Ten minutes had passed, and Maura could only stare at the phone in her hand. Her heart felt heavy, and she hated what she was about to do, but the situation demanded that she make a decision immediately.
At the hospital, her mother was waiting to find out whether her life could still be saved. Only a few hours earlier, Maura had buried her beloved father, who had died in a traffic accident.
“Your mother needs heart surgery immediately. If she doesn’t get it, we may not be able to save her life.” That was what the doctor had said several hours earlier, when her mother had been rushed to the hospital after a sudden heart attack.
“It will cost 500 million rupiah. You need to prepare the money right away so your mother can have the surgery as soon as possible.”
Maura drew a deep breath and closed her eyes as those words echoed in her ears once again.
Still young, Maura already had to bear such a heavy burden. There was no one she could rely on but herself. In a situation like this, she was expected to be strong and patient, and to make a decision even if it meant sacrificing her dream.
“Hello?” A young man’s voice came from the other end of the phone when Maura finally found the courage to make her decision at the most critical moment.
“Jeremy, I’m sorry. Our relationship ends here. I want us to break up,” Maura said, steeling herself.
“You’re joking, right, Ra? Please, don’t joke like this!”
“No. I’m not joking. I really want us to break up. From now on, I hope we never meet again.”
“Maura, what did I do wrong, Ra? Please explain why you could—”
Beep...
Maura quickly ended the phone connection. Her hands trembled, and droplets began to fall down her cheeks. Then, with those trembling hands, she gently caressed her stomach.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I had no choice but to make this decision,” she murmured softly, her voice breaking with a stifled sob.
“Ra... Maura...”
Jeremy’s panicked voice rang out along with the sound of knocking on the door. The handsome young man couldn’t accept being dumped by his beloved without any clear reason, so he decided to go to Maura’s house.
“Maura...” Jeremy called as he pounded on the door of Maura’s house, since she still hadn’t opened it.
“Come out, Ra. We need to talk. Maura...”
“What are you yelling about in front of someone else’s house?”
Jeremy jolted and turned around at once. But his breath seemed to catch when he saw the sight that tore at his heart. Maura, the woman he loved more than anything and had been in a relationship with for three years, had arrived clinging affectionately to another man’s arm.
“Maura, we need to talk. Please explain what I did wrong for you to be so cruel as to end our relationship,” Jeremy said as he approached her.
“You can see for yourself now. I don’t need to explain anything else.” Maura tightened her hold on Vino’s arm, making Jeremy shift his attention to the man beside her.
He was a grown man with a calm, unassuming manner and fairly handsome features. He said nothing, remaining silent and occasionally lowering his head.
“This is my future husband. We love each other, and we’re getting married soon,” Maura added without looking at Jeremy’s face.
Jeremy’s heart shattered at her words. For the past three years, his relationship with Maura had been fine, and they had hardly ever had any problems.
Yet tonight, he had no idea what mistake he could have made for Maura to be so cruel as to end the relationship they had built over three years.
“Why, Ra? Why are you doing this to me?” Jeremy lamented, both his eyes already glistening with tears.
“I don’t love you anymore. I don’t want to be with a spoiled boy who can only rely on his parents. I prefer a mature man who is established and has a clear future ahead of him. Vino has all of that.”
Jeremy nodded as droplets began to fall down his cheeks. His heart shattered. It was as if his world had been forcibly brought to a stop. His heart cried out in anguish. How could Maura do something so cruel to him?
“Fine. I won’t ask you to explain anymore. What I saw today is explanation enough. I only hope you won’t regret this someday, and I hope we never meet again,” Jeremy said through his tears.
“I hope so too,” Maura replied, turning her face away as Jeremy turned his back on her and walked away.
What Jeremy didn’t know was that as he walked away, Maura was holding back the same pain. Her heart was shattered too. But she did everything she could to keep her tears from falling.
Jeremy never knew that Maura was powerless. She had to make this hardest decision for her mother’s safety. As a daughter, she didn’t want to be selfish and put her own happiness first. For the only family she had left in this world, she was willing to sacrifice a love that had been faced with a high wall from the very beginning.
“Be patient, Ra.” Vino, who was ten years older than her, gently rubbed her back, trying to give her encouragement and support.
“If you don’t mind, I can explain everything to Jeremy. You don’t have to bear this all by yourself,” Vino added sympathetically.
Maura shook her head. “There’s no need, Kak. This is what’s best for both of us. It should have been this way from the start.”
“All right, then. I’ll head home first. Go inside. The night air is very cold, and it isn’t good for your health.”
Maura nodded. “Thank you, Kak Vino. I’m sorry for troubling you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be going now.” Vino turned and hurried away, leaving Maura standing motionless with the remnants of an invisible wound.
“I’m sorry, Jeremy,” she murmured softly. The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, soaking her cheeks.
Before making this decision, Maura had already known what consequences she would face in the future. She would bear Jeremy’s hatred for the rest of her life.
Even so, deep in her heart, she always hoped Jeremy would live happily and find someone far better than her. Someone more worthy of becoming his life partner.
That afternoon, the scorching sun couldn’t stop Maura’s feet from moving. Black Rose Cafe was fairly far from her house. It would take at least twenty minutes to get there by motor vehicle. But Maura walked because she didn’t have a single cent in her pocket.
When she arrived at the cafe, Maura didn’t go inside right away. She wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead for a moment. She straightened her clothes and took a deep breath to gather her courage. Only then did she enter the cafe to meet a middle-aged woman who had been waiting for her.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said as she approached a separate table in one corner of the room.
“Ten minutes is very valuable to me. How dare someone as lowly as you make me wait? If it weren’t for my son’s future, I wouldn’t have agreed to this.”
The arrogant words made Maura swallow hard. Carefully, she sat down across from the woman. Her hands squeezed each other in her lap, and her heart pounded. This was the first time she had met Jeremy’s biological mother in person.
“Leave my son.”