The next day, Sara walked into the office and went straight to HR. Her face looked pale, her eyes swollen from crying all night, dark circles showing how much she had suffered in the past month.
"Hello ma'am, I just wanted to let you know that I don't want to work here anymore. I sent my resignation letter last night. Please go through it and complete final formalities as soon as possible," she said in a cold, flat voice.
He looked at her and asked, "What happened, Miss Sara?"
Sara forced a small smile. "Just some personal reasons, ma'am. Please go ahead with the final procedures."
HR looked worried, noticing how exhausted and drained Sara appeared. She nodded politely. "Okay, I'll proceed and let you know," he said.
Sara smiled faintly and stepped outside her cabin, waiting. After a while, the HR came out, looking concerned.
"Miss Sara?" she called.
Sara looked up. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Well… actually, we can't release you yet," the HR said hesitantly.
"You signed a probation contract for two years. According to the agreement, you are required to work here for the full period. Your resignation can't be accepted before the contract ends. If you try to break it, you'll have to pay a penalty which is equal to your salary for the remaining two years, which is a huge amount."
Sara closed her eyes, the frustration bubbling inside her. She had suspected something was wrong when he made her sign that contract. Looking at the HR, she asked,
"Is there any way I can break the contract?"
The HR hesitated, then nodded. "I haven't really seen such cases before. You'd better speak to the director directly. Maybe you can find a way."
Sara's anger flared again. She had to face that bastard once more, but she had no other choice. With a deep breath, she stormed into his cabin.
He was busy working, but as soon as she barged in, he glanced at her coldly. "What now?"
She crossed her arms and demanded, "Why did you make me sign that fucking contract?"
He didn't look up, his eyes still on the screen. "You know the reason. It's company policy."
She slammed her hands on his desk. "Bullshit! Release me from that contract. I don't want to work here anymore!"
He raised one eyebrow, calm and taunting. "And what if I don't want to?"
Her eyes blazed. "Don't play games with me. You've ruined my life enough. I have nothing left for you to toy with. So stop wasting time and let me go!" she roared.
He smirked, leaning back slightly. "If you really want to leave, pay the penalty and get released. Until then… don't waste my time. Now go back to work."
"KAIRO!" she shouted.
"Don't shout, Sara," he snapped. "I won't let you go means I won't. If you want your child to be safe here, go back to work." His voice was merciless; he knew exactly how to hurt her.
"Don't you dare mess with my child," she growled.
He stared into her eyes. "Then shut your little mouth and obey me."
Her blood boiled. Her hands shook, her face trembling with rage and frustration. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to destroy him where he stood.
She grabbed the glass container off his desk and let out a raw scream. With one forceful swing, she smashed it against the marble floor, glass exploded into shards.
Kairo flinched. For a beat, he just stood there, stunned. He had never seen her like this: the anger, the fury, the way her body trembled with adrenaline. His heart started racing.
She stared straight into his eyes. "You'll regret this. And when that day comes, I won't show you any mercy."
Then she turned and walked out of the cabin, leaving him frozen, trying to process what had just happened.
One week passed.
One week had passed, and Sara continued to show up at the office, performing her duties with quiet diligence. She had no other choice. Kairo had closed all other doors for her; she was trapped, forced to bend down to the rules of a man who had made her life a living nightmare. But Sara had learned to survive, fierce, protective, unyielding.
Her focus was no longer on impressing anyone at work; it was on her child. She had grown hyper-aware of Zayn at the daycare, visiting him more often than usual, checking on him with the intensity of a mother guarding her little universe. She refused to let him eat anything from the staff there.
"Baby," she whispered, brushing a strand of hair from his face, "Mamma will come to feed you. Don't eat anything from here, okay?"
The obedient little soul nodded, his tiny fingers gripping her hand. Sara smiled through her exhaustion, her heart swelling with pride and concern in equal measure.
Kairo watched everything from a distance, obsessively tracking even the smallest details. He had gotten reports from the daycare: her child refused all meals, waiting for his mother's hand to feed him.
And yet… he couldn't bring himself to look at the boy directly. The thought of seeing her child, her flesh and blood, made his chest burn with a strange, uneasy feeling. He worried that if he laid eyes on him, he might unknowingly feel a hatred toward the innocent boy, simply because he was someone else's. It was a war inside him he didn't want to face.
That evening, Kairo's phone rang. "Yes," he answered, his tone sharp and cold.
"Sir, I've gathered some information about the woman whose profile you sent me last week," the voice on the other end reported.
Kairo's attention sharpened. "Go on," he said.
"She's a single mother, sir, with a baby boy about two and a half years old."
Kairo raised an eyebrow. "And… who's the father?"
"Actually, that's a bit secretive, sir. According to our sources and research, she is not married. But she is the biological mother of the baby boy. Around three years ago, during her college days, she had a boyfriend, but they later broke up."
"Neighbors from her old residence say that one day she was found unconscious in her apartment. Her friend Nora took her to the hospital, and shortly after that incident, she moved out and never returned. There are also rumors that on the day she was found, she was holding a letter, but no one got to read it. Nora took it away immediately. Neighbors suspected something serious had happened in her life, something that left her completely devastated."
Kairo's heart raced. Could it be… the same letter he had sent?
The other person continued, "After moving from her old neighborhood, she wasn't seen much for about a year. But our sources checked with her friend Nora's neighborhood and found out that she was pregnant at that time. Later, she gave birth to her baby and moved to her current residence."
Kairo asked, "Did she have any boyfriends after her college boyfriend?"
"No, Sir. She was found to be pregnant right after graduation, and there's no indication she was involved in any other relationship after that."
Kairo absorbed the information carefully, his mind racing.
"As she moved to the new neighborhood, she started working, but she never held a stable job; she barely lasted three months each time. The reason is simple, Sir: managing a baby and a job has always been a tough task for her. Since then, she's been living in the same small apartment with her child."
Kairo asked, "Does anyone visit her? Family, friends?"
"No, Sir. Only Nora visits her occasionally. Other than her, no one comes by."
Kairo's chest tightened; his heart ached at the thought.
"What about her family background?"
"I couldn't get much information about her family, Sir. The only thing I know is that she was somewhat of an abandoned child. I'll try to find more details soon."
Abandoned...? Kairo thought.
Kairo took a deep breath, "Okay. Keep me updated. Your fees will be credited to your account. Thanks for the information."
"My pleasure, Sir. Thank you."
As soon as the call ended, Kairo leaned back in his chair, head falling against the leather, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling above. His mind was a storm of images, of the girl he once knew, and the woman who had endured so much. "You went through so much, Sara…" he murmured under his breath, a rare ache gnawing at the corner of his heart.
Every detail the detective had shared, the abandoned apartment, the hospital incident, the lonely months of struggle, played on repeat in his mind. He felt a pang he couldn't name, a mixture of guilt, anger, and something darker, more possessive. How could she have carried on alone, raising a child in a world that had abandoned her?
But as the facts settled, one question clawed its way into his thoughts, unrelenting:
Who is the father of her child?
He closed his eyes, tracing the timelines in his mind. Everything started to align: the years, the separation, the incidents. His chest tightened, heart racing, and a cold, shocking realization hit him.
He sat up straight, eyes wide, staring at nothing and everything all at once.
"Wait, is it… my child?"