Naira was still standing with the old envelope in her hands.
The writing on the front made her chest feel tight.
“To Naira, if Arsen ever comes back.”
She looked at Arsen.
The man didn’t move.
“Why can’t I read it?”
Arsen lowered his head.
“Because that letter isn’t for you.”
Naira frowned.
“My name is written on it.”
“That’s exactly why.”
“Arsen, stop hiding something from me!”
Naira’s voice trembled.
“I’ve already lost fifteen years of my life because I knew nothing. I don’t want to lose another minute.”
Darren simply stood there, watching them in silence.
Naira opened the envelope.
Arsen stepped forward.
“Naira, don’t.”
Naira looked at him.
“If this letter really contains the truth, I have the right to know.”
She pulled a sheet of paper from inside the envelope.
Her hands were shaking.
The handwriting felt so familiar.
As if she’d seen it countless times before.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Naira began to read.
“My dear Naira...
If you’re reading this letter, it means Arsen has come back.
And perhaps by then, you’ll be old enough to learn the truth we’ve been hiding all this time.”
Naira swallowed hard.
Arsen turned his face away.
Naira continued.
“Don’t hate Arsen.
He never left you because he didn’t love you.
He left because we asked him to.”
Naira’s tears fell.
She looked at Arsen.
The man was still silent.
Naira read on.
“Fifteen years ago, our family was in danger.
Someone wanted something from your father.
And that person used Arsen to get close to us.”
Naira stopped.
“Used Arsen?”
Darren finally spoke.
“Keep reading.”
Naira read the next line.
“On the night of the fire, Arsen came to save you.
But before he could get you out, someone came.”
Naira’s fingers trembled even harder.
“That person was...”
The writing on the next line had been crossed out.
Naira held the letter closer to the light.
Several words had been deliberately erased.
She could only make out part of it.
“...the person you trusted most.”
Naira raised her head.
“Who?”
There was no answer.
She turned the paper over.
On the back was a single short sentence.
“Don’t trust Darren.”
Naira immediately looked at the man.
Darren smiled faintly.
“So now you know why I didn’t want you to read that letter.”
Naira stepped back.
“Why did my mother write not to trust you?”
Darren didn’t answer.
Arsen spoke instead.
“Because your mother knew what really happened.”
“What?”
Arsen looked at Darren.
“Darren wasn’t a victim of the fire.”
Darren smiled.
“You finally said it.”
Naira felt her head spinning.
“So all this time...”
Darren sighed.
“I was in that house that night.”
Naira stared sharply at him.
“Were you the one who set this house on fire?”
Darren didn’t answer.
But his smile slowly faded.
Before Naira could get an answer, the sound of shattering glass came from upstairs.
CRASH!
Everyone jumped.
Arsen immediately pulled Naira behind him.
“Darren, who did you bring here?”
“I didn’t bring anyone.”
Footsteps sounded from the second floor.
One.
Two.
Three.
They were getting closer.
Naira gripped Arsen’s arm.
“Who is that?”
Arsen shook his head.
“Stay behind me.”
Someone appeared on the stairs.
A woman.
Long hair.
A pale face.
Naira froze.
The woman descended slowly.
Then stopped directly beneath the light.
Naira recognized her.
Elara.
But what shocked Naira even more...
Elara was carrying an old photograph.
She looked at Naira and said,
“If you want to know who set this house on fire...”
Elara raised the photograph.
“...ask your father.”
Naira fell silent.
“My father is dead.”
Elara smiled faintly.
“Who told you that?”
Naira’s heart seemed to stop beating.
“What do you mean?”
Elara moved closer.
“Because your father...”
She stopped right in front of Naira.
“...is still alive.”
TO BE CONTINUED...