Alya was still staring at her phone screen.
The message made her chest feel tight.
“If Arga comes back, you have to be ready to face the truth about your family.”
“What’s going on?” Rania asked.
Alya handed her the phone.
Rania read the message. Her expression turned serious.
“Do you know this number?”
Alya shook her head.
“No.”
“Don’t reply.”
“Why?”
“Because this person clearly knows something.”
Alya stood up.
“I need to find out who they are.”
Rania stopped her.
“Don’t go alone.”
But before Alya could answer, her phone rang.
Arga’s name appeared on the screen.
Alya answered immediately.
“Arga?”
Arga’s voice sounded heavy.
“Alya.”
“Where are you?”
“Still on the train.”
“I thought you were coming back?”
“I am coming back.”
Alya held her breath.
“Why?”
“Because I feel like there’s something you’re keeping from me.”
Alya fell silent.
Arga continued.
“I’m not angry. I just want you to be honest with me.”
Alya bit her lip.
“I was actually going to come to the station.”
“I know.”
“I even bought a ticket.”
“Then why didn’t you come?”
Alya took a deep breath.
“My mother was admitted to the hospital.”
Silence.
“What?”
“She suddenly got sick last night. I took her to the hospital. Her condition only improved this morning.”
Arga’s voice softened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“That you’d be disappointed.”
Arga sighed.
“Alya, I’m not disappointed because you didn’t come.”
“Then what?”
“Because you chose to cry alone instead of telling me.”
Alya’s tears fell.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“But I—”
“Alya.”
“Yes?”
“I still have one chance to tell you something.”
Alya fell silent.
“I love you.”
Alya’s tears came faster.
“I love you too…”
But before she could finish, the call was disconnected.
Alya stared at the screen.
“Arga?”
There was no answer.
Rania stood up immediately.
“Maybe it’s the signal.”
Alya nodded, even though her heart was beginning to feel uneasy.
Several hours later, Arga arrived back in the city.
He headed straight to Alya’s house.
But when he reached the front of the house, he saw a man standing in the yard.
The man appeared to be talking to Alya’s mother.
Arga stopped.
He had never seen the man before.
A few seconds later, Alya’s mother noticed him.
Her expression changed instantly.
“Arga?”
Arga smiled politely.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I’m looking for Alya.”
Alya’s mother didn’t answer.
Instead, the man beside her stared at Arga for a long moment.
“So you’re Arga?”
Arga nodded.
“Yes.”
The man held out his hand.
“I’m Dimas.”
Arga shook his hand.
But Dimas’s expression made him uncomfortable.
“Dimas who?” Arga asked.
Dimas smiled faintly.
“Someone who knew Alya’s family long before you did.”
Arga fell silent.
The front door opened.
Alya stepped outside.
Her eyes widened when she saw Arga.
“You’re back?”
Arga smiled.
“I told you I’d come back.”
Alya nearly ran toward him.
But before she could get any closer, Dimas said,
“Looks like you two need to talk.”
Alya looked at Dimas.
“Dimas, not now.”
“Now is exactly when you need to.”
Arga looked at Alya.
“What’s going on?”
Alya didn’t answer.
Dimas then took an old photograph from his wallet.
He handed it to Arga.
“Look closely.”
Arga took the photograph.
It showed two families standing together.
Arga recognized one of the faces.
His father.
And standing beside his father was a woman he knew very well.
Alya’s mother.
Arga looked up.
“This…”
Dimas said quietly,
“Your parents once made a promise.”
Alya closed her eyes.
She already knew that secret.
But Arga didn’t.
“What promise?” he asked.
Dimas looked at Alya.
“Shouldn’t she be the one to explain?”
Arga turned to Alya.
“Alya?”
Alya lowered her head.
Tears began to well up in her eyes.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I was afraid of losing you.”
Arga grew even more confused.
“What does this have to do with our families?”
Alya raised her face.
“Arga…”
“Yes?”
“From the beginning, the truth is, our relationship…”
Alya stopped.
Dimas cut in calmly.
“It’s not simply the relationship between two people who love each other.”
Arga stared at him.
“Then what is it?”
Dimas answered,
“Because there’s a reason both your families have never wanted the two of you to get too close.”
Arga fell silent.
Alya’s tears flowed harder.
And before Arga could ask another question, his mother said in a trembling voice,
“Because your father is the reason our family was once destroyed.”
Arga froze.
For the first time, he realized that his love story with Alya might have a past far more complicated than he had ever imagined.