Chapter 2 The Favorite Daughter
Alea was still standing frozen in the hallway behind the mansion as the party music grew fainter and fainter. Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides, while her thoughts kept drifting back to the faded photograph the old servant had shown her earlier.
July 12 — Two baby girls.
Those words spun endlessly through her mind, followed by the chilling sentence written on the back of the photograph: Don't let them find out which child belongs to whom.
Alea truly had no idea what the mysterious message meant. But for the first time in her seventeen years of life, a suspicion began to gnaw at her mind: her family had deliberately hidden something enormous from her all this time.
"Alea?"
The startled call made Alea jump. She turned and found Celine standing a few steps away, showing off a white party dress that looked incredibly beautiful and elegant.
Alea quickly composed her expression so it would not reveal her unease. "It's nothing," she replied, trying to sound calm. "I just wanted some fresh air."
Celine narrowed her eyes, examining Alea from head to toe. "You look weird."
"I'm just tired," Alea offered briefly, lowering her gaze.
A deeply satisfied smile spread across Celine's lips. She gently tossed her hair back and said,
"Tomorrow, I'm getting another huge gift from Dad."
"What gift?" Alea asked with little interest.
"A new car," Celine answered, her eyes shining with pride.
Alea tried to lift the corners of her mouth, forcing a faint smile that tasted bitter. "Congratulations."
"Dad said I deserve the best," Celine declared confidently.
Alea went stiff and silent. The statement was undeniably true. Celine always got the best things in this house. New shoes, expensive clothes, access to the finest schools, and the full attention of both their parents. While Alea? She had only ever received whatever was left over.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Celine asked, giving her sister an assessing look.
Alea slowly shook her head. "No."
"Good," Celine replied shortly.
The girl then turned and walked away gracefully, completely unaware that only minutes earlier, the foundation of the world Alea stood on had cracked and changed forever.
The birthday party did not truly end until nearly midnight. After the last guest had left, Alea efficiently helped the servants clear away the plates and the house's remaining decorations. When exhaustion washed over her and she was about to head up to her room, her footsteps stopped directly in front of Adrian's study. Faint voices from inside the room stopped her from walking away.
"We can't keep hiding this," whispered a woman's voice she knew all too well. It was Marissa.
Alea pressed herself against the wall, moving closer to the crack in the door without making the slightest sound.
Adrian's deep voice answered softly but firmly, "It's been seventeen years, Marissa."
"That's exactly why it's been long enough!" Marissa insisted, her voice trembling as she struggled to contain her emotions. "Alea has the right to know!" Alea held her breath behind the wall. Her chest pounded violently when she heard her name.
"Then what about Celine?" Adrian countered, leaving a tense silence hanging in the air for several moments.
Marissa's voice broke through the silence again, this time filled with worry. "Celine can't know either."
Alea reflexively covered her mouth with both hands. Celine? What did Celine have to do with the secret about her?
"You can't hide this forever, Adrian," Marissa rebuked him weakly.
"I know," Adrian replied, sounding resigned.
"If Alea finds out, everything will change..."
Alea felt her joints weaken. She could not bear to listen to their argument any longer. Before they realized she was behind the door, Alea hurried away toward her room as quickly and quietly as possible. That night, her eyelids did not close even once until dawn broke.
The next morning, Alea went downstairs to the dining room with dark circles around her swollen eyes.
At the dining table, Celine was already sitting gracefully between their parents. A sweet family scene unfolded as Adrian handed Celine an exclusive velvet box. "For Dad's daughter," Adrian said lovingly.
Celine squealed with delight when she opened it and found a stunning diamond bracelet sparkling inside. "Wow! Thank you so much, Dad!"
Alea stood frozen a few steps from the dining table. In the past, scenes of family warmth like this had always stirred sadness in her chest. But that morning, the same sight gave rise to a burning question in her mind: If Celine was their daughter... then who was Alea?
"Alea, sit down," Marissa called when she noticed her presence.
Alea walked over and sat in her chair without saying a word.
Several minutes passed in the silence of breakfast before Adrian turned to Alea, his expression stiff.
"After breakfast, help Celine get ready."
Alea nodded resignedly. "Okay."
Celine gave a soft chuckle and flashed her a condescending smile. "It's so nice having an older sister you can order around."
Alea met Celine's gaze for a moment, but chose to hide her anger and fall silent again. After breakfast, Alea got ready to leave for school. But before she could step through the front door, Adrian's baritone voice stopped her from behind.
"Alea."
Alea slowly turned. "Yes, Dad?"
"Never go into my study," Adrian warned coldly.
Alea was silent for a moment. "Why?"
"It's private," Adrian replied firmly.
Alea dared to look into her father's eyes for several moments, then asked in a bold tone she had never used before, "Or is it because there's something in there I'm not allowed to see?"
Adrian's stiff expression instantly became tense. "Alea!"
Alea did not answer his reprimand. Without another word, she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and walked out, leaving the mansion behind. After school, Alea deliberately kept to herself and waited until the house was completely empty.
Her growing curiosity overcame her obedience. She headed back toward Adrian's study. Alea pulled open the first and second drawers but found nothing suspicious, until her fingers closed around the handle of a lower drawer in the corner that was firmly locked.
Alea tried to pry it open, but the drawer remained stubbornly locked. Just as she was about to give up and leave the room, her gaze caught on a framed family photograph atop the desk.
She picked up the frame. On the back of the photograph, in unmistakably clear handwriting, were the words: > Harapan Bunda Hospital — July 12.
Alea's heart pounded like a drum. It was the exact same date and month as those on the mysterious baby photograph from the night before.
Click.
The study door suddenly swung open from outside!
Panic swept over Alea. With a quick movement, she slipped behind the folds of a heavy curtain hanging in the corner of the room and hid there.
Adrian entered. The man walked straight to his desk, pulled a key from his pocket, and opened the locked drawer Alea had failed to open earlier. From inside, Adrian took out a thick brown envelope.
A moment later, Marissa followed him into the room.
"We have to tell Alea," Marissa said, breaking the silence.
"Not yet," Adrian replied curtly.
"It's been seventeen years, Adrian!"
"I'm not ready!" Adrian said firmly.
Marissa broke into quiet sobs. "She's our child too..." Alea held her breath tightly behind her hiding place.
Adrian did not respond. He simply opened the brown envelope and pulled out several sheets of documents. After their brief, awkward conversation ended, the two of them left the study without locking the desk drawer again.
Once her parents' footsteps had faded away, Alea emerged from behind the curtain. She approached the desk and picked up the brown envelope with violently trembling fingers.
Across the top sheet, a bold heading read: > BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP TEST > First Name: Adrian Adinata > Second Name: Alea
Her eyes quickly scanned the lines until they stopped at the very bottom. > Probability of Biological Relationship: 0.00%
Alea's body instantly froze. Tears dripped onto the paper in her hands. The bitter truth struck her without mercy. Adrian Adinata was not her biological father at all.
With trembling fingers, Alea opened the next page. Engraved there was a foreign name she had never heard in her entire life: > Rendra Pratama
Beneath the name was another line of conclusion: > Probability of Biological Relationship with Alea: 99.98%
"Who is Rendra Pratama?" Alea whispered shakily.
"Alea?"
Adrian's deep voice suddenly echoed from the doorway. Alea spun around. Adrian stood in the doorway, his face deathly pale. For the first time in her life, Alea saw unmistakable fear shining in the eyes of the man she had called Dad all these years.
"I asked... who is he?" Alea pressed, her voice hoarse as she struggled to hold back the sobs on the verge of breaking free.
Adrian was silent, unable to utter a single word. Alea gripped the DNA test documents even tighter. "If you're not my biological father... then who am I?"
Marissa suddenly appeared behind Adrian. Tears immediately streamed down the middle-aged woman's face when she saw the documents in Alea's hands. "Alea, listen to Mom..."
Alea shook her head firmly. "Don't!" she cried, her voice trembling. "I just want to know the truth!"
She looked back and forth between the two parents who had raised her for seventeen years and asked the one question that haunted her soul more than any other: "Who am I, really?"
No answer came. And their long silence only filled Alea's chest with absolute certainty that for all these years, the Adinata family had been hiding something far greater and more horrifying than merely the secret of her birth.