001 - When Pictures Paint A Thousand Words

The afternoon this month is still a bit cold and breezy. A strong, 182 cm tall man with a firm face and a short hair step out of the taxi, carrying two suitcases while holding one stuffed animal.

  

He tidies his worn-out long coat and stands on the side of the road, gazing up at the highest point of a massive mansion in the distance. It’s the mansion where he lives with his family.

  

He is Alexander Davis, a businessman who has just returned from a long business trip. With a stubble beard, he almost resembles a homeless person.

  

He has been away for so long that he can no longer contain his longing to reunite with his wife and little daughter.

  

But…

  

“Sorry, Sir! We can’t let you in!”

  

The guard coldly denies him from entering his own house.

  

Indeed, the land and everything above it belongs to his wife, who is the owner of Vintage Vega, Inc., the largest company in Sydney.

  

However, being coldly denied entry by the guard feels like a contradiction to him, defying the norms of society. He firmly believes that's not how things should work.

  

“Hey, Boris! I may haven't shaved yet. But don’t act like you don’t know who I am,” argues Alex.

  

Not wanting to look like a dog who forgets the master who feeds it, that big russian guy named Boris explains politely. “I’m sorry, Sir! It’s the word from the boss,” replies Boris with a formal tone.

  

“What? Sofia did?”

  

As Alex remains perplexed by the treatment, a car suddenly appears, and the two guards open the gate. Hence, Alex drags his suitcases to get in.

  

Out of nowhere, someone steps out of the car and swiftly throws his right knuckle at Alex's face. Alex is caught off guard by the unexpected welcome. The hit is quite hard, sending him tumbling to the ground.

  

The young man with curly short golden hair shouts at Alex with so much anger. “How dare you show your ugly face here after abandoning your wife and kid for months?”

  

Alex coldly touches the corner of his bleeding lips, and directs a cold gaze to the man who just punched him. But he can’t simply pay back the punch, because that man is his wife’s cousin, Dylan.

  

Seething with anger, Dylan intends to unleash more fury. But Boris quickly steps in and holds him back from behind.

  

“Boris! Let me go! I need to teach him what a real man is.”

  

“Sir, please restrain yourself!”

  

“For fuck’s sake, I shouldn’t have let my sister married him in the first place!”

  

“Your sister?” mumbles Alex coldly. “Since when I married your sister?”

  

Alex is becoming even more confused about what might have gone wrong with his family during his absence.

  

Until then, a respectful caucasian beautiful lady, having smooth silken loose curls golden hair in a hanging loose style, still dressed in formal attire, also gets out of the car. She is Sofia Vega, Alex’s wife who is just coming back from work.

  

“Dylan! Get in the car!” issues Sofia with a composed tone.

  

The cousin doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t get into the car, but only takes a distance and averts his face away from Alex.

  

Sofia approaches Alex, then drops a piece of paper in front of him. Alex picks it up and starts reading.

  

His face suddenly looks petrified as he realizes it’s a legal statement from the local judge stating that Sofia's status is officially a widow.

  

Alex is presumed as good as dead for disappearing for too long without news. This revelation only adds to his confusion, as he knows he is still very much alive.

  

“What’s the meaning of this?” he mumbles.

  

“You've abandoned Elly and me for too long. That’s enough for the judge to comply with my demands. I don't even need your approval for this divorce.”

  

“What are you talking about!” Alex interferes with his ignorant face. “Wasn’t it your idea for me to go abroad for a business trip. And I still called back home every week. And now, you…”

  

Alex then turns silent and starts speculating that the wife deliberately planned this, sending him for a business trip, and giving ideas about looking for a potential gold mine in the middle of Borneo Rainforest.

  

But the truth could just be worse than that. She could have been scheming things for this one-sided divorcement.

  

“I believe it was a useless idea to begin with,” replies Sofia coldly. “They don’t need to know it was my idea to send you abroad.”

  

“Why do you have to go this far? What bad things have I done to you?”

  

“Ya really don't get it, huh?” Dylan interferes without even showing his face.” You are just a useless burden in this family. Moron!”

  

“A burden?” grumbles Alex with a disbelieving face. “Sofia! Need me to remind you I entered your life soon after your dad died leaving a company with so many debts? If it wasn’t…”

  

“Oh, come on! Stop thinking it was because of you,” Dylan interferes again. “You came to our company penniless. You should be grateful we accepted you working for us.”

  

“Our company my ass, fuck! Which company are you talking about? Since when have you been part of this?” argues Alex to Dylan, who is just Sofia’s cousin, and has nothing to do with Vintage Vega, Inc. which Sofia’s dad left behind.

  

Dylan chuckles once by showing his despising smile to Alex. “Rodolfo Vega is my uncle, and Sofia is already like a sister to me. I’m the only family she has now, while you are just an outsider.”

  

Alex keeps silent without taking his gaze away from Sofia. And indeed, Sofia knows so well who helped them out of that sinkhole and brought their family back to prosperity.

  

However, without uttering a single word, Sofia drags the two suitcases out of the gate and callously throws them, as if they were mere bags of garbage.

  

With a heavy heart, Alex picks up the stuffed animal and slowly approaches her from behind with his gloomy face. He might not start this marriage with love. But he has grown some affection recently.

  

Not to mention they already have a daughter together. But now, he finds the wife has been scheming shady things for this one-sided divorce just to kick him out of the family.

  

“This is how you repay me now, huh? Are you doing this just because you think you no longer need me? You think you can hold that company by yourself now?”

  

Sofia doesn’t give him any courtesy for an answer. Undeterred, Alex decides not to push any further and simply hands the stuffed animal to her.

  

“Just give this to Elly. I may no longer be your husband. Do whatever you want, but I’m still her father.”

  

Out of nowhere, Sofia throws the stuffed animal. That one really hurts Alex’s feelings, more than anything else. He does love the daughter more than his wife.

  

“Stop acting like you still have dignity! A lowly man like you isn’t worthy to be Elly’s father.”

  

Sofia averts her face to him, showing how furious she is, with eyes already red with welling tears. That’s when Alex knows she must be really angry about something.

  

“You want more explanation?” She then starts rummaging her bag, and takes out one A4 size envelope. “This! This is the explanation you are asking!” cries Sofia by slapping the envelope to Alex’s chest.

  

She turns away and heads back to the gate. “You are lucky I didn’t show that to anyone when asking to change my status to a widow.”

  

Sofia enters the car, and instructs the driver to immediately take her to the house. Meanwhile, Alex occupies himself examining the things Sofia handed him.

  

Inside the envelope, he discovers several pictures of himself taken during his visit to various places and cafés. As he continues to browse, he comes across a few images of him with a woman.

  

He vaguely recalls the woman’s face, but struggles to remember her name. Because in a few meetings with that woman, he had always tried his best to ignore her.

  

His reminiscing is interrupted by another picture, this time capturing a moment when the woman forcibly kissed him in public.

  

“No! This is a misunderstanding,” he mumbles erratically as he tries to get back to the gate. “Sofia! Wait!”