After returning from her mother-in-law's house, Nayra was still angry at her husband for constantly defending Laila. Nayra was upset because Albian never firmly told his mother off. Albi always said that Nayra had to understand his mother, who desperately wanted a grandchild from him. Albi never thought about how much of a burden all of this was for Nayra, until Nayra eventually fell silent and stopped saying a word to her husband.
“Sweetheart, I think I'll be home late today. I have a meeting with a Japanese company this afternoon,” Albi said, as he always did whenever he was going to be late.
“Okay,” Nayra replied curtly.
“Are you still mad?” Albi asked.
“No, it's fine. I'm not upset.”
“I understand how you feel, but what else can we do? Mom is just like that, so we have to try to understand her. Don't take what she says too much to heart. It'll only hurt you.” Albian stroked Nayra's cheek with his fingers.
“I've already tried very hard to understand her, Mas. But it still hurts so much to hear her repeat those same comments in front of everyone. It would be different if she were saying something nice, but instead she says that… Never mind!”
“Then what do you want now? What do you want me to do so you won't stay angry and upset like this?” Albian asked.
“Just go to the office. It's already afternoon.”
“Then why don't you go shopping today? I'm sorry, but I can't take you. How does that sound?” Albian offered.
Nayra fell silent, considering her husband's offer to go shopping. It had been a long time since she had gone shopping, and some of her necessities had already run out. But would going alone really be any fun? Nayra wondered.
“All right. This afternoon, I'll buy some of the things we've run out of. Do you want me to get you anything too?”
Albi shook his head. “No. I still have plenty of what I need. Just buy what you need for yourself. Once I get to the office, I'll transfer the money to you right away. I'm in a hurry now. I'm afraid I'll get stuck in traffic.”
“Be careful, Mas.”
“You be careful too. And don't think about what Mom said. I'm sure she means well and wants what's best for us.”
Nayra gave him a faint smile. After making sure Albi had left, Nayra went into the bedroom and threw herself onto the bed. She then thought of her mother back in her hometown. She felt like crying and telling her everything, but Nayra was afraid her mother would end up worrying about what had happened too.
“Albi told me not to think about it and not to take it too seriously. Maybe it wouldn't matter if it only happened once. But she says something hurtful every single time we meet. Am I wrong to feel hurt by my own mother-in-law's words?” Nayra grumbled.
At a large mall, Nayra was walking around alone when she happened to run into a friend from college. They greeted each other and talked, and when they reminisced about the fun they had in college, they both burst out laughing. Nayra seemed to forget the sadness in her heart. She also seemed to forget that she had originally come to the mall to shop for necessities.
“Nay, isn't that your mother-in-law?” Afifah asked.
“Oh, yeah. That's Albi's mom. What is she doing here?”
“Shopping, obviously. But wait—who's that with her?” Afifah pointed directly at Aninda, who was behind Laila.
Nayra let out a long sigh. “That's my brother-in-law's wife.”
“Aren't you going to go say hi?”
“No. What's the point? It'll only hurt my feelings all over again.”
“What do you mean?” Afifah asked, confused.
“Nothing. Come on, let's get out of here before they see me!” Nayra urged.
The two of them stood up and walked quickly, trying to avoid Laila and Aninda.
Unexpectedly, even though Nayra had wanted to avoid them, she ran into them at the boutique where she regularly bought clothes. Amanda gave Nayra a mocking smile when she saw her choosing clothes alone without Albi. Amanda approached and stood beside Nayra.
“Sister-in-law, you're here too. Who are you with?” Aninda asked casually.
“I'm alone. Who are you with?” Nayra asked, pretending not to know, even though she had clearly seen Aninda walking with Laila, her mother-in-law, earlier.
“I came with Mom. She said she wanted to buy me a gift, so she brought me to her favorite boutique,” Aninda replied, looking extremely smug.
Nayra gave a faint smile. She had forgotten that the boutique she had chosen was one Laila's family regularly patronized. She had wanted to avoid them, but now she was forced to make small talk. Nayra nodded, then looked around the boutique. Since she didn't want to run into her mother-in-law, she intended to leave as soon as possible.
“Mom is choosing clothes that fit me. She said she wants me to wear maternity clothes that aren't too tight around my stomach. She even asked the owner of this boutique to design special maternity clothes for me. Mom is so kind, isn't she, Sis?”
“Yes, she is,” Nayra replied.
“That reminds me of what Mom said. She told me I shouldn't put off getting pregnant. She said I shouldn't be like you and Albi, who decided to delay having children at first and are now having trouble conceiving. Is that really true?” Aninda asked.
Nayra stared at her sister-in-law in disbelief.
“Whether I'm pregnant or not has already been decided by God. Even if I hadn't delayed trying, if God hadn't allowed me to get pregnant, I still wouldn't have gotten pregnant then. You seem to talk about me a lot whenever you're with Mom. Is my life really that interesting?” Nayra asked with a smile, pretending she was joking as she spoke.
“Aninda, have you found something that suits you?” Laila asked. Laila didn't know that the woman with her back turned to her was Nayra.
“Not yet, Mom. I think the clothes you picked out for me earlier suit me better,” Aninda replied.
“Just take everything I picked out earlier. You need plenty of clothes that aren't too tight. Think of the baby,” Laila said.
“Mom, Nayra is here too,” Aninda said with a sweet smile.
“Nayra, you're here too?”
“Yes, but I'm finished and I'm heading straight home now,” Nayra replied.
“Good. Albi would feel sorry if he came home and you weren't there.”
Nayra couldn't believe what her mother-in-law had said. What about Aninda, who was still out right now? Was Laila not worried that Rafael might come home and find Aninda wasn't there either? Nayra merely smiled in response to her mother-in-law's words.
“I'll be going now, Mom.”
Laila nodded without smiling. “Come to the house with Albi tomorrow night. I want you both to come for dinner. No excuses! I'll be waiting!”
“All right, Mom.”
Nayra left immediately after paying for all the clothes she had picked out. She was upset—truly upset. She had wanted to cheer herself up, but instead, every word that came out of Aninda's mouth had only made her feel worse.
“What kind of drama is going to happen next? Oh, God… can't You bless me with a child soon? I'm tired of being treated like this.”