53 Go Find Your Wife

After six months in London, Andrea still hadn't received a reply to his emails. He kept sending emails every Sunday, but now, he had learned to accept the fact that Ludwina wouldn't reply.

The company's condition was stable and he finally could take time off. Andrea was very tempted to buy tickets and catch up with Ludwina wherever she was now. He found an Instagram account under her name, and every few days, there were photos showing the girl's whereabouts.

Maybe Ludwina was now back to being her old self, who liked to show off her travel photos when she wasn't with Andrea.

If he followed Ludwina's tracks from her Instagram account, he wouldn't be breaking his promise of not stalking her, because the information she shared on Instagram was made public, That's what Andrea thought, convincing himself.

"Do you want to take some leave?" Joe asked that afternoon when Andrea came to see him, "Are you going to find your wife?"

"Yes. It's been six months and I need to see her," replied Andrea.

"You go get her, man."

Joe was very understanding. He was newly married and could imagine what it would be like to not be able to see his wife for months. He would even allow Andrea to work two weeks in London and two weeks from Singapore if he asked for it.

Of course, it would be too tiring for Andrea to fly back and forth, but he was very grateful to be given the flexibility. He hoped that once he convinced Ludwina that he could divide his time between the two countries, he would soon be reunited with his wife.

[I can take some leave now. I'll look for you in Tokyo. You're there again, right? I saw it on your Instagram. I can also come back to Singapore every month, staying two weeks there and two weeks in London. Joe is very understanding of my work arrangements. Please let me know if I can see you in Tokyo.]

Andrea already had visas to various important countries, for the business trips he needed to do while representing the company. He also hoped that when Ludwina forgave him and was willing to meet him, he could immediately go wherever the girl was because he already had the visas.

Since she was young, Ludwina had traveled a lot and she had multiple entry visas to numerous countries that required visas for Indonesians. Now, she could just go anywhere whenever she desired to travel. As an heiress of one of the wealthiest families in her country, this was a privilege that only money could buy.

Andrea waited until evening for Ludwina's reply. If she didn't reply, Andrea would still go to Tokyo.

While waiting, he then opened Instagram to see Ludwina's latest posts, trying to make sure that his wife was still in Tokyo.

BADUMP.

His heart stirred and was immediately filled with sadness when he saw two new photos that seemed to be deliberately uploaded by Ludwina to prevent him from looking for her. The first photo was a photo of Ludwina in Kyoto enjoying the sakura with the caption [last week in Kyoto - #latepost], and the next photo was of Ludwina in Paris with Laura [with my best friend yesterday - #latepost].

Oh, Ludwina... Apparently, you were in Paris yesterday... It was only an hour's flight from London, Andrea thought sadly.

He understood that Ludwina didn't want to reply to his email, but she deliberately let Andrea know by posting the two photos with the tag '#latepost' that the photos on her Instagram didn't show her real-time locations. Even if she posted a photo in Tokyo, it didn't mean that she was in Tokyo.

The only way for Andrea to find out where Ludwina really was was to use his ability to track the girl's digital footsteps and find her via the internet. But he knew that once he lost Ludwina's trust... he would never get it again.

Ludwina still hadn't forgiven him for having a child with another woman. Andrea couldn't take the risk and betray Ludwina's trust by tracking her down...

In the end, Andrea just sat down and waited yet again.

***

Ludwina received an email from Miss Ria, her editor at Genta Publishing. Miss Ria notified her that her second novel, Dear Sophia, had been printed and she could get a copy immediately.

The girl was mindblown. She didn't expect that two of her novels could be published so quickly. She remembered her years of living as an unknown writer who submitted travel articles to the newspapers because her novels were either unfinished or not good.

After her first novel was a hit, the publisher immediately asked Ludwina to send new manuscripts and even published Dear Sophia without much revision. She felt very happy. Her dream of becoming a writer was finally coming true. At least, at the end of her life, she could tick one more thing from her bucket list.

Ludwina was in Jakarta, at her parents' house, when she received that good news. Lately, she didn't feel like going anywhere. She missed her mother and father and spent a lot of time at home.

"You've been at home for a month," said Mrs. Inggrid when she saw Ludwina coming out of her room carrying a laptop. "I'm happy to see you here."

"I'm glad to be here too." Ludwina put her laptop on the table and hugged her mother. "My second novel has been published. We'll receive the copy soon. You can share it to your friends as usual... hahaha..."

Mrs. Inggrid rubbed her youngest child's head affectionately.

"I'm glad to see that you're busy. I knew that you have what it takes to be a famous writer. It's time for you to enjoy success."

"Thank you, Mom."

Ludwina let go of her hug, took back her laptop, and stepped into the garden to enjoy the fresh air. She began typing on the gazebo in their garden. Her doctor said that Ludwina should always stay positive in her current condition. Cancer cells would spread faster if she were to feel stressed.

In the last few months, she felt that she could feel positive about her illness. She had enjoyed 30 years of life filled with happiness. Whatever she wanted was always fulfilled. Not many people were as fortunate as she was. What was the use of long life when one was sick and poor? Why live long if you never felt loved?

Ludwina had experienced it all. She had a very loving family, she had always lived with ease since she was a child, and she could have anything money could buy. She had also fallen in love with and married the best man in the world. And today, she had even become a successful writer. All her big dreams had been achieved.

Compared to her brother, Wolfgang, who died suddenly at the age of 14, Ludwina was much luckier. She knew about her illness and could make preparations to leave her loved ones in the best way that would minimize their sorrow.

She was also much luckier than Thomas Chatterton, a young English poet who lived in the 18th century and dreamed of becoming a writer. He wrote lots of beautiful poems and prose, but because he was poor and still so young, no one believed it was his writing and thought he was plagiarizing someone else's.

Because of despair, the young man finally committed suicide by drinking poison when he was only 17 years old. Ludwina admired Thomas so much and was inspired by his life that in the preface to her latest novel, she dedicated it to Thomas Chatterton and all the young writers who died before they could become famous.

.

.

From the author:

I came across Thomas Chatterton's story one day and, for the first time, I felt so sad for someone I didn't know personally. I can imagine how devastated he must have been to take his own life at the age of 17 because all he saw were dead ends.

Only after he died, people realized that he was extremely talented. Unfortunately, most of his manuscripts were destroyed before he killed himself, only leaving behind a few. Read more about him in Wikipedia.

***