Anna gathered the courage to return home. A child as young as Anna had already witnessed her parents' argument, leaving her sad and traumatized.
"Mom!" she cried, her voice trembling.
She searched for her parents in every corner of the house—the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen. But they were nowhere to be found.
Crying, Anna said, "Mom, Dad! Don't leave me, Anna." Anna continued crying as she walked toward the porch. She sat on the floor, waiting for her parents to come back. She didn't care how long it took them to return. Anna would keep waiting. How heartbreaking it was for a little girl to be deprived of love by her own biological father.
An hour later, her parents came home still arguing.
"It's all because of you! Because of love, I've lost everything. I didn't get a single penny. Do you understand?" the man complained furiously, tormented by the choice to live with his wife.
"You were the one who chose me, honey. You! Please come to your senses. This is nothing more than a threat from your father. He wasn't serious, honey!" she said, trying to make her husband realize that his greed for wealth was clouding his judgment. ***
"Ardi, bring him back. And make him leave that wife and child of his!" ordered a middle-aged man dressed casually as he sat in a chair inside the house that looked like a palace.
He ordered the man in the black suit to carry out the despicable task of bringing someone back to his side immediately.
"Yes, sir." The man was so obedient to his superior that he broke his promise to his own child. ***
Whenever Anna saw her father scolding her mother, she would approach him and hit him hard with her fists while crying.
"Be quiet!" her father shouted before going inside the house.
"Papa's mean!" Anna said angrily.
"Don't cry, sweetheart. Papa isn't angry with Anna. He's just tired," her mother said, still trying to think positively of her father.
Night fell. Anna's father hurriedly stuffed all his clothes into a suitcase. His wife was startled when she entered the bedroom carrying him a glass of water.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"You don't need to know," he replied harshly as he zipped up the suitcase.
"But, Riz, what have Anna and I done wrong?" his wife asked through her tears.
"You've done plenty wrong. Starting today, I, Riz Sri Fanya binti Dodi, divorce you with one declaration of talaq!" her husband announced clearly and loudly.
The man divorced Mrs. Sri on a whim. He didn't care at all about his wife or child's feelings. Hearing her husband pronounce the divorce, Mrs. Sri was devastated, and her heart ached. She gazed at her husband with tears streaming down her face. But her husband didn't care and hurried away with his suitcase.
Anna had been happily playing with her favorite doll in the living room when she suddenly abandoned it and approached her father, who was carrying his suitcase.
"Papa, where are you going?" Anna asked, gently holding her father's hand.
He stopped and looked at Anna with an expressionless face. "Take good care of yourself. Take care of your mother, and don't let her come looking for me again."
Without another word, he simply left his innocent wife and child behind. Anna ran after him all the way out of the house. He didn't care; he didn't even look back. He walked out through the gate and got into the taxi waiting for him in front of it.
"Papa!" Anna called over and over until she fell to her knees on the ground, sobbing.
Mrs. Sri could only cry as she watched Anna chase after her father, unable to bear the pain. Her chest felt tight as she clung to the porch post. Her head spun, and her knees gave out, causing her to faint.