1 PROLOGUE

Ellena Patricia Lubis, a 22-year-old woman who is often called Elle, can barely breathe because her morning routine is a little frustrating. How come? With only 30 minutes remaining, she had to speed up her activities even more.

As a result of getting up too late, she had to struggle to do all her activities in a short time. After finishing dressing and changing, she quickly grabbed the bag hanging on the wall. She immediately came out of the room and went to Fillia Valencia Heidi, her roommate.

"Filia, may I borrow your motorbike?" Ellena asked Filia who was busy eating breakfast at that time.

"Sure. You use it, Elle. Today, I come to work at noon," replied Filia, then took a bite of the loaf of bread she was holding.

"Okay, where's the key?" Ellena looked around the room, looking for Filia's motorcycle keys.

"It's in the drawer of my room, you take it yourself," replied Filia who looked lazy to change places, even though it was just to get Ellena's motorbike keys.

Without thinking, Ellena immediately ran towards Filia's room which was next to hers. She opened the nightstand drawer located beside the bed, then took the motorbike key. With a slight run, she immediately exited Filia's room.

"Filia, I'll go first. Bye!" Ellena shouted while waving her hand at Filia. She immediately ran outside, causing Filia to immediately stop her breakfast activities.

"Elle, you're in such a hurry. Don't you want breakfast first?" shouted Filia who didn't get a response from her best friend. "She always skips her breakfast, she just doesn't know what it's like to have a stomach ache." She grumbled.

Ellena and Filia are friends and co-workers at the biggest company in Jakarta. They met for the first time at the company. It turned out that the accidental meeting was able to build a friendship between them.

They seem so close and don't seem to want to be far from each other. In fact, those who come from different areas also seem to choose the same boarding house so they can stay together, even when they are out of work hours.

Ellena rode the motorbike at a fairly high speed. She was really worried that she would be late for work, while she knew how her boss was very disciplined and didn't want to tolerate any employee who didn't arrive on time. 'She's done with her life, if that's the case." She thought.

She accelerated the speed of the white automatic motorcycle steering. However, unexpectedly. Right at the crossroads, suddenly there was a black luxury car that passed so fast, that it made her slightly swell and lose control. "Aarrrrrgh!" She shouted.

The sound of a loud crash between Ellena's motorbike and the black car passing in front of her instantly broke through the air. Yes, she had an accident. It happened so fast. A car flashed by suddenly, making her unable to control the steering wheel. Finally, she hit the car and fell along with the motorbike she was driving.

"Owwww!" Ellena screamed in pain, when she just realized that one of her legs was crushed by the motorbike.

As soon as the incident happened, the car owner immediately got down and approached Ellena.

"Hey! Are you crazy?" The baritone voice instantly distracted Ellena who was still focused on holding her leg, trying to endure the pain.

Ellena looked up slightly, then noticed the man who was now standing in front of her. There were shiny black loafers in front of her. She raised her gaze upwards. The appearance of a young executive-style man who was now in front of her. Seeing the man's appearance, Ellena was able to confirm that the man's face had a handsome face. However, she was instantly flabbergasted, when her gaze stopped right at the man's face.

It wasn't the ugliness that she saw, but something else that made her eyes widen. How she was very surprised when she found a handsome figure that was familiar to her.

"You?" said the man looking wide.

In fact it was not only Ellena who was surprised, but the man as well.

"Mr. Lucas?" Ellena seemed to round her eyes to Lucas, the CEO of the company where she worked.

"You? Aren't you an employee in my office?" Lucas asked, staring intently at Ellena's face.

"Right, Sir." Ellena hissed.

In an instant Lucas's expression turned even more furious and his gaze was so piercing. This suddenly made Ellena tremble in fear. Lucas seemed to want to show his anger to Ellena.

"What did you do to my car? You wanted to destroy it on purpose, huh?" his sudden snap made Ellena even more nervous and scared.

"N-no, Sir," replied Ellena with slightly quivering lips.

"Then what is this?" Lucas pointed to the dented part of his car, as if to make Ellena aware of the damage to the car.

Ellena, who had not paid attention to that part from the start, was again taken aback. Sure enough. As a result of her actions, some of Lucas' luxury cars were badly damaged.

"Oh my God, how did Mr. Lucas' car get so badly damaged?" Elena muttered to herself.

Before Ellena could end her daydream, Lucas suddenly spoke again.

"You see? What have you done?" The loud voice that came out of Lucas's mouth suddenly made Ellena turn her attention back to the man.

However, just as Ellena was about to open her mouth to say something, her legs suddenly hurt even more. "Aawww!" she cried as she strengthened her grip on her feet.

Instantly Lucas looked away in any direction when he saw Ellena's actions which were too classic to get his attention. He thought Ellena was deliberately distracting him, so that she could avoid any charges for the damage to the car. That was the reason why he kept Ellena whimpering in pain for a long time.

More and more he could not bear to see Ellena who was constantly groaning in pain. Who would have thought, it turned out to be successful in making his heart moved.

"Troublesome!" Lucas immediately lifted the motorbike that hit Ellena's feet. At least he still has a conscience, so he is willing to help the woman who destroyed his luxury car.

"Thank you, Sir." Ellena tried to get up, although it was a little difficult because the pain had not completely gone. Even so, she still tried to do it well, without Lucas's help. After all, Lucas didn't offer her any help either.

Now she was standing in front of Lucas.

"So what about my car?" Before Ellena had finished moaning, Lucas suddenly surprised her again.

When asked what to do, Ellena did not know the answer. What was she supposed to do with a car that was already so badly damaged. even if the car had to be taken to a repair shop, she wasn't sure she could pay the service fee, which might reach tens or even hundreds of millions of rupiah.

Where did she get that much money from? In fact, if she paid with her salary for even one month, it probably wouldn't be enough.

Ellena begins to worry about her own fate and the fate of her family in the village. Her goal in coming to town was to earn a lot of money in order to pay off her late father's huge debt. However, what would happen, if she gave up her salary to pay compensation for the car belonging to her boss? Not to mention she has to think about the cost of boarding and living expenses for her mother and sister in the village. She was already frustrated with the difficult situation she was in.

"Sorry, Sir, I didn't mean to," said Ellena, hoping that Lucas would forgive her mistake.

"What? Sorry?" Lucas snapped. "Do you think this car will ever go back to the way it was with you just apologizing?" Lucas looked furiously at Ellena's face. He looked really, really angry about it.

"Then, what should I do?" asked Elena.

"Of course you have to compensate for the damage to my car!" Lucas said

"Excuse me, if I may ask. How much do I have to pay for the damage to the car?" Ellena ventured to ask the nominal she should change.

"100 million!" Lucas answered briefly, which suddenly surprised Ellena.

"Sorry, Sir. I can't seem to afford it, if I have to pay that much," answered Ellena honestly. She hoped that Lucas would still have the conscience to free herself from this situation.

"I'll cut your salary for two years!" Lucas said, suddenly making Ellena laugh. Two years? It's really not a very short time for her, then what will happen to her family? She thought.

"Sir, please don't do that. What will happen to my family in the village? I'm their only hope. My mother is sick, my younger brother is still in school, please don't do that to me. Where can we eat, if I have no paid work. Please don't do that!" said Ellena pleading, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Without her realizing it, her eyes were already filled with tears, then the tears spilled out of control. She really didn't want to be faced with such a difficult situation anymore. It felt like God was being unfair to her. Why is she always given a complicated test, in the midst of her life that is getting more and more suffocating.

Seeing Ellena's attitude, Lucas immediately raised an eyebrow. He was sure that Ellena was serious about his request. "So you can't compensate for the damage to my car, can you?" He asked which suddenly made Ellena reflexively nod her head.

"I will do whatever you ask, but please don't cut my salary. I really need the money to support my family in the village. I beg you!" Ellena explained while putting on a pitiful expression.

Lucas was silent for a moment as if in thought. "Okay. What's your name?" He asked which suddenly made Ellena smile happily.

"Ellena, Sir," answered Ellena which made Lucas frown instantly as if something was strange.

"If you really can't make amends, you have to do one thing for me." Lucas said.

"What is it? I promise I will." Ellena replied a little enthusiastically.

"Marry me!"