Chapter 18

Berliana looked around with a calm face, before finally smiling and rubbing her face. She lay down, then began to close her eyes and fall asleep.

But until she was completely asleep there was no sign of robot Victor coming. It wasn't like she thought before because she knew that usually nights like this Victor would come and deliberately disturb her sleep.

"Do I have to wait until tomorrow? I don't know when he has a schedule to come to my room, usually he would but why not tonight?"

Thinking to herself without making a sound, Berliana desperately wanted to catch the robot while it was doing something to her. But since it didn't come, she felt annoyed and confused.

"Why can it behave as it pleases?"

Berliana was in full control of the robot but she didn't know how to make it come and go for now. She had done it on purpose to see how far Victor's robot could go with her. Did this also include something beyond the control of the robot's creator? Like the professors in his office discussed?

"Hah, never mind, just wait a while. Who knows if he'll come when it's about midnight."

Berliana closed her eyes tighter and tighter, and soon she was in a semi-conscious sleep. But there was no sign that the robot was coming, making her sigh softly.

"Never mind, it's probably true that the robot isn't coming because it doesn't want to tonight. I can wait for him later tonight," she muttered as she pulled the covers up.

Morning came and Berliana was annoyed. She ate her morning meal without enthusiasm, like she had something on her mind. I don't know how the robot Victor actually thought, plus he was a robot, it seemed like he didn't need to think either.

"Never mind, it's annoying. Wishing on a human is strange, how can I wish on a robot. He won't understand how I feel, there's no need for me to hope."

Berliana got up from her seat and looked lazily at her research room. She was working on the development and advancement of robot technology, in order to make Victor's robot able to go out without being seen as strange by the surrounding community. But Victor could also do all this to her, come as he pleased and leave as he pleased.

With all that, who knows what will happen and who knows how things will go on.

***

"It looks like Miss Berliana is having some trouble, her face has been wrinkled all day. It seems like something has happened and we can make her focus change even more and we can do what Tuan said earlier."

Jeff smiled softly and sighed. "That's actually good, but until now I haven't been able to find anything suitable to destroy it all. We'll talk about it later, it's very easy to make her lose focus because she's a person who uses feelings. As a woman it's quite easy to make a heart flip-flop, we just need to prepare everything according to what we already understand."

The men nodded, they understood that everything that could be said would actually happen. Like now, they seemed to be silent but were actually putting something together. That's why now they didn't want to interfere with whatever processes and projects Berliana and her team were working on.

"Try not to let it all happen when she has been summoned by the President to talk about what will be done in the future. Because if he is already talking about what is needed in the future, it will make him get a higher rank than us and we will not be trusted by the president. It will be hard for us to get things noticed again if we have a place in the president's heart."

Jeff knew this was probably true if it continued unchecked. He couldn't convince the president anymore if things were already like that, but the problem now was that the president also had admiration for Berliana's work and that was enough to worry him.

We want that girl to have a better place than her but she also didn't know how to make things faster since she didn't have any skills.

"No need to think too much, just do what we can do to make things easy to maintain. Now we only have this idea, later we will think of other ideas. The important thing is that the method is also quite good and we will incorporate it into some parts of the system that will be used in making the robot so now it is the most reliable way."

They nodded slowly in understanding, before finally looking up at the front screen where Jeff was watching Berliana's room.

"Actually there are a few ways you can use if you want, one of them is to approach her and make her willing to get close to you and with that she will definitely be more open in some ways. She's a young girl, she doesn't have a boyfriend and she's never been married because I always see her going home alone and getting home alone. If you get her close to you then you have a chance to get better at what you are planning to do. Doesn't that sound really good?"

Jeff smiled sarcastically. "I'll never be able to do that because my uncle doesn't like him either, right? Since being the mayor my uncle is the one who holds the keys to our house and family, it can't be arbitrary for us to make a decision as long as it's not part of what he wants. I can't be careless either since it's still a complicated thing to talk about."

His men could only be silent because it was true, all this time they could clearly see how Jeff was organized and asked to stay in place. This man could not be careless, or he would become a problem. Because now the important thing was to remain a part and a reliable person.

He was the only boy of the family, so he had to be the one to hold some place and be able to move around on his own even though it might only be a fraction of a percent of his ability. But at least it was a way that could get him out of the shackles all the time.

"Besides, if I insist, Berliana might not want to be with me because I've already made her upset and resentful. We'll never be close because she and I have different missions and goals. I'm focused on my own life and she's focused on hers, that way it won't be able to get her any luck from me and neither will I."

They spoke no more because they knew and understood that it was true. Now all they could talk about was how to make things more reasonable to defeat Berliana.

"Why not take Berliana as a partner? You have other people you can benefit from, instead of staying here and causing you to never improve."

His mother's words made Jeff turn his head in surprise to find her in his office. His men immediately saluted but then left, knowing that their conversation would normally not be interrupted.

"Why did you come?"

Julia Stennys, Jeff's mother, smiled and took out the lunch she had brought from home.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Every day I see you with a sour face like you have no appetite for anything. Don't push yourself too hard because you have your own abilities, people can never surpass themselves."

Jeff sighed softly, staring at the food his mother had given him. "Mom knows that if we are under the control of uncle's family, we will never be able to surpass them and won't be able to do whatever we want. We have to agree with their words first, so that we can do something. How long can we continue to be humiliated like this?" he asked as he reached for the spoon and fork.

Julia smiled and sat down. "You just need to be yourself and not do anything bad. I'm not part of or a direct descendant of the Stennys, I'm just your biological mother who married your father. Of course you might think that I'm too articulate and that I'm upsetting you but that's not the case. I care about your career, I just want you to keep growing.

"What's wrong with staying where you are without offending others? You've become a part of here with the help of your uncle's hand, you should work hard, ignore the words of people who say that you can be here because of your uncle without any achievements. How long will you lie to yourself? Stop being someone who doesn't know how to take advantage of life, Jeff. You'll regret it if you obey your uncle who only knows how to be sneaky like a person with no skills."

Jeff was silent as he ate his food. His mother had a very different nature from his family and even his uncle, his father's family was full of ambition and even willing to do anything and everything.

Sometimes it all conflicted and made Jeff feel that his life was not at ease. But he knew that it all had a bad ending, what his mother said was true so he couldn't force himself.

"I'm going to try my hardest, whatever I do might cause problems but at least if it works out it can make our family superior to uncle's family. I'll probably combine achievements and clever ways to make her fall. Because if Berliana stays on top, I will never be able to get my place let alone in this office. I still need help from the means I've gathered. You don't have to worry, this way I'm sure I can do anything we can't do."

Julia smiled then nodded slowly, she knew that this man was her son and her son must have more or less traits like him. She just hoped that her children lived a good life without having to surpass anyone but that was something she never talked about too much at the moment. There was a time for parenting and it couldn't be done every day.

"Berliana is already a credit to the country for coming up with an idea like this. Actually she's not bad either, you're just looking at it from a different angle. If you look at it again, how lucky you are to be close to a smart person like her because you can learn a lot. You didn't study seriously when you were in school and mom only hopes that you can study seriously when you're already working. Your life isn't just about this office but there are other places too, especially when you get married you need to make sense of everything and make it easier to live.

"I'm not going to talk to you a lot and upset you, I just want to say that it's not good that you keep making all the trouble. Your uncle can walk away from us but you'll have to bear the consequences of what you've done because of his actions and incitement. He did give you a position in this office but that doesn't mean you can do anything to him to cause too much trouble. Mom just doesn't want you to get into trouble while you can keep going above and beyond your capabilities. Listen to what I'm saying, you have to be someone who can manage whatever you want without any interference from others."

Jeff sends his mother off after she has helped him eat and talk about a few things. For a while his view changed a little about Berliana who would have no intention of usurping his position if she had the ability.

But his envy was different from his uncle's incitement, he didn't like that there was someone more respected in this place than him.