Leaving her baby in the room carefully, Lura walked slowly toward the door. She took a deep breath before opening it. "Waalaikumsalam..." she said as she opened the door. As soon as the door opened, Lura saw Lona standing in front of the door with a hopeful expression. Behind her was a young man standing next to a motorcycle. "Eh, Mrs. Lona," said Lura sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest. "What brings you to my ramshackle hut? It’s unusual for soone as rich as you to co to a simple house like this." Lona was startled by Lura’s unfriendly tone. But she had already co this far. Seeing that Lura did not welco her warmly, Lona suppressed her ego in order to achieve her goal. She smiled forcedly. "Ah, Lur... don’t be like that," said Lona with a hollow laugh. "We are neighbors in the village. Why can’t I visit?" "I heard you gave birth yesterday," continued Lona as she took a package out of her cloth bag. "Here is so laundry soap and baby powder. Consider it a small gift from ." Lona handed the package to Lura with a fake smile. Lura looked at the package suspiciously, but finally accepted it. "Thank you, ma’am. Please co in." Lura imdiately invited her guest to co in, even though she already knew this woman’s bad intentions. Lona looked with disgust at the rickety chair in front of her as soon as she entered the living room. Her face grimaced slightly at the condition of the wooden chair, whose legs were cracked. "Please sit down, ma’am," said Lura, pointing to the chair. Reluctantly, Lona sat down, placing only her buttocks on the edge of the chair, afraid of damaging it with her heavy, overweight body. "Oh dear, this chair isn’t strong enough for soone as big as ..." Lona muttered as she carefully adjusted her sitting position. "I’m sorry, ma’am, we don’t have any nice chairs," said Lura flatly. Lona cleared her throat, trying to start a conversation. "Let’s get straight to the point, Lura," she said, looking at Lura seriously. "I’ll tell you why I ca so I don’t take up too much of your ti. I know you must be busy with your newborn baby." "Yes, ma’am. Please go ahead," replied Lura, sitting down on the chair opposite her with a wary look on her face. Lona imdiately recounted her eting with Larti, who wanted to sell her daughter to Lorondo. She explained in detail how Larti had co to her house late at night with news of a newborn baby girl with a weton of Sunday Pon. "Here’s the thing, Lura," said Lona, leaning forward. "Your sister-in-law, Larti, ca to my house last night. She said you had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl with a weton of Sunday Pon." Lura listened with a hardening expression. "Larti said that because of your family’s difficult economic situation, she offered to sell your baby to my son, Lono, and his wife, who have long wanted a child," Lona explained at length. "We agreed on a price of one million. I even gave Larti a hundred thousand rupiah as a down paynt." Although she had already heard about this issue from her baby girl’s voice earlier, Lura felt very angry when she heard directly from Lona that her sister-in-law wanted to sell her child. Her hands clenched tightly on her lap. "So..." Lura took a deep breath to hold back her anger. "What are you here for? To buy my child like you would buy chicken at the market?" "Eh, don’t get wrong," Lona said quickly. "This is for the best. Your baby will live comfortably in our house. She will want for nothing. The best school, good food, a big house—" Before Lura could answer, a firm and loud voice suddenly ca from behind her, making her feel relieved instantly. "Not even a little!" Laus shouted loudly. "My family and I have no intention of selling my child! Never!" Lura turned and saw her husband standing with a red face, still holding a machete in his hand.
"If Larti promised the baby to the mother," Laus continued, stepping forward with glaring eyes, "then go ahead and demand it from her! Hold her accountable! One thing is clear, that baby is not hers to sell! It’s my child!" Lona sneered unhappily at Laus’s words. Her face turned sour. Since she had co here and even paid a deposit, she didn’t want to give up just like that. "Mr. Laus, listen first," said Lona as she stood up from her chair. "Your sister, Larti, already has an agreent with and a deal has been made!" "That’s her business! Not mine!" snapped Laus. "As her younger sister, you have to take responsibility for it!" said Lona, lifting her chin haughtily. "This is a matter of family honor! Your sister made a promise, and you don’t want to take responsibility?!" Lona’s words made Laus lose his patience. The veins in his neck began to tense up. "It was Larti who made the agreent with mother, not !" Laus yelled in a thunderous voice. "Why should I be responsible for her na?! She sold it, she’s responsible!" "Besides," Laus continued, pointing his finger, "Larti is in prison now! She’s a thief! She’s a criminal! And you want to believe a criminal’s words?!" "That... that has nothing to do with it!" Lona argued, starting to panic. Laus stepped forward, his eyes blazing. "Since you have no good intentions coming to my house, then please get out of here!" Laus rudely expelled Lona while brandishing the machete still in his hand, pointing it towards the entrance of the house with a red face, holding back his anger. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" he shouted in a voice that made Lona jump in surprise. Lona was shocked and frightened to see the machete pointed at her. Her face turned pale. Even so, because her ego and pride were hurt, she was still angry because she felt that Laus had dared to underestimate her. Moreover, Laus roughly threw the gift bag that Lona had brought for Lura. CRASH! The package fell hard onto the floor, soap and powder scattering everywhere. "HERE! TAKE YOUR PACKAGE BACK! WE DON’T NEED IT!" shouted Laus. Seeing her package thrown away like that, Lona could only stare at the poor family with cynicism and hatred. "You!" shouted Lona, pointing at Laus. "How dare a poor person like you chase away?! Do you know who my husband is?! Do you know how rich we are?!" "I DON’T CARE!" snapped Laus. "YOU CAN BE AS RICH AS YOU WANT, BUT MY CHILD IS NOT FOR SALE!" "Just you wait!" threatened Lona, her face red with embarrassnt. "What can I do to you! I’ll make you regret this! I’ll report you to the police for threatening with a sharp weapon!" Nono, Lona’s nephew who had brought the middle-aged woman to Laus’s house, saw that the host was furious and about to lose control, so he imdiately ran inside. "Auntie! Auntie! Let’s go ho!" he shouted, pulling Lona’s arm. He imdiately dragged his aunt outside so that no blood would be shed. His eyes glanced fearfully at the machete in Laus’s hand. "What the hell are you doing, Moko!" Lona grumbled angrily, trying to free her hand. "You’re just getting in the way! I’m not done talking yet!" "Budhe, hold your temper!" said Nono, his voice trembling with fear. "I’m not ready to die yet, Budhe! Look, he’s holding a machete! We could get hurt!" Nono continued to drag Lona outside and quickly and frantically told her to get on the red moped. "Get on, Auntie! Hurry up!" he urged, starting the engine with trembling hands. Laus ca out of the house, brandishing the machete in his hand, his eyes burning with rage. "NEVER CO BACK HERE!" "Auntie, let’s go now!" Nono shouted fearfully. Vroom.... The red moped sped off quickly, leaving only black smoke trailing from its exhaust. Lona was still screaming incoherently from behind. Lura, seeing her husband had lost control and was still standing in front of the house with the machete raised, imdiately ran after him with a worried expression.
"Sir! Mr. Laus!" she called out as she jogged along. "Be patient, sir. Ask for forgiveness..." said Lura, stroking her husband’s back as she caught up with him. "He’s gone. It’s over... calm down..." Laus, who had recovered from his anger, imdiately asked for forgiveness, still breathing heavily. "Oh God," he said, stroking his chest several tis with his free left hand. "Forgive , ma’am," said Laus regretfully as he lowered his machete. "I made a mistake. I couldn’t control my anger earlier. He said he wanted to buy Liona... buy my child... like buying goods..." Laus’ voice trembled, his eyes glistening. "Yes, sir. I understand," said Lura as she rubbed her husband’s arm. "I was angry too. But it’s okay now, the important thing is that he’s gone." "Yes, sir. Now you take a shower and clean yourself up, then perform wudu so your heart will be calm," said Lura attentively as she guided her husband. "I’ll tidy up inside. You calm yourself down first." "Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry," said Laus again as he walked unsteadily. Without wasting any ti, Laus imdiately walked to the well to clean his body and face, which were covered in sweat. He walked around the side of the house to the well so that the bad air he had picked up on the road would not enter the house and harm his baby. That was a belief of the villagers that he always held dear. "I have to go around the side... not through the house..." he muttered as he continued walking. anwhile, behind a guava tree not far from Laus’s house, Larjon and Lika, who had originally co to see their newborn grandchild and ask for help in getting their second child to talk to Babo and his wife to withdraw the lawsuit against Larti, changed their minds. They stood frozen, watching Laus’s frenzy. Their faces were pale with fear. "Sir..." whispered Lika with a trembling voice. "I didn’t expect Laus to be so scary when he was angry. His eyes were red, his face looked like he was possessed..." Lika shuddered in horror, imagining how fierce her second child had been when he brandished his machete earlier. Her body was still shaking. "That’s the danger of soone who is too quiet, Ma’am," replied Larjon with a deep breath. "Once he explodes—gets really angry—he will be very scary. Scarier than soone who is usually angry." "We... we’re not going in, are we, Sir?" asked Lika, her voice still trembling. "No. Let’s just go ho first. Let Laus calm down," replied Larjon, pulling his wife’s hand. "Perhaps Laus has been holding it all in for a long ti," said Larjon as he slowly walked away from his son’s house. "Larti’s behavior is indeed intolerable. How could she even think of selling her niece just for a million rupiah? She has crossed the line as a human being." Larjon said with an expression of disappointnt, shaking his head repeatedly. Lika, who had always loved Larti more than her other two children, was unable to respond to her husband’s words this ti. She just looked down with a sad face. Her eldest daughter’s actions had indeed crossed the line. "I... I failed to raise her properly, sir," said Lika, starting to sob. "I spoiled her too much..." Not only was she caught stealing, Larti also intended to sell her own niece, even though economically, her eldest daughter’s family was relatively wealthy and better off compared to her second and third children, who lived in modest economic circumstances and tended to be lacking.
"Never mind, Mom. The important thing now is to pray for Larti so she will co to her senses," said Larjon as he led his wife ho.
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Laus, who did not know that his parents had co and left again after seeing him arguing with Lona, changed his clothes and perford ablution, then ca to see his beautiful baby girl. She walked slowly into the room. Her anger had subsided. Seeing Liona’s round face with chubby cheeks and small red lips and two wide, charming eyes, all her irritation and anger instantly disappeared. "My child..." whispered Laus softly. Laus imdiately kissed Liona’s cheeks several tis with affection. "Forgive for getting angry earlier. I won’t let anyone hurt you." The kisses made the baby girl laugh with delight at his newly grown mustache tickling her face. "Hihihi... tickle, Daddy..." Liona’s voice sounded cheerful in her heart. Lano, who had also cleaned himself up and changed his clothes after coming ho earlier, also joked with his baby sister by tickling her little belly. "Lio! Liona is laughing! So cute!" said Lano as he continued to tickle her gently. The warm family atmosphere made the gloomy aura and tension that had just occurred disappear instantly, carried away by the wind. "Good!" Liona said to herself with satisfaction. "Seeing how angry father was earlier, that woman won’t dare to co and bother us again. She’ll definitely learn her lesson." What Liona said to herself made Laus and Lura, who heard it, feel relieved. They looked at each other with slight smiles. At least Lona wouldn’t seek revenge on them or co back to bother them. Even if they wanted to take legal action, Laus was not afraid because he was completely innocent. He was only defending his own child. And if Lona insisted on reporting it to the police, wouldn’t it be their family who would be ashad for daring to take soone else’s child by force? If reported, they could be considered guilty of blatant baby kidnapping and a prison sentence would certainly await them. "We are in the right, sir. Don’t worry," said Lura, reassuring her husband. anwhile, at the big house of the Lorondo family, Lona, after being advised by her husband, felt unhappy and resentful. She had a frown on her face all afternoon. "Co on, honey. Just forget about it," said her husband. "We’ll find another way for Lono." But Lona couldn’t do anything either because the money hadn’t been given to Larti in full yet, so if she made a demand, she would definitely lose. She was indeed at fault here for telling Laus to give up her child. It was the sa as forcing soone to sell their child. She did all this to save her eldest son’s marriage, which was on the brink of collapse because her daughter-in-law wanted a divorce after finding out that it was her husband who was infertile, not her. "I shouldn’t have trusted Larti," Lona muttered angrily as she threw a sofa cushion. "I lost a hundred thousand rupiah!"
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