Love Redux: Fated to the Handsome Doctor

Lara, who had never felt nauseous in the morning, suddenly felt like vomiting because of her mother-in-law’s rant. It wasn’t even because of the overly salty fried rice.

She wanted to empty her stomach because her mother-in-law was talking about poison. Was it nothing, she said? Was her food not poisoned? Then was she intending to poison her if given the chance?

“HOEK!”

Success. All the liquid contents of her stomach were emptied out.

“HOEK!”

She couldn’t hold back. Lara saw Grandma and her mother-in-law stunned, covering their mouths and noses. Meanwhile, she was still bent over, continuing to empty her stomach. She was truly disgusted with all her mother-in-law’s words that were never kind to her.

“Oh My God! Sister!”

After vomiting to her satisfaction and having no more strength to do so, she glanced towards the voice calling her. A woman’s voice.

“Selly?” Lara muttered weakly.

Selly-her sister-in-law-who was in high school, looked beautiful in her school uniform: a white shirt with a too-short gray skirt.

Selly was 17 years old, her body quite plump. Lara wondered why her mother-in-law allowed the girl to dress like a nightclub hostess when going to school.

She also questioned her homeroom teacher’s indifferent attitude, was it because Selly was from a wealthy family?

Selly didn’t even transfer to a prestigious private school and chose to stay in her old public school. Lara wasn’t sure if Selly was humble. Her guess was that Selly just didn’t want to lose her sweetheart who might be in the same school.

“Ew!”

Selly looked disgusted as she looked at Lara. But she quickly ordered her mother to move away. At least she did the right thing. Lara’s nausea could worsen if her mother-in-law were still there.

“Ma, come in, Ma!” she shouted frantically.

Her mother-in-law quickly walked towards Selly and they left the dining room immediately.

“Clean this place up, quickly!” Grandma ordered the servants.

They immediately grabbed cleaning supplies and led Lara back to her room. Grandma approached her and handed her a wet cloth to clean herself. “Just eat in your room,” she said.

Lara nodded and went to the room, sipping the warm tea that had been prepared by the servants.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

***

That night, Lara confided in Seno, as soon as he came home from the office.

“Darling, it seems like Mama doesn’t like me here. I want to go back to Menteng,” she said with a hint of sulking.

Seno, who had just arrived, was naturally surprised by her request.

He had just finished showering. Right now, Seno smelled good and was still half-wet. Lara could smell the sharp scent of roses coming from his body.

Hearing her complaint, Seno raised an eyebrow. He seemed pensive for a moment before responding to her complaint.

Seno then hung the towel he had used to dry his body and head, then approached her.

“Seriously? What did Mama say?” he asked.

Lara fell silent at his question. She just sighed deeply because her mother-in-law’s words were not worthy to be repeated.

“Anyway, I want to go back to Menteng,” she insisted without further negotiation.

Seno sighed along with her. She could see his expression change. “Um, our house is still under renovation, dear,” he said after being silent for a while.

“Renovation? Which part?” Lara asked. As far as she could remember, there was no part of their house that needed such renovation. She was quite suspicious of his statement.

“Hey, don’t you know? Our house has a leaking roof?”

“Really?”

“Yes…”

Seno then hugged her and kissed her belly. It calmed her emotions.

“Be patient, okay? We’ll go home soon.”

That night, Lara slept without thinking about her whining to go back to Menteng. She would wait until the house in Menteng was renovated. Seno helped calm her troubled heart.

***

When Lara was already asleep, Seno seemed to leave their room. He walked slowly towards his grandma’s room.

The main corridor of the house was quite dark. There was no lighting except for the lamp on the outside. Seno and his family didn’t like overly bright environments, even outside their rooms.

The dim light coming from the window was enough to illuminate Seno’s steps so he wouldn’t stumble. The man intentionally didn’t turn on the light even though he could, so as not to wake Lara up.

Lara was quite sensitive, Seno knew that very well.

Not too long after, Seno knocked on his grandma’s door. There was no answer to the first knock. He repeated it, although not too loudly. Seno didn’t want to cause a commotion.

“Yes, yes! Wait a moment,” replied Grandma, who seemed to have woken up from her sleep.

The old woman then turned the doorknob and opened the door in front of her.

“Seno?” she asked, then stretched her head outwards. After she finished checking, Grandma instructed Seno to enter her room.

“What brings you here?” she asked, looking surprised. Seno took a deep breath. He wanted to know what had just happened between his wife and his mother.

“W-what?” Seno widened his eyes. He didn’t expect his mother to say that to Lara. “Lara must be upset,” he muttered.

“It seems so,” Grandma agreed. They then glanced at each other and sank into their own thoughts.

“Lara can’t stand being here, Grandma. If Lara goes to Menteng, I can’t watch over her,” Seno said sharply.

“You’re right. Your son’s birthday is still far off.”

“Do you have any ideas, Grandma?”

“I don’t know. Their relationship is really messed up. Ami doesn’t listen to me anymore. She even rebels like a teenager. Your mother!” Grandma growled, pursing her lips.

“Hhh… only you can control Mama. I can’t either. But if Lara escapes from me, my plan will be ruined! Grandma, you have to help me,” Seno said with a cunning look that didn’t even consider Lara as his wife.

For Seno, Lara was just a commodity that had to be taken care of to be exchanged for something valuable. He wouldn’t reveal anything until his plan was perfectly realized.

“Keep an eye on the servant. Let her go home, Seno. Grandma can’t guarantee that Lara will stay.”

The night wind knocked on the window, as if someone was trying to enter their conversation. Its rhythm was eerie, similar to Seno’s deep dilemma.

His busy schedule as a growing businessman required him to be busy coming and going. Seno couldn’t watch over Lara every moment, which made him anxious.

However, if Seno allowed Lara to stay in this house any longer, he was worried that Lara would become frustrated and endanger the life of their future child. Seno was truly tested with a difficult choice.

“You have to comply with Lara’s wishes if you want to keep her. Grandma can see, your wife is very stubborn.”

“You’re right, Grandma. I can hardly stand her either,” Seno replied, agreeing with Grandma’s words. He even looked for young girls to distract himself momentarily from his mission in taking care of Lara.

There was a secret that required Seno to be with Lara until the end of the agreement. After that, he was free to divorce or throw Lara away on the streets. Seno didn’t care much about it.

“Okay, tomorrow I’ll go back to Menteng, Grandma.”