Nadia stood frozen.
The warehouse door behind her had shut tight.
The sound of the lock came through clearly.
Click.
She turned again.
The man in front of her was still standing calmly.
“Who are you, really?” Nadia asked.
The man didn’t answer.
Instead, he pointed to the envelope lying on the floor.
“Open it.”
Nadia didn’t move.
“I’m not touching it.”
The man gave a quiet laugh.
“Then you’ll never know why Raka approached you.”
The name made Nadia look at him again.
“What do you mean?”
“You think Raka likes you?”
Nadia fell silent.
The man stepped closer.
“From the beginning, you thought everything happened naturally. The looks, the messages, the little things...”
He smiled.
“But maybe it was all planned.”
The back of Nadia’s neck turned cold.
“Stop.”
“Why? Because you’re starting to fear that relationship was never as simple as you imagined?”
Nadia stared at the envelope.
At last, she crouched down and picked it up.
The envelope was fairly thick.
Inside were several documents and a photograph.
Nadia pulled out the first photo.
Her expression changed immediately.
The photo showed Raka and Arman.
They were shaking hands at a company event.
But the photo itself wasn’t what shocked Nadia.
It was the date printed in the lower corner.
The photo had been taken **two years before Nadia knew Raka.**
Nadia looked at the man in front of her.
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“Keep going.”
Nadia picked up the first document.
It was a copy of a company contract.
Arman’s name was listed there.
So was Raka’s.
But there was one other name.
A name Nadia knew.
The name of the man standing in front of her.
Nadia raised her head.
“You all worked together?”
The man smiled.
“Back then.”
“Back then?”
“A long time ago.”
Nadia read the next page.
The more she read, the harder it became to understand any of it.
There were transactions.
Projects.
A company that had suddenly gone bankrupt.
And a large amount of money changing hands.
But before Nadia finished reading, the man said,
“Arman never told you everything.”
Nadia gripped the document.
“Because it was a work matter.”
“Really?”
The man moved closer.
“If it was only a work matter, why did your husband pay Raka to leave the company two years ago?”
Nadia froze.
“What?”
“Raka wasn’t just a coworker.”
The man looked at her.
“He was someone who once knew Arman’s biggest secret.”
Nadia felt her head spin.
“What secret?”
The man gave a faint smile.
“That’s what you need to ask your husband yourself.”
Nadia’s phone suddenly rang.
Arman’s name appeared on the screen.
Nadia answered immediately.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
Arman’s voice sounded tense.
Nadia glanced at the man.
“Outside.”
“Where exactly?”
Nadia stayed silent.
Arman asked again.
“Nadia, answer me.”
“I...”
The man in front of her gestured for Nadia not to say anything.
“I’m with a friend.”
“Raka?”
Nadia fell silent.
Arman drew a long breath on the other end of the line.
“Why did you go there?”
Nadia immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“You know where I am?”
There was no answer.
“Arman?”
“I know everything.”
Nadia closed her eyes.
“Everything including what?”
“Including why you’re there.”
The call ended.
Nadia slowly lowered her phone.
The man in front of her asked,
“He knows?”
Nadia nodded.
“He knows.”
For the first time, the man looked worried.
“Then we’re out of time.”
“What do you mean?”
The man took a key from his pocket and unlocked the warehouse’s back door.
“You have to leave now.”
Nadia didn’t move.
“Wait.”
She picked up the photographs.
“Why are you helping me?”
The man stared at her for a long moment.
“Because I once made the same mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Trusting the wrong person.”
He opened the door.
“And I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”
Nadia stepped outside.
But before she left, the man called out to her.
“Nadia.”
She turned.
“Don’t trust anyone tonight.”
Nadia drove with trembling hands.
She didn’t go straight home.
She stopped at an all-night convenience store.
Sitting inside her car, she reread the documents.
One page made her stop.
Raka’s name was listed as the recipient of a payment.
Transaction date:
**Three days before Raka first asked her to lunch.**
Nadia closed her eyes.
No.
That was impossible.
All this time, she’d thought everything had begun with an attraction that slowly grew.
But maybe Raka had known her long before that.
Her phone vibrated.
A message came in.
From Raka.
> *Are you home yet?*
Nadia didn’t reply.
A second message:
> *Nadia?*
She typed:
> *How long have you known me?*
There was no answer for a long time.
Then:
> *What did you hear?*
Nadia stared at the message.
Her heart pounded.
She replied:
> *Answer my question.*
The three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Another message came in.
> *Two years ago.*
Nadia covered her mouth.
Tears nearly spilled from her eyes.
> *Why didn’t you ever tell me?*
Raka replied:
> *Because I was afraid you’d leave.*
Nadia stared at the screen.
> *So all that attention...*
A long pause.
Then:
> *Not all of it was fake.*
Nadia felt even more confused.
> *Which part was fake?*
There was no reply.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Finally, a message appeared.
> *I approached you because of Arman.*
Nadia froze.
But before she could reply, another message came in.
> *But I fell in love with you because you’re Nadia.*
Nadia stared silently at the words.
She should have been angry.
She should have deleted Raka’s number.
She should have gone home and forgotten everything.
But her feelings weren’t that simple.
Because amid the lies that had just been exposed, one thing still felt real.
Her own feelings.
At two in the morning, Nadia finally went home.
The living room lights were still on.
Arman was sitting on the couch.
He wasn’t watching television.
He wasn’t reading.
He was only waiting.
Nadia stopped in the doorway.
Arman looked up.
“Where did you go?”
Nadia didn’t answer.
She set her bag on the table.
Then she pulled out the brown envelope.
Arman saw it.
His expression changed immediately.
“Who did you get that from?”
“So you know?”
Arman stood.
“Nadia...”
“I’m asking you.”
Arman fell silent.
Nadia spread the documents across the table.
“What is all this?”
Arman didn’t touch them.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’ll make everything worse.”
Nadia gave a bitter laugh.
“Worse than what’s already happened?”
Arman looked at her.
“Raka isn’t the only person who lied to you.”
Nadia felt her chest tighten.
“What do you mean?”
Arman moved closer.
“He did approach you because of me.”
Nadia held her breath.
“But not for the reason you think.”
“Explain.”
Arman stared at his wife for a long moment.
Then he said,
“Raka came to you because I asked him to.”
Nadia froze.
“What?”
“But I never expected...”
Arman stopped.
“I never expected him to actually fall in love with you.”
The room suddenly fell silent.
Nadia stared at her husband.
“You...”
Her voice trembled.
“You’re the one who started all this?”
Arman didn’t answer.
And in his silence, Nadia found an answer far more horrifying.
Raka wasn’t the first one to enter the game.
Neither was she.
It was Arman.
Her own husband.
Outside the house, a car stopped with its lights off.
Someone sat behind the wheel.
Watching Nadia and Arman’s house.
The person’s phone lit up.
A single message was sent:
> *She knows now.*
A reply came:
> *Good.*
A second message:
> *Now let them destroy each other.*
The person smiled.
Then the car slowly pulled away from the yard.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Nadia was still standing before Arman.
Unaware that the secret just exposed was only the first layer.
Because there was one question she still hadn’t asked.
**Why had Arman deliberately asked Raka to approach her in the first place?**