Ever since that mysterious phone call the other night, Raka and Naila could no longer treat the problem they were facing as something ordinary.
The false accusations against Naila's business had already begun to spread.
Some regular customers still trusted them, but others were beginning to have doubts.
A few customers had even canceled their orders.
That morning, Naila stood in front of the kitchen table, staring at several boxes of cakes that had already been finished.
Usually, seeing those cakes made her happy.
But this time, she felt anxious.
"Mas..."
Raka, who was checking his phone, turned toward her.
"Hm?"
"If the news keeps spreading, what will happen to our business?"
Raka moved closer.
"We have to fight it with evidence."
"Evidence?"
"Yeah."
Raka picked up one of the cake boxes.
"We don't need to answer the person spreading the lies."
He looked at Naila.
"We just need to prove that what they're saying isn't true."
Naila nodded.
"But how? We're already losing customers, Mas. They really believe the rumors."
"That's why we start with the customers."
Raka then picked up a notebook.
"We have records of every ingredient we've bought."
Naila picked up several receipts as well.
"These are all the receipts for the ingredients."
"Good."
"They're all still here."
Raka smiled.
"Then we have evidence."
That afternoon, Raka and Naila began contacting the customers who had canceled their orders.
They didn't pressure them.
They simply explained what had really happened.
"Ma'am, we understand why you're worried."
Naila spoke to one of the customers.
"But we'd like to show you that all the ingredients we use are still safe and that we have records of purchase for them."
The customer fell silent.
"I'm actually confused too, sis."
"Why is that, ma'am?"
"I got a message from someone. They said your business uses expired ingredients. I don't want to take the risk."
Naila held her breath.
"Do you still have the number?"
"Yes."
"If you don't mind, could you send it to us?"
A few minutes later, the customer sent them a screenshot of the message. Naila received the same information from another customer as well. She also asked for the sender's phone number.
Raka checked it immediately.
The sender's number was different from the one they had found earlier.
But the messages were nearly identical.
Raka furrowed his brow.
"This isn't just one person."
Naila looked at him.
"Are you sure, Mas?"
"Or it's one person using multiple numbers."
Raka enlarged the screenshot.
Something caught his attention.
"This."
"What?"
"Look at the way they write."
Naila read the message.
"What about it?"
"They always use the same words."
Naila fell silent.
Raka opened several other messages.
It was true.
Although the sender's number was different, several sentences were nearly identical.
"So it's the same person?" Naila asked.
"Not necessarily."
Raka shook his head.
"But at the very least, there's a chance these messages came from the same source."
That evening, Raka met with Kevin.
He wanted to learn more about Dimas's visit to the baking-supply store.
"Mr. Kevin, I wanted to ask you again about Dimas."
Kevin nodded.
"Go ahead."
"Did Dimas come alone that time?"
Kevin thought for a moment.
"As far as I know, yes."
"Did he buy anything?"
"No."
"Did he only ask about the ingredients?"
"Yes."
Kevin then fell silent.
"But there's one thing I remember."
"What is it, sir?"
"Dimas took pictures of something."
Raka immediately grew serious.
"Pictures of what?"
"The price list and some of the ingredients Naila usually buys."
Raka furrowed his brow.
"What did he say they were for?"
"He said he was looking for ingredients for a business."
Raka nodded slowly.
But his mind had already begun working.
If Dimas really wanted to open a baking business, it was only natural for him to look for information about ingredients.
But why had the false accusations against Naila's business appeared afterward?
That night, Raka showed all the information to Naila.
"We can't accuse Dimas yet," he said.
Naila nodded.
"Because we don't have any direct evidence."
"Right."
Raka looked at the flash drive on the table.
"We also have to find out who Fajar really is."
Naila fell silent.
"You still suspect Fajar, Mas?"
"Precisely because he was the one who gave us this flash drive."
"What if he really wants to help?"
"Maybe."
Raka sighed.
"But he could also want us to believe something that isn't necessarily true."
Naila looked at her husband.
"Then we have to be careful."
Raka nodded.
"Very careful."
The next day, something unexpected happened.
An old customer came to Naila's house.
Her name was Sari.
She was one of the customers who had ordered cakes from them several times.
"Naila."
"Yes, ma'am?"
Sari handed her a small envelope.
"I got this from someone."
Naila took it.
"What is it?"
"They said it's evidence about your business."
Naila and Raka exchanged glances.
Naila opened the envelope.
Inside were several photographs.
Pictures of baking ingredients.
A picture of a warehouse.
And one photo that left Raka speechless.
It showed Naila buying ingredients at a store.
"I've never even been to this store," Naila said. "Let alone bought these ingredients."
She pointed to a photo of the food ingredients Sari had received.