Ever since Christ first discovered old documents mentioning the close relationship between the Blanco family and Keira’s late mother, his mind had never truly been at peace.
So many questions had piled up in his head, with no answers in sight. Why had his mother, Mrs. Anggun, never once told him about Keira’s family? Why had Keira’s mother’s name appeared in the Blanco company’s old files?
And what troubled him most of all... why did Mrs. Anggun’s face turn pale and close off with anger every time the subject of the past came up?
That morning, Christ had already been sitting in his office while the sun was still low. Stacks of old documents were neatly arranged on his desk.
He reread every line, examining every name listed, hoping to find a clue he had somehow missed all this time.
“Why did Mom hide all of this...” he murmured, his voice heavy with disappointment.
Not long afterward, someone knocked softly on the door.
“Come in.”
Ryan entered carrying a thick folder that looked somewhat worn. His expression was serious, as though it contained something extremely important.
“Sir, I found some additional information. I traced the old archives concerning the Blanco family’s business partnership twenty years ago...” Ryan placed the folder on the desk directly in front of Christ.
“I think this is what you’re looking for.”
Christ opened it hurriedly. His eyes immediately fixed on a photograph tucked into the first page. He held his breath.
“That’s...”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said with a slow nod.
“That’s Keira’s mother.”
Christ stared intently at the photograph. It showed two young women standing side by side, smiling brightly.
One of them was his mother, Mrs. Anggun, who looked much younger and more cheerful at the time. And the woman beside her... that face was exactly as Keira had often described it. His mother-in-law.
They looked so close, so familiar with each other—not like people who hated one another. They looked like inseparable best friends.
“Then...” Christ’s voice trembled.
“Why has Mom always said she didn’t know her?”
Ryan fell silent, unwilling to give a careless answer. “There may be a reason, sir.”
Christ clenched his fist on the desk. His chest felt tight. He hated this feeling—the knowledge that so much had been hidden from him, as though he wasn’t part of this family.
Meanwhile, at their residence, Keira was sitting in the living room with Vanessa.
Ever since the charity event filled with slander and baseless accusations, Vanessa had been coming over more often to keep her company. She knew Keira was carrying a heavy burden all by herself.
“Keira...” Vanessa held out a cup of warm tea.
“Don’t dwell too much on what those people said. It won’t do any good. It’ll only wear you out.”
Keira gave a faint smile and nodded slowly.
“I’m trying not to think about it, Nes.
“But it still hurts... when people accuse me of something I didn’t do at all.”
“I know. But I believe you. You’re a good person, and none of those accusations can be true.”
Keira looked at the sincere face of the girl before her. Her heart felt a little lighter.
“Thanks, Nes. You’re the only one who’s always been there for me.”
They talked for quite a while until Vanessa suddenly fell silent, as though weighing something on her mind.
“Keira...”
“Yes?”
“I actually... heard something once. It was a long time ago, when I was still little.” Vanessa swallowed slowly, hesitant to continue.
“I heard Mom Anggun crying in her room. She kept saying your mother’s name.”
Keira immediately straightened. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“What did you say?”
“Yes. I happened to walk past her room. Mom Anggun was crying quietly, and she said...” Vanessa tried to remember the words as clearly as possible.
“‘I never wanted everything to end like this.’”
Keira sat frozen. The sentence kept replaying in her mind.
If Mrs. Anggun truly hated her mother as she had always seemed to... then why had she cried? Why had she sounded so sad and full of regret? Something was wrong. A great secret had been tightly hidden all this time.
That afternoon, Christ came home earlier than usual. His expression was serious, his eyes revealing the heavy burden he had just uncovered. Keira understood at once when she greeted him at the door: her husband was bringing important news.
“You found something, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
Christ nodded. He sat on the edge of the bed, then pulled Keira’s hand so she would sit beside him.
“I found a connection between your mother... and Mom. They weren’t strangers to each other, Keira.”
Keira stared intently at him. “What kind of connection?”
Christ handed her the old photograph. Keira accepted it with trembling hands. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother smiling brightly beside a young Mrs. Anggun.
“That’s...” Keira’s breath caught. “That’s my mother.”
“Yes. And they look very close.”
Keira looked at the photograph again and again, hoping there was something wrong with her vision. Her mother had never once told her about the Blanco family. Never. Yet this photograph proved how close they had been.
“Why has Mrs. Anggun never said anything?” Keira’s voice trembled.
“Why does she act as if my mother was her sworn enemy?”
“I’m looking for that answer too,” Christ said softly as he gripped his wife’s hand tightly.
Keira looked at her husband, a sudden determination strengthening her resolve.
“I want to ask her directly, Christ.”
“Keira...”
“I need to know. I can’t keep living with questions hanging over me like this.”
Christ fell silent. He understood how his wife felt. But he also knew his mother’s nature all too well.
Mrs. Anggun wasn’t someone who easily revealed her secrets, especially when it came to such a painful past. Yet when he saw the look in Keira’s eyes—the look of someone who wouldn’t give up—Christ finally nodded slowly.
“All right. We’ll ask her together.”
That night, the two of them went to the Blanco family’s main house. Mrs. Anggun was sitting in the living room reading a book, but she immediately closed it when she saw them arriving at such an unusual hour. Her expression instantly grew tense.
“What brings you here so late at night?” she asked coldly.
Keira stepped forward, trying to keep her breathing steady. She was clutching the old photograph behind her back.
“There’s something I want to ask you, Mrs. Anggun.”
“What about?”
Keira took out the photograph and held it out to the woman. The moment Mrs. Anggun saw the worn photograph in Keira’s hand, her face turned deathly pale.
It was as if the blood drained from her face. Coldness, shock, and a hint of fear mingled together.
“Where did you get this?” Her voice trembled.
Keira took a deep breath.
“Why have you never told me that you knew my mother?”
The room instantly fell silent. The silence was so complete that the loud ticking of the wall clock could be heard. Christ watched every change in his mother’s expression.
For the first time in his life... he saw the woman who had always been unshakable lose her words.
“That’s in the past...” Mrs. Anggun’s voice sounded weak. “Why bring it up again?”
“But that past concerns my life, Mrs. Anggun!” Keira stared at her sharply, yet remained respectful.
“Why do you always act as if my mother was a stranger? Why have you always kept your distance from me?”
Mrs. Anggun squeezed her eyes shut. Her shoulders slowly sagged. Several seconds passed in painful silence. Then, at last... the woman slowly opened her eyes.
“Yes. I knew your mother.”
Keira froze. Christ fell silent too.
“She wasn’t a stranger to me...” Mrs. Anggun continued softly, her voice filled with pain.
“She was... my best friend.”
Keira held her breath. “Then why have you always hated me?”
Mrs. Anggun stared intently at her. Her expression changed—not to anger, but to profound sorrow.
“It isn’t you I hate...”
“Then who?”
Mrs. Anggun didn’t answer. She turned her face away, holding back the sobs beginning to break through. The answer was too painful to say.
A short while later, Mrs. Anggun slowly rose and walked toward the old cabinet in the corner of the room. She took out a small wooden box that had been stored there for years. With trembling hands, she carried it back to them.
“There’s something... you need to know.”
Mrs. Anggun opened the box. Inside lay a yellowed letter, its beautiful handwriting faded with age.
“This...” Mrs. Anggun’s voice caught. “It’s a letter from your mother.”
Keira’s hands immediately began to shake violently. Her eyes grew glassy. “From... my mother?”
“Yes. She entrusted it to me before everything changed. Before she left this world.” Mrs. Anggun looked at Keira with tear-filled eyes.
“After you read that letter... you’ll understand why I’ve acted this way all these years.”
Keira swallowed.
“Did my mother... do something that hurt your family?”
Mrs. Anggun slowly shook her head. Tears finally fell, wetting her wrinkled cheeks.
“Quite the opposite...” Her voice trembled with emotion.
“Your mother was the person who once saved my family’s lives.”
Keira and Christ both stared at her in shock. Neither of them had expected to hear those words.
That night, on the way home, Keira opened the letter. Her hands trembled violently as she read each line of her long-deceased mother’s handwriting.
But after reading only a few sentences... tears immediately fell onto the paper. The letter revealed a truth she had never imagined.
The truth about her mother’s great sacrifice. About a promise she had faithfully kept. And about the real reason Mrs. Anggun had kept her distance all these years—not because she hated Keira, but because she was afraid of losing someone precious to her all over again.
Yet elsewhere, hidden in the darkness of night... a pair of eyes was watching their house from a distance.
It was a man who had once been involved in the evil scheme at the charity event. His phone vibrated. A message came in.
“Don’t let Keira read the rest of the letter. If that secret comes out... the Blanco family will be destroyed.”
The man smiled faintly, his eyes gleaming maliciously beneath the dim streetlamp.
Part of the great secret still remained hidden.
And he would make sure... Keira never had the chance to learn it.
To be continued...