Nadia stared at the photo on her phone screen.
Arman.
Raka.
Standing together in front of her house.
The photo had been taken the night before Arman came home from his business trip.
Nadia zoomed in on the image.
Something was strange.
Arman was wearing the same clothes he had worn the last time he called her from out of town.
But in the photo, he was standing in front of the house.
That meant...
Arman hadn't been out of town that night.
"That's impossible."
Nadia sat down slowly.
Her thoughts spun.
All this time, Arman had told her he was out of town.
He had even called Nadia from a hotel.
Then who had really been out of town?
And who had been standing with Raka?
Her phone vibrated again.
An unknown number.
> *Now you understand.*
Nadia typed:
> *Where was this photo taken?*
The reply came.
> *In front of your house.*
> *When?*
> *The night your husband said he was out of town.*
Nadia closed her eyes.
This was something far bigger than an affair.
Someone had built layers upon layers of lies around her.
And she didn't even know when it had all started.
Nadia immediately called Raka.
He didn't answer.
She called again.
Still no answer.
She sent a message.
> *I saw the photo.*
There was no reply.
Nadia tried one more time.
This time, the call connected.
"Hello?"
Raka's voice sounded heavy.
"You've seen it?"
"Yeah."
"Don't believe that photo."
Nadia immediately grew angry.
"Don't believe that photo? I saw my own husband!"
"What you saw was Arman."
"So it's true?"
Raka fell silent.
"Raka, answer me."
"I met Arman that night."
Nadia held her breath.
"Why?"
"I can't explain it over the phone."
"Why does everyone always say that?"
Nadia's voice trembled.
"You, Arman, Maya. You all know something, but I'm always the last person to find out."
Raka fell silent.
Then he said,
"Because we're trying to protect you."
"Don't use that excuse."
"I'm serious."
"If you really want to protect me, tell me the truth."
Silence.
Then Raka said quietly,
"Arman isn't the one who sent those photos."
Nadia fell silent.
"I know."
"And neither is Maya."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know who did."
Nadia sat up straight.
"Who?"
Raka drew a breath.
"The person who has been closest to Arman all this time."
Nadia remembered something.
Maya.
The man from the warehouse.
Arman.
All those names spun through her head.
"Who?"
Raka hadn't had a chance to answer.
A loud noise sounded on his end.
Then the call cut off.
"Raka?"
There was no answer.
"Raka!"
The call ended.
Nadia immediately stood up.
She grabbed her bag and left the office.
An hour later, Nadia arrived at a small café that had once been the place where she and Raka first talked.
The place was deserted.
She chose a table in the corner.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Raka didn't come.
Twenty minutes.
Half an hour.
Nadia began to grow restless.
Then someone sat down across from her.
Not Raka.
Arman.
Nadia immediately stood.
"You?"
Arman looked at her.
"Sit down."
"I want to go home."
"Sit down, Nadia."
There was something in her husband's tone that finally made her sit back down.
Arman pulled out a black folder.
"This is everything you should have known two years ago."
Nadia stared at the folder.
"What's this?"
"Answers."
"To what?"
"Everything."
Arman pushed the folder toward her.
Nadia opened it.
The first page contained a report on the Arunika project.
The second page contained the company's transactions.
The third page contained a list of the people involved.
Nadia read the names.
Arman.
Raka.
Maya.
And one name she had never expected.
**Nadia's father.**
Nadia froze.
"My father?"
Arman nodded.
"He was one of the initial investors."
Nadia shook her head.
"No."
"He was involved."
"My father died before the project was finished."
"I know."
Nadia stared at the document.
"But why is his name here?"
Arman was silent for a long time.
"Because before he died, your father left something behind."
"What?"
"A recording."
Nadia looked at her husband.
"A recording of what?"
"A conversation between him and someone else."
"Who?"
Arman didn't answer right away.
Finally, he said,
"The person who stole the project money."
Nadia gripped the edge of the table.
"Who?"
Arman looked at her.
"Raka."
Nadia felt all the sounds in the café disappear.
"No."
"Raka was the last person to speak with your father."
"That doesn't mean he killed him."
"I never said he killed him."
"But you're accusing him."
"I'm saying he knows something."
Nadia stared at her husband.
"Then why did you tell him to get close to me?"
Arman sighed.
"Because I wanted him to lead us to the real culprit."
Nadia laughed bitterly.
"And I was used as bait?"
Arman lowered his head.
"Yes."
Tears began to well in Nadia's eyes.
"All this time, I wasn't a wife to you."
Arman looked at her immediately.
"Don't say that."
"I was just a tool."
"No."
"You used our marriage to solve your problem."
"I was wrong."
Nadia stood up.
"I don't know who I'm supposed to hate."
Arman didn't stop her.
But before Nadia left, he said,
"Don't go meet Raka tonight."
Nadia stopped.
"Why?"
"Because he's in danger."
Nadia turned around.
"What happened?"
Arman looked at her seriously.
"The person who killed your father may have already figured out that you know too much."
Nadia fell silent.
"My father wasn't murdered."
Arman didn't answer.
"You said he died from an illness."
"I lied."
Nadia stared at her husband through tear-filled eyes.
"You lied about my father's death?"
"I had no choice."
Nadia took a step back.
Then she picked up her bag.
"This time, I don't believe you."
She left.
That night, Nadia returned to the apartment alone.
The living room light was on when she entered.
She was sure she had turned it off earlier.
Nadia stopped.
Her hand reached for the doorknob.
"Arman?"
There was no answer.
She turned on the light.
There was no one there.
But there was an object on the table.
Maya's flash drive.
Nadia approached it slowly.
Under the flash drive was a scrap of paper.
Handwritten.
**"If you're reading this, it means I failed."**
Nadia swallowed.
She turned the paper over.
There was one more sentence.
**"Don't open the file named ARUNIKA_FINAL."**
Nadia stared at the flash drive.
Her heart pounded.
Precisely because she had been told not to, she knew that was the file she had to open.
She inserted the flash drive into her laptop.
Several folders appeared.
Arunika.
Finances.
Raka.
Arman.
Maya.
And one final folder.
Its name consisted of only one word:
**NADIA.**
Nadia froze.
The folder had been created two years ago.
Before Raka approached her.
Before all the messages.
Before all the looks.
Before the affair had even begun.
With trembling hands, Nadia opened the folder.
There was only one video file.
The creation date made Nadia's breath catch.
**Two years ago.**
She pressed play.
The screen showed a room she didn't recognize.
Then a man's voice rang out.
A voice she knew very well.
Her father's voice.
"Nadia..."
Nadia covered her mouth.
Tears fell.
In the recording, her father stared into the camera.
"If you ever see this video, it means I'm already gone."
Nadia cried silently.
"I want you to know one thing."
Her father drew a breath.
"Don't believe anyone who says this all started because of Raka."
The video stopped for a few seconds.
Then her father's voice came through again.
"Because the person really behind all of this..."
The screen suddenly went dark.
The file stopped.
Nadia tried to play it again.
She couldn't.
She opened another folder.
It was empty.
Then a voice came from behind her.
"Nadia."
She jolted.
The laptop nearly fell off the table.
Nadia turned around.
Raka stood in the doorway.
His face looked exhausted.
There was a small cut on his temple.
Nadia stared at him.
"Raka..."
Raka walked closer.
"You've seen the video?"
Nadia nodded.
"Who is it?"
Raka didn't answer.
Nadia pressed him.
"Who is really behind all of this?"
Raka looked at the laptop screen.
Then he looked at Nadia.
"The same person you've been calling..."
He stopped.
"...your husband."
Nadia felt her entire body go cold.
"Arman?"
Raka shook his head.
"Someone closer than that."
Nadia furrowed her brow.
Raka stared deep into her eyes.
"The person you trust most."
Suddenly, the front door opened.
Someone came in.
Raka immediately turned.
Nadia froze.
Footsteps approached.
Then Arman's voice came from the front room.
"Nadia?"
Raka looked at Nadia.
"We have to go."
But it was already too late.
Arman appeared in the doorway.
His gaze fell straight on Raka.
Then on Nadia.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Finally, Arman said,
"So you finally found him."
Nadia stared at her husband.
"Found what?"
Arman smiled faintly.
"The real reason your father died."
And for the first time, Nadia saw something in her husband's eyes that she had never seen before.
Fear.