The basement door opened slowly.
Light from the hallway slipped inside, revealing Maya standing in the doorway.
Nadia stared at her, holding her breath.
“Maya…”
Maya wasn’t smiling this time.
“I’m sorry.”
Raka immediately stepped in front of Nadia.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Maya looked at Raka.
“I didn’t come to hurt you.”
“Then why are you here?”
Maya raised both hands.
“I came to end everything.”
Bima gave a bitter laugh.
“It’s too late.”
Maya turned to him.
“It’s precisely because you kept lying that things ended up like this.”
Nadia stepped forward.
“You’re the one who sent those photos?”
Maya fell silent.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maya stared at Nadia for a long moment.
“Because if I hadn’t, you never would have found out.”
Nadia gripped the photo Bima had given her earlier.
“And this photo?”
Maya looked at the picture of herself.
“That photo is real.”
“So you’re the one behind all of this?”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
Nadia grew even more confused.
“Then who is?”
Maya drew a breath.
“The person who ordered me to do it.”
“Who?”
Maya didn’t answer right away.
Then footsteps sounded from upstairs.
Everyone turned.
Someone was walking down.
Raka whispered,
“Arman.”
But the figure who appeared wasn’t Arman.
An older man stood at the end of the stairs.
Nadia knew that face.
She had seen it countless times in family photos.
A face she had always believed belonged only to the past.
Nadia lost her voice.
“No…”
Bima lowered his head.
Maya looked at Nadia with tears in her eyes.
“He’s still alive.”
The man smiled.
“It’s been a long time, Nadia.”
Nadia stepped back.
“Dad?”
The man didn’t answer.
But his face was answer enough.
Raka stared at him, utterly stunned.
“This is impossible.”
The man descended one step.
“Unfortunately, it’s possible.”
Nadia couldn’t move.
For years, she had believed her father was dead.
She had even seen his grave.
Why?
How?
And who had been buried there all this time?
The man said quietly,
“The person who died that night wasn’t me.”
Nadia looked at Bima.
“You knew?”
Bima nodded, his eyes glistening with tears.
“I knew.”
“You’ve been lying all this time?”
“I had no choice.”
Nadia’s father descended until he stood a few yards in front of his daughter.
“I wanted to come back.”
Nadia let out a bitter laugh.
“After all these years?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the people hunting me would have killed you if I showed up.”
Nadia shook her head.
“So all of this was to protect me?”
Her father nodded.
But Nadia only grew angrier.
“You all keep using that line!”
Her voice echoed through the basement.
“Protect me!”
She pointed at Bima.
“You hid the truth from me.”
Then she pointed at Raka.
“You got close to me because of a plan.”
Then she looked at Maya.
“You watched me.”
Finally, she turned to her father.
“And you let me believe you were dead!”
Tears streamed down her face.
“I lived my life alone because everyone decided I didn’t need to know.”
Her father lowered his head.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Nadia wiped away her tears.
“You were wrong, Dad.”
Suddenly, Arman’s voice came from above.
“Nadia!”
Everyone turned.
Arman stood on the stairs.
His face was taut with tension.
“We have to leave now.”
Nadia’s father looked at him.
“You’re still late.”
Arman shot him a sharp look.
“And you’re still hiding.”
Nadia looked at the two of them.
“You know each other.”
Arman fell silent.
Nadia’s father answered,
“Arman is the one who helped me disappear.”
Nadia looked at her husband.
“You knew my father was still alive?”
Arman nodded.
“From the beginning.”
Nadia felt her heart shatter all over again.
“So even my father’s death…”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Arman didn’t argue.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from upstairs.
Something fell.
Maya turned immediately.
“They’re already inside.”
“Who?” Nadia asked.
Maya answered,
“The people who have been hunting your father all this time.”
Arman descended several steps.
“We have to get out through the back door.”
Raka picked up several documents.
“I’m coming.”
Arman looked at him.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
Raka met his gaze.
“I wasn’t waiting for your permission.”
Nadia almost smiled, but the situation was too tense.
They headed toward the back hallway.
But before they could leave, Nadia’s father called out to her.
“Nadia.”
She stopped.
Her father handed her another key.
“This is for you.”
“What is it?”
“The key to the last room.”
Nadia stared at him.
“There’s another room?”
Her father nodded.
“In a place you never thought to look.”
“Where?”
Her father moved closer and whispered,
“In Arman’s house.”
Nadia froze.
Before she could ask anything, the footsteps drew closer.
Arman pulled open the back door.
“Move!”
They escaped through the narrow path behind the house.
The night air was cold.
They ran toward the car.
But Nadia stopped in the middle of the road.
She looked at Arman.
“I’m coming with you.”
Arman stared at her.
“Where?”
“Home.”
“Whose home?”
Nadia gripped the key her father had given her.
“Our house.”
Arman immediately understood what she meant.
“You don’t have to do this tonight.”
“I’ve spent too long knowing nothing.”
Nadia looked at her husband.
“Now I want to know everything.”
Raka stepped closer.
“I’m coming too.”
Nadia nodded.
Arman said nothing.
An hour later, they arrived home.
Nadia headed straight for Arman’s study.
She began checking every corner.
Drawers.
Shelves.
Cabinets.
Nothing.
“Where is it?” she muttered.
Raka studied the floor.
“Wait.”
He crouched down.
One section of the floor looked slightly different.
Raka tapped it.
A hollow sound came from beneath it.
“Here.”
Arman looked at him.
“Nadia, don’t.”
Nadia inserted the key into the narrow slot.
Click.
A panel opened.
Behind it was a cramped room.
There were no documents.
No money.
Only a desk and a single laptop.
Nadia turned it on.
The screen asked for a password.
Beneath it was a single hint:
**The name of the person you love most.**
Nadia tried her own name.
Wrong.
Arman’s name.
Wrong.
Her father’s name.
Wrong.
Raka stepped closer.
“Try your mother’s name.”
Nadia shook her head.
“Mom was never here.”
She stared at the screen.
Then she realized something.
It wasn’t someone’s name.
It was a date.
The date of her wedding to Arman.
She entered it.
The screen unlocked.
A folder appeared.
**PROJECT NADIA.**
Nadia held her breath.
The folder contained hundreds of files.
Photos.
Videos.
Messages.
Notes.
And one final document.
**SUBJECT: NADIA**
Nadia opened it.
The first sentence made her blood run cold.
> “Primary objective: observe Nadia until she discovers the truth about her father.”
Nadia looked at Arman.
“You’ve been watching me?”
Arman didn’t answer.
Raka read the next page.
Then his expression changed.
“There’s something else.”
Nadia moved closer.
A list of names appeared on the screen.
Arman.
Raka.
Maya.
Bima.
And at the very bottom:
**NADIA — PRIMARY SUBJECT.**
Nadia stared at the screen.
Then a new video file appeared automatically.
The video showed Arman.
But it wasn’t the Arman she knew now.
The Arman in the video looked much younger.
He was speaking with someone in a room.
A woman’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Are you sure she’ll never find out?”
Arman answered,
“As long as Raka does his part, Nadia will never learn the truth.”
Nadia froze.
Raka stared at the screen.
Then the woman’s voice came again.
“And what if she starts to suspect something?”
Arman answered:
“If that happens, we’ll use Maya.”
The video stopped.
Nadia slowly turned toward Arman.
“When was this video made?”
Arman didn’t answer.
Raka checked the file date.
His face turned pale.
“Two years before we met Nadia.”
Nadia stared at her husband.
“You planned everything before I even knew anything.”
Arman shook his head.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then explain it.”
Arman looked at the screen.
“I wasn’t the one who made that plan.”
“Who was?”
Arman lifted his head.
And for the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
“The woman behind the camera.”
Nadia stared at the black screen.
“Who is she?”
Arman answered quietly,
“Maya’s younger sister.”
Nadia fell silent.
“She died two years ago.”
Raka frowned.
“Then who recorded it?”
Arman looked at them.
“That’s the problem.”
Nadia’s phone suddenly rang.
The number was unknown.
She answered.
There was no sound.
Then a woman’s whisper came through.
“Nadia…”
Nadia froze.
“I know you found that room.”
The call ended.
A few seconds later, a message came in.
Just one sentence:
**“Now it’s your turn to find out who was really the target from the beginning.”**