The Shackles of Second Love
20
In this church there are only Hartono and Mia, no other congregation occupies a seat. Mia did not understand what the underlying reason for the man was to bring her here. But he thought of one guess that he didn't really want to think about at all.
Because the allegations made him afraid not to play.
“This is the church where Sharon and I did the saying when we got married first.”
Among the many sentences that Mia wanted to hear from Hartono, the man actually uttered a strand of words that made her start to feel uncomfortable.
“I once said a sacred promise before God and the witnesses. A promise to live with Sharon, a promise to be faithful, and a promise to love that woman until death.” the man's voice returned to the air and reached Mia's ear to penetrate into the recesses of her heart which now began to slice.
Mia lowered her face to look at the two hands squeezing each other over the thighs. He seemed to understand why Hartono had brought him here.
“But in the end I broke the promise.” said Hartono ending his long words.
“Mia, I love you. That is the honesty that comes from the deepest trough of my heart.”
Mia was silent to listen, although she should feel happy about the confession, but somehow Hartono's confession this time will hurt her.
“But I can't end my marriage with Sharon.”
He had expected from the beginning, until whenever he would never get what he wanted. Mia should have understood from the beginning not to harbour great expectations on her forbidden relationship with people's husbands.
It hurts to him. He could not stand the pain that seemed to make his heart pierced by thousands of needles in it.
“What..” Mia couldn't question Hartono's decision with her throat starting to clench.
“We must end this relationship.”
said Hartono with a heavy heart.
Mia could not move, even just to raise her head up. He still lowered his face with tears falling on the back of his hand.
Hartono looked at the woman beside him with a guilty feeling. The woman's body trembled as she was crying, and she felt pain just from looking at her.
Maybe it's too late. His sin against his wife was definitely not something that could be forgiven. He was a traitor and an adulterer.
But Hartono felt he needed to stop or he would find it harder to come back. He did not want to lose his wife, did not want to lose the woman's trust, despite the fact that he had burned away his wife's trust without remaining.
“Mia—”
“You can leave me.” Mia cut off Hartono's conversation. The woman no longer wanted to hear that parting sentence that felt heartbreaking to her.
“I'll stay here.” said Mia.
Hartono fell silent, hesitating to leave the woman alone. She had blatantly hurt Mia, and she was afraid that the woman would commit an act of harm to herself.
“I'll take you home.” Hartono said slowly.
Mia then looked at the face of the man she loved with tears.
“Where to go?” mia asked with sharpened eyes.
The woman shook her head, “I have no home.”
“The only house that has been holding me has told me to leave. Where do you want me to go home? Back to God's lap?!” mia asked with her voice starting to rise.
The woman immediately cried, the heart-wrenching cry actually hurt Hartono.
“I have no one but you. And now that I have lost you, why should I insist on staying alive?!”
“MIA!” Hartono yelled at the woman because he did not like hearing her words which made him start to get scared.
Mia wiped her tears violently, she then stood up and ran outside the church leaving Hartono.
**
This is the consequence when involving the heart on the affair relationship. Or it could also be a punishment for him who has played fire.
Hartono just wanted to end all these mistakes, but apparently the intention was to bring himself to the greatest fear he first felt in a lifetime.
That is, losing a loved one in front of his own eyes.
He saw the body of the woman he loved was thrown away and collapsed on the asphalt, when the woman deliberately crashed herself into a speeding car.
His heart seemed to stop beating, making his body start stiff instantly. He was only able to stand while staring at Mia's body which began to be covered in fresh blood flowing through the wounds obtained by the woman.
“To-please!”
Hartono forced his two stiff legs to move closer to Mia's body. And at the same time the person who had hit Mia came down and approached the woman's body lying helpless.
“I can't drive for now, please take us to hospital.” Hartono who just regained consciousness then asked for help to the man who had hit Mia.
“I promise I won't take this to the legal track. But please take us to the hospital.” the man who seemed frustrated for fear of dealing with the law chose to follow the request from Hartono.
The man lets Hartono take Mia and gets into his car.
Hartono hugged Mia's blood-covered body, he hugged her tightly no matter if her current clothes had been tainted by the woman's blood.
“Please, hang on.”
He asked God for forgiveness for his past sins, and he also unhappily asked God to keep giving Mia life.
“I don't want to lose it, Lord.”
“I beg you, let this woman live.”
..
“Suami..”.
Sharon stopped her intention to ask the man about Mia's state, when she saw her husband sitting listlessly on the floor with an unruly appearance.
She had only seen her husband for the first time like that. The man looked shattered as if he had just lost the light of his life.
His feeble footsteps brought Sharon to Hartono's place, the man then looked up and stared wistfully at the woman who was his first love.
“I'm almost—” Hartono was about to say if he almost obliterated Mia's life accidentally. But his words were muffled by Sharon's embrace which made her claustrophobic.
“Don't talk weird. Mia must have survived.” Sharon said without understanding the real situation.
Hartono then returned his wife's embrace, “I failed to take care of my friend's daughter, Sharon.”.
Sharon understands how her husband feels right now.The man must blame himself for the incident that befell Mia.
He was at the police station and got word from Hartono that Mia was a hit-and-run victim. Sharon doesn't understand the real events of why Mia got there like that.
But the woman felt that something was going on between her husband and adopted daughter.
Sharon hated to imagine it, so she chose to dismiss all negative thoughts.
Hartono looked at Sharon with regret as usual, and it made Sharon even more uneasy.
“I'm sorry to you.”
Apologize for what? Sharon did not understand. He was about to ask but the door of the ICU room first opened and took the doctor out of there.