"Bella, she..."

Lisa was waiting for an answer from Rangga with a pounding heart. She was afraid that her sister would do something embarrassing that would ruin her image in her friend's eyes.

"She's just fine! Bella is a fast learner in my opinion. She might be a bit complicated sometimes, you know, she just graduated from college, so her working experience is still lacking. But no problem. So far, her performance is good!"

"Oh god, do you want me to have a heart attack!" Lisa replied, hitting Rangga's shoulder jokingly.

Rangga laughed dryly at Lisa's panic reaction as if she was a drug dealer caught by the police.

"Thank you very much for taking care of my sister at the office. Hopefully, Bella won't bother your work in the office," Lisa said, sipping her cold latte.

Even though Rangga lied to her and made her fall victim to Maria's slander, she still thanked the man with black curly hair. Without Rangga's help, Bella might not be able to survive in one of the man's assisted companies.

"Just relax, Lis. Just think of this as a response from me and my efforts to fix everything I have done to you. Besides, Bella is your sister too, so I already think of her like my own sister. You can entrust her to me," Rangga said sincerely. A cute smile appeared on his lips.

Before this, Lisa had said to herself that she would not forgive him. But as time went by, the feeling had subsided. Lisa had learned to let go of it all.

She didn't want the feeling from when she had to go through the emotional ordeal at that time to linger in her heart.

The woman took another sip of the cold latte until it almost ran out and then asked, "Anyway, I have a question but don't be offended, okay?"

Rangga nodded.

"You and Maria... Are you guys really divorced?"

Rangga just laughed lightly while putting the second clove stick in his mouth. He breathed the nicotine into the air, then dropped the ashes on the ashtray.

"We both are divorced, but you don't have to worry. Maria came trying to get back with me, but I rejected her. She used Julian to threaten me so that I would want to go back to her," Rangga explained.

Hearing Rangga's explanation just now made Lisa surprised. Her eyebrows knitted together, unable to digest what she just heard. "Maria took Julian away?"

"Well, yes. She took Julian to America and lived there. Well, luckily, I can still go there to visit Julian," Rangga said casually.

Lisa then felt sad and sympathetic to Rangga's situation. Her eyes stared at him with a sad gaze. She knew what it was like to lose custody of a child.

"But you and Maria didn't divorce because of me at that time, right?" Lisa asked, making sure that she really was innocent.

"Hahah! You're really cute, Lis. Of course not. You have nothing to do with my divorce and Maria. Even though you weren't in my office at that time, I still refused to go back with Maria. I admit I had a crush on her so I couldn't sleep if I didn't marry her right away. But it's all in the past, and I don't want to be shackled by a past that I obviously can't return to," Rangga said as he smoked the cigarette deeply.

"Are you sure? Why don't you go back to Maria? Besides, she's Julian's mother, right?" Lisa asked again.

Hearing that question immediately made Rangga feel disturbed. He did not want to discuss his relationship with Maria, especially with Lisa.

"Then what if I return your question? Do you want to go back to that blonde haired white man?" Rangga's tone sounded cynical. He shuffled from his seat, crossing his legs.

Lisa was immediately silent when she heard Rangga's answer. Without realizing it, She grabbed her palm as she didn't know what to answer.

After she paused and thought for a while, she finally answered, "No way. There is no hope."

"Well, sorry, I was just asking ..."

"Just relax, it's also in my past. As long as you and Maria are divorced not because of me, I can breathe freely. If not, maybe I can't forgive myself and have to kill myself at the Ancol bridge," Lisa replied grimly as her eyes started to water.

Time passed so fast, as if the conversation between the two friends took place in the blink of an eye. Time for Lisa to head back to the hotel. Today she was not assigned to work in the morning, but her manager called her this afternoon to share important news about work.

Rangga escorted Lisa to the front lobby. As the woman got out of his car, she said, "Thanks for the ride,"

"Hey relax. Thank you for treating me to coffee!"

The two friends waved at each other until the car finally drove away from the Cendana hotel.historical

With an accelerated pace, Lisa sauntered into her manager's office. Luckily, Lisa had been dressed neatly since she left Jakarta earlier.

She knocked on the door and the manager invited her in. By accident, Lisa found Johan sitting in a chair near the manager's desk. Her heart immediately started pounding fast. In her heart, Lisa was still afraid of this quiet yet dangerous man.

"Good evening sir, did you call me?" Lisa asked politely. She pulled the chair in front of the manager's desk and sat down.

Without saying much, the manager immediately handed over a document to the two of them and then said, "This is information about the Manggis Hotel where Hotel Cendana is collaborating. Keep in mind that Manggis Hotel is our partner in the future. From now on, I'll trust this collaborative project to Lisa Soewandi and Johan Martadinata. Lisa, you are responsible for helping Johan to compile the project budget requested by the Manggis Hotel. They need this budget arrangement in a week, can you do it?"

In her heart, Lisa really wanted to reject the job offer from her manager, but she didn't want to make the man ask at length the reason why. After all, this was a matter of work. Lisa was sure Johan would not dare to do anything weird to her.

Lisa firmly said, "I can do it."

The manager looked at Johan who was sitting next to Lisa and said, "How about you Johan?"

"I have no problem at all. You can count on me," Johan replied politely and looked professional.

"Fine then. If there are no more questions, I ask you two to cooperate well. Don't embarrass our company and make us proud. Do you understand?"

Both Lisa and Johan answered simultaneously, "Yes sir!"

Then they left the manager's office one by one. Lisa deliberately slowed her steps so that she wouldn't be followed from behind. Even though the Cendana hotel was very busy that afternoon, Johan could have done something embarrassing to her in public.

Anyway, Lisa was very alert and not letting her guard down like last time!