The Traces of Destiny
Prologues

Where does a story really begin?

In life, there is rarely a clear starting point where we can, looking back, say that it all started there.

However, there are times when destiny blends with our daily lives, setting in motion a series of events whose outcome we never predicted before.

One quiet night, when the clock was almost two o'clock in the morning, I felt fully awake. While my wife was asleep upstairs, I sat at the table with pen in hand, trying to string together the common thread of the intersection of life and destiny.

The house was silent, only the ticking of a faithful clock on the bookshelf sounded. My mind was filled with questions and confusion as to why I should tell this story from the beginning. Why should I dig into the past and face anything that might be hidden there?

I stared at the blue notebook before me, containing lines that looked blank. I felt doubtful, not about my story, but about the reason why I felt the need to open this past wound.

Why am I afraid of digging into the past that happened a dozen years ago? Could this story have started just two days ago? Those questions haunt my mind.

But right now, in this place, I realized that I should try to tell this story. I feel like this is my last step to forget everything and move on.

My memories of that time are backed up by many things, from diaries I've kept since childhood, folders with yellowed newspaper articles, to my own investigations. I had repeated it over and over again in my mind, and now it was time to write it down.

However, this story will not be complete with just that frame. There were other parties involved, and although I witnessed some events, I was not always present for all of them.

Above all, this story is about love. Love between two humans named Garin Antonio and Saraswati. Their love is rooted in the inevitable tragedy.

It is also a story of forgiveness. When you finish reading, I hope you can understand the challenges faced by Garin Antonio and Saraswati.

I hope you can understand their decisions, both wise and wrong, and in the end, I hope you can understand my decisions.

However, before that, let me tell you more. This story is not just about Saraswati and Garin Antonio. If there is a starting point of this story, then it lies in the figure of Maudy Zefanya, the high school lover of a Gajakarta candidate.

Maudy, like her husband, Garin, was also raised in Gajakarta. She has incredible charm and kindness. Garin had loved him all his youth until his adulthood.

Maudy had beautiful black hair and eyes that were so dark, like a deep night. People say she has an accent that can captivate anyone who hears her. She is a woman who easily smiles, is full of interest and attention while listening to others talk. He often touches the arms of the people he talks to, as if inviting them to be part of his colorful world.

However, like many women in the south, Maudy's ambitions and desires are much stronger than they seem on the surface. He was the one who governed their household, as a general rule. Garin's friends are the husbands of Maudy's friends, and their lives are centered on their harmonious families.

This is the beginning of this story, involving not only Saraswati and Garin Antonio, but also Maudy Zefanya.