Anton first met Wimara two years ago. She was simple, warm, and sweet in his eyes. It wasn’t easy to win her over — it took Anton two full years of patience and persistence before Wimara finally gave in and agreed to be his girlfriend.
Their relationship lasted about six months. At first, Anton wasn’t the type of boyfriend who splurged. In his mind, dating didn’t have to mean spending lavishly. As long as she never went hungry and felt comfortable when they went out together, that was enough to show he cared.
But a few months in, Wimara began talking about wanting something more serious. “I want us to get engaged,” she said one evening. She even picked out a gold ring worth about three million rupiah as a “promise ring.” Anton hesitated, and they argued over it for a long time. But in the end, he gave in — he trusted her, and he already knew her family well.
After that, however, Wimara’s behavior began to change. She started dropping hints about wanting this and that. Anton, who already felt invested, kept agreeing to her wishes. In his mind: he already knew her family, everything seemed fine, and he wanted to prove his commitment.
But what really made Anton suspicious was that every time he brought up marriage, Wimara would dodge the topic. There was always an excuse. Then came her biggest request yet: she wanted a motorbike. Anton, already in too deep, reluctantly gave it to her. But he was shocked to find out that she traded in the motorbike for a Scoopy — and then sold it for 4.5 million rupiah.
That was when Anton realized something wasn’t right. It felt like this whole thing had been a setup. In his mind, he suspected there were at least four other people involved in this scheme, exploiting him as just another victim. Determined to fight back, Anton hired a lawyer and sent a legal notice — twice. But both were flatly rejected.
What shocked Anton even more was when he spoke to the neighborhood head, the local officials, and some of Wimara’s neighbors. They told him, with sympathy in their voices:
“You’re not the only one, sir. This has happened before, to others too.”
It dawned on Anton that this wasn’t just bad luck. It felt like a small-time syndicate, preying on unsuspecting men. He could only take a deep breath and pray that his case would go smoothly.
In his heart, Anton wished: may no one else fall into the same trap again.
Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash
