Naira didn't sleep all night.
The old photograph was still on her bedroom table.
Two little children.
A shyly smiling little girl.
And a little boy holding her hand tightly.
Arsen.
The name kept circling through her mind.
“Why was I able to forget him?”
Naira closed her eyes.
Fragments of memories resurfaced.
Rain.
A large house.
Someone's screams.
Her small hand clasped in Arsen's.
Then...
a black car.
After that, everything went dark.
Naira opened her eyes, breathing heavily.
She picked up her phone and searched for Arsen on social media.
Nothing.
She tried looking for his phone number.
Nothing.
As if the man had deliberately made sure he couldn't be found.
The next morning, Naira opened the shop again.
But her mind was still filled with questions.
Until a black car stopped in front of the shop.
Naira's heart immediately began pounding.
The car door opened.
Arsen stepped out.
That day, he didn't look like the man who had come in yesterday to take shelter from the rain.
His black shirt, dark pants, and serious expression made him look much colder.
Naira stood up.
“Arsen?”
The man looked at her.
Their eyes met.
And once again, Naira felt something strange.
As if an old feeling were trying to awaken from a long sleep.
Arsen walked closer.
“I came to get my wallet.”
Naira took the wallet from the drawer.
“Here.”
Arsen accepted it.
But his eyes suddenly fell on the table.
The old photograph was still there.
Arsen's expression changed.
“You opened it?”
Naira nodded.
“Why is a picture of us as children in your wallet?”
Arsen fell silent.
“And why have you never told me that we'd met before?”
“I had no reason to tell you.”
Naira glared at him.
“Liar.”
Arsen sighed.
“Naira...”
“Who are you, really?”
The man remained silent for a long time.
Then he said,
“Someone who should never have come back into your life.”
Naira fell silent.
“Why?”
“Because if I come back...”
Arsen looked into Naira's eyes.
“...you'll get hurt.”
Naira tried to hold back her tears.
“I've already been hurt because you left without an explanation.”
Arsen froze.
Naira herself was shocked by the words that had just come out of her mouth.
“I don't even know why I said that.”
Arsen looked at her with eyes filled with sorrow.
“Because part of you still remembers me.”
Naira swallowed.
“Then help me remember.”
Arsen shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because some things from the past are better left buried.”
Naira stepped closer to him.
“I have the right to know about my own life.”
Arsen stared at her for a long time.
Then he said quietly,
“All right.”
Naira waited.
“I'll tell you everything.”
For the first time, Naira saw fear in the man's eyes.
“But not here.”
“Where?”
Arsen took a piece of paper from his pocket.
He placed it on the table.
An address.
Naira read the writing.
Her expression changed immediately.
That address...
was the address of her childhood home.
The house she hadn't returned to all these years.
“Why there?”
Arsen stood up.
“Because in that house...”
He stopped in front of the door.
“...we first met.”
Naira stared at his back.
“Arsen.”
The man turned around.
“What is it?”
Naira gripped the old photograph.
“In this picture... why am I holding your hand?”
Arsen fell silent.
His gaze changed.
“You really don't remember?”
Naira shook her head.
Arsen drew a long breath.
“Fifteen years ago, before I left...”
He stopped.
“I promised I would marry you.”
Naira froze.
“What?”
But Arsen had already opened the door.
Before leaving, he only said,
“And that night...”
His gaze darkened.
“...your father asked me never to come back.”
The door closed.
Naira stood there, stunned.
Her father?
Why had her father forbidden Arsen from coming back?
And what had really happened that night?
Naira stared at the address in her hand.
Without realizing it, someone was standing across the street.
A woman watched the shop from inside a car.
Her phone rang.
“She already met Arsen.”
The voice on the other end replied,
“Then don't let them go to that house.”
The woman smiled faintly.
“Don't worry.”
She looked at the photo of Naira displayed on her phone.
“If they end up remembering everything...”
Her smile disappeared.
“...all our family's secrets will be destroyed.”
TO BE CONTINUED...