filzebub

Ayla Rahmani never believed in fairy tales—especially not the kind where a broke nurse like her ends up in the bed of Indonesia’s most untouchable billionaire after a single night of escape from reality.

But one drunken mistake at a high-society masquerade ball leaves her with two surprises: a positive pregnancy test... and a cold, unwanted proposal from Leonard Darmawan—the very CEO she can’t stand.

To Leo, marriage is just another business contract. To Ayla, it's a lifeline for her unborn child. Neither expects the sterile, awkward marriage to become something warmer, deeper—something real.

But behind closed doors, love begins to grow in the quietest ways: in late-night meals, shared silences, and a husband's gentle hand on a swelling belly. Until the past catches up—with secrets that threaten everything they’ve built.

Will their fragile bond survive the truth? Or will love after marriage prove too delicate to endure?

In the Shadow of His Name

I knew something was wrong the moment she stopped texting.

Ayla wasn't the clingy type — never had been. But she wasn't the kind of girl who just… vanished either. Especially not after that night.

The night she came home shaking, her makeup smudged, her purse clutched like it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

She shook her head. "No. That's the worst part. He didn't have to."

I should've dragged her out of that apartment by the hair.

"Just let me fix this my way, okay? I need time."

By the end of the second, her number went dark.

Her landlord said she'd moved out.

No forwarding address. No boxes. Just… gone.

I checked the hospital. I checked her office.

That smug bastard had already changed his relationship status. Already scrubbed her from his socials.

He didn't cry. He didn't search.He just erased her like she was a typo in a bio.

"She wasn't ready to be a wife," he told someone at a club a week later.

Then one night, two months later, I got a message from a private number:

"I'm safe. I'm married. I'm pregnant."

But I knew the typing rhythm. The way she capitalized "I'm" and nothing else.

I stared at that message like it was a ghost.

I didn't know what hurt more — that she was okay…Or that she hadn't let me be there when she wasn't.

Now she's Mrs. Darmawan. First Lady of a billion-dollar company. Polished. Quiet. Holding secrets under silk.

But I still remember the girl who cried into my shoulder because her boyfriend smiled too sweetly when she begged him not to gaslight her in public.

The girl who covered up bruises that weren't from fists — but from words sharpened like knives.

So when I saw his face in Bali — slicked-back hair, new watch, that same snake smile — I knew.

But because men like him don't let things go.Especially when they finally belonged to someone else.

She finally belonged to someone who might actually care.

I'm not going to let him take that away from her.

End of Bonus Chapter.

Bonus Chapter – Nina’s POV: "The Day She Disappeared"