Aisha
The ex he dated and broke up in college. The one who spread rumors when he ended things. He hadn't reacted back then when she tried to defame him. he just let her go and never looked back at her.
Until now.
Her name glowed on the screen like a curse he never expected to face again.
Kairo didn't breathe for a beat. Didn't blink. Didn't move. His thumb hovered, trembling with fury that tried to hide under composure but failed miserably. His jaw flexed, a quiet storm beating behind his eyes.
Sara noticed the way his entire body halted. The energy dropped, darkened. Even the room seemed to sense the shift.
"Kairo?" she asked, voice soft, cautious.
He didn't answer. He opened the link.
And there she was. Sitting in a news studio, her face facing the camera and her voice sharp and trembling, like she had practiced every word in front of a mirror.
"It was me who was betrayed by Kairo Valen," Aisha said, clutching a tissue. "I loved him endlessly. I trusted him with everything. I gave him my heart, my time, my whole world. I thought he loved me too."
Her breath shook, timed perfectly.
"But he never loved me. He only wanted me for pleasure. He pretended to care, pretended to be gentle, pretended he had feelings for me… until he got what he wanted. Then he threw me away."
She sniffed loudly, wiping a perfectly placed tear.
"I begged him not to leave. I told him I was pregnant with his child." Her voice cracked for effect. "But he didn't listen. He said I was a mistake… that the baby was a mistake. I had nowhere to go. I had nothing. And he just left me."
A dramatic pause. Another shaky breath.
"And now he's living happily with another woman… pretending to be a perfect family man. Playing father to someone else's child after abandoning his own."
Aisha was crying in front of the cameras, wrapped in a shawl as she had prepared for a tragic scene. Her voice shook, her hands trembled, every breath designed for pity.
"I never wanted to say this…" she whispered, eyes glistening. "But I have to save other women before she gets destroyed as I did."
Sara's heart lurched.
"I saw him with a woman recently," Aisha continued. "People say she's married… but he still chased her. If you're listening to me, please leave him. He isn't trustworthy. If he charmed you, then you're already trapped, girl. Don't fall for his tricks. He'll ruin your life. He'll leave you and your child behind. Maybe he'll even get you pregnant and then abandon you. Go back to your husband before it's too late."
She broke into louder sobs.
"He promised to marry me. He said he loved me. But when I told him I was pregnant, he threw me away," she cried. "I even lost our baby because of the stress. He is a cheater. A womanizer. He has always used girls like toys. He pretends to be the perfect gentleman and traps girls with his charm… then uses them until he's satisfied and dumps them."
She sniffed dramatically.
"He never spared a single girl in our college. He used everyone. Broke every heart. That's who he really is."
Kairo's eyes darkened into something wild, something breaking apart from the inside. But the moment his gaze landed on Sara, the fury twisted into fear.
He was scared, A deep, old fear. What if she believed Aisha's lies? What if she stopped trusting him? What if she leaves him again? The thought alone tore through him.
His buried anxiety and fear were taking over, the fear of losing her, and Zayn was more than anything he could lose. His hands trembling, his body shaking, his throat blocked, his world flipping upside down.
"Sar...ha," his voice came barely, his mind spinning, tears slipping continuously.
Sara stepped toward him, but before she could reach him, he swayed. His phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor. He couldn't breathe properly. His face had turned completely red, his thoughts had frozen, and he couldn't form a single word.
"Kairo!" Sara caught him just in time. He collapsed against her, and they both fell onto the couch.
His breathing came fast and broken, and every word shook as it left his mouth.
"That's..... that's not... that's not true," his voice came barely audible.
Sara was trembling to see him collapsed like this. he was looking like he would die any moment if she left him for a moment.
"I know...," Sara whispered, tears slipping. "I know you, and I trust you, Kairo," she said.
But he clung to her like he was terrified she might vanish if he loosened his grip, and he would lose her forever.
"That's not true... I didn't do anything wrong with her," he cried. "Please trust me, Sara... I swear to god, I didn't do anything wrong to her; she is lying." he was crying his heart out like a fragile man. "Please don't leave me, I did not do anything wrong."
"I know," she said, voice low, trying to console him. "I know you did not do anything wrong. I trust you," she hugged him tightly, rubbing his back. "I trust you, my love, shhh, don't cry..." she said.
"Everything she's saying… every word… is a lie," he said, sobbing into her shoulder.
He tried to speak through his broken breaths. "Yes, I dated her. But I never cheated. She's lying. I didn't hurt her. She's the one who cheated on me. I broke up with her because of that. She had another boyfriend… and she still dated me. When I found out, I left. That's all."
His voice trembled violently.
"Please trust me, Sara. I admit, I had many women before, but never cheated, never forced anyone, never hurt anyone. I swear to god." He cried. His breath hitched harder.
"I know, Kairo. I lived through those years, too. I know the man you were, and the man you are now. I trust you. Don't lose yourself, I'm not going anywhere." She consoled him and kissed his hair.
But Kairo couldn't calm down. His fear of losing her was deeper than her reassurance could reach. And it swallowed him whole, even as she held him close, refusing to let him fall.
At that very moment, Charles burst into the house like a storm that had finally snapped. His face was flushed, eyes blazing.
"Kairo," he roared. His voice echoed through the house, hot and furious. He had seen the Aisha interview, and he was angry now.
Kairo's head snapped up just in time to see the fury in his father's eyes, red, trembling, betrayed.
"You rascal," he roared and marched straight to him. "How many women have you fooled? How many did you hurt? How many did you fuck with?"
Before anyone could react, Charles' hand flew across Kairo's face. The slap was so hard that Kairo fell back onto the couch again. Sara gasped, her body jolting, and when Charles raised his hand again, she rushed forward.
"Dad, stop!" she shouted, grabbing his arm. "Dad, he didn't do anything. He's not guilty!"
Her voice was trembling, but her hold was firm. Charles froze for a second, breathing hard.
"Dad… calm down," she begged, looking into his storming eyes. "She's lying. Aisha is lying. Kairo didn't do that to her."
Charles looked at his daughter-in-law, chest rising and falling sharply. Behind her, Kairo sat hunched over, hands in his hair, tears dropping onto the floor. The sight was enough to punch a hole through Charles' anger.
"She framed him, Dad," Sara continued quietly. "She was the one who hurt him. Not the other way around."
A long silence hung in the air. Charles' expression slowly collapsed. Without a word, he pulled Sara into a hug, his own eyes watering.
Then he turned to Kairo… and the moment he saw his son curled like a broken child, his fury dissolved entirely. His heart softened to see his son like that. He regretted for a second for hitting his son. he sat beside him and pulled him into a tight, fatherly embrace.
"I'm sorry," Charles said. "I'm sorry, I hit you." He apologized.
For the first time in years, Kairo didn't push his father away. He leaned in, shaking, his forehead against Charles' shoulder. Maybe he didn't even remember the last time his father held him like that, but right now, it felt like a lifeline, safe, loved. Both father and son stayed like that.
"I didn't do anything wrong to her. She is lying," he repeated his words. Sara's heart clenched.
She sat on the other side of Kairo and rubbed his back. "We know Kairo," she whispered. "Both of us. We trust you completely."
Kairo choked on a sob and immediately embraced Sara. She held him, brushing his hair away from his damp forehead. "We're here," she murmured. "We are with you. We will never leave your side."
He broke down even harder, the sobs tearing out of him as if his chest couldn't hold the fear anymore. Sara and Charles sat on either side, trying their best to steady him, to anchor him, but nothing seemed to reach him fully.
They had never seen him like this, not this shattered, not this lost. His anxiety had exploded into a full panic attack, his breath uneven, his fingers shaking uncontrollably. His mind wasn't able to catch up with reality; everything felt blurred, too loud, too fast.
And through all of it, one fear kept repeating in his head like a desperate echo: he would lose Sara and Zayn again.
He didn't process that the world was dragging his name through the mud. He didn't care about the headlines, the insults, the accusations tearing through social media. None of that mattered. The only thing burning through him was the terror of losing the two people who were his life because of all these.
His heart wasn't afraid of the scandal. It was afraid of being abandoned again.
After a while, the doorbell rang, and Charles straightened. "I think the lawyers are here."
Kairo straightened, too. Wiping his tears, His face was blotchy red, eyes swollen, lips trembling, hair messy. He was completely a vulnerable mess.
"Here, drink some water," Sara offered him a glass of water. He reached out, but his hands trembled too much to hold it, so she steadied it for him, helping him drink in small sips. He swallowed roughly, choking once.
Charles headed toward the door to let the lawyers in.
To be Continued....