Carla's eyes suddenly opened without cause. She felt her heartbeat tighten irregularly.

"Astaghfirullah!" she said while clutching her left breast.

Carla straightened her gaze to the top of the door, where there was a worn-out wall clock attached to it. It was five forty minutes in the morning. It was time to start the day's activities.

Carla got out of bed and walked out of the Ellea's room. When she opened it, the room was still empty. It's mean that her granddaughter hadn't arrived home yet. Last night before she left, Ellea had told her that if she didn't come home, it meant she was staying at her friend Agatha's house.

Carla sat on the bed and looked at a photograph on the table. A childhood photo of Ellea when she was two years old. The photo of the two of them going to the zoo, where she held her granddaughter right in front of the fish pond.

Carla smiled slightly, then picked up the photo frame. "Now you're a big girl. You can earn your own money. You're even the sole breadwinner. May you always be healthy, always be protected every step of the way by the almighty, guided to the right path so as not to be misguided."

Carla put the frame back in its original place and left the room.

Carla was about to head to the kitchen, starting the morning by cooking breakfast, so that when Ellea got home, her granddaughter could immediately enjoy her cooking.

Carla had just taken the spices out of the refrigerator. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Carla looked up, thinking for a moment who her guest was who had come so early.

"Is it Ellea? But she usually gets home at seven. How come she's already home at this hour?" she wondered.

Carla put the knife she was holding back on the table and walked out to open the door.

"How come you're already pu..."

Before Carla could finish her question, her lips suddenly twitched when she saw the figure of another person in front of her. A figure she hadn't seen in twelve years. But as soon as Carla saw her, she didn't forget the woman who was around forty years old.

"What are you here for?"

***

"I'll take you home! I want to know where we live," Leon said. Both of them were now fully dressed, ready to leave the hotel.

"Huh? No! No! I can take a motorcycle taxi home by myself. Besides, what will the neighbors think if I'm chauffeured home by a man in a fancy car. Let's go home by ourselves," Ellea refused.

Ethan couldn't force Ellea's decision. In the end, she left the hotel alone. As for Ellea, as usual, she would look for a restroom where she could change into the clothes she was wearing when she left home, the typical sales uniform.

Ellea quickly exited the hotel, walking towards an online motorcycle taxi driver who had just arrived right in front of the hotel.

Upon arriving home, Ellea immediately rushed inside. Especially since the front door was open, her grandmother must be awake.

"Grandma!" she greeted.

"Hai, Baby," came the double voice from inside the house.

Ellea stopped in the doorway and saw two women sitting in the living room. One was her grandmother, and the other was a woman she felt she had never met before.

Ellea took a step forward, but looked very confused. She approached her grandmother. "Who, grandma?" she asked softly.

"Got a visitor, Grandma?"

Carla didn't answer right away. She honestly didn't know what to say.

Ellea looked at the woman. She was seen throwing a smile at Ellea with teary eyes. If she blinked, she would have shed her tears.

"You're all grown up, baby," she said softly.

Ellea nodded with a smile.

Jolly, the forty-two-year-old woman could no longer contain her longing. She got up from her seat and approached Ellea. Without waiting for long, she hugged Ellea, making the girl even more confused as she felt she didn't know the woman.

Carla also seemed unable to do anything. Maybe now it was time for Ellea to know all the truth.

"My child! I miss you, child. I miss you. I've been holding this feeling for years and finally today I can express this longing. My child, Ellea."

Hearing Jolly's statement, Ellea immediately fell silent, her facial expression looking flat.

"Mom?" she whispered while moving her eyes towards Carla.

Carla signaled by nodding her head.

Ellea immediately pushed Jolly hard enough for her body to bounce. She got up with an angry expression on her face. Carla was surprised at the change in her granddaughter's demeanor.

"Mom? Are you really my mom? Huh?" Ellea shouted.

Jolly nodded, her tears breaking out. "Baby,sorry..."

Ellea shook her head. "Sorry? That's the only word you can say after all these years of letting me live like this? Great!"

Jolly could not reply to Ellea's words. Her heart ached to hear her biological daughter say such things.

Carla had to intervene to calm her granddaughter down. She got up, grabbed his arm, and tried to give him some understanding.

"Honey, hold your temper. We can talk nicely. Yes?" she coaxed.

Ellea looked at her grandmother quizzically. "Talk nicely? Are you sure we can talk nicely? Have you forgotten what we've been through? All this time we've been living together? I forgot!" snapped Ellea, whose temper was getting the better of her.

Carla shook her head. Meanwhile, Jolly continued to sob. No matter how much he defended himself, he was still wrong.

"What are we here for? What, to tell me that you regret leaving me all this time? You were forced to leave me because you couldn't think maturely back then? Yes? Hahhh, trite!" Ellea looked away.

"I want to apologize, honey..."

"Apologize? Is that all you can do? Why only now? We've lived in this rented house for as long as I can remember, we've never moved at all. So why are you coming now?"

Ellea continued to corner Jolly. It was difficult for her at the moment to accept the woman by pretending as if nothing had happened.