Raka stared at the male figure standing on the second floor of the old house. His chest tightened when Bima spoke the name Arman. His family had never mentioned that name before. There were no photos, no stories, not even any sign that someone named Arman had ever been part of their past.
Yet that night, the man was standing in front of them.
Alive.
“What do you mean?” Damar asked tensely.
Arman slowly descended the stairs. Every step echoed clearly through the empty house.
“I knew you’d come.”
Damar took a step forward.
“You shouldn’t still be in this city.”
Arman gave a faint smile.
“That’s what you thought about Vera, too.”
Raka turned toward Vera, who stood not far from him. She looked sad.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me Arman was still alive?” Raka asked.
Vera lowered her gaze to the floor.
“Because no one would’ve believed me.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone’s always thought I was the reason Rina disappeared.”
Raka fell silent.
Vera walked closer.
“I didn’t come here to hurt you, Raka.”
“Then why did you come?”
“To fix the story that someone deliberately twisted all these years.”
Arman let out a quiet laugh from behind them.
“You’re still pretending to be a good person.”
Vera looked at her brother.
“I’m not pretending.”
“You’ve always been like this. Always thinking you can save everyone.”
“You’re the one who destroyed everything.”
The atmosphere changed at once.
Raka watched Vera and Arman stare at each other with pure hatred.
Not like two strangers.
But like two people carrying wounds that had festered for years.
Damar clenched his fists.
“I want to know one thing.”
Arman stopped.
“What really happened that night?”
No one answered right away.
At last, Arman sat down in an old chair in the living room.
“Rina found something she was never supposed to know.”
“What?”
Arman looked at Damar.
“Something about your family’s past.”
Raka looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Damar remained silent.
Raka became even more certain that his father was hiding something.
Arman continued.
“Rina found old documents belonging to your father’s company.”
Damar’s expression changed immediately.
“Don’t make accusations.”
“I’m not lying.”
“What does that have to do with Rina?”
Arman gave a bitter smile.
“Rina knew someone had been profiting from your family all this time.”
Raka frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Bima, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.
“Before Rina died, she told me she’d found some suspicious transactions.”
Raka looked at Bima.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Bima lowered his head.
“Because I was scared.”
“Scared of whom?”
Bima didn’t answer.
Vera walked over to an old table in the corner of the room.
She picked up a dust-covered folder.
“This is what Rina was looking for that night.”
Raka took the folder.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Inside were several documents and photographs.
He read one of the papers.
His father’s name was written there.
But not as the culprit.
As someone who had been wronged.
“Dad wasn’t the one who did it?”
Damar looked at his son.
“I didn’t know about any of this.”
Arman stood.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t know.”
Damar shot him a sharp look.
“You don’t know what really happened.”
“Actually, I know more than all of you.”
Raka looked from one of them to the next.
“What do all of you have to do with Rina?”
Vera sighed.
“Rina was the one trying to uncover the truth.”
“Then why did she die?”
Vera fell silent.
Her eyes began to glisten with tears.
“Because someone didn’t want that secret getting out.”
Raka looked at Arman.
“Was it you?”
The room fell completely silent.
Arman didn’t answer.
Only a thin smile appeared on his face.
“You learn fast, Raka.”
Damar stepped forward at once.
“You’re the one who made Rina leave that night.”
Arman looked at him.
“I did meet Rina.”
“And?”
“I tried to stop her.”
Raka clenched his fists.
“Stop her—or hurt her?”
Arman looked at Raka.
“You look too much like Rina.”
“I’m not her.”
“That’s true. But you have the same curiosity.”
Suddenly, something shattered on the second floor.
Everyone turned.
Vera immediately looked panicked.
“No.”
“What is it?” Raka asked.
Vera looked toward the stairs.
“He’s here.”
Bima stood.
“Who?”
Vera didn’t answer.
Footsteps echoed from the second floor.
Not just one person.
More than one.
Raka felt fear beginning to rise inside him.
“We’re not alone.”
Damar pulled Raka closer.
“Everyone out. Now.”
But before they could move, the house’s front door suddenly slammed shut.
Bang!
The lights went out.
Someone’s voice came from upstairs.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for all of you to gather.”
Raka recognized that voice.
Not Vera’s.
Not Arman’s.
Not Bima’s.
Someone new.
The figure slowly descended the stairs.
When his face came into view, Damar immediately stepped back.
“Impossible.”
Raka looked at his father.
“You know him, Dad?”
Damar didn’t answer.
The figure smiled.
“Damar.”
The man’s voice was calm.
“So your son’s all grown up.”
Raka felt confused.
“Who is he?”
Damar finally spoke in a low voice.
“He’s the man who should’ve been gone twenty years ago.”
The man let out a quiet laugh.
“Unfortunately, I’m still here.”
Vera looked at Raka.
“His name is Bagas.”
Raka remembered the name.
Bagas.
A name he had never heard before.
“What does he have to do with Rina?”
Bagas looked at Raka.
“Rina found out my secret.”
“What secret?”
Bagas smiled.
“That the accident that happened to Rina wasn’t an accident.”
Raka fell silent.
His heart began pounding faster.
“So you did it?”
Bagas didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at Arman.
“You still have that evidence?”
Arman immediately tensed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bagas smiled.
“You’ve always been good at lying.”
Vera stepped forward.
“That’s enough.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
“I’ve already lost Rina once. I won’t let you destroy anyone else’s life.”
Bagas laughed.
“You’re still the same, Vera.”
“I’m different.”
“No. You’re still the girl who’s afraid to stand up to her own brother.”
Vera’s expression changed.
Raka saw it.
There was an old wound between them that had never healed.
Then Bagas pulled something from his pocket.
An old cellphone.
Raka recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Rina.
“Where did you get that?” Raka asked.
Bagas smiled.
“From the last night Rina was alive.”
Everyone fell silent.
“There’s a recording on it.”
Raka stepped forward.
“I want to hear it.”
Bagas looked at him.
“If you’re ready to find out who really destroyed your family.”
He turned on the phone.
Rina’s voice came through the recording.
A voice Raka hadn’t heard in years.
“If someone finds this recording, it means I failed.”
Raka froze.
Tears began falling down his face before he even realized it.
Rina’s voice came through again.
“I know who lied to me.”
The recording paused.
Then came the final sentence.
“I know who destroyed my family.”
Everyone waited.
Then Rina said a name.
A name that froze the entire room.
“That person is...”