“Try saying that again, Gal! Maybe I heard you wrong?”
Arumi stared at Galaksi with an unreadable expression.
“No, Rum. You didn’t hear wrong. Mentari and I really did get married yesterday.”
Galaksi’s answer made Arumi drop into a seat instantly. Arumi turned to look at her friend, who remained silent with her head bowed.
“Why did you two suddenly get married? You’re not pregnant, are you?” Arumi asked, making Mentari shoot her a sharp look.
“Do you really think that little of me, Rum?”
Arumi suddenly felt guilty. “Sorry if what I said offended you. But I need to know why you two got married.”
“What’s going on, Gal? What don’t I know?” It was Alzi’s turn to question Gala.
“Mentari and I got married because of a misunderstanding—”
The young husband and wife then told them everything that had happened and explained why they had ended up getting married so suddenly.
“I had no choice but to marry Mentari. I couldn’t bring myself to let the girl I love get kicked out of her own home with nowhere to go.” Galaksi smiled faintly. “Besides, whether it happened now or tomorrow, it would’ve been the same to me. I was going to marry Mentari anyway,” he continued.
“That demon and witch are seriously inhuman. How could they kick you out of your own home?” Arumi clenched her fists tightly.
Arumi hadn’t been treated that way herself, but she could feel the pain Mentari was going through.
“Your dad is seriously heartless, Tar. Was it really that easy for him to say he was cutting ties with his own daughter?” Alzi truly couldn’t understand what that bald Marwan was thinking.
“It’s probably better that Tari stays here. They always treated Mentari badly and so unfairly,” Arumi added, earning a nod from Alzi.
“Once I’m successful, they’ll get what’s coming to them from me,” Gala muttered, his voice low enough that only Alzi could hear.
“Enough talking for now. Hurry up and buy Mentari some medicine!” Arumi ordered her beloved boyfriend, Alzi Abraham, the sole heir to a conglomerate family whose life was unfortunately controlled by his own uncle.
Of everyone there, Arumi was the only one whose life was relatively better. Although she came from a simple family that lived modestly, at least Arumi had both parents, and they loved her dearly.
“Right away, sweetheart!” Alzi mock-saluted his girlfriend. “Your Alzi is heading out this instant,” he continued with his usual cheeky antics.
“Rum, can you watch Mentari for a bit? I want to make her breakfast first,” Gala asked, and Arumi answered with a thumbs-up.
Gala headed for his tiny kitchen, which contained only a refrigerator, a small table for the gas stove, and a little dish rack. There wasn’t even a dining table.
A simple mat was the only place where Gala had eaten all this time. Still, Gala remained grateful for his life, even though he lived in poverty and had no one in the world. He didn’t even know who his parents were or what they looked like.
Gala had no interest in finding out who his biological parents were. To him, there was no point searching for people who had abandoned him.
As far as Gala was concerned, he was simply an unfortunate child who had been born unwanted. Maybe he was the son of a sex worker, and she had abandoned him after giving birth to him.
Gala couldn’t care less about who he really was. He would prove that he could succeed, even if he had to live all alone.
Gala shook his head, banishing thoughts of his parents. He refocused on the ingredients in front of him.
“When people are sick, they usually eat porridge, right? Well, I’ll just make Tari some porridge.”
Gala chatted to himself as he moved nimbly around the kitchen, completely at ease with the utensils and seasonings in his hands.
“I need to work even harder from now on. I have to make Mentari happy, and if I have plenty of money and I’m not poor anymore, she’ll be happy.”
Galaksi’s determination to succeed had only grown stronger since Mentari became his wife.
“Don’t tell me you turned into a weirdo after getting married too, Gal?” Alzi, who had just returned from the pharmacy, went straight to the kitchen to see Gala. Without meaning to, he caught his friend talking to himself.