Arelio was still staring at the letter in his hand. That short sentence felt heavier than all the secrets he had uncovered before.
“Don’t trust Damar.”
He read the sentence several times, hoping maybe he had seen it wrong. But his father’s handwriting remained the same.
Unchanged.
Raka, standing beside him, began to feel that something was wrong.
“Bro, why are you quiet?”
Arelio didn’t answer right away.
He handed the letter to Raka.
“Read it.”
Raka took it and began reading. A few seconds later, his expression changed too.
“Is this serious?”
Arelio nodded slowly.
“I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
Since finding the chest, Damar had been the first person to provide answers. He knew Arelio’s father. He knew about their family’s past. He had even given Arelio information he had never heard from anyone else.
But now his father’s letter was warning him to stay away from Damar.
“Dad must have had a reason for writing this,” Raka said.
“But Damar also seems like he wants to help.”
“Or maybe he just wants us to trust him.”
Arelio fell silent at his brother’s words.
Raka was younger, but sometimes he had a calmer mind.
Arelio looked at the letter again.
There was more writing at the bottom.
“Rel, don’t judge someone only by what they say. Look at what they hide.”
Arelio frowned.
“What is Damar hiding?”
The night grew later, but Arelio had no intention of sleeping. He took everything from the chest and arranged it on the table.
Old photographs.
A notebook.
His father’s letter.
A wristwatch.
Everything seemed like a piece of an unfinished puzzle.
As he examined the old photographs, Arelio realized something.
In the photograph, his father stood with Damar and another man.
A man he had never seen before.
“That’s strange.”
Raka moved closer.
“What?”
“There are three people in this photograph.”
Raka looked at it.
“This one is Dad, and this one is Damar. Who’s the other one?”
“That’s what I don’t know.”
Arelio turned the photograph over.
There was a small inscription on the back.
“The last meeting before everything changed.”
The date written there left Arelio speechless.
It was the year before he was born.
“What happened back then?”
The next morning, Arelio decided to see Damar again.
This time, not to ask for answers.
But to search for the truth.
Raka went with him.
They arrived at Damar’s house about an hour later.
But the house looked different.
The front door stood open.
The yard, which had looked neat yesterday, was now a mess.
Arelio immediately felt uneasy.
“Bro, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.”
They went inside slowly.
“Damar?”
There was no answer.
They walked into the living room.
Several things had fallen onto the floor. Books were scattered everywhere. A chair had been pushed aside, as if someone had just left in a hurry.
“Something happened here.”
Arelio looked around.
There was a small piece of paper on the table.
He picked it up.
The handwriting on it looked hurried.
“If Arelio comes, don’t let him read the old documents.”
Arelio immediately fell silent.
“Who is this from?”
Raka examined the writing.
“Isn’t this Damar’s handwriting?”
Arelio looked more closely.
He wasn’t sure.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.
“You shouldn’t have come back.”
Arelio and Raka turned at once.
Bastian stood near the door.
“Did you follow us?”
Bastian entered calmly.
“I’m just making sure you don’t make a mistake.”
Arelio glared at him.
“Why does everyone keep saying I’m wrong?”
“Because you don’t know what really happened.”
“Then explain it.”
Bastian fell silent.
“I can’t.”
Arelio let out a small laugh, but disappointment colored his voice.
“Funny. Everyone says they want to help, but no one’s willing to be honest.”
Bastian looked at the letter in Arelio’s hand.
“You’ve read the letter from your father?”
“Yeah.”
“And he warned you about Damar?”
Arelio immediately looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Bastian didn’t answer.
That question only made Arelio more suspicious.
“You know what the letter says too?”
Bastian sighed.
“I know a lot about your father.”
“Even why he died?”
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Bastian fell silent.
Arelio watched his reaction.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
Bastian looked away.
“There’s something you don’t know yet.”
“What?”
“Your father didn’t die because of an ordinary incident.”
Arelio’s heart seemed to stop for a moment.
All this time, he had always thought losing his father was something he simply had to accept.
But now there was another possibility.
“What do you mean?”
Bastian looked at him.
“Before he died, Arman was looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“Someone connected to the chest.”
Arelio clenched his father’s letter.
“Who was it?”
Bastian didn’t answer.
Because at that moment, footsteps sounded outside.
Someone entered the yard.
Bastian immediately grew alert.
“You have to leave.”
Arelio didn’t move.
“Who’s coming?”
Bastian looked toward the door.
“The person who made your father hide all these secrets.”
A few seconds later, someone appeared in the doorway.
And when Arelio saw that person’s face, he froze.
Because it was someone he had known very well all this time.