Something was off that night. Kia wasn't whining the way she usually did. For the past two nights, she'd still been using her go-to move: crying and saying that their baby needed his presence. If Ardi refused, she'd raise the stakes.
"I remember where Mbak Kirana lives, you know, Mas. Should I go there and pick you up?" That was more or less her go-to line.
Whenever that happened, Ardi would let out an exhausted huff, then turn the wheel toward somewhere he shouldn't have been going. The next morning, his phone would be bombarded with messages from Kirana.
Ardi was tired of the risks that came with it. Kirana had barely contacted him over the past two nights. That should have been good news, but judging by her track record, when Kirana went quiet, it meant she was planning a bomb.
The last time she made a scene, she'd ordered food for delivery with cash on delivery, blowing a hole in Ardi's wallet that night.
But that was nothing compared to the early days, when Kirana first found out about her husband's betrayal. That night, the switch at Ardi's second wife's house went dead. They assumed it was a power outage. Ardi's eyes were too heavy to check the electrical system himself. Kia volunteered to go downstairs. Luckily, she peeked through the curtain first and saw a woman holding a knife in her right hand. Kia immediately woke Ardi, and the man went downstairs with her to make sure. Ardi was utterly shocked when he realized that the woman about to commit a crime in his house was his first wife.
Of course, they didn't dare go outside. They waited until dawn arrived, but Kirana still wouldn't give up. By the time the sun rose, Ardi could still see Kirana sitting on the front porch with a frustrated expression. They had no choice that day but to leave. Who wanted to spend the entire day under house arrest, anyway?
Kirana, naturally, went hysterical. She raised the weapon—not at Ardi, but at her co-wife. In the middle of that chaotic morning, Ardi managed to take control of it with a little strategy. He hugged Kirana to calm her fury.
Ardi took the rampaging Kirana home. He succeeded, but he couldn't escape the pots and plates rampaging through their house.
Their lives had never been the same after that day. Actually, things between Ardi and Kirana hadn't been going well even before Ardi found Kia. But after Kia entered the picture, their "not going well" gained another layer. And Kia wasn't a pushover, either. The drama in Ardi's life had only gotten louder over the past two years.
Ardi rubbed his forehead. He came back to himself from his reverie when Kia's voice on the other end of the phone reached his ears again.
"Mas, please. Our baby."
"Mas, she's going to kill our child."
"Mas, that shoe."
Ardi's shoulders had been slumped against the driver's seat, but they suddenly straightened when he heard a scream. Sharp and terrifying. Then the call disconnected, leaving behind only silence.
Ardi rubbed his forehead again. Kia must have been creating drama yet again, he thought. He had no intention of checking on Kia right away. Instead, the man opened his contacts, intending to call someone who could usually cure the headache he got whenever Kia or Kirana started acting up.
Ardi abandoned the idea. He hated his body's radar. In the end, that radar chose to steer the car through the night air, toward his second wife's house.
Most of the lights at the house Ardi shared with Kia were off, leaving only the living room illuminated. Kia never usually turned off all the lights unless she was leaving the house. She was afraid of the dark, so whenever she was inside, she automatically turned on every room without exception.
Seeing that unusual state, Ardi's brows drew together. Then the man swiftly unfastened his seat belt and got out of the car, moving with purpose but not rushing.
His purpose was interrupted when Ardi spotted the silhouette of someone who looked familiar. The man narrowed his eyes, following the movements of someone who was getting farther and farther away, along with their car.
"No," he said. Ardi tried not to jump to conclusions and refocused on his second wife's house.
Ardi opened the door. The brows that had remained furrowed were replaced by a gaping mouth. There stood Saiful—the family gardener—frozen with a blank stare beside Kia, who was now a corpse.