"Kayla! Once you're done freshening up, come meet us right away. We'll have breakfast together!" Arshaka called out so Kayla wouldn't stay in her room too long.
"Yes, Sir," Kayla replied before hurrying into the bathroom. After freshening up, she immediately went looking for Arshaka and Emeli around the house. As it turned out, she found them both already seated in the dining room.
Arshaka waved and asked Kayla to join them for breakfast. After they finished eating, Arshaka immediately explained Kayla's duties in caring for Emeli. Kayla nodded once she fully understood.
"Emeli! Dad's leaving now. Kayla, I'm entrusting Emeli to you, and don't forget to help her take her medicine!"
"Yes, Sir."
Arshaka kissed his daughter's forehead after Emeli kissed his hand. The man left immediately after saying goodbye.
"It's time for your medicine," Kayla said as she approached. Carefully, she took hold of the wheelchair and pushed it to Emeli's room. Emeli herself didn't answer. The child looked aloof.
I want to know if you're just like the others, Emeli thought, unable to believe that Kayla was truly as kind as she seemed now.
Kayla pulled open a drawer and took out the medicine according to Arshaka's instructions.
"I think this is the medicine he mentioned earlier," Kayla murmured before getting a glass of water.
"This is the right medicine, isn't it? Aunt just wants to make sure I didn't grab the wrong one," Kayla said, holding out the medicine and the glass.
Emeli neither answered nor took the medicine.
"You need to take your medicine so you can get better soon," Kayla said carefully.
"My disease isn't going to get better." Emeli gave Kayla a cold look. To be honest, Kayla had never seen a girl like Emeli before—a paralyzed girl who looked so fierce. But from her eyes, Kayla could tell the child was carrying an unbearable sadness.
"Who says?"
"The doctor."
"At the very least, it'll keep it from getting worse."
"Hmm."
"Take your medicine so your dad won't be sad."
At last, Emeli nodded and accepted the medicine from Kayla's hand. The girl swallowed it slowly.
Kayla stared intently at the white-haired, fair-skinned girl in front of her. Only then did she realize that Emeli wasn't like ordinary children. Judging from who her father was, Kayla guessed Emeli was albino—unless her mother had been white and passed those genes on to her daughter.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Do you want to say I'm like this because my dad performed pesugihan too?"
"What?" Kayla burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing?!" Emeli snapped. She thought Kayla was just like everyone else.
"Aunt just thinks it's funny. Who told you that you're like this because your dad performed pesugihan?"
Emeli frowned.
"It must have been some idiot who never got an education, or some backward villager," Kayla guessed. Even though she was from the countryside herself, her thinking wasn't as backward as that person's.
Emeli gave a bitter smile. "The truth is, he graduated from a university overseas."
This time, Kayla frowned.
"There are people like that? If you don't mind me asking, where's your mother? Was she from another country?"
"My mother is gone. She died giving birth to Emeli. If my mother had been white, they wouldn't have insulted me. The truth is, my mother was a native Indonesian."
"I'm sorry for making you sad, Emeli. I didn't know your mother had passed away."
Emeli nodded.
"You know, Aunt? Even my own grandfather doesn't acknowledge me because my skin and hair have stayed this way since I was little. He often asked Dad to get a DNA test because he suspected I was the result of my mother cheating with another man. But Dad refused because he trusted Mom completely and believed she had been faithful."
After hearing Emeli's story, Kayla began to feel sorry for her. No matter how harsh Emeli could be, she was still a little girl who needed extra attention. Kayla resolved to treat Emeli like her own child, not merely like a paid caregiver.
"Let's go outside! We can walk around the house so you don't feel cooped up inside all day."
Kayla stood up. Emeli looked at her face, and Kayla immediately smiled.
"Well? Do you want to?"
Emeli nodded slowly. Kayla pushed the wheelchair Emeli was sitting in and took her around the garden.
They walked around for an hour. As they were about to go back inside, they ran into Arshaka, who had returned looking gloomy, exhausted, and dispirited.
"Are you sick, Sir? Should I make you some hot tea?"
"No need, Kayla. Just stay with Emeli," Arshaka refused.
Kayla nodded. There wasn't much she could do; it wasn't part of her duties, after all. There was a housekeeper who usually took care of Arshaka whenever he needed something.
Arshaka went straight into his room. Emeli didn't want to be taken to her own room. Instead, she asked Kayla to take her to Arshaka's room.
When they reached the bedroom door, the two of them froze as they heard Arshaka angrily ranting to himself.
"How could all this happen? How could the company's secrets have leaked to a rival company? So that's why the client canceled yesterday's agreement. They think the company has lost all credibility."
"More and more data is missing. Who could have been ruthless enough to break through the company's IT security system? Argh!" Arshaka scratched his head roughly.
"Aunt, let's go to Dad's office!" Emeli urged.
"What for?" Kayla whispered.
"You'll find out soon. Emeli wants to help Dad. Emeli wants to be a useful daughter."
Kayla nodded with a smile.
"All right," she said, pushing Emeli wherever Emeli directed her.
Once they reached Arshaka's office, Emeli immediately began messing around with her father's computer.
"Are you sure, Emeli? You could make everything worse if you click the wrong thing even once. You could make your dad even more stressed." Kayla looked frightened. If Emeli made a mistake, Kayla would be the one to suffer the consequences.
"Don't worry, Aunt. Everything will be fine," Emeli said as she continued tinkering with Arshaka's computer. A few moments later, the girl snapped her fingers and flashed her sweetest smile.
"All done. Everything's back to the way it was." Emeli looked delighted, leaving Kayla, who didn't understand a thing, to do nothing but frown.
"Aunt, do you have a phone?"
"Huh?"
"Lend me your phone!" Emeli held out her hand.
Kayla shook her head.
"Sorry, I don't have one."
"Useless! Then go get Dad!"
"All right, but Emeli, if I may ask, next time you want to ask someone older for help, say 'please' before giving them an order. You don't have to say it to Aunt, but with other people, it's necessary if you want to be considered polite." After saying that, Kayla went straight out to find Arshaka.
"What's wrong with Emeli?" Arshaka asked, instantly shocked when Kayla relayed Emeli's order.
Arshaka hurriedly ran to the office.
"Ta-da!" Emeli swept her hand palm-up in front of the computer.
Arshaka frowned and stepped closer. He was stunned when he saw his computer screen.
"The company's data has been restored?" he asked, startled and overjoyed.
"Yes, Dad. I restored everything. And look for yourself—Emeli found the person who dared to hack Dad's company computer system. Now Emeli is getting revenge for Dad by hacking that person's account in return. If you know the name of the company, just tell me, and Emeli will leak all of their secrets too."
At Emeli's words, Arshaka and Kayla gaped in shock.
"I know you're Dad's smart little girl. Last month, you even won the Mathematics Olympiad even though you were the youngest participant. But your hacking skills—how come Dad is only finding out about them now?"
"But I'm sorry, Dad. The company secrets that were leaked can't be fixed anymore," Emeli said sympathetically.
"It's okay. Dad knows that people have already found out, and we can't erase the information they've stored in their minds."
"Wow, Emeli, you're incredible. You have so many strengths compared to your weaknesses. Your mother must be very proud of you up there. Someday, when Aunt gets married, I want to have a child just like you," Kayla said enthusiastically, utterly amazed by the little girl she'd only just met that day—not even a full day ago.
To be continued.