A light drizzle began to fall. Raindrops tapped against the windshield of her silver minivan, filling the silence. The engine purred softly, and cold air from the AC blew directly onto Naira's face. She didn't blink as she stared at the download indicator creeping slowly toward seventy percent.
The phone on the dashboard vibrated. The name Siska, her college friend who now held an important position at the Civil Registry Directorate, flashed across the screen. Naira tapped the answer button and turned on the speakerphone.
"Hey, Sis. The file's coming through, but it's not finished yet. The signal's bad." Naira's voice was flat.
"Where are you parked?" Siska sounded worried.
"Two blocks from home. In the parking lot of a closed convenience store. I need some peace and quiet."
A heavy sigh came from the other end. "You need to prepare yourself, Nai. Your husband really covered his tracks this time. He didn't just secretly enter into an unregistered religious marriage."
"Bagas claims they've been in an unregistered religious marriage for eight months. Your mother was their witness. Then they officially registered it two months ago."
"That claim is true. I found a certificate of their religious marriage from a cleric on the outskirts of Jakarta. Mrs. Hartini signed it as the witness for the groom's side."
Naira clenched her jaw. "They've been planning this for a long time. But how could Bagas register it with the civil registry? The Religious Court wouldn't issue a polygamy permit without the first wife's written consent."
"That's the biggest problem, Nai. The court approved Bagas's polygamy permit without a single obstacle."
"I never attended any hearing. I never received a single summons."
"Your husband circumvented the procedure. He listed your new address in the lawsuit paperwork instead of the address of your main residence."
Naira frowned, staring sharply at the dark street beyond the glass. "What address did he use?"
"An empty rental house in the industrial area near your factory. Every hearing summons was sent there, and it always came back to the court marked as having no recipient."
"He deliberately made me look like I was refusing to appear." Naira's voice turned cold, her anger crystallizing. "He fabricated my absence so the judge could proceed without mediation."
"Exactly. But falsifying the address wasn't enough. There was one absolute requirement he had to meet."
"What requirement?"
"Look at page five of the PDF later. That page contains a copy of the written statement consenting to polygamy."
Naira's heart began to race. Her blood seemed to freeze.
"I never consented to anything, Siska. I never signed any consent form."
"That paper is in the state records, Nai. It bears a ten-thousand-rupiah stamp. And your signature is on it."
Naira fell silent. Her breath caught. Her thoughts drifted back to five months earlier, when Mrs. Hartini had come to her office carrying a stack of the family's life-insurance documents. The older woman had pressured her to sign several blank pages at the back of the file, claiming they were needed to update the policy information. Naira had been busy calculating the factory's profit and loss that day. She had signed them without reading them again.
"My mother-in-law." Naira's voice trembled with restrained fury. "That woman set me up. She stole my signature."
"The ink strokes are extremely accurate. I compared them with your signature in the records of your old marriage certificate. Someone forged that document with meticulous planning. Your husband submitted it to the panel of judges."
Naira closed her eyes and leaned her head against the steering wheel. This betrayal had crossed the moral line. Bagas and his family were no longer merely deceiving her emotionally; they were conspiring against the law.
"Bagas is risking his freedom." Naira opened her eyes, her gaze now completely cold and sharp. "He committed a straight-up criminal offense just to legalize that woman."
"The penalty for forging a government document is severe, Nai. Your husband committed a corporate criminal offense and forgery at the same time. How much factory money did he use to bribe the court clerk?"
"Hundreds of millions." The financial facts lined up neatly in Naira's mind. "Bagas withdrew the factory's operating reserve three months ago, claiming the cutting machine in the warehouse was badly damaged. That money must have flowed to the court."
"All for the sake of a son." Siska's voice was troubled. "I read Larasati's medical-record attachment. The ultrasound listed the baby's sex as male. Your husband used that as an urgent justification before the judge."
A quiet, hollow laugh escaped Naira's lips. That man was willing to break the law for a family name.
"Siska, what will happen if I report this forgery to the police tomorrow morning?"
"The police will arrest your husband. Larasati's marriage certificate will be void by operation of law. Their official marriage will be invalid."
"And what about the assets of Dirgantara Teak Furniture?"
Siska was silent for a moment. "The company will be treated as marital property. Your husband still has complete control as CEO. He could move all the factory's cash into a foreign account before the police seize the assets."
Naira nodded slowly. Her friend's assessment aligned with her own plan. Throwing Bagas in prison now would only destroy the factory that supported Kirana, Ratih, and Swara's future. She had to secure her children's money first.
"Don't do anything, Siska." Naira reached for the tablet on the passenger seat.
"You're letting that man go free?" Siska protested.
"I'm building a stronger cage." Naira's eyes fixed on the tablet screen, which had just chimed. The download was complete. "The prenuptial agreement from my father is still in a bank safe-deposit box. That document is the last shield protecting the Kusuma family's assets. I have to withdraw all my personal capital and block Bagas's financial access. I need time."
"All right. I'll lock down access to these physical records at the office. No other staff member will be able to see them. Call me whenever you're ready to detonate this bomb, Nai."
"Thank you, Siska. You're my best weapon today."
Naira ended the call. The car's cabin fell silent again, save for the rain against the glass.
She lifted the tablet and tapped the icon for the newly downloaded file. The screen lit up brightly, reflecting in her reading glasses.
She scrolled through the pages one by one. The registration form. A letter from the local administrative office bearing a false address. The attachment containing Larasati's pregnancy medical results.
Her finger stopped on page five.
Her eyes locked onto the stamped paper. Lines of written consent were neatly arranged, declaring the first wife's willingness to share her husband. In the lower-right corner, directly above the stamp, Naira's signature had been reproduced to perfection.