1 Crystal

The torrential rain and lightning outside were actually unable to quell the violent fights that occurred in a luxury house in an elite area of ​​Sydney, a beautiful house that was more accurately called a mansion was usually very peaceful. But not tonight.

The husband and wife couple, who have been married for more than fifteen years, got into a big fight after the wife found out that her husband had betrayed her. Divorced secretly infuriated a woman named Paola Richard, all the sacrifices she had made over the years for her husband Dario Richard disappeared without a trace.

Dario and Paola's domestic life has been very harmonious over the years, they are blessed with a beautiful daughter named Crystal who was born in the five years of their marriage, which makes Dario and Paola love each other even more. But in the end, the promise of life and death was finally tarnished when temptation came over to the ship captained by Dario Richard which was at the peak of its glory, a young girl with a beautiful body with a sweet mouth came to his company and offered her very ripe self to Dario who at that time was experiencing second puberty. As a result, the holy marriage that was built with her love and loyalty ran aground when the young girl came back to Dario with the results of a doctor's examination that showed evidence that she was pregnant and all the great destruction finally began.

"What am I lacking with you, Dario?"

"Don't you consider the sacrifices I've made over the past fifteen years?"

"You really broke my heart, Dario. You broke me, you cheated on the loyalty I've built over these decades."

Dario Richard, who was blinded by the beauty of his young wife's body, ignored the cries of the woman who had accompanied him from zero. Dario doesn't feel guilty at all for betraying Paola, his first love since he was in junior high school.

"I didn't leave you empty handed Paola, I gave you some of the treasures I have for you to carry on with your life. And as for Crystal, she will come with me. Her future is more secure if she comes with me and her new mother, who..."

"NO! !!" Paola screamed hysterically. "I won't let my daughter be raised by another woman, Crystal is coming with me. I'll take care of her."

Dario snorted in annoyance. "Don't be selfish Paola, Crystal has a long way to go. She has to continue her education in a good school. That's why she has to come with me."

"You really are selfish, Dario. Not only did you ruin our marriage, you also wanted to take my only daughter." Paola's tears were pouring down her face again. "If you want to take Crystal, step over my corpse first."

"Paola!!!"

"I who conceived and gave birth to Crystal, I nursed Crystal day and night, I educated her with great patience, I shaped her personality to where she is today and you dare to destroy everything that I have worked so hard to build? I won't let you ruin my daughter," Paola said firmly. "If you want to leave, please go, I will neither forbid you nor hold you back. But if you want to take Crystal away with you then pass my corpse first."

Hearing Paola's challenge made Dario darken his eyes, using his strong right hand Dario grabbed Paola's neck tightly and held her against the wall.

"You forced me to do this, Paola," Dario hissed innocently.

"I will do anything to save my daughter's future."

With a face wet with tears Paola said. "Y-you yourself have ruined your daughter's future and happiness, Dario."

"Shut up," Dario snapped right in front of Paola's face. "A useless woman like you doesn't deserve to talk to me like that, a CEO with thousands of employees. On paper it's clear I'm far more capable than you at taking care of the kids, so don't be so stubborn. Let Crystal come with me."

"You have the heart Dario," Paola sobbed hoarsely, her voice barely audible. "You have the heart to do this to me, I really didn't expect you to do this to me."

Dario smirked sarcastically. "You're the one who's forced me to go this far, if only you had been cooperative with me from the start, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. If you had accepted this divorce gracefully from the start all of this wouldn't have happened, our relationship would also be fine."

"There isn't a single woman in the world who would accept being divorced like this Dario, let alone because of another woman." Paola tried to speak calmly even though her voice was stuttering at the moment. "There's not a single woman who would just leave Dario alone."

"Damn it!!"

Blarrr….

Crystal, who was sitting on the sofa, immediately woke up from her slumber as lightning struck the earth with a bang, causing a sound and sparks of bright light in the Sidney sky in an instant.

"That fight again," Crystal muttered hoarsely, Crystal didn't realize that her face was already wet with tears.

Nine years have passed since Crystal saw the big fight between her parents in her old house in Sydney, Crystal, who was accidentally awakened from her deep sleep, was startled by the loud sound of her father holding her mother against the wall with his big entrenched hands on the mother's neck. Crystal, who at that time did not know anything, could only cry silently under the table seeing her father's harsh treatment of her mother who could only cry.

Even after nine years have passed Crystal, who is now a teenage girl, still remembers very clearly the words her father said to her mother.

A father who is supposed to be a role model and first love for his daughter Crystal cannot find in her father figure who chooses to go and live with his new family, leaving Crystal with a broken heart and her cruelly dumped mother.

"Dario Richard." Crystal spelled her real father's name slowly, extending the syllable of the man who had brought her into the world. "You made me hate men, you made me distrust love and you made my mother die tragically."

Crystal's tears welled up as she remembered her mother, the smiling graceful woman died in the most grievous way Crystal had ever seen. A ten-year-old girl who is repeatedly injured by the cruelty of fate that disrupts the happiness of her family.

"Until the end of the day, I will never forgive you, Dario. I will never forgive you."

****

After the tragic death of her mother two day after her father left their home, Crystal was finally taken by social services officials to an orphanage in the city of Sydney.

The ten-year-old Crystal could only cry in despair when her world was turned upside down in a short time, from a princess who lived a comfortable life turned into a child without parents who survived the mercy of donors who donated to the orphanage where she was taken. by two female social service officers at the time.

No one knows that Crystal is the first daughter of Dario Richard the successful businessman who is shining in Sydney, what they know is Crystal is the daughter of a depressed woman who decided to commit suicide by slashing her wrist with a vase in the bathtub. None of the orphanage staff tried to find out more about Crystal's background.

As the years passed, Crystal grew into a beautiful, smart teenage girl. Countless married couples have wanted to adopt Crystal, but none of these couples have managed to bring Crystal back to their home. No one knows why they failed, what is certain is that Crystal is the only girl who has lived the longest in the orphanage.

Until finally Crystal decided to leave the orphanage to live independently for her seventeen birthday.

And now is Crystal's second year living in a simple rental house on the rooftop of an apartment on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Actually Crystal's current residence is very, very inappropriate, Crystal's residence is more like a warehouse than being called a residence. Very small, minimal ventilation and very uncomfortable. If it is scorching hot then Crystal will be hot and if it is raining then Crystal will also be cold. Not to mention the pungent smell that Crystal inhaled every day, Crystal was really forced to endure it all. Because that's the only place Crystal can afford to rent as a place to live.

The ringing of the alarm from the cell phone that the owner of the restaurant she works for made Crystal wake up from her daydream this morning. After waking up from her sleep three hours ago because of the nightmare that always became her bedtime companion every night Crystal did not sleep again, Crystal just sat staring at the dark night through the only window in the house where she lived.

"Ah, it's time for work." Crystal was talking to herself in her very unworthy home.

With the steps slightly dragged Crystal walked towards the bathroom to freshen up, the bathroom with abundant water was the only reason Crystal stayed where she was at this time. Because water is the most basic need of every human being and Crystal's unworthy place to live provides abundant water for her to refresh herself every day.

Using her oversized work uniform, Crystal descended through a fairly extreme ladder. Luckily, her job as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant requires her to wear long pants, which is why Crystal has absolutely no problem going up and down the circular staircase to her residence which is on the top floor of the five-story apartment building. Circumstances really make Crystal a strong girl.

"Good morning," Crystal greeted politely to Mrs Lu the restaurant owner who was always the first to arrive.

Madame Lu smiled. "Today is much earlier than usual, can't you sleep again?"

Crystal nodded shyly.

"Was it raining last night?" Madame Lu guessed correctly.

"It's true, rain and lightning are two entities that make me very uncomfortable. Even though for some people rain is considered a blessing, it's really sad," Crystal said quietly with an unreadable expression. Even though she was venting her heart out, Crystal was so good at keeping her emotions in check.

Madame Lu chuckled. "Blessings and curses differ slightly, I hope someday you'll like that pleasant rain."

Crystal shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know when I'll like the rain."

Mrs Lu shook her head, having managed to open the door to her restaurant, the old woman who was still very healthy stepped in and Crystal followed a second after.

"How long is your semester break this time, Crys?"

Crystal, who had just put on her apron, turned to Madame Lu. "Until the end of this month, madam."

"There's still two weeks to go."

"Yeah, that's why I'll be taking full time for the next two weeks," Crystal said excitedly, imagining the dollar amount she would receive from Mrs. Lu excited Crystal to work.

Madame Lu shook her head. "If you don't mind I can't refuse, can I?"

Crystal chuckled happily. As time passed, Crystal began to work on preparing cooking utensils for the chef and his assistants, even though dishwashing was the lowest job in the kitchen, Crystal loved it.

Dishwasher is the only job where there is minimal interaction with visitors, which is why Crystal loves her job so much.

One by one the restaurant workers came, from the main chef to his assistants and waiters. Everyone started busy with their respective jobs, but there was one worker who had not yet arrived and she was the beautiful cashier Rose. The blonde-haired girl who is the belle of the Chinese restaurant is always late on weekends like today.

"Less than two minutes," Mrs Lu said kindly to Rose who had just entered the restaurant, her breath slightly out of breath from just running.

"You are one of my favorite employees, Rose."

Even though she knew that Madame Lu was making fun of her, Rose still had a big smile on her face. Shows his ultimate smile to attract customer's attention. "I slept too well tonight because of the rain, madam. That's why I'm a little late, but even then I'm not late, am I?"

Mrs Lu turned to Crystal who was helping the assistant chef wash the ingredients. "It's great to have two employees one loves rain and one hates rain, I think you two would get along well."

Rose frowned. "Oh thanks, I don't want to make friends with someone who never smiles."

Rose was right, apart from Mrs. Lu the owner of Crystal restaurant never smiled at anyone. That's why Rose refuses to be friends with Crystal even though they are in the same place.

"I already have a lot of fun friends and don't want to add a strange friend who will ruin my circle of friends, madam," added Rose again as she took off the jacket that covered her work uniform.

Madame Lu shook her head. "Crystal is a nice girl if you get to know her, I'm sure you won't regret being friends with her. Moreover, the two of you are not much different in age apart from that you both have beautiful faces, I think you can become close friends in the future. "

Rose pursed her lips, she didn't like hearing Mrs. Lu's words who always tried to get closer to the dishwasher who never smiled. Not long after Mrs. Lu left, Rose slowly turned her head towards the kitchen, stealing glances at Crystal who was currently tying her long hair carelessly.

Rose's lips thinned. "I think Mrs. Lu is right, that weird girl is pretty decent. I think Eddie would be happy if I brought her along."

Continued