Ayla stared at him, her voice barely a whisper. "Tell me she's lying."
Elian's eyes flickered toward Lara but he said nothing.
The silence stretched. Smoke still clung faintly to his jacket, as if the fire itself hadn't
let him go.
Lara stepped closer, her heels clicking against the stone floor. "He won't deny it. You
think he's your savior, but he's been your enemy all along."
"Enough," Elian snapped. "You don't know what happened."
Lara laughed, bitter and sharp. "I was there, remember?"
She pulled out another photo—this one charred at the edges. A group of children in a
dorm room, candles burning on the floor, papers scattered around them.
Ayla looked closer. Her breath caught. The smallest boy in the picture was holding a
match. Elian.
"You started the first fire, Elian. You burned half the east wing trying to destroy your
father's files," Lara said. "And when they blamed my brother, he took the fall for you."
Ayla's head spun. "Your brother… Karim?"
Lara nodded. "Expelled. Labeled a criminal. His life ruined. And you"—she turned to
Elian—"got to stay, protected by your precious name."
Elian's jaw tightened. "You think I don't know the guilt I've lived with? You think I
wanted any of it?"
"Then why hide it?" Ayla demanded.
He looked at her, pain in his voice. "Because you were there too."
The air turned to glass."What?" she whispered.
He took a step toward her. "You were the one who found the files. You were the one who
told me about them. You wanted revenge, same as me."
Ayla shook her head. "No. I don't remember any of that."
Lara smirked. "Of course you don't. You were in the hospital for months after. The
smoke, the trauma—it wiped your memory clean. But I remember."
Ayla's knees felt weak. Her past, the missing years, all the things her mother refused to
talk about—it all began to make sense.
She turned to Elian, voice trembling. "If that's true, then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted you to have a chance to forget," he said softly. "I wanted one of us to
escape the past."
Lara rolled her eyes. "Touching. But too late."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter. "The truth burns better when it's
shown."
Before either of them could move, flames licked up the curtains near the altar.
"Lara!" Elian shouted, lunging forward.
She threw the lighter at him and ran.
He caught it, but the fire was already spreading. The wooden benches ignited like paper.
"Go!" he yelled. "Get out, Ayla!"
She hesitated, choking on the smoke. "Not without you."
He grabbed her wrist, dragging her toward the door. The air grew thick, the heat
unbearable.
They stumbled out into the courtyard, coughing and gasping.
Behind them, the chapel glowed in orange and red. Sirens wailed in the distance.Ayla turned to Elian. "You knew she'd come back."
He nodded. "She was never after me. She wanted you."
"Me?"
He looked at her, eyes hollow. "Because you were the one who found the secret file."
Her heartbeat stuttered. "What file?"
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a flash drive, scorched at the edges.
"This one," he said. "The same one we tried to burn ten years ago."
Ayla stared at it. "What's on it?"
He hesitated. "Proof that someone else started all of this."
Before she could ask more, a shadow moved across the courtyard.
A voice said softly, "Drop the drive."
They both froze.
Out from behind the fountain stepped a man in a security uniform—only his badge was
fake, and his hand held a gun.
Ayla's stomach dropped. "Who are you?"
He smiled. "Someone who's been waiting for you two to dig up what should've stayed
buried."
Elian stepped in front of her. "You're with Lara?"
"No," the man said. "She was a distraction."
"Then who sent you?"
The man cocked the gun. "The person who owns that drive. And they want it back."The air buzzed with tension. Ayla's mind raced. The fire still burned behind them. Sirens
grew louder.
She whispered, "Elian…"
He squeezed her hand once. "When I move, run."
"No," she said. "You'll get shot."
He didn't answer. His eyes locked on the man's weapon, calculating.
The man took a step closer. "Give it to me, or I'll end both of you."
Elian's voice dropped to a whisper. "Now."
He shoved Ayla aside and swung the metal lighter at the gun. The shot exploded through
the courtyard—echoing through the night.
Ayla screamed as Elian fell.