned intensely whenever she was near him.
Whether she wanted to or not, she had to do it because she had signed so many trap agreements that had made her life a mess.