Raka was still standing in the middle of the room, his breathing uneven. The photograph on the table felt heavier than anything he had ever held. The words on the back kept flashing through his mind.
I know who killed me.
That short sentence seemed to bring back all the pain that had been buried for so long.
“Who took the letter?” Raka asked in a low voice.
No one answered.
Everyone looked terrified.
Not because the lights had suddenly gone out.
Not because of the mysterious voice that had come from behind him.
But because someone among them might have just taken the letter Rina had left behind.
Raka looked at each face in the room.
“No one leaves this house.”
Bagas raised an eyebrow.
“You planning to hold us here?”
“I want to know the truth.”
Bagas gave a small smile.
“You think forcing everyone here to stay will help you find the answer?”
Raka glared at him.
“I think all of you have been way too comfortable hiding everything from me.”
The words made the atmosphere even heavier.
Damar walked toward Raka.
“Dad knows you’re angry.”
“I’m not just angry.”
Raka looked at his father.
“I’m disappointed.”
Damar lowered his head.
“Dad knows.”
“No, you don’t.”
Raka’s voice trembled.
“For years, I felt like I’d lost my sister. I tried to accept that she was gone because of an accident. I learned to live without her. But it turns out the people closest to me knew something and chose to stay silent.”
Damar couldn’t deny it.
Because Raka was right.
He had hidden so many things all this time.
Suddenly, Bima walked toward the table.
“That photo.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What about it?”
Bima carefully picked up the photograph of Rina.
“I’ve seen this photo before.”
Raka immediately moved closer.
“When?”
“The night before Rina disappeared.”
The room fell silent again.
“You’re sure?”
Bima nodded.
“Rina had this photo with her when I met her.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Bima looked at Raka guiltily.
“Because I was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Scared that the person I should’ve suspected was someone I’d always considered family.”
Raka fell silent.
Those words were exactly like the ones in Rina’s letter.
The person I trusted most turned out to be the person closest to me.
Vera slowly approached Bima.
“Did Rina say anything that night?”
Bima closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“What?”
Bima looked at the photograph.
“She said she’d found evidence about someone who had been pretending to be a good person all along.”
Sari immediately burst into tears.
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
Bima turned toward her.
“I tried.”
“But I failed.”
Sari’s voice was full of regret.
“Everyone failed to protect Rina.”
Raka looked at Sari.
“You knew too, Mom?”
Sari didn’t answer.
Her tears fell harder.
“I knew Rina was looking for something.”
“What?”
Sari clasped her hands together.
“A secret about something that happened years ago.”
“What secret?”
Sari looked at Bagas.
That look made everyone turn toward him as well.
Bagas immediately stood up.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Vera replied coldly.
“Because every clue leads to you.”
Bagas chuckled softly.
“You’re all funny.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You all want to make me the villain because it’s easier that way.”
Raka stepped forward.
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?”
Bagas fell silent.
For the first time, he looked like he was losing his composure.
“There’s something you don’t know about Rina.”
“What?”
Bagas looked at Raka.
“Rina wasn’t just looking for the person who destroyed her family.”
“Then what?”
“She was also looking for the person who destroyed someone else’s family.”
Raka furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?”
Bagas didn’t answer right away.
Arman suddenly spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Arman was standing near the door.
His face looked pale.
“There have been too many lies tonight.”
Raka stared at him.
“You know something.”
Arman took a deep breath.
“Yes.”
“What?”
Arman looked at Rina’s photograph.
“I know who spoke to Rina last that night.”
Raka’s heart began beating faster.
“Who?”
Arman closed his eyes for a moment.
“The person you all trust.”
No one moved.
“Who, Arman?”
Arman opened his eyes.
His gaze settled on someone in the room.
Someone who had looked the most wounded from the very beginning.
Someone who didn’t say much.
Someone no one would ever think capable of keeping a secret.
“Rina met with…”
Arman stopped.
Everyone waited.
“Damar.”
Raka froze.
“Dad?”
Damar immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Arman, think carefully before you speak.”
“I remember everything.”
Arman’s voice was heavy.
“That night, I saw Rina enter this house. But after she argued with me, she went to find someone.”
Raka looked at his father.
“And that person was you, Dad?”
Damar didn’t answer.
His silence became the most painful answer of all.
Raka took several steps back.
“Dad…”
“I can explain.”
“Explain what?”
Raka’s voice began to crack.
“That you met Rina before she died?”
Damar closed his eyes.
“I didn’t kill your sister.”
“But you know what happened.”
Damar couldn’t deny it.
Suddenly, the sound of something falling came from outside the house.
Everyone was startled again.
Bima walked toward the window.
“Someone’s outside.”
Bagas picked up a flashlight.
“I’ll check.”
“Don’t go alone.”
Raka started walking with him.
But before they could open the door, an old woman’s voice came from outside.
A trembling, elderly voice.
“I came to return something that belonged to Rina.”
Mira immediately stood up.
Her face turned pale.
“That’s…”
Raka turned to her.
“Who is it?”
Mira didn’t answer.
The door slowly opened.
Another old woman stood in front of the house.
She was holding a small wooden box.
When she saw Mira, the woman gave a faint smile.
“It’s been so long, Mira.”
Mira looked as if she were seeing someone from her past.
“Impossible…”
The woman looked at everyone.
“Rina wasn’t killed by just one person.”
Everyone fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
The old woman raised the wooden box in her hand.
“Because that night, more than one person helped hide the truth.”
Raka felt his chest tighten.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at him.
“I’m the last person who spoke to Rina before she disappeared.”
Raka stepped forward.
“What’s your name?”
The woman slowly opened the wooden box.
Inside was an old key and a small recording device.
“I’m the person Rina asked to safeguard the last piece of evidence.”
Everyone froze.
“And now it’s time for you to hear for yourself what really happened that night.”
The woman handed the recording to Raka.
But before Raka could take it, the old recording suddenly began playing on its own.
Rina’s voice came from the device.
“If you’re hearing this, it means they failed to stop me.”
Raka held his breath.
Then Rina’s voice continued.
“Raka, the person who destroyed our lives wasn’t just one person.”
The room grew even quieter.
“There’s someone in our family who’s been lying all this time.”
The recording stopped for a few seconds.
Then the final sentence played.
“And that person knows I’m going to find out everything.”