Chapter 5.

Around eleven at night, Hana woke from her sleep. Her hand instinctively reached for the space beside her. Empty. The mattress was cold to the touch—Prane had left the bed long ago.

“Where did he go?”

She slowly sat up, her throat suddenly dry. She glanced at the water bottle on the bedside table. Empty. She had forgotten to bring water upstairs last night before sleeping.

She descended the stairs carefully, the dim lighting making her steps slow. The house was quiet.

Then she heard it—the faint sound of someone talking from the side of the house. She walked closer, recognizing her husband’s voice.

[No, Hana might find out. So don’t ask to ride with me anymore. You need to come up with a better excuse. It’s natural for Ibra to be suspicious. You’re being too obvious in front of Hana. If she finds out about us, I’m done for. Remember that.]

Hmm. So he was on the phone with Ranti. Really, Prane.

She didn’t want to postpone anymore. Tomorrow, she would go to the religious court to file for divorce. Or better yet, she would ask her cousin—the one who happened to be a lawyer—to help her separate from Prane as quickly as possible.

If it had been another woman, perhaps she would have fought for her husband against someone like Ranti. But that wasn’t Hana. She had no desire to fight for a man like Prane—a man who couldn’t stay faithful. Add to that her mother-in-law, who constantly demanded a grandchild, whose words always seemed to imply that Hana was the one who couldn’t conceive. Everything had become reason enough for her to leave.

There was no reason for Hana to stay in a marriage that no longer brought her any comfort.

She didn’t want to hear any more of Prane’s conversation with Ranti. Whatever they said to each other, she no longer cared. After wetting her dry throat with a glass of water, she returned to the bedroom. Before climbing back into bed, she locked the door so Prane couldn’t get in.

Keep talking to her all you want. Until morning, if that’s what you need.

She muttered to herself and closed her eyes.

Tok tok tok.

“Han, Hana... open the door, sweetheart. I need to shower. Why is the door locked?”

Prane’s voice from outside woke Hana instantly. She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand to check the time.

“Oh my God. It’s already five-thirty?”

She jumped out of bed and opened the door.

“Why was the bedroom locked?”

Prane walked past her toward the bathroom, his face full of curiosity. Hana remained silent. She was angry, upset, annoyed—all of it directed at him. And she had already decided to file for divorce. But still, she would carry out her duties as his wife. At least for now.

She went to prepare the clothes he would wear for the day.

While waiting for Prane to finish in the bathroom, she picked up her phone. She intended to message Ibra, but he had already sent her a message.

[Hana, can we meet?]

[When do you want to meet?] she replied.

[How about after Ranti and your husband leave for work? We can meet at the cafe on the corner, the one not far from the hospital.]

[Okay.]

“Texting with who so early in the morning?”

Prane’s voice made her nearly drop her phone. He had stepped out of the bathroom, his hair still wet. A towel wrapped around his waist, showing off his toned chest and arms.

There was a time when Hana would have loved this view. She would have circled around him, wrapped her arms around his waist, maybe teased him a little. Then, when he tried to pull her close, she would run away, and they would chase each other around the bed like children.

That was before she knew about his affair.

Now, Prane’s body no longer interested her. It was ordinary to her now. Even a little repulsive. Because she knew that body had been held by Ranti. That those lips had shared something with Ranti just yesterday.

“A client. She’s asking whether the dress design for her daughter’s wedding is ready. She wanted to see photos, but I haven’t sent them yet.”

She lied smoothly.

“And she texts this early?”

He sounded skeptical.

“She sent the message yesterday. I just saw it this morning.”

“Oh.”

She smiled and walked past him into the bathroom.

You’re the one who started lying first. So don’t teach me about lies, because I’ll become better at it than you.

She said this to her reflection in the mirror before she started brushing her teeth.

“Han! Don’t take too long in the bathroom. We need to pray.”

So loud, always shouting in the morning.

She hurried her routine.

You still remember to pray? Yesterday at the same time, where were you? She wasn’t sincere in her prayers, but how could she refuse?

Then an idea came to her.

“You pray first. My stomach is cramping. I’ll pray alone.”

She called out through the crack in the door. Prane nodded.

People who commit sin, what is the ruling on their prayers? Are they accepted? Only if they’ve truly repented. But I doubt he’s truly repented. He was still on the phone with her late last night.

She scoffed softly.

She waited until she heard Prane start his prayers before she came out of the bathroom. She prayed alone, behind him.

“Oh, by the way, Mom called yesterday. She asked if we’ve seen a doctor yet. Can we go this morning for a check-up?”

Prane asked after Hana finished her prayers.

“I’ll come to your office later. I have to meet a client first—the one who ordered the dress design for her daughter. After I finish with her, I’ll come by.”

She gave her excuse. She needed to meet her cousin, the lawyer, first.

“Oh, alright. I’ll wait for you at the office.”

Hana nodded.

—

“Did you know that after midnight, they were still on the phone with each other?”

Ibra asked the moment he sat down across from Hana at the cafe.

“You heard their conversation?”

She wasn’t surprised.

“Enough to know they’re playing games, trying to hide what they’re doing.”

Hana nodded. She had heard Prane say as much.

“They have no intention of ending things.”

Her voice carried a sadness she couldn’t completely hide.

Ibra smiled bitterly.

“To be honest, I’ve been suspicious lately.”

“Suspicious of what?”

“That Ranti has something special going on with your husband. The way they act around each other—it never felt natural to me.”

“Never felt natural how?”

“I often caught Ranti texting Prane. But because I loved her too much, I ignored the suspicion. Turns out they weren’t just texting friends.”

He shook his head slowly.

“Is that why you asked to meet this morning? Just to tell me that?”

He shook his head again.

“Then what else?”

“I’ve decided to accept your proposal. After you divorce Prane, after your waiting period ends, I’ll marry you.”

“You’re serious?”

She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

“Completely. But with one condition.”

“What condition?”

“In front of Ranti and Prane, we have to act like a real couple. Like husband and wife who are in love. Isn’t that the point—to make them feel what we felt?”

Hana studied his face, thinking. Could she do that? But if she didn’t go along with it, their plan for revenge wouldn’t be as effective.

“Fine. I agree.”

Ibra smiled.

Truth be told, Ibra hadn’t planned to agree to Hana’s unusual proposal. But Ranti’s accusation—the way she had refused to share a drink with him, as if she were accusing him of being unfaithful—that had pushed him over the edge. He was disgusted by Ranti’s indirect accusations. She had treated him with suspicion, as if a single night away meant he had been unfaithful. To him, that was a cruel assumption.

So to ease his own wounded pride, he agreed to Hana’s plan.

—

After her meeting with Ibra, Hana went to her cousin Cecil’s law office to handle the divorce filing.

“You want to divorce Prane?”

Cecil couldn’t hide her disbelief. Cecil was Hana’s cousin, and in her eyes, Prane seemed like the perfect husband. Handsome, financially stable, a business owner.

The only apparent flaw in Hana and Prane’s marriage was that they didn’t have children yet. That was it. Their marriage was only three years old—not too long, in Cecil’s opinion. There was still plenty of time. Was having children the only purpose of marriage? Children were a blessing, but peace and happiness with the person you loved—that was the real goal.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure.”

“But why? Don’t you love your husband anymore?”

“It’s not about love.”

“Then what?”

Cecil was growing impatient.

“He was unfaithful.”

Cecil’s mouth fell open.

“Unfaithful? Prane?”

Hana nodded.

“Maybe it was just—”

“I saw it with my own eyes. And do you know who the woman was?”

Cecil shook her head.

Hana was beautiful, talented, educated. What could she possibly be lacking? In Cecil’s eyes, nothing. If Hana hadn’t conceived yet, that wasn’t within her control.

“Ranti.”

Hana’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“What? Ranti?”

Cecil’s voice rose in disbelief. Hana nodded again, and Cecil shook her head slowly.

She couldn’t believe it. No matter what, she couldn’t believe that Ranti—married Ranti—would be the other woman in Hana and Prane’s marriage.

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