“Satria, stop!” Maya Kirana shouted, her voice cleaving through the fog-shrouded silence hanging over Swara Park.
The gunshot had apparently only struck the ground, right in front of Arlan Dewangga’s feet. Thin smoke rose from a small hole in the wet earth. Satria Adiguna stood there, breathing hard, the hand holding the weapon trembling violently. “Give me that box, Arlan! Don’t force me to do something we’ll all regret!” Satria snapped, his wild eyes fixed on the mud-smeared metal box in Arlan’s arms.
Arlan did not move. He stood straight even as his body shook from the icy lake water stabbing into his bones.
“You’ve already done plenty of things worth regretting, Satria. Trying to destroy Swara Park just to cover up your family’s corruption isn’t one of them?”
“You don’t know anything! You’re just an outsider who came back to ruin everything!” Satria shouted again.
“I know more than you think,” Arlan replied calmly.
“Danu recorded everything.” Danu Perkasa held his phone high.
“It’s already streaming live, buddy. All of Astina City is watching your midnight drama. Put that toy down before the police actually get here.” Satria laughed harshly, the sound like shattering glass.
“Live streaming? In fog this thick, without a signal? Don’t bluff, Danu!”
“Want to bet?” Danu challenged him, though his own hands were sweating cold.
Maya stepped forward, standing directly between Satria’s pistol and Arlan’s chest. Her face was pale, but her eyes shone with a determination Arlan had never seen before.
“Move, Maya!” Satria ordered hoarsely.
“Shoot me first if you want to take that box, Satria,” Maya said coldly.
“Didn’t you say you loved me? Didn’t you say you wanted to build a future with me here in Astina City?”
“That’s true! I’m doing all this for us!” Satria shouted in frustration.
“This park has to be leveled so that mall project can go forward. We’ll be rich, Maya! We won’t have to work hard anymore taking care of some abandoned park like this!”
“Do you think I care about your money?” Maya cut in sharply.
“I’m a landscape architect. My job is to build and preserve, not destroy history for the sake of concrete and steel. You lied to me about the park’s environmental impact permit, Satria. You lied to me about the city’s development master plan.”
“I was protecting you!” Satria protested.
“If the secret inside that box is exposed, your father’s reputation will be destroyed too! He was the one who signed off on this land transfer ten years ago!”
Maya was stunned for a moment. Her shoulders sagged, but she quickly steeled herself.
“If Dad is guilty, then he has to answer for it. And if you’re involved, you have to face the consequences too. That’s called professionalism, Satria. Something you apparently never understood.”
“Professionalism?” Satria spat to the side.
“You just want to defend this ex-boyfriend of yours, don’t you? You’re still in love with this failed photographer!”
“This has nothing to do with Arlan!” Maya said firmly.
“This is about the integrity of my work. This is about Swara Park, which I promised the people of Astina City I would restore. You’re my fiancé, but you’re the enemy of the project I’m working on.”
Arlan stepped forward, trying to pull Maya behind him.
“Maya, let me talk to him. This is dangerous.”
“Quiet, Arlan!” Maya cut him off without turning around.
“This is between me and my fiancé. Stay there and guard the box.”
The excavator behind them continued to roar, its operator looking hesitant to continue the demolition with an armed confrontation unfolding in front of him. The heavy machinery’s floodlights cast their long, frightening shadows across the muddy ground.
“Satria, look at me,” Maya pleaded, her voice softer now but still distant.
“Put the weapon down. We can talk at the police station. If you surrender now, I might still be able to respect you as a colleague.”
“Respect me? After humiliating me by taking this man everywhere with you?” Satria pointed the tip of his pistol at Arlan.
“Do you think I’m blind? I saw the way you looked at him at Orange Café the other day!”
“What you saw was the remnants of a past I’m trying to put to rest, Satria,” Maya answered honestly, though her words pierced Arlan’s heart.
“But what you’re doing tonight is pure criminality. You tried to kill someone!”
“I only want to take what rightfully belongs to my family!” Satria insisted.
From behind them, Danu shouted, “Police! I hear sirens!”
Faintly, the sound of sirens could indeed be heard splitting the silence of Astina City. Blue and red lights began flashing behind the thick fog blanketing the entrance to Swara Park.
Satria panicked. He glanced toward the entrance road, then looked back at Maya. “This is all your fault, Maya! You’re the one who destroyed us!”
“No, Satria. Your greed did that,” Maya replied softly.
In his panic, Satria aimed his pistol at Arlan again. “Give me the box now, or I really will shoot!”
Arlan tightened his hold on the metal box. “The contents of this box prove that the land Swara Park stands on was never legally sold to your family’s company. There’s an original will from the land’s first owner here. You won’t be able to touch this park again.”
“Liar!” Satria pulled the trigger.
*Click.*
The weapon jammed. Satria frantically tried to pull the trigger again, but no bullet came out. The old gun appeared to be rusted or clogged with dirt.
Arlan did not waste the opportunity. He charged at Satria, knocking the man onto the muddy ground. The two of them rolled through the mud, trading punches and elbows. The metal box flew several yards to the side.
“Arlan!” Maya cried anxiously.
Danu immediately ran to secure the box while Maya tried to break up the fight. Satria, blinded by rage, managed to grab a large rock and raised it to smash into Arlan’s head.
“Satria, don’t!” Maya clung to Satria’s arm with all her strength.
Satria yanked his arm away, sending Maya sprawling backward onto the ground. When Arlan saw her fall, he immediately struck Satria hard in the jaw, sending the man crumpling unconscious.
Arlan was breathing heavily. His face was covered in mud and blood from his split lip. He hurried over to Maya.
“Are you all right?” Maya brushed Arlan’s hand away when he tried to help her up. She stood on her own, dusting off her work clothes with trembling hands.
“I’m fine,” Maya said coldly, putting her professional mask back on.
“Thank you, Arlan. But please, give me some space.”
Arlan was stunned. The wound in his heart hurt more than the physical injury on his face.
“Maya, I just wanted to help.”
“You helped. You helped a lot,” Maya said without meeting his eyes.
“Now let the authorities handle the rest. Danu, give me the box.”
Danu reluctantly handed over the metal box.
“Maya, are you sure? You look really shaken.”
“I’m a professional, Danu. I’m in charge of this Swara Park renovation project. This box is part of the site’s assets, so I’m the one who has to hand it over to the police as physical evidence,” Maya explained in a monotonous tone, as if she were presenting a report to a client.
Several police cars entered the park, their lights glaring. Officers quickly got out and secured Satria, who was beginning to regain consciousness. Several others approached Arlan and Danu to take their statements.
Maya walked toward the police chief, who had just stepped out of his car. She explained the sequence of events in painstaking detail, perfectly logically, without the slightest burst of emotion. She looked like a robot programmed to complete a task.
Arlan watched her from a distance as a medic wrapped him in a blanket. He knew Maya was breaking apart inside. He knew she was using her professionalism as a shield to keep from collapsing in front of everyone.
“She’s a strong woman, Lan,” Danu whispered from where he sat beside him. “But that strength can be frightening sometimes.”
“She’s not strong, Danu. She’s just used to keeping everything to herself,” Arlan replied sadly. “And I’m the reason she had to learn to do that.”
After nearly an hour of processing, Maya approached Arlan again. The police had already taken Satria away. The excavator had also been stopped, and its operator was being questioned.
“Arlan,” Maya called softly.
Arlan looked up. “Yes, Maya?”
“The police need your official statement tomorrow morning at headquarters. And... I want to thank you for saving my life earlier,” Maya said, her voice trembling slightly at the end.
“I’d do anything for you, Maya. You know that,” Arlan replied sincerely.
Maya turned away, gazing at the lake, which was now beginning to disappear beneath the dawn fog.
“Don’t say that. It isn’t professional for our working relationship going forward.”
“Our working relationship? After all this, you still think this is just a working relationship?” Arlan stood, letting his blanket fall.
“Maya, Satria almost killed us! He betrayed you!”
“That’s exactly why!” Maya spun around, her eyes now glistening with tears.
“Because my own fiancé turned out to be a criminal, I have to stand tall. I have to prove that I was chosen for this project because of my competence, not because of Satria’s connections. If I look weak now, if I look like I’m running into my ex-boyfriend’s arms, all the credibility I’ve built over the past five years will be destroyed overnight!”
Arlan fell silent. Only then did he realize how heavy a burden Maya carried in Astina City—a small city full of gossip and prejudice.
“I’m sorry,” Arlan murmured.
“I never meant to damage your reputation.”
“You damaged it five years ago when you left me at the altar, Arlan,” Maya said sharply, her old wounds surfacing once more.
“Now let me save what’s left of my dignity.”
Maya turned and walked toward her car parked near Orange Café. She got inside, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and finally broke down crying there, behind the dark car windows where no one could see her.
Arlan could only stand at the edge of the lake, watching the taillights of Maya’s car slowly disappear into the fog. In his hand, he still held his documentary camera, which had fallen earlier. He opened it and looked at a photo he had accidentally taken when Maya stood up to Satria.
In the photo, Maya looked like a guardian goddess amid the ruins. But when Arlan zoomed in, he saw a single tear rolling down Maya’s cheek—a detail no one else had seen that night.
“We’re not finished, Maya,” Arlan whispered to the night wind. “I won’t let you face this darkness alone again.”
But just as Arlan was about to walk away, his phone vibrated. A message arrived from an unknown number.
*“You think that box is the end of everything? It’s only the beginning. Satria is just a small pawn. If you want Maya to stay safe, leave Astina City before sunrise.”*
Arlan felt his blood turn to ice. He glanced at Danu, who was absorbed in conversation with one of the police officers. Who had sent this message? And was Maya in even greater danger than they imagined?
Arlan looked back toward the road Maya had taken. He knew he couldn’t leave. Not this time.
He walked quickly toward Danu. “Danu, we have a new problem.”
“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Danu asked in confusion.
Arlan showed him the message. Danu’s face immediately turned serious. “Who do you think sent this?”
“I don’t know. But one thing is certain: this Swara Park project is hiding a secret far darker than mere land corruption,” Arlan said firmly. “And I have to find out what it is before they touch Maya again.”
In the distance, a strange rumble sounded again from deep within the forest surrounding Swara Park. It wasn’t the sound of heavy machinery, but the sound of something collapsing. Arlan and Danu exchanged a look, realizing that Astina City’s tranquility was only an illusion, one that would soon shatter completely.