Nadia was still staring at the photo when she heard the chair beside her scrape.
"Why?"
Nadia flinched.
Maya, her teammate, stood beside the desk holding two cups of coffee.
"You look pale."
Nadia quickly turned the photo facedown and slipped it into the drawer.
"I haven't been sleeping well."
Maya frowned.
"Are you sure?"
Nadia nodded.
"I'm sure."
Maya set one of the coffees on the desk.
"If you need to talk, I'm here."
Nadia gave her a faint smile.
"Thank you."
Maya left.
Only after the office fell quiet again did Nadia open the drawer.
She took out the photo.
Her hands were still trembling.
The photo didn't just show her and Raka.
In the lower-right corner, a digital clock in the lobby was visible.
**10:48 p.m.**
That meant someone had taken the photo from fairly close by.
Not from outside the building.
Not by chance.
That person had been in the lobby.
Watching.
Waiting.
Nadia turned the photo over again.
The writing was still the same.
**"Your husband needs to see this."**
She immediately picked up her phone.
The first message she wanted to send was to Raka.
But her finger stopped.
What was she supposed to say?
*Someone took a picture of us.*
Too dangerous.
In the end, she only typed:
*"We need to talk."*
The reply came a few seconds later.
> *When?*
Nadia stared at the screen.
> *Tonight.*
Raka replied:
> *Where?*
Before Nadia could answer, her phone vibrated.
An incoming call.
Arman.
Nadia answered immediately.
"Hello?"
"Are you at the office?"
"Yes."
"I'll pick you up later."
Nadia fell silent.
"Why?"
"I want to have dinner."
"Okay."
Before the call ended, Arman said,
"Nadia."
"Yes?"
"Don't go home alone."
Something in her husband's tone sent a chill through Nadia.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just have a feeling."
The call ended.
Nadia stared at the screen.
Then she slowly turned toward the office hallway.
There was no one there.
Evening approached.
Nadia put the photo in a brown envelope and stored it in her bag.
She didn't want to take it home.
But she didn't dare leave it at the office either.
When she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, Arman was already waiting.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Arman smiled.
"It's okay."
Nadia got into the car.
They barely spoke during the drive.
Arman glanced at Nadia several times.
Finally, he asked,
"Are you happy?"
Nadia turned toward him.
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"I just want to know."
Nadia smiled.
"Yes."
Arman nodded.
But his face showed no sign that he believed her.
"Do you still love me?"
That question was harder.
Nadia stared at the road ahead.
Too many answers spun through her mind.
Finally, she said,
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because lately, I feel like something has changed."
Nadia swallowed.
"Everyone changes."
"Including you?"
Nadia turned toward him.
Arman was staring straight ahead.
"I don't know," Nadia answered softly.
The car continued down the road.
A few minutes later, Arman said,
"I found something."
Nadia tensed immediately.
"What?"
Arman took out his phone.
"This."
He showed her the screen.
A photo.
Nadia froze.
The same photo.
But it wasn't the version in her bag.
The photo on Arman's screen had been taken from a different angle.
Closer.
Clearer.
And Nadia's face was completely visible.
Arman turned off the screen.
"Who sent this?"
Nadia couldn't answer.
"He sent a second photo too."
"A second photo?"
Arman nodded.
"A photo of you and Raka."
Nadia's world seemed to stop.
"Raka?"
Arman's voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Yes."
Nadia looked at her husband.
"Arman, I can explain."
"I haven't accused you of anything."
"But..."
"I just want to know the truth."
Nadia gripped her bag tightly.
The second photo.
She hadn't seen it yet.
And suddenly she realized that whoever had sent the photo had more evidence than she'd thought.
"Who sent it?"
"An anonymous account."
Arman showed her the unsaved number.
"There was only one message."
Nadia stared at the screen.
There was a sentence.
**"If you want to know who your wife really is, ask her what happened that night."**
Nadia felt her chest tighten.
That night.
The lobby.
Raka.
It all came rushing back.
Arman slipped his phone into his pocket.
"I won't force you to talk right now."
Nadia looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because I want you to choose to be honest."
The car stopped in front of a restaurant.
Arman got out.
Nadia remained seated inside.
"Arman."
Her husband stopped.
"What?"
"I..."
The words caught in her throat.
Arman waited.
But Nadia couldn't bring herself to say them.
Finally, Arman said,
"Come inside."
He walked ahead.
Nadia picked up her phone.
A message from Raka came in.
> *I know about the photo.*
Nadia froze.
How did Raka know?
A second message appeared.
> *Don't trust anyone.*
Nadia typed quickly.
> *Do you know who sent it?*
There was no reply.
She waited.
One minute.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Nothing.
Then the final message appeared.
> *I know.*
Nadia held her breath.
> *Who?*
Raka didn't answer.
Instead, he sent a location.
An old warehouse in an industrial district.
Then one sentence:
> *Come alone.*
Nadia stared at the address.
She knew she shouldn't go.
Every rational thought in her head told her the same thing.
Don't go.
But something stronger pulled at her.
She had to know who was watching them.
And why.
Nadia put her phone in her bag.
She got out of the car.
"What took you so long?" Arman asked.
Nadia smiled.
"Sorry."
They went into the restaurant.
But throughout dinner, Nadia barely touched her food.
Her thoughts were somewhere else.
On a warehouse.
On a photo.
On Raka.
And on the question that haunted her more and more:
**Who really wanted to destroy her marriage?**
Eleven p.m.
Nadia stood in front of an old warehouse.
The place was nearly empty.
Only a few streetlights were on.
The night wind carried the sound of corrugated metal clanging from the surrounding buildings.
Nadia gripped her phone.
"Raka?"
There was no answer.
She stepped inside.
"Raka?"
A voice came from within.
"Don't turn on the lights."
Nadia stopped.
It wasn't Raka's voice.
Another man's voice.
Nadia's heart pounded.
"Who are you?"
There was no answer.
Then a small light came on.
Someone stood at the far end of the room.
His face was still hidden in shadow.
"If you want to know who took your picture that night..."
Nadia held her breath.
"...ask your husband."
The man stepped forward.
His face began to emerge.
Nadia recognized him immediately.
And her blood ran cold.
Because the man wasn't a stranger.
He was someone Arman had trusted completely all this time.
Someone who should never have known about her and Raka.
Someone who had been right beside them all along.
Nadia took one step back.
"Why are you doing this?"
The man smiled.
"Because that photo isn't your biggest problem."
He raised an envelope.
"There's something much worse."
Nadia stared at the envelope.
"What?"
The man answered quietly,
"Raka isn't coming here tonight."
Nadia froze.
"Why?"
"Because from the very beginning..."
The man threw the envelope onto the floor.
"...Raka wasn't the one who invited you."
Nadia stared at the envelope.
Then the warehouse door slammed shut behind her.
**BANG.**
Nadia spun around.
Locked.
And for the first time, she realized that tonight might not be about her affair being exposed.
It might be about a secret far bigger than that.