THE MAN MOST HATED BY KEFIRAH

Three days late,

After Levi harassed Kefirah, the girl did not want to leave her house. She mostly locked herself in her bedroom. Since that night, Levi had never appeared before her.

"Miss, it's time for lunch," Aunt Shinta said, placing the tray on the table. There was no response whatsoever from Kefirah. This made Aunt Shinta even more curious. However, the housekeeper did not know what happened that night.

Kefirah and Aunt Shinta's attention was drawn to the open door. A woman who was five years older than Kefirah was standing there. Her face was red and she held back her rage. She was Rista. The eldest daughter in the house. Seconds later Kefirah's attention was also drawn to Levi who was standing behind her sister. The man tried to calm Rista, but failed.

Plaque! A hard slap landed on Kefirah's cheek. Levi and Aunt Shinta were very flinched. They knew how much Rista loved her sister but now the woman suddenly came with anger.

"Honey, calm down!" Levi tried to talk to his woman. However, Rista's anger that was already at the peak could not be controlled. Rista was really disappointed with her sister.

"How can I calm down? My own little sister is trying to seduce you. Her future brother-in-law," Rista answered with a tense jaw.

"What?" Kefirah screamed. She did not know what was going on but Kefirah tried to understand what her sister was saying.

"We can talk about this. Don't hurt Kefirah! You will regret it, honey." Levi had to raise his voice so that his future wife would come to her senses. Seeing Rista's breath that was rising and falling, Levi pulled her hand away.

"Come talk to me!" Levi took Rista from Kefirah's bedroom.

The problems did not stop there. Half an hour later, Kefirah's cell phone kept ringing. Many messages and calls came from her school friends.

"What is this?!" Kefirah frowned. Photos of her shirtless were circulating on social media. As it turned out, this was the plan of her friends. They wanted to embarrass Kefirah, they were jealous because the girl was always proud of at school. Not infrequently Kefirah's achievements became a comparison for parents educating their children.

Because of that incident, a week later Kefirah was transferred to Melbourne, Australia. Taylor and his wife had to pay a heavy price so that Kefirah's bad tracks were wiped out of circulation. Since then, Kefirah's relationship with her family had been strained. Kefirah did not even come when Levi and Rista made their wedding vows at the altar.

***

Kefirah, who was an adult, was still watching her face through the mirror reflection. Pity for Taylor who was old, but she had not been able to forgive Levi whom she considered the source of the trouble eight years ago.

"How can I work there? I also don't want to be the CEO to replace that man. I am more free and comfortable working in Melbourne. There was Manuel and his family who accepted and loved me very much."

Busy talking with herself, Kefirah did not realize who had entered her room. "Miss, Mr. Taylor asked you to have dinner together," one of the maids in Kefirah's house called her.

"Yes. I will be down soon."

Kefirah's dry hair was tied like a ponytail. The woman would join her family to have dinner. Before her mother died, Kefirah's relationship with her family had improved. Taylor felt guilty for sending Kefirah to Australia at a young age.

"Hi, Daddy," Kefirah greeted Taylor. The man who became her first love used a wheelchair to enjoy dinner with them.

"Hi, Aunty," an adorable voice came from Joel and Havilah.

Kefirah's eyes caught a glimpse of Levi's face, then she looked away in any direction. If it was not for the man's slander, surely Rista would not have accused her of being a temptress.

Joel and Havilah scramble to sit flanking Kefirah. That made a faint smile appear on Levi's lips. However, the man immediately looked away when Kefirah caught him watching her behavior.

"Daddy, tonight Vilah and I will sleep with Aunt Ke. Daddy can go to the hospital to take care of Mommy," Joel said while enjoying the food that was starting to dissolve in his mouth.

"You two must be very happy because of Aunt Ke's coming. I allow you but you have to sleep on time even though Mommy and Daddy are not around. Do Jo and Vilah understand?"

"Understood, Daddy."

"Okay. Tomorrow, after school, Daddy will take you both to the hospital to see Mommy."

"Yeeee!" again the two small children cheered cheerfully.

***

Kefirah read a storybook to Joel and Havilah. Slowly their eyelids closed. "Good night, sweetheart," Kefirah kissed Joel and Havilah's forehead. Not only her niece was sleepy, but Kefirah too. Before really falling asleep, a message entered the woman's cell phone.

'Thank you for taking care of my children. Good night, Kefirah.' Kefirah's mouth read the message from her brother-in-law that she hated so much.

"Don't think that I will forgive you. Until whenever you are the man I hate the most. Because of you, I became an outcast. I was exiled to another country. I have to live alone there. The years I have to endure bitterly because my own sister hates me so much." Kefirah talked to herself.

Seconds later a video call came into her cell phone. Kefirah's lips smiled when her lover's face appeared there.

"Hello, honey," Manuel, who appeared on Kefirah's cell phone screen.

"Why haven't you gone to sleep yet?" Kefirah asked while she took a bolster and hugged her.

"I can't sleep. I keep thinking about you."

"Crap!" Kefirah avoided him with a happy face.

"Honey, I just got some news. Tomorrow morning I have to go back to Australia. There's a problem at work and I need to sort it out. I promise, after everything gets better, I will come back to Jakarta. I will formally propose to you."

Kefirah really was not willing but for now it's useless if Manuel lingered in Jakarta. She was not ready to convey the happy news to her father and sister.