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"Mom, how are you? Hasn't Elle been here to visit Mom for a while?" Gabriella lowered her voice and quietly cleaned her mother's grave, which had begun to grow overgrown with weeds. Her gray eyes scanned the entire grave, Ratna's burial ground had completely dried up. The flowers that she had occasionally scattered had also withered. "Elle misses Mamah."


Time passed very quickly.

It had been five years since her mother's departure, but Gabriella still couldn't forget those sad days. When her mother came home with her husband, who was none other than Rio. Their usually smiling faces were wrinkled, Ratna even had bags under her eyes. Gabriella knew something was wrong, something must have happened.

But Ratna just hugged Gabriella, telling her that she loved her no matter what. Gabriella's tears fell, soaking Ratna's blue shirt. Strengthening the bond between daughter and mother.


"Mom, you know what? Yesterday Elle met papah and papah said ... papah is sick."

Suddenly something took Gabriella's breath away. The words she had been planning were suddenly lost in the middle of her throat and instead turned into water in her eyes. Gabriella looked up, holding back the puddles at the edges of her eyes with difficulty. However in the end... her cheeks were still made wet.


"Daddy's sick, Mah," Gabriella repeated. She then sobbed.

The tombstone bearing the name Ratna Wijaya seemed to replace her mother's position as a good listener there. The breeze that occasionally greeted the twenty-five-year-old's face was also like a warm stroking of her mother's hand that could not be seen by the eyes.

Gabriella closed her eyes, before finally opening them again and began to gently wipe the corners of her eyes. "Mah, even though Elle is still hurt by papah. But I'm sure you won't like it if Elle keeps fighting Papa, right? You must want Elle to get along with papa, right?" The woman nodded weakly. "Elle will help papah, Mah. I'll accept all the facts. You won't be angry, right?"

With one hand, Gabriella reached forward and very gently rubbed the top of her mother's tombstone. With a small smile, Gabriella then said, "Mom, Elle will go to work first. Elle believes that Mamah will always protect Elle wherever and whenever. I love you, Mom."

After making sure her mother's grave was clear of weeds, Gabriella left the grave and returned to her car in the parking lot. Some of the children seemed to be holding out their hands, asking for a little pity, which Gabriella couldn't bear. So the woman took out some money from her wallet to share with the children before finally getting into the car and driving away from the public cemetery.

It took about thirty minutes for Gabriella to reach Selera Chinese Food. Her eyes fell on the information board hanging on the main door, where the word closed had changed to open. Which meant that Gabriella was already about five minutes late for work.

Drrt!

Drrt!

The vibration of the cell phone coming from her denim jacket pocket made Gabriella gasp. She immediately turned off the car engine and checked the multi-function device. There was Rio's name on the screen, which made Gabriella raise both eyebrows quickly.

Without hesitation, Gabriella immediately pressed the green icon at the bottom of the screen to receive a call from her papah.

"Yes, hello, Pah?"

"Did you send papah some money, Elle?"

Gabriella looked around. Despite being open, Selera Chinnese Food didn't seem to have any customers that morning. She unbuckled her seat belt and said, "Yes, Pah. It's just a little, to pay for my father's trip to the hospital."

"I'm going to see the doctor again today. Thank you, child. I'm sorry to bother you," Rio said in a trembling voice on the other side. "You sent money to papah, don't you have any money yourself, Elle?"

"I do, Pah," Gabriella replied, lying slightly. "Papah, don't worry."

"Then thank you, Elle. Are you going to work?"

"Yes, Pah."

"I'll hang up."

"Okay, Dad."

Tit!

Gabriella took a deep breath and let it out slowly before pulling her totebag from the car seat and carrying it out with her. With a confident stride, she walked into the restaurant. The staff seemed to be ready in their respective places.

But what caught Gabriella's attention the most was Ken's presence.

Without thinking, Gabriella immediately approached Ken who looked busy with his laptop and tablet at one of the customer tables. Gabriella stopped and cleared her throat. "Sorry I'm late."

Ken looked up, seeing Gabriella who today appeared in jeans and black culottes. Her slender body only looked taller and more mesmerizing in Ken's eyes. The man with slightly messy hair swallowed his saliva with difficulty, before finally nodding and saying, "Yes, you're late. Try sitting here first."

Gabriella looked in the direction Ken was pointing, then pulled out the chair before sitting down and looking back at her boss.

"I bought you this," Ken said and pushed a plastic bag of food onto the table. "You have breakfast first. You have a lot of work today, so your break might be a little late."

Instead of immediately feeling enthusiastic, Gabriella frowned and said, "What's the wind you're buying me for breakfast? This isn't a bribe for something, is it?"

"Dih, you're just being suspicious of people."

"I'm just making sure," Gabriella argued.

"Then you can eat it."

"Here? In front of you?"

Ken frowned, then rolled his eyes lazily. "So what if it's in front of me, there's no problem, right? Anyway, I'd like to ask you for advice on some projects for the future of the restaurant. Do you mind, Gabriella Nadya Hutama?"

"Ih, do you really have to mention my full name?"

The man shrugged his shoulders, then looked at the plastic lying unceremoniously on the table. "Alright, so hurry up and eat it. You don't want to make me wait any longer, do you?"

"Yes, yes I am," Gabriella protested frivolously.

It made Ken glare at her. But Gabriella actually put on a face of innocence, aka not feeling guilty at all and began to enjoy the food brought by her boss with gusto. It turned out that waking up early and going straight to the tomb without breakfast made her feel even hungrier than before. As a result, the porridge brought by Ken ran out in just a few minutes.

"Damn, are you hungry?"

Gabriella pulled out the mineral water that Ken had also provided and drank it immediately. She then shrugged her shoulders and replied, "It's not wasted, is it?"

"Whatever."

"So, what do we want to talk about now?"

"Hm, how about we talk about our relationship first?"

"Huh?"

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