On Saturday night, Indira wore a dress chosen by Uncle Hengki and dutifully sat waiting in the living room until Uncle Hengki approached her to tell her that Angka was waiting outside.
As soon as the car door opened, Indira could immediately see Angka sitting in the passenger seat reading a document. He was wearing a suit and a pair of leather shoes. Indira noticed how broad the man's shoulders were and how smooth his skin was. The shape of his face was also very perfect which was further emphasized by his black hair which was arranged in a precise model.
Indira inhaled the scent of the man's perfume that filled the back of the car and got in while greeting, "Good evening, Mr. Sangkala."
Angka then lifted his gaze and was transfixed for a moment before smugly replying, "The dress looks very fitted."
"Thank you."
After that, the car started moving. While Angka was again busy with his paperwork, Indira chose to silently watch the road because the young woman felt it would be rude if she played with her cell phone near her current boss.
Not long after, Angka stopped his activities and straightened his sitting posture.
Sensing the man's movement, Indira immediately turned her body towards him as she realized that he must have something to say to her.
Angka then said, "This is your first meeting with my family, but you don't have to worry. Just answer what they ask. You don't need to say much and shouldn't take the initiative to start the conversation. You just need to be polite and smile when necessary."
"Okay."
"I have an acquaintance who will be attending later. He will probably ask a lot of questions and deliberately want to make things difficult for you, so try to avoid anyone."
Hearing that, Indira didn't really understand, but she just nodded briefly.
Realizing that Indira actually didn't understand what he meant, Angka calmly explained, "I'm going to tell you this because you're bound to find out sooner or later. The acquaintance I am referring to here is one of my business rivals who has impregnated my fiancée."
Indira finally understood that this business marriage happened between them because of the actions of Angka's business rival whom she had to avoid later during the party. Indira silently felt her scalp tingle at the thought of how much competition people in the business field had to snatch such fiancées from each other.
After that, their conversation ended as the car entered the gate of Angka's family home.
"No need to be nervous," said Angka before getting out of the car first.
It was said in a steady voice with a calm tone, but Indira knew that he was giving her an order.
"I'm not nervous at all," Indira replied before getting out of the car.
Indira wasn't lying when she said that she wasn't nervous. The reason was that this wasn't her home and she wasn't required to make a name for herself. She was just here as a decoration by Angka's side, so she had nothing to worry about.
When Indira had just finished saying that, her heart suddenly thumped hard when Angka reached his fingers into the Angka's hand without warning. The man's hand was wide, dry, and very strong. Indira could clearly smell Angka's perfume which was very pressing and made her feel that she was completely surrounded by Angka at the moment.
Without saying anything, Angka took Indira's hand into the house. There was classical music that greeted them as soon as the door opened and the huge living room was currently filled with people chatting or admiring each other.
One of the old men noticed the presence of the two and cheerfully said, "Ah, Angka is here."
"Hello, Uncle Syd, where's my dad?" asked Angka while giving a polite look to the other guests who were staring at them.
"Your father just went to his study to answer the phone." Uncle Syd looked at Indira and muttered, "This woman is..."
"Let me introduce my wife to you, her name is Indira and she is a translator."
Indira smiled politely and greeted, "Hello, Uncle."
"She must be a smart woman. Your choice is not bad either."
Several members of Angka's extended family then gathered around them and although they all made polite comments, they had no intention of paying any attention to Indira and were only busy talking to Angka.
Angka's family members are great and rich people who have seen the world, so they are all intelligent people. The fact that Angka did not announce his marriage to the public confirmed to them that Indira was not a woman worthy of being his real best man. They quickly gathered information about Indira and didn't even bother to remember her name. They just kept referring to her as 'Angka's Wife' with a subtle tone of scorn.
Indira was also aware of that, so she didn't mind at all and just continued to play her role as an eligible decoration for Angka. Indira even knew that someone as great as Angka must have never taken marriage seriously. Having a wedding or having offspring doesn't mean they can commit. One of the signs that a man of Angka's stature is getting the courage to commit is by organizing a wedding with a very big and lavish party.
But Angka had to forget his commitment because his business rival had started a war by impregnating his fiancée.
While thinking about that, Indira suddenly felt curious about what kind of man Angka's business rival had managed to make the foolish Rahayu turn away before the wedding.
"Good evening, Father."
Angka's respectful greeting pulled Indira from her thoughts. Her gaze fell on a middle-aged man who was standing not far from her and was looking at her with an appraising gaze.
Indira quickly smiled and greeted, "Good Evening."
"Mn, Indira, right? I heard you are a translator."
"That's right."
After that, Angka's father, Abi, immediately ignored Indira and called a servant to give him instructions, "Prepare everything well because dinner will start at half past seven."
As soon as the servant walked away, Abi turned to Angka and said, "Come with me for a moment."
Angka released his hand from Indira's and followed Abi upstairs leaving Indira alone among a crowd of people she didn't recognize. Seeing that each person was busy with their own business, Indira calmly backed up to the wall to look at a large war-themed painting hanging not far from her. Indira didn't know what it was, but it must have been a very expensive painting.
When Indira looked away, her gaze fell on the large bouquet of flowers beside her. She suddenly missed her grandmother at this moment. There were so many people in this room and they all seemed to be on good terms with each other, unlike her and her grandmother who had no one. As Indira stood looking at the bouquet of flowers, her grandmother was probably staring at her little flower pot alone at home thinking about her lifelong regret of loneliness.
Imagining that, Indira suddenly felt her chest tighten with sadness so that she didn't notice the person who had just stood nearby and only realized it when she heard a soft coughing sound being made.