ODDITY ANDINI'S CASE

On the sofa, Frans was still fast asleep. Believing it was her husband, Siska gently tried to wake him.

"Darling, wake up…" Siska said softly.

Frans was startled by the movement and slowly opened his eyes. He saw Siska still wearing her pajamas.

"Sweetheart…" he said with a warm smile.

Frans stretched and sat up from his sleep. While trying to fully open his eyes, he asked Siska,

"Where were you last night? I waited for you all night," Frans said.

Siska was surprised by the question. She furrowed her brow.

"Darling, I was home last night," she replied.

"What?!" Frans was shocked.

He stared at his wife in disbelief.

"How could that be? I didn’t see you at all last night," he said, confused.

Siska looked at her husband with a puzzled expression.

"Love, I was actually waiting for you last night. But you never came home. I tried calling your phone, but it was off," Siska said.

Frans turned on his phone, and as soon as it powered up, dozens of missed call notifications appeared.

"Strange… How could this happen?" he wondered silently.

Siska continued speaking.

"Mas, Mr. Hendro came by last night. He brought some case documents for you to review," she added.

Frans was shocked again. "Mr. Hendro?"

"Yes. He came to your office yesterday afternoon. Dimas tried calling you several times but couldn’t reach you. So Mr. Hendro came here last night," Siska explained.

Frans fell silent, unable to believe what had happened. He checked his call log and saw that Mr. Hendro had indeed tried to contact him. Before he could process it all, his phone rang again—it was Mr. Hendro. Frans quickly answered.

"Good morning, Mr. Hendro. Sorry, I was out late last night," Frans said.

"No problem, Mr. Frans. I brought the documents to your house last night. So, what do you think? Will you take on my daughter’s case?" Mr. Hendro asked over the phone.

"Uh, sorry, I haven’t reviewed the documents yet, but I’ll go through them this morning. When is the first hearing, if I may ask?" Frans replied.

"The first trial is in two weeks. Please, Sir, help Andini. I truly believe she’s innocent," Mr. Hendro said, pleading.

Frans paused for a moment and covered the phone’s speaker.

"Darling, could you bring me the documents from Mr. Hendro?" he whispered.

For a moment, Frans forgot about the strange events of the previous night. Soon, Siska returned with the documents.

"Here they are, Mas. From Mr. Hendro," Siska said.

Frans took the documents and smiled at his wife.

"Thanks, love," he said briefly.

He read through the papers for a moment, then spoke to Mr. Hendro again.

"Sir, I’m still reviewing the documents. But I promise—I’ll be Andini’s lawyer. I’ll investigate this case thoroughly," Frans said.

Hearing Frans’ response, Mr. Hendro sighed in relief. He was overjoyed that his daughter finally had legal representation.

"Alright, Mr. Frans. Thank you for agreeing to take on Andini’s case," Mr. Hendro said.

"You’re welcome, Mr. Hendro," Frans replied.

Mr. Hendro ended the call. In his office, he silently hoped his daughter would be freed.

"I hope you get out of this, Dini," he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, in a detention cell, Andini was curled up in a corner. Her prison clothes made her feel miserable. Another inmate approached her.

"Ugh! Crying again? Your sobbing keeps me up. Shut up!" the inmate snapped, hitting Andini on the head.

Andini winced in pain. Her crying stopped, but she felt dizzy. Another inmate, a friend of Andini’s, stood up and confronted the aggressor.

"Hey! You’re getting more arrogant by the day!" she shouted.

"What?! You think you’re some kind of hero?" the other inmate retorted.

A fierce fight broke out in the cell. The guards rushed in to break it up.

"Enough! Stop it!" the guard yelled.

He looked at Andini, who was clearly in pain, and escorted her out of the cell.

"Andini, someone wants to see you," he said.

He brought her to the visitation room—where Frans was waiting.

ON ANDINI’S JAIL

"Good afternoon, Andini. I'm Frans, the lawyer hired by your father, Mr. Hendro," Frans said, introducing himself.

"Andini," she replied briefly.

Frans immediately pulled out Andini’s case file. He skimmed through it and asked,

"Miss, could you tell me the chronology of what happened to you?"

Andini paused for a moment. After calming herself, she began to recount the incident. It took her a while to explain everything.

"Mr. Frans, it all started when I accidentally found a file left behind at the office," Andini said.

"A file? What kind of file?" Frans asked.

Andini remained silent. She began telling the story in a soft voice, occasionally glancing around.

— Andini’s Story —

That afternoon, Andini was planning to resign from Wito’s company and headed to the HR division. She carried a folder containing her resignation letter. At the door, she knocked.

"Come in," a voice called from inside.

Andini entered the room and handed over the envelope. The HR officer read it briefly.

"Ms. Andini, I accept your resignation. Thank you for your dedication all this time," the officer said.

Andini shook hands with the HR officer and left the room. As she exited, she accidentally spotted a file lying nearby. She glanced at it, but suddenly Wito appeared and snatched it from her.

"Hey! How dare you!" he shouted.

Andini was startled. She was terrified by Wito’s furious expression—he was known as a ruthless CEO.

"I—I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean to," Andini said, trembling.

Wito stared at her suspiciously. Out of fear, Andini rushed home.

The next morning, as she was about to help her father at the convenience store, two police officers suddenly arrived.

"Good morning. We’re from the police department. We’d like to question Ms. Andini regarding a case of corporate embezzlement," one officer said.

Andini was shocked.

"I—I’m sorry, Sir. I don’t know anything about any embezzlement," she said, trying to deny it.

But the officers had a warrant. Andini couldn’t resist as they took her away. Mr. Hendro, convinced of his daughter’s innocence, tried to defend her.

"Sir, my daughter would never embezzle company funds. She’s honest," Mr. Hendro said, trying to pull Andini back.

One officer pushed Mr. Hendro aside.

"Mr. Hendro, please don’t interfere with police duties," the officer said.

That morning, Andini was taken to the police station and detained. The evidence the police had was strong.

— End of Andini’s Story —

"Because my signature was on the document, I ended up like this. But I swear to God, I had no idea about the fund transfer," Andini said.

In a soft voice, Frans asked another question.

"Do you know what that document was?"

Andini shook her head.

"I didn’t get the chance to read it, Sir," she said, looking frightened.

Frans ended the meeting. He wrote a note on a piece of paper and handed it to her. Andini read it and nodded.

"Alright, thank you for your statement. See you in court," he said with a gentle smile.

Frans informed the guard that the visit was over and left. After he departed, the officer escorted Andini back to her cell.

Back at his office, Frans—who had secretly recorded the conversation—listened to it while reviewing the case file. He examined the evidence carefully.

"Okay… Andini worked in accounting. Based on the presumption of innocence, this financial report could be fabricated," he thought to himself.

Frans studied the evidence thoroughly. Time passed, and evening came. He closed the file with a weary expression.

"Ugh, damn. The evidence is really strong. Can I even win against that mafia?" he muttered.

He imagined what would happen if he failed. The thought of Mr. Hendro’s disappointed face haunted him.

"The evidence is solid. And the financial report they presented is convincing. But based on Andini’s story…" Frans fell into deep thought.

His face grew serious. Just as he was thinking, his phone rang. The number was unknown. Frans answered.

"Hello, who am I speaking with?" he asked.

The caller paused, then activated a device.

"Come alone to the building next door. I’ll be waiting in the motorcycle parking lot. Meet me there—alone," the voice said abruptly.

The call ended. Frans tried calling back, but the number was disconnected.

"This is strange. What’s going on?" he wondered.

Driven by curiosity, Frans went to the location. He stood in the motorcycle parking lot of the building across the street.

"Where is this person?" he asked.

Suddenly, he felt something cold and sharp pressed against his back.

"Don’t speak. Come with me," said a mysterious voice.

Frans tried to turn around, but the person struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious. Once he passed out, the stranger dragged him into a car and drove away.

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