THE MISSING MOTHER
That morning, Arga didn't go to the office.
For the first time since Mahendra Investment Partners was founded, he canceled his entire schedule.
No meetings.
No transactions.
No company analysis.
There was only one goal.
Find his mother.
Arga sat in the car with Raka and Nadia.
In his hand was the old photograph he'd found in his father's house.
Written on the back of the photo were the words:
**“If I fail, find Maya.”**
Arga read the sentence over and over.
It was still hard to believe that the woman he'd always believed was dead might actually still be alive.
“Where do we start?” Raka asked.
Arga opened his laptop.
“With the old data.”
Nadia looked at him.
“What data?”
“Population records, accounts, property, companies—everything.”
Raka nodded.
“We'll look for whatever traces remain.”
Arga stared at the screen.
“If my mother is still alive, she must have used an identity at some point.”
Nadia shook her head.
“Not necessarily.”
Arga looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“If she really has been hiding for fifteen years, she might have deliberately erased every trace.”
Arga fell silent.
“Then we'll look for people who were once connected to her.”
Nadia gave a faint smile.
“Now we're thinking like investigators.”
The search went on for nearly six hours.
They found nothing.
The name Maya Mahendra didn't appear in any recent transaction records.
No property.
No company.
No active account.
No address.
It was as if Maya had truly vanished from the world.
Arga began to grow frustrated.
“It's impossible.”
Raka looked at him.
“Take it easy.”
“I've already lost fifteen years.”
Arga closed the laptop.
“I don't want to lose another day.”
Nadia, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.
“Arga.”
“What?”
“I found something.”
Arga turned immediately.
Nadia spun the laptop around.
An old hospital record appeared on the screen.
The date was fifteen years ago.
Patient name:
**Maya Mahendra.**
Arga leaned closer.
“A hospital?”
Nadia nodded.
“This record was created three weeks after your father died.”
Arga read further.
“The patient was hospitalized for two days.”
“Why?”
Nadia shook her head.
“The information is incomplete.”
“Address?”
Nadia pointed at the screen.
“This is the strange part.”
The address wasn't the family home.
It wasn't an office, either.
It was a small apartment in Bandung.
Arga stood at once.
“Let's go.”
Three hours later, they arrived in Bandung.
The apartment looked ordinary.
An old building.
Nothing luxurious.
Nothing crowded.
Arga stood in front of door number 307.
He knocked.
There was no answer.
He knocked again.
Still nothing.
Raka tried the door.
“It's unlocked.”
Arga slowly opened it.
The room was empty.
There was no furniture.
No clothes.
Only a small table.
An envelope sat on the table.
Arga picked it up.
There was no sender's name.
There was only one line:
**For Arga.**
His hand trembled.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a sheet of paper.
Handwritten.
Arga recognized it immediately.
The handwriting he'd seen in old notebooks.
His father's handwriting.
**“If you're reading this, it means you've found a place you were never supposed to find.”**
Arga continued reading.
**“Maya is still alive.”**
He stopped.
His breath caught.
**“But don't look for her until you understand who is hunting her.”**
Raka asked,
“What does it say?”
Arga handed him the letter.
Raka read it.
His expression changed.
Nadia took the last section.
It read:
**“The most dangerous person isn't the one who wants to kill Maya.”**
**“The most dangerous person is the one who wants Maya to return.”**
Arga frowned.
“What does that mean?”
There was no answer.
But at the bottom of the letter was an address.
A small town in West Java.
And one name.
**Sari Wulandari.**
Arga stared at the name.
“Who is Sari?”
Nadia immediately searched the data.
“No direct connection.”
“Dig deeper.”
A few minutes later, Nadia found a small company.
**Wulandari Trading.**
Owner:
**Sari Wulandari.**
Arga stared at the screen.
“Is this company still active?”
“It is.”
“Where?”
“Garut.”
Arga nodded.
“Let's go.”
They arrived in Garut in the late afternoon.
Wulandari Trading turned out not to be a large company.
It was only a small warehouse selling agricultural products.
A woman around fifty stood in front of the warehouse.
When she saw Arga, her expression changed immediately.
She knew who had come.
“Arga?”
Arga stopped.
“You know me?”
Sari didn't answer.
Her eyes began to glisten.
“You look so much like your father.”
Arga stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
“Sari.”
“My mother's friend?”
Sari sighed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Sari looked around.
“Come inside first.”
They entered a small room behind the warehouse.
Sari closed the door.
“Don't bring too many people.”
Arga looked at Raka and Nadia.
“They're people I trust.”
Sari nodded.
Then she sat down.
“I've been waiting for someone to come for fifteen years.”
Arga stared at her.
“Waiting for me?”
“No.”
Sari shook her head.
“Waiting for someone brave enough to look for Maya.”
Arga drew a breath.
“You know where my mother is?”
Sari was silent.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
Arga stood.
“Where?”
“Not far from here.”
“Take me to her.”
Sari looked at him.
“I can't.”
“Why not?”
“Because Maya doesn't want to be found.”
Arga clenched his fists.
“She is my mother.”
“I know.”
“Then why hasn't she looked for me?”
Sari lowered her head.
“Because she believed that if she got close to you, you'd die.”
Arga fell silent.
Sari continued.
“After your father died, Maya became a target.”
“Of the K Consortium?”
Sari nodded.
“She knew too much.”
“Then why didn't they kill her?”
Sari gave a bitter smile.
“Because they needed her.”
“For what?”
Sari looked at Arga.
“To open something only your family can open.”
Arga frowned.
“What?”
Sari had no chance to answer before they heard a vehicle stop in front of the warehouse.
Sari stood immediately.
Her face went pale.
“They're here.”
Raka moved toward the window.
“Three cars.”
Nadia looked at Arga.
“We have to go.”
Sari shook her head.
“There's no time.”
She opened a small door at the back of the room.
“This way.”
They ran into a narrow hallway.
The sound of the warehouse door opening came from behind them.
Someone shouted.
“Find them!”
Arga ran after Sari.
They exited through the back door and entered an alley.
The sound of footsteps drew closer.
Raka grabbed Arga.
“Faster!”
They ran toward the car.
Suddenly, a vehicle sped toward them from the opposite direction.
Sari shouted.
“Stop!”
The car stopped right in front of them.
The back door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Her hair had gone slightly gray.
Her face looked older than Arga had imagined.
But her eyes…
Arga recognized them.
They were the same as his own.
The woman stood several feet away from him.
She didn't move.
She didn't speak.
Arga froze as well.
Sari lowered her head.
“Maya.”
The woman looked at Arga.
Tears streamed down her face.
“Arga…”
That voice.
Arga had heard it in his childhood memories.
The voice he'd thought for years he would never hear again.
“Mom?”
Maya covered her mouth.
Arga stepped forward.
“Mom…”
Maya began to cry.
Arga embraced her.
For a few seconds, the world seemed to stop.
Fifteen years.
Fifteen years of questions.
Fifteen years of anger.
Fifteen years of loneliness.
Everything broke apart in a single embrace.
But Maya pushed Arga away instead.
“No.”
Arga was stunned.
“Mom?”
“You can't come here.”
“I came looking for you.”
“You have to leave.”
“I want to know everything.”
Maya shook her head.
“Not now.”
“Why?”
Maya looked at Raka and Nadia.
Then she turned back to Arga.
“Because they already know you've found me.”
Arga turned.
At the end of the road, three black cars were beginning to approach.
Raka immediately pulled out his phone.
“We have to go.”
Maya grabbed Arga's hand.
“Get in!”
They climbed into the car.
The vehicle sped away at once.
Arga sat beside his mother.
No one spoke.
A few minutes later, Maya said quietly,
“Your father didn't die because of the K Consortium.”
Arga turned to her.
“What?”
Maya looked at him.
“He was killed by the person he trusted most.”
Arga fell silent.
“Who?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“Someone you've always considered family.”
Arga immediately thought of his uncle.
But Maya shook her head.
“Not your uncle.”
Arga looked at her.
“Then who?”
Maya didn't answer.
She only said,
“Find the red book.”
“What book?”
“The book your father hid before he died.”
“Where?”
Maya looked deeply into Arga's eyes.
“In your house.”
Arga shook his head.
“We already searched the house.”
“Not inside the house.”
Maya drew a breath.
“Underneath it.”
Arga fell silent.
“Under the house?”
Maya nodded.
“Your father built a secret room.”
Raka looked in the rearview mirror.
“Then we go back.”
Maya answered immediately,
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the room contains more than just a book.”
Arga looked at his mother.
“What else?”
Maya looked at him.
“Evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Evidence that your father didn't betray the K Consortium.”
Arga fell silent.
Maya continued.
“He tried to destroy them.”
“And failed?”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
“Then?”
Maya looked at Arga.
“He succeeded.”
Arga frowned.
“If he succeeded, why does the K Consortium still exist?”
Maya gave a bitter smile.
“Because the K Consortium today isn't the same one it was back then.”
Arga was even more confused.
“What do you mean?”
Maya looked at the road ahead.
“Fifteen years ago, your father destroyed their old structure.”
“Then who rebuilt it?”
Maya was silent.
A few seconds later, she said,
“The person who took over after your father's death.”
Arga waited.
Maya finally said his name.
“Leonard Hartono.”
Arga clenched his fists.
“So Leonard is the current leader of the K Consortium?”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
Arga fell silent.
“Leonard is only the gatekeeper.”
“Then who's the leader?”
Maya looked at Arga.
For the first time, fear showed on her face.
“The person truly above Leonard…”
She stopped.
“…is your father.”
Arga froze.
“What?”
Maya quickly shook her head.
“Not your father as you know him.”
“Then who?”
Maya looked at him.
“His name is **Adrian Mahendra**.”
Arga frowned.
“That was my father's name.”
“No.”
Maya drew a breath.
“That was the name your father used when he joined the K Consortium.”
Arga fell silent.
Maya gripped his hand.
“Your father had a twin brother.”
The world seemed to stop.
Arga couldn't speak.
“A twin brother?”
Maya nodded.
“And that man…”
Maya looked into Arga's eyes.
“…has never died.”
Behind them, the sound of vehicles returned.
A black car appeared in the distance.
Then two more.
Raka accelerated.
Maya looked at Arga.
“Now do you understand why I never looked for you?”
Arga didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on the vehicles chasing them.
Maya said softly,
“Because the person who killed your father…”
She stopped.
“…was his own twin brother.”
Arga looked at his mother.
And for the first time in his life, he realized that his family's greatest enemy might not be a stranger.
**It might be his own blood.**