That night, Merilton and Orena were embracing on the bed in Merilton’s bedroom, or more precisely, on the marital bed of Merilton and Marlina. Suddenly, their ears picked up an extraordinarily loud scream from inside Tenuksia’s house. They hurried to peep from behind the bedroom window.
“Merilton, look, it seems like there’s a fight in the living room of Tenuksia’s house. There are shadows of four people on the window,” said Orena, pointing her finger towards Tenuksia’s house.
Merilton came to have a look. “You’re right, Orena. Look... eh... suddenly there are only two people left. Who’s shouting so loudly?”
Merilton observed the scene for a while. After noticing there was no more movement inside and the screaming had ceased, he pulled Orena’s hand and sat her on the bed. Merilton kissed Orena’s lips passionately.
However, Orena seemed uninterested. She remembered the heirloom necklace that had been stolen by Meisha. It wasn’t just any necklace,  it was equipped with an advanced tracking device. Its worth, amounting to 10 million billion US dollars, made it a prime target for theft. Orena immediately realised that the tracking device would surely point to the necklace’s location.
“Wait, Merilton,” said Orena, then stood up to grab her mobile phone.
Quickly, Orena activated the tracking device and discovered that the necklace was near her house. Her heart raced. If the necklace was there, then Meisha might be nearby. Orena quickly showed Merilton the location.
“Look, Meisha ran off with this necklace, and now the tracking device shows it’s around here. Could Meisha be hiding close by?” Orena said with a smile.
“If we look closely, the tracking signal is coming from inside Tenuksia’s house,” Merilton said, trying to figure something out.
“A perfect place to hide, no one would think to check Tenuksia’s house,” Orena said, holding her chin.
“We should check it now, look, the living room door is open,” Merilton said.
They both quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs.
“Turn off the lights, someone might get suspicious,” Merilton instructed. Orena quickly ran to turn off all the lights in the house.
Merilton and Orena cautiously entered Tenuksia’s living room. They followed the signal from the tracking device. Merilton checked the lower level of the house, but all the room doors were locked. There was no sign of any human activity on that floor.
The tracking signal led them to the attic of Tenuksia’s house.
Orena whispered into Merilton’s ear, “Bring the child down quietly, I know what to do with her later.”
Merilton nodded and moved the ceiling above them. Once it was open, Merilton and Orena poked their heads through and began crawling inside.
However, the space was filled with bird feathers, various shiny items, and more than ten large-billed grey birds.
Merilton shone his flashlight on the birds. Fortunately, the birds remained still, staring at the glimmering light around them.
Orena’s eyes caught something unusual in the bird’s nest. She reached out and pulled a large antique gold chain. “This is the necklace, but where’s the child?” she whispered. Orena continued pulling various pieces of jewellery from the pile of items. She started to wonder why all the jewellery from her drawer was now in Tenuksia’s ceiling. Orena hid the jewellery inside her clothes.
“How did these things get here, but the child is missing?” Orena asked, breaking the silence.
“Did these birds take them? Remember, your bedroom window was deliberately left open, and the storage drawers were also opened. Who would leave jewellery boxes open and abandon them like that? Who wouldn’t be greedy these days?” Merilton said, trying to find an answer to his own question.
“Only a child who doesn’t understand the value of these things would do that. They just took clothes, food, and drink, and then jumped out the window,” Orena said confidently.
“Plus, she’s never seen money, let alone valuables. She only knows how to ask for clothes, food, and drinks,” Orena continued.
“I know what you’re doing, Orena!” suddenly the voice of Tenuksia broke the silence of the attic.
Orena and Merilton jumped in shock and fell onto the attic floor. They looked around but saw nothing or anyone suspicious. Orena put on the heavy necklace to prevent it from being lost again.
“The necklace wasn’t stolen,” Tenuksia said from behind them as they were about to step out of the living room. “The necklace was taken by the birds living in the roof of my house. Marlina called them by the name ‘Buyung’. I saw Marlina leave shiny ropes that the birds picked up, every morning and evening Marlina would call the birds,” she added.
Orena and Merilton fell silent for a moment. They turned to look at Tenuksia standing directly in front of them.
Tenuksia then stared at them with suspicion. “I will report to the police that you’ve trespassed in my house,” she said with a wide smile.
Merilton and Orena exchanged glances.
“But I tracked this necklace here using the tracking device,” Orena said, showing the signal from her mobile phone to Tenuksia.
“I don’t care, look... the surveillance camera recorded both of you entering my house, entering without a necklace and now leaving with it,” Tenuksia said, pointing to the surveillance camera above the cupboard, facing directly into the living room. Tenuksia smiled, knowing her threat would work, even though the camera was just a broken one belonging to her child and had been kept there.
“What do you want, Tenuksia?” Merilton asked angrily.
“I want the necklace, but first remove that tracking device,” Tenuksia said, touching the necklace around Orena’s neck, yanking the device off, and throwing it into the drain. “And the jewellery you’re hiding in your clothes, also the jewellery you’re wearing now,” Tenuksia added, hands on her hips.
Merilton studied Tenuksia, trying to figure out if there was a way to escape from her. Under the dim light of Tenuksia’s house, Merilton noticed a change in Tenuksia’s appearance. She looked much younger compared to the Tenuksia he had seen sweeping the trash yesterday. Instantly, Merilton became fearful.
“Orena, give her everything, we need to get out of here quickly,” Merilton said while helping Orena remove her jewellery. After handing it to Tenuksia, they hurriedly left her front yard.
“There’s something wrong with Tenuksia, we’re packing tonight and moving to the new house in the morning. I’ll deal with the houses and our other things later,” Merilton said, beginning to pack clothes and important documents.
“But... aren’t we going to get back my family’s jewellery?” Orena asked, feeling dissatisfied.
“Just now, I saw Tenuksia looking like an eighteen-year-old. Where’s her white hair and the wrinkles on her face? Don’t tell me she’s had Botox injections. Just yesterday, I saw her sweeping the trash with her hunched back!” Merilton said loudly.
Orena fell silent. “That’s true, her husband and child are nowhere to be seen, the house is eerily quiet when just this afternoon they were watering the plants by the house,” Orena added.
“Now, let’s go to the new house first, save ourselves from this dangerous neighbour. As for your family’s inheritance, we’ll figure out how to retrieve it later, okay?” Merilton reassured Orena, who was starting to feel sad about losing her family’s heirloom.
They continued packing in silence, knowing that there would be no answers to their questions.
Next door, Tenuksia was also packing, putting her valuables into boxes. These were items she had kept in another room that weren’t stolen by Gaja and Lysandra, and the rest of the items were brought back by Gaja when he came to seek help for his stomach.
“This time, I’ll keep them in a place no one knows about,” she said proudly.
Meanwhile, in the new house, which was bought by Marlina in the name of Misara Jordy, Marlina and Meisha had finished their dinner. The house was located in the middle of a lush orchard, far from the neighbours, with their nearest neighbour two kilometres away. This luxurious house was equipped with various security features, purchased by Marlina using Merilton’s wealth, accumulated from her husband.
Marlina and Meisha were relaxing in their respective rooms. Marlina lay on her soft bed. She thought of her mother, Hana, who was now abroad. A year ago, Hana had left the country with her father, returning to Switzerland, and since then, Marlina had not seen her mother. She remembered receiving a letter from Hana, which she hadn’t had the chance to read, and had kept it folded in her clothes.
Marlina opened the wardrobe and took out a white dress she had never worn. The dress and her belongings had been thrown by Merilton into the basement room when she was locked there, six months ago.
Marlina finally opened the letter and read it slowly. “Do not tell anyone that Merilton’s mother has left all her family’s wealth to you because she didn’t trust Merilton. The wealth was transferred to several trusted individuals in various countries and transferred gradually to your name. However, the owner of the real estate companies is listed under different company names, but the actual owner is you, Misara Jordy, to protect you until you have no enemies. My dear, you are not my biological child, I took care of you because of the issues your biological mother had at the time. Your mother kept your existence a secret when she remarried. Your mother’s name is Hanim Jordy, and Anu Jordy is your father. Hanim is your mother-in-law, but now she uses another name after your father’s death. Merilton is her adopted child. To bring you back into his family, you were married to his adopted son, Merilton. However, Hanim knew that Merilton was her new husband’s child with his mistress. But Hanim chose to keep it secret and only told your mother. Her husband used Merilton to seize Hanim’s family fortune. By now, you must understand why your documents were only kept, you have no savings accounts, everything has been in cash, and you were able to leave this country using Misara Jordy’s documents. I’m sorry, my dear, I hope everything is clear, even though it’s brief and concise. Forgive me, my dear, for you didn’t become a doctor even though you were in your final year of training. If something happens, save yourself as Misara Jordy. You’re in the system, go get it and live!...”
Marlina was stunned reading the handwritten letter from her mother.
Marlina hugged the letter and lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark.
Actually, Mum, Merilton knew about the name change of the assets earlier. But he didn’t know the method of the name transfer. He only overheard his mother talking with a lawyer about all her family’s wealth being transferred to Marlina... in the end, I suffered, Mum, if I had read your letter earlier... my life story would have changed. Marlina lay down, gazing at the flower-carved ceiling of her house.
Mum doesn’t know, Merilton is still having an affair with Lysandra. Merilton hit me, Mum. He pulled my hair and forced me to watch him kiss and make love to Lysandra. That day, my head almost exploded, Mum, thank goodness Tenuksia came to rescue me even though she had her own hidden agenda.
Marlina didn’t know when she fell asleep last night. After showering and dressing, she went downstairs and smelled food coming from the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and saw Meisha, the five year old child, who Marlina changed her age to six, had prepared a simple breakfast on the table, egg toast and hot cocoa.
“Good morning, darling, thank you for preparing breakfast,” said Marlina, kissing Meisha’s forehead.
The child looked up at Marlina.
“You’re welcome, Mum. I climbed onto the small chair to make this breakfast,” she said, giggling cutely.
Marlina smiled and enjoyed the breakfast.
“Oh yes, Mum, earlier Kelabu brought a letter that was thrown over the fence into our yard. Mia wanted to grab it but it was too far, so Mia told Kelabu to fetch it... here, Mum, read it,” said Meisha, handing over two white envelopes. Marlina examined them. They were invitation cards, but who would invite them in a place like this?
Marlina opened both envelopes, then unfolded the cards and placed them on the table.
Card 1
Invitation to celebrate the new neighbours from Mrs Orena and Mr Merilton Merchant.
Card 2
Housewarming hosted by Miss Tenuksia Hayden.
Marlina’s eyes widened, her mouth dropped open. What had she done in the past to bring fate back to the deadly neighbourhood?