"Thank God, they came just in time. It's funny that they appear when I want to give up," Renessa said as she tidied up her appearance. She must appear relaxed, happy, and calm.
Renessa crossed her legs and opened the magazine in her hand when the voice of several people talking was heard from the front door.
"You made me so proud, dear. The Santoso family will be very happy to hear of your accomplishments," Rudi's booming voice froze Renessa's body. The man sounded so happy as he said those words. She could imagine the big happy smile on the man's face. He should look like the picture she found in Mary's room.
It was definitely her father's voice, but she found it very strange since she only heard him talking with her with his stern and cold voice. He had never talked with this kind of tone even when he talked to his wife. Renessa did not really hear what her father said but he sounded so proud of his daughter, her half-sister.
Renessa's lips thinned into a straight line as the jealousy speeded in terrifying speed. She had been jealous of this little sister of hers the moment she heard about her, and now the feeling intensified when she witnessed how great her father treated her. She really wanted to know the reason for the different treatment. What was so good about her step sister that she did not have?
Moreover, she is her father's biological daughter. She should be the one who gets that kind of treatment. Not the new girl that was brought by his new wife. She was not even related to the girl.
Did he pretend to love the girl to get the mother? The thought immediately disgusted Renessa. She quickly threw away the picture from her head before she puked her inside out.
"Good evening, Father," Renessa greeted her father loudly when she finally saw the man's figure and two other people leisurely passed the living room. She was glad that her voice sounded calm and strong even though her heart was beating crazily right now.
The smile on Rudi's face disappeared instantly. He blinked before turning to where Renessa sat. He took a deep breath as his eyes became wider the moment he spotted the girl. The surprise in his eyes quickly turned into rage as the realization came to him.
"What are you doing here?" Rudi's sharp voice was heard as he walked to the living room.
Renessa tried hard not to frown when she noticed how his father's gesture showed how much he hated her. His hands were in a tight fist, his face was red and she could be totally dead if his eyes could kill. If she was just a kid, she might start to cry when her father acted like this, but she had grown up. She wasn't the terrified little girl anymore.
Renessa shook her head in disbelief. Even after all the years, the hatred in the man's eyes did not lessen even a bit.
"I'm back of course. I thought Sinta had told you about my return." Renessa sounded surprised as she smiled with an innocent face.
Rudi was stunned and lost for words as he looked at Renessa with surprise, disbelief, and hatred.
"Back? This place is not a home for a cursed brat like you! And never ever call me father! My only daughter is Marry! Get out!" Rudi growled and swore harshly making Renessa's brows furrow slightly. Although she smiled cheerfully afterward, hiding her disappointment tightly.
Up until now, she really did not understand what she had done that earned her that name and harsh treatment from his father.
Rudi got even angrier when he saw Renessa's face which didn't look sad or offended at his words, "Get out of my house now! I will never have a daughter like you!"
Rudi's anger always raised another new question in Renessa's mind. She didn't do anything at all and just smiled and greeted the man. Why did his father act as if she was a criminal who threatened his safety?
Renessa then caught two female figures standing behind her father. They were looking at her with disapproval and surprise.
She recognized them instantly, she saw the happy family photos in several corners of the house. The girl in the white dress must be her half-sister named Maryana Santoso and the woman beside the girl was her father's new wife, Laura Lestari.
No, that woman was an old wife that she had just known for a year ago. The woman looked a little arrogant and she met Renessa's gaze with a triumphant grin on her face.
Unfortunately, Renessa didn't care at all about the woman's victorious smile because she was trying to hold back her amazement when she saw Laura's beauty. The woman still looked like a twenty-year-old girl. Her body was still slender and curvaceous which made her look more like Mary's older sister than her mother. No wonder his father was crazy about her. She really wonders whether uncle Jeff is trying to lie and says that the woman Rudi married was his friend and they are the same age.
Her mother's money must be the secret behind the ageless beauty, Renessa smiled sarcastically.
Realizing that Renessa was watching the two women behind him, Rudi quickly moved and blocked Renessa's view of the two women protectively. Renessa wanted to laugh at her father's odd behavior. His father acted as if she could hurt his new family with just a glance. She meant the old family that she had found out about.
"Don't look at them!" Rudi snapped to wake Renessa from her reverie.
"Are they my mother and half-sister that you forgot to introduce me to, father?" Renessa asked in a fake enthusiastic voice. She completely ignored Rudi's words to stop calling the man 'father'.
Mary, who had been looking down earlier, was seen moving towards her mother to seek protection when she heard Renessa's words.
Renessa snorted in disbelief looking at the girl's exaggerated reaction. Does she look like a brutal killer or a madwoman for her half-sister to act like that?
"Stop your nonsense and get out of this place, right now!" Rudi roared and started moving towards Renessa aggressively.
But Renessa still looks calm, her body doesn't move. She then stood up when her father was right in front of her, making the man have to step back.
"Looks like we can't have a calm conversation tonight since you are so tired, father. We'll talk tomorrow when you will be less tired. Please tell Liam to deliver my dinner to my room," Renessa said casually as she passed her father's frozen body.
"What room? you are not welcome here," Rudi asked in a surprised tone.
"Ah, you must forget about it since you are so old, but I have room in the east wing. the second biggest room just after mother's. You don't have to worry about it since I have tidied everything," Renessa said with a calm voice and waved her hand.
Rudi was speechless. He didn't expect that Renessa had met the butler and invited herself to stay in one of the rooms in the mansion. It was registered in his head that Renessa was taking Mary's room. His face was red because of anger although, before his surprise was over, he heard Renessa's voice again, "Oh yes, Mary, aunt Laura, please don't be shy and think of this place as your own home. You can stay here as long as you want since you are father's wife."