Chapter Ten: What We Hide, What We Break

The envelope still sat in her purse.

Unopened, technically. But it didn't matter — the damage was already done.Ilham was watching. Waiting.

And Ayla… was spiraling.

She stood on the balcony outside the penthouse, barefoot in Leo's oversized sweatshirt, her tea gone cold in her hands.

Below, Jakarta glowed. A restless city. Like her.

Behind her, she heard the soft click of the sliding door.

Leo's voice was low. "You're cold."

She didn't turn. "I'm thinking."

"Dangerous habit," he said. Then gentler: "Come inside."

✧

She followed him back into the living room, where the fire was on low and the windows glowed blue with night.

He handed her a fresh cup of tea — ginger with honey. She hadn't even asked.

"You've been quiet since last night," he said finally.

Ayla sank onto the couch, pulling her knees up.

"I'm not used to being watched," she said.

Leo looked at her. Really looked.

"Is it the press?"

She hesitated.

Then, softly: "No. It's someone else."

His jaw flexed.

"Ilham?"

Her eyes snapped to his.

"How do you know that name?"

"I don't," he admitted. "But I had Rayhan do a quiet search after you came home with that look on your face. The envelope was hand-delivered. No prints. No camera footage. No return address. But the photo was watermarked — and one of our security AIs caught his face."

Ayla stared at him, heart thudding.

"You… investigated him?"

Leo set his glass down with quiet precision.

"I told you I'd protect what's mine."

✧

She stood up. Pacing.

"This isn't just a scandal, Leo. He—he controlled everything. Where I went. What I wore. Who I saw. I wasn't allowed to breathe without making sure it wouldn't make him look bad."

Leo stayed seated, eyes calm but dark.

"He didn't hit me," she continued. "He didn't need to. He just... convinced me I wasn't real unless he approved of me."

She turned to face him, hands shaking.

"And when I found out I was pregnant, I panicked. I couldn't let him be the father of my child. So I left. I ran."

Silence.

Only the fire crackled.

Leo stood. Walked over slowly. Carefully.

And then, not touching her, just… near enough:

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Ayla's voice broke.

"Because I didn't want you to think I was damaged."

Leo exhaled. Shook his head.

Then stepped closer.

"You're not damaged. You're surviving. There's a difference."

✧

She cried then.

Not loud sobs. Just tears that refused to be held back anymore. The kind you cry when someone says exactly what you needed to hear — the kind that frees you and breaks you at the same time.

Leo didn't ask for permission.

He pulled her into his arms and held her like she might shatter. Like she was glass, and he was both the reason she cracked and the one who would put her back together.

"I can't erase your past," he murmured into her hair. "But I can choose to stay in your future. If you'll let me."

Ayla gripped his shirt. "You don't even know what I look like when I'm really angry."

"I'm sure it's beautiful."

"Leo."

He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes.

"I mean it," he said. "Stay angry. Be scared. Be anything. Just let me be there."

✧

Later that night, after she fell asleep curled on the couch in his hoodie, Leo went to his office.

He opened a folder on his private drive.

Ilham Fadli.

Three years in property development. A handful of lawsuits — quietly settled. A nondisclosure agreement with a woman in 2022. Supposed "stalking" claims in Bandung that mysteriously disappeared.

Leo's jaw tightened.

Then something caught his eye: an invitation.

A real estate conference — next weekend. In Jakarta. Ilham was speaking on "Reputation & Expansion Strategy."

Leo leaned back in his chair.

Smiled, cold and slow.

"Let's see what you're really expanding, Fadli."

✧

Three days later, Ayla opened the front door to find a woman standing on the marble foyer in all black.

Elegant. Sharp. Eyes like cut glass.

Adelina.

"Good morning," she said, like they were neighbors instead of two women orbiting the same man.

"I wasn't expecting guests," Ayla said, cool but polite.

Adelina smiled thinly.

"That's alright. I'm not here for tea."

She stepped forward.

"I'm here to ask you a question, Ayla.""Are you ready to lose everything you didn't earn?"

To be continued...