The CEO's Synthetic Pawn: A Marriage of Deception

Medical Examination

The black sedan cut through the darkness of the night, speeding away from Baskoro’s mansion, which was now swarming with sirens. Sony drove with hands that were still shaking violently. Beside him, Aruna sat huddled, staring blankly out the window. Her expensive silk gown was torn at the shoulder, soiled by the dust of the ruined vault.

"Medika Hospital," Sony muttered, breaking the suffocating silence. "It’s the only safe place right now. Baskoro won’t dare cause a scene there because there are so many reporters on standby waiting for news on your mother’s condition."

Aruna turned, her eyes red from leftover tears. "You think he cares? My father is a sociopath. He’s probably already written the script to eliminate us and put out a story that we died in a tragic accident while trying to flee."

Sony didn’t answer. He pressed harder on the gas. However, his thoughts were interrupted when Aruna suddenly touched his arm with her icy fingers.

"Sony, stop," Aruna whispered. Her voice was no longer arrogant, but filled with genuine terror. "Tomorrow morning, Father has already scheduled a pregnancy check at Premier Hospital. The specialists... they’re all on his payroll. If they examine me and the result is negative, we’re finished. I have to do something before tomorrow."

"What’s your plan?" Sony shot her a quick glance.

Aruna stared at him intensely. "You have to bribe the doctor. Or, if that’s not possible, you have to find a way to manipulate the test results. I don’t care how you do it you’re a technician, you have the brains for this, don’t you? Manipulate the data, hack the system, anything! If that exam doesn't show I'm pregnant, Baskoro will eliminate us the second it's over. He has no use for a barren or lying daughter-in-law."

Sony let out a bitter laugh. "You think bribing a doctor at a hospital that size is as easy as flipping a switch? They’re professionals, Aruna."

"Money!" Aruna snapped, her voice shrill. "Use the money I gave you at the office yesterday! Take all of it, find any doctor who can be bought. Do it now, or neither of us will see the sun rise tomorrow!"

Sony slammed on the brakes on the shoulder of the highway. The car screeched to a halt, the sound of the tires deafening. He stared Aruna down, the intensity in his eyes making her fall silent.

"Listen to me carefully," Sony hissed. "I sold my soul for my mother. I’m doing all of this because you said you were pregnant, and I need that money for her treatment. If it turns out you’re lying and I have to risk my life to cover for you any further, I won't hesitate to leave you on the side of the road."

Aruna met Sony’s gaze defiantly. "I didn’t have a choice, Sony! If I hadn’t lied, my father would have married me off to a man... a man whose name I can’t even say. And that would be far worse than death."

Sony snorted, then put the car back in gear. "Tomorrow, I’ll meet with the doctor. But don’t expect me to keep doing this forever. Once my mother is healthy, I’m finding a way out of this contract."

"You’ll never be able to get out," Aruna said softly, her voice sounding like a grim prophecy.

Morning arrived with overcast skies. Premier Hospital looked painfully sterile, its white walls seemingly mocking the sins hidden behind them. Baskoro was already waiting in the lobby in a perfectly tailored gray suit. He stood there like a sovereign ruler, flanked by two bodyguards he had just recruited to replace the ones who had failed the night before.

"You’re late," Baskoro said coldly. He didn't ask about their disheveled clothes or Aruna’s pale, sickly face. "The doctor is waiting on the fifth floor. Aruna, go straight to the examination room. Sony, you wait outside."

Aruna trembled. She glanced at Sony. Sony gave a small, barely perceptible nod a signal that he had prepared something.

In the VIP wing, Sony separated himself from Baskoro. He didn't sit in the waiting area. Instead, he walked quickly toward the medical records administration office. As a technician who specialized in software, Sony knew that in this digital era, access was everything. He pulled out a small flash drive he had swiped from the computer at Baskoro's mansion the night before a device containing the internal system access passwords for the corporate group.

His heart hammered against his ribs as he successfully logged into the hospital’s server terminal. The loading icon on the screen felt like a form of torture.

"Come on, open up," he whispered.

Suddenly, a powerful hand gripped Sony’s shoulder from behind. Sony stiffened. He slowly turned around and found one of Baskoro’s guards standing there with a terrifying, crooked grin.

"Mr. Baskoro wants to speak with you, Mr. Sony," the guard said in a tone that was highly formal yet threatening. "He says there is something interesting in the examination room he wants to show you."

Sony followed the guard with a heavy heart. In the examination room, Aruna was sitting on the medical bed with an ultrasound wand pressed against her abdomen. Baskoro stood near the monitor, staring at the screen with an unreadable expression.

"The doctor said there was a technical issue with the ultrasound machine earlier," Baskoro turned toward Sony, his eyes as sharp as a razor. "But I just called the head physician here. He said the results for the blood lab tests taken this morning are already out."

Aruna turned pale. She looked at Sony, her eyes pleading.

Baskoro walked toward Sony, then thrust a brown envelope forward. "As it turns out, there is a discrepancy in the patient data. Aruna, my daughter, can you explain why this hospital's system just experienced an attempted hack from within the building?"

Sony felt his palms go cold. Baskoro wasn't just ambitious; the man was a predator who was always one step ahead.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sir," Sony replied as calmly as possible, even though his life felt like it was hanging by a thread.

Baskoro laughed, a laugh that didn't reach his eyes. He turned to the doctor standing beside him. "Doctor, go ahead and read the real lab results. Is my daughter actually pregnant, or is there some game being played behind my back?"

The doctor looked down, his hands trembling as he opened the folder. "Mr. Baskoro, based on the latest hCG hormone test results..."

Sony held his breath. Aruna closed her eyes, prepared for the worst-case scenario.

"The results... show that Miss Aruna..." the doctor paused his sentence, his face deathly pale as he looked at Baskoro, who was glaring at him threateningly, "is positive for pregnancy."

Baskoro went silent. He turned his body to look at Sony, then at Aruna. A thin smirk appeared on his face. "Good. Very good. In that case, we have a reason to fast-track a massive wedding celebration for next week."

Baskoro stepped out of the room, leaving Sony and Aruna standing there like statues. However, once Baskoro was far away, the doctor suddenly gripped Sony’s hand and whispered in a voice that was barely audible.

"Don't ever try to hack this system again. I know who paid you to forge this data. And if Mr. Baskoro finds out you just faked a blood test result that should have been negative into a positive... you won't make it to the hospital exit breathing."

Sony flinched. He turned toward Aruna. She opened her eyes, staring at Sony with the same face of utter confusion.

"Aruna," Sony whispered hoarsely. "If the test results were supposed to be negative... then who changed them to positive? Who helped you?"

Aruna shook her head, her face now filled with a fear far deeper than before. "It wasn't me... I didn't ask anyone to do this."

In the distance, the phone in the doctor's office rang. Sony saw the monitor screen which was still on—there, he saw an automatic incoming message appear: