"Kay, wait!" Yuda rushed to grab Khayra's arm as she tried to walk away the moment she saw him outside her house.
"Let go of me!" Khayra shoved his hand off, storming toward the nearby park a quiet place, just a few blocks from her home.
"Kay, I'm sorry. That night… it just happened. I was drunk, I wasn't thinking straight," Yuda pleaded, trying to explain.
"Yeah? Well, your little mistake already has consequences, Yud!" Khayra snapped, wiping away her tears. Her whole body trembled. It took every ounce of self-control not to slap the man standing in front of her.
"I know. I didn't expect this. I even used protection—"
Yuda cut himself off, realizing what he had just admitted.
Khayra turned her face away, wiping her tear-stained cheeks. "You can hide the fire, but not the smoke, Yuda. Whether you were drunk or not, you still had the presence of mind to use protection."
"We were supposed to get married in two months, Yud! And you— you got my cousin pregnant? Where the hell was your brain?!" she yelled, no longer able to contain her rage.
"How could you do this to me?! Couldn't you even control yourself? Ziya is my cousin!" Her words pierced like knives, and Yuda lowered his head in shame.
He had no excuse left. No defense. No way to undo what he had done.
"What was I lacking? Huh? Our relationship was always stable, always loving. Did I not understand you enough? Did I not give you enough of my time? My heart? My soul?! Say something, Yuda! Don't just stand there!" Khayra shouted, sobbing uncontrollably.
Suddenly, Yuda dropped to his knees and clung to her legs. "Forgive me, Kay… I swear, I was weak. It was a mistake!"
Khayra inhaled sharply, then exhaled through clenched teeth. The pain crushed her chest, five years of trust, shattered in a moment by the man she had loved, and by her own blood.
She stepped back, tearing herself from his grip.
"From this moment on, we're done. Go marry Ziya. Take responsibility for your actions." Her voice cracked as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
She pulled off her engagement ring and let it fall right in front of him.
"Go. I've let go. And I don't ever want to see your face again. From now on, walk your own path. Do whatever you want. And I'll walk mine, toward my own purpose."
She took a deep breath.
"But remember one thing. Let me be the last woman you ever destroy."
With that, Khayra turned and walked away, leaving Yuda behind in silence.
She exited the park and wandered the empty sidewalk. She didn't know where she was going. She had no home to return to.
Thunder rumbled.
The sky darkened.
Khayra stopped walking and tilted her head up, staring at the blackened sky.
Raindrops started falling, one by one, then faster, until the storm poured down relentlessly.
She didn't move. She let the rain drench her from head to toe, her face lifted to the sky, eyes closed.
Suddenly, the rain stopped hitting her face.
She opened her eyes… and found herself under a black umbrella held by a man whose intense gaze burned through the storm.
"Mr. Kaivan?" she said, startled to see her boss standing in front of her.
"Are you a kindergartener?" Kaivan asked in his usual deadpan tone. "Standing in the rain like this."
Khayra scowled. "What business is it of yours? Just leave me alone," she snapped, flustered and annoyed to be seen like this, especially by him.
"Get in the car," he ordered calmly.
"No. I can go home on my own."
"Oh? Would you like me to assign you the archive inventory task in the basement tomorrow?" Kaivan's voice held a subtle threat.
"You seriously don't know the difference between work hours and off-hours, do you?" Khayra scoffed and tried to walk past him, but Kaivan grabbed her wrist.
"What now?! I want to go home!" she growled, trying to pull away.
"Get in the car. We need to talk," he said, firm and unyielding.
"Can't this wait until tomorrow?"
"Get. In. The. Car," Kaivan repeated, leaving no room for argument.
That was it. Khayra burst into tears, her hands covering her face, sobbing loudly right there in the street.
Kaivan was stunned.
"What the- Khayr, why are you crying?! I'm just asking you to get in the car. Is it really that hard?" he muttered, flustered by her breakdown.
To make things worse, they were on a busy main road. People were slowing down to watch, some even recording them.
"You're making a scene. Come on, get in the car," he pleaded, clearly clueless on how to handle a crying woman.
"What did I do wrong? Why are you yelling at me? Hiks… Why are all of you so cruel to me?" Khayra sobbed harder.
Kaivan ran out of patience.
Without another word, he suddenly lifted her over his shoulder like a sack of rice.
"Put me down!" she screamed.
"Shut up, Khayr. You want us to end up on the news for public kidnapping?" he snapped after dumping her in the passenger seat.
"Who told you to force me?!" she shot back.
"Put on your seatbelt, Khayr."
"It's Khayra. A name my parents gave me. Why do you keep calling me Khayr like I'm a boy?" she grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Don't complain. I'll call you whatever I want. And stop calling me Mister. I'm not your dad," Kaivan muttered.
Khayra rolled her eyes and buckled her seatbelt, irritated.
"I know what happened between you and Yuda," Kaivan said, catching her off guard.
"You know Yuda? How?" she asked, confused.
"I'm not your dad, Khayra. Are you deaf?" he snapped.
"Fine, fine," she muttered. "But… how do you know him?"
"He's my cousin," Kaivan said casually.
"W-what?!" Khayra gasped. "He's your cousin?!"
"Yeah. So you're the woman he left for someone else?" he asked bluntly.
"You seem to enjoy this," Khayra muttered, looking out the window, her heart aching again.
Kaivan chuckled.
Khayra turned toward him in disbelief. It was the first time she had heard her cold, stoic boss actually laugh.
"Why are you looking at me like I just grew horns?" he asked, amused.
"I thought maybe a ghost possessed you back under that big tree," she muttered.
"Watch your mouth," Kaivan scolded.
"I'm not a teabag to be filtered," Khayra shot back.
Kaivan went silent for a moment.
"I know what betrayal feels like, from someone you love and from your own family. Must've stung like hell," he said.
Khayra looked at him with sharp eyes. "Are you enjoying my pain?"
Kaivan let out a soft chuckle. "You're so naive, Khayra. That's why people can easily hurt you."
She said nothing.
Then, he looked her dead in the eye.
"I have an offer for you. Want to hear it?"
Khayra blinked, confused.
"Why? Don't trust me?" he said, his gaze never wavering.
"Marry me," Kaivan said calmly. "And I'll help you take revenge on them. I'll make that bastard regret ever hurting you."
He paused.
"But in return... you'll help me have an heir."
Thump!
"W-what?!"
***