“Because they were looking for you.”

Zayan’s words echoed in Areeba’s mind.

She stared at him.

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Then how can you be sure they’re after me?”

“Because they left everything else untouched.”

He walked toward the window and looked outside.

The garden was dark.

Too dark.

Areeba followed him.

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re leaving.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere they won’t find you.”

Areeba shook her head.

“I am not going anywhere with you.”

Zayan turned around.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“I always have a choice.”

He walked closer.

“Not tonight.”

Areeba glared at him.

“You can’t control me just because our families decided we should get married.”

His expression changed.

“This isn’t about the marriage anymore.”

“Then what is it about?”

“You.”

The single word made her silent.

Zayan lowered his voice.

“Someone has been watching you for weeks.”

Areeba’s face went pale.

“How do you know?”

“Because I saw them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I needed proof.”

He picked up his keys.

“Now I have it.”

Within minutes, they were driving away from the house.

Areeba sat silently beside him.

The city lights slowly disappeared.

Roads became empty.

Finally, after almost an hour, Zayan stopped in front of a large old house beside the sea.

Areeba looked out of the window.

“Where are we?”

“My mother’s house.”

She looked at him.

“You brought me here?”

“My mother used to hide things here.”

“What kind of things?”

“Things people would kill for.”

Areeba swallowed.

“And my mother?”

Zayan looked at the house.

“She came here once.”

Areeba’s heart skipped.

“You’re saying my mother was here?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Three days before she disappeared.”

Areeba quickly got out of the car.

“Then we need to find whatever she left behind.”

Zayan caught her wrist.

“Not alone.”

She looked at his hand around her wrist.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

His grip slowly loosened.

“Sorry.”

Areeba looked away.

“It’s okay.”

They entered the house.

The place smelled of old wood and the sea.

Everything looked untouched.

Zayan switched on a lamp.

Areeba walked slowly through the hallway.

Then she noticed something hanging on the wall.

A photograph.

She stopped.

It showed her mother standing beside a young Zayan.

But there was someone else in the photograph.

Areeba stepped closer.

Her breath caught.

The third person was her father.

But he was holding something in his hand.

A gun.

Areeba stared at the photograph in disbelief.

“Zayan…”

He came beside her.

“What?”

She pointed at the picture.

“Why is my father holding a gun?”

Zayan’s face became hard.

“I don’t know.”

Areeba looked at him.

“You’re lying.”

“I am not.”

“You knew my father was here.”

“I knew he had been here.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Areeba stepped back.

“You keep saying you don’t know.”

She laughed bitterly.

“Yet somehow you always know just enough to scare me.”

Zayan looked hurt.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“I never asked you to.”

“I know.”

“Then stop.”

He stepped closer.

“I can’t.”

Areeba looked into his eyes.

“Why?”

His voice became softer.

“Because every time I look at you…”

He stopped.

Areeba waited.

But he said nothing.

“Because what?”

Zayan looked away.

“Nothing.”

Areeba’s heart beat faster.

She hated that she wanted to know.

She hated that his silence affected her.

Before she could speak, they heard a sound upstairs.

Both froze.

Zayan immediately pulled Areeba behind him.

Someone was walking above them.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Zayan reached for the gun hidden beneath his jacket.

Areeba whispered,

“Is someone here?”

He nodded.

Then the footsteps stopped.

Silence.

Zayan slowly climbed the stairs.

Areeba followed despite his warning.

At the end of the hallway was a locked room.

Zayan tried the handle.

Locked.

Then he noticed something on the floor.

An old key.

He picked it up.

Areeba looked at him.

“Do you think it’s for this door?”

He inserted the key.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

Inside was a small room filled with old boxes.

But on the wall was one sentence written in black ink.

“Zayan must never marry Areeba.”

Areeba’s blood ran cold.

She looked at Zayan.

“Why would anyone write that?”

He didn’t answer.

Because below the sentence was another line.

One that made both of them freeze.

“If they marry, the truth about the night Samina disappeared will come out.”