Lina choked up when she heard Bayu's voice on the phone. His voice showed no regret or guilt whatsoever. Instead, he sounded like he was giving her an order. The hand holding her phone trembled as her eyes fixed on the wedding ring she had taken off and placed on the kitchen table a few weeks ago.
"You need money? What for? Don't you have a new wife now?" Lina asked in a trembling voice, trying to hold back the anger boiling inside her.
Bayu snorted, as if annoyed by the question. "Don't ask so many questions. Just sell that ring as soon as possible! I'll come next week to collect the money."
Lina clenched the hand that wasn't holding the phone. All the pain and humiliation she had been keeping inside seemed to erupt that night. Her voice rose, no longer something she could hold back.
"Bayu! I don't need your orders anymore! That ring means nothing to me now. If I sell it, it's because you took all my savings without caring about how I was supposed to survive! Now I'm the one who has to struggle for our child—the child you abandoned just like that!"
The line suddenly went quiet. Lina could hear Bayu breathing heavily. She hoped there was at least a little shame in her husband's heart, but his next words crushed that hope.
"It's just a ring, Lina. I don't want to argue about the child or anything else. If you won't hand over the ring, I'll come get it myself. I don't care how," Bayu said coldly before hanging up without giving Lina a chance to respond.
Lina was stunned. She stared at the phone in her hand, now back on its home screen, then shifted her gaze to the ring on the kitchen table. Anger, disappointment, and exhaustion churned inside her.
Auntie Surti, who apparently had heard the conversation from the kitchen doorway, came in and gently placed a hand on Lina's shoulder. "Lina, don't let a man like that ruin your day again. If you want to sell the ring, then do it. It's yours, and Bayu has lost his right to anything in your life."
Lina looked at Auntie Surti with tearful eyes. "But, Auntie, he said he was coming. I'm afraid he'll cause trouble."
Auntie Surti sighed. "Sweetheart, if Bayu comes, let us deal with him. You don't need to worry. Right now, you need to focus on your baby and your work."
"Thank you, Auntie, for always being there for me."
After giving birth, Lina no longer lived in her old home. She lived with Auntie Surti, who helped take care of her child whenever Lina came home from the rice fields. Lina was incredibly grateful for the help.
Over the following days, Lina kept thinking about what she should do with the ring. She knew selling it could ease her financial burden, but she also knew Bayu might really come and cause a scene.
In the end, Lina decided to sell the ring to pay for her baby's needs and provide business capital, so she could pay Auntie Surti's land rent, which had been pawned at the pawnshop to cover Lina's childbirth expenses at the time.
In the days that followed, Lina focused on working and caring for her baby, even though some villagers continued to gossip about her.
The villagers had already heard that her husband had remarried. Some supported him, while others opposed it, especially in the village. In fact, many of her former regular customers—mothers who had advised her not to let her husband go to the city or to go with him—were now defending him and saying that he was a faithful man.
"What are you going to do with your life now, Lina?" one of the women asked as Lina delivered her snack order for the village women's rotating savings gathering.
"What will happen to your child if you get divorced?" another woman chimed in. Lina could only offer a bitter smile.
"Being a divorcee isn't a good status, you know. Especially in a village. People might start thinking all kinds of things about you."
"That's right, Lina. Being a divorcee isn't good either. You'll just become the subject of even more gossip," another woman added.
Lina was saddened to hear them. She was the victim here, so why did they act as if they were afraid that her becoming a divorcee would make her seduce their husbands? Lina had no intention of doing anything like that. She only wanted to focus on caring for her child and working hard for the child's future.
Was being a divorcee really considered so shameful in the eyes of society?
Lina held her breath as she listened to the women. Their words felt like thorns piercing her heart. She tried to smile, even though her chest felt tight. Why was she, the victim, being treated like this? she cried out inwardly.
Calmly, Lina placed the tray of snacks on the table and answered in a soft but firm voice.
"Ladies, I'm sorry if my problems make you uncomfortable. But all I want is to live peacefully, work for my child, and not seduce anyone. If my status does change and I become a divorcee, and people think that's shameful, all I can do is prove through my actions that I'm not the kind of person you think I am."
Several of the women fell silent, perhaps feeling called out, but some still looked at Lina with suspicion. Lina didn't care. Their opinions wouldn't change her decision.
On the way home, Lina felt that burden piling up again. It wasn't just her husband's betrayal, but also the pressure from the people around her. In this small village, it felt as though every step she took was being watched and every decision she made was being questioned.
When she arrived home, Auntie Surti greeted her right away. "How was the gathering, Lina?" she asked while carrying Lina's baby.
Lina let out a long sigh. "The same as always, Auntie. They spent more time talking about my life than talking about the gathering."
Auntie Surti nodded slowly. "That's just how people are, Lina. People would rather comment on someone else's life than improve their own. Don't take it to heart."
Lina sat in a chair, watching her baby sleep soundly in Auntie Surti's arms. "Auntie, is being a divorcee really so shameful? Why are they afraid I'll seduce their husbands when I don't even want to get close to another man?"
Lina began to doubt whether she should ask her husband for a separation.
Auntie Surti smiled gently, then sat beside Lina. "Sweetheart, being a divorcee isn't a disgrace. What's shameful is failing to take responsibility for our own lives. It's only a label, Lina. What matters is how well you take care of yourself and your child."
Tears slipped down Lina's cheeks as she heard Auntie Surti's words. They felt like a warm embrace around her cold heart. "Thank you, Auntie. I don't know what would become of me without you."
Days passed, and Lina decided to stop paying attention to gossip and other people's comments. She focused even more on her work, accepting more small catering orders. She used every penny she collected for her baby's needs and gradually put some of it toward her pawnshop installments.
On her way home from the pawnshop, Lina stopped first to buy ingredients for her business that had run out.
"Heyyy, future divorcee..."