The café was too quiet.
Maya stirred her coffee, eyes blank. She hadn't slept. She hadn't cried either. She was past that.
Then the door opened.
Kayla walked in like she owned the room.
Perfect curls. Expensive coat. And that same perfume Maya had smelled in the studio.
Their eyes met.
Kayla smirked, walked straight to her, and sat down without asking.
"You came alone," Maya said, flat.
"Didn't need backup. You're not that scary."
"You sure about that?"
Kayla leaned in, resting her elbows on the table.
"You found the studio. Smart. Took you long enough."
Maya said nothing.
"You want me to say sorry? That I didn't mean to ruin things? Lie to you like he did?"
"No," Maya said. "I want the truth."
Kayla's smile vanished.
"Truth is, he never stopped loving both of us. Truth is, he lied to me too. Said you were just 'someone from the past'. Guess we both got played."
"You stayed even when you knew?"
"I loved him."
"So did I," Maya said. "But I walked away."
Kayla narrowed her eyes. "And what do you want now?"
"To make sure you stay gone."
Kayla laughed. "Sweetheart, I left because I was bored. But if you think I can't come back and take him anytime I want, you don't know how weak he is."
Maya stood up slowly.
People around them started to glance. The tension was visible.
"You think this is a game?" Maya said. "You think I care about your little power dance?"
"You cared enough to meet me."
"No. I came to tell you something."
Kayla raised a brow.
"I'm not fighting for him anymore," Maya said, her voice calm but sharp. "Because I'm done. With him. With women like you. With lies."
Kayla blinked.
Maya stepped closer.
"If you want him, take him. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
Maya leaned in, whispered in her ear.
"He only loves himself."
Then she turned around and walked out.
Kayla didn't chase.
She just sat there, stunned. For once, unsure who really won.
Outside, Maya exhaled. For the first time in weeks, her shoulders dropped.
Then her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number: I saw you two. You played that well.
She frowned.
Unknown Number: But the game isn't over, Maya.
She froze.
The number wasn't Kayla's.
Wasn't Dira's.
Then another message came in.
Remember me?
– Tiara.
---
Maya stared at the message.
Remember me?
– Tiara
The name hit like a cold blade across her spine.
Tiara.
She hadn't heard that name in two years. Not since the last time she saw Dira breaking down in the middle of a hospital corridor, whispering things he never wanted to admit. Tiara was more than just an ex. She was the storm Dira refused to talk about. The one Maya was never allowed to question.
Maya opened her contacts.
No Tiara.
The number was foreign. Hidden.
She typed a reply.
"What do you want?"
Seen.
No response.
Ten minutes passed. The silence was worse than the message.
Then the screen lit up again.
You think Kayla's your problem?
She's just a decoy.
He lied about me. Ask him why I disappeared.
Maya sat frozen.
She remembered that night. When Dira came home shaking. When he told her, in vague, broken sentences, that Tiara was "gone" and "it's better if you don't ask."
She had believed him.
She had trusted him.
Like a fool.
She opened her old email. Searched the name.
Nothing recent. But one old thread caught her eye.
Studio Lease – Tiara. L.
Date: 1 year ago.
She clicked it.
The message was short.
> "The keys are still with you. You promised you'd come back for the rest. I won't wait forever."
It wasn't sent to her.
It was sent from her email account.
Maya blinked. Confused.
She scrolled down. At the bottom of the thread, one sentence in reply from Dira:
> "Don't contact me again. She doesn't know anything. Let's keep it that way."
Maya stood up. Her breath caught in her throat.
This wasn't just about cheating.
This was about hiding someone. Using her. Erasing a truth.
And Tiara?
She wasn't gone.
She was back.
And she was watching.
---
Maya realizes Dira used her to cover up something much bigger — something involving Tiara, the lease, the lies — and Kayla was just the surface distraction.
Maya didn't go home.
She went straight to Dira's apartment.
When he opened the door, he looked surprised—still wearing the same shirt from earlier, phone in hand, like he was about to call her.
"Maya—"
She pushed past him without a word.
"Where is she?" Maya asked.
Dira closed the door slowly. "Who?"
"Tiara."
His face froze.
There it was.
The look she'd seen once before—the look of someone who just got caught in a lie he thought he buried.
"She's not—"
"Don't," Maya said sharply. "Don't insult me by pretending."
"I don't know what she told you—"
"She told me enough," Maya snapped. "She told me you lied about why she left. That you erased her. That you said I didn't know anything. That you told her not to contact you again."
Dira looked at the floor. Silent.
Then, softly, "I was trying to protect you."
"No. You were protecting yourself," Maya said. "Because if I knew the truth, I never would've stayed."
He stepped closer, almost pleading. "She was dangerous, Maya."
"She sent me a message. A warning. That Kayla wasn't the real threat. That you were."
"She's manipulating you," Dira said.
"Then tell me everything," Maya said. "Now. Every detail. Every lie. Every truth. Right here. Right now."
Dira sat down.
And for the first time, he told her.
About the contract.
About the project Tiara funded.
About the fallout. The betrayal. The accident. And the silence he was paid to keep.
"She didn't disappear," he finally admitted. "I made her sign an NDA. I paid her to stay quiet. Because what happened that night—if it ever got out—it would ruin everything."
Maya just stared at him.
"You paid her off?"
"It was her idea."
"Then why is she back?"
"I don't know," he whispered.
And Maya realized: he was afraid.
This wasn't about love. Or regret.
This was about someone crawling back from the shadows he thought would stay buried.
"You lied to me. Every time I asked."
"I was scared."
"So am I now," Maya said.
She picked up her bag.
"Scared of what else I'll find."
Dira reached for her wrist.
"Maya, please—"
She pulled away.
"You didn't lose me because of Tiara. Or Kayla. You lost me the moment you decided I didn't deserve the truth."
She walked to the door.
He didn't follow.
But before she left, she turned around one last time.
"Oh—by the way," she said, "Tiara's not coming back quietly."
She left him standing in the hallway.
And outside the apartment, someone in a black coat across the street lit a cigarette.
Tiara. Watching. Waiting.
---
It was midnight when Maya heard the knock.
Three slow taps.
She froze. Her apartment was quiet. The streets outside were empty.
She walked to the door.
Looked through the peephole.
Her breath stopped.
Tiara.
Standing there in a black coat, red lipstick, eyes sharp as knives.
Maya opened the door. Slowly.
"You took your time," she said.
Tiara smiled. "You always were more patient than me."
They stared at each other.
Then Maya stepped aside.
"No games," she said. "You talk, I listen. Once."
Tiara walked in like she'd been there before. She looked around, touched the edge of the bookshelf, ran her fingers across a photo of Maya and Dira.
She picked it up.
"He still keeps you framed. How cute."
Maya didn't flinch. "Why are you here?"
Tiara turned.
"To give you a chance."
"A chance?"
"To ask the real question."
Maya crossed her arms. "What question?"
Tiara stepped closer, eyes narrowing.
"The one you haven't dared to ask. Not to me. Not to him. Not even to yourself."
Maya's jaw tightened. "Say it."
"Who started the fire?"
Silence.
Maya's pulse spiked. Her heart dropped.
"What fire?"
Tiara tilted her head. "So he really didn't tell you."
She took out her phone. Opened a video. Pressed play.
A news report. From two years ago.
Studio Blaze: Local Photographer's Warehouse Burns Overnight – Suspected Arson, No Arrests.
Maya blinked.
That was the night Dira disappeared for weeks. When he said he was in "recovery." When he said Tiara left the country.
"You think he did this?" Maya whispered.
Tiara smiled coldly. "He did. And he made me take the fall. Because I owned the building. Because my name was on the lease."
Maya's world tilted.
"And you stayed quiet?"
Tiara's smile faded.
"I loved him. Stupidly. Fully. Until I woke up."
She walked toward the door.
"I don't want him back, Maya. I want the truth out. You want justice, I want revenge. We both want the same thing."
Maya stood frozen. "Why now?"
Tiara opened the door.
"Because he's running again. And people like him only stop when someone finally says, 'Enough.'"
She paused before stepping out.
"When you're ready to stop protecting him, call me."
Then she was gone.
Leaving Maya with a video, a new truth, and a thousand more questions.
Behind her, the photo of her and Dira was cracked.
She hadn't even noticed when it fell.
---