The rain came suddenly that Thursday evening — loud, heavy, and urgent, like it was washing the world clean.
Amira had just lit a candle on her desk, the kind with lavender and lemon, hoping to calm her thoughts. She had read David's last message:
"Some truths still hurt to say aloud. But if you're ready... I'd like to see you again."
She hadn't replied.
Not yet.
Something in her heart still trembled between fear and curiosity. But as she sat staring at the candlelight, there was a knock on her door.
Three soft knocks.
She froze.
No one had said they were coming.
No one ever knocked like that—soft, hesitant, but full of meaning.
She stood up slowly.
Opened the door.
It wasn't David.
It was Zainab— her best friend. And the one person who had been there when David left years ago.
"What are you doing here in the rain?" Amira asked, pulling her in.
Zainab didn't smile.
She was holding a brown envelope, damp at the corners.
"I wasn't going to show you this," Zainab said, placing it on the table. "But if he's coming back into your life, you deserve the full story."
Amira's heart began to race.
"What story?"
Zainab hesitated. "Something I found out… after he left. Something he never told you."
Amira stared at the envelope. She didn't reach for it.
Not yet.
Because deep down, she knew — once opened, nothing would be the same again.
At the same time, David sat in his apartment, drenched in sweat and memories.
He had finally written the full truth in his journal. The real reason he left.
It wasn't just grief. It wasn't just fear.
There was something else.
A decision he made.
One he had buried — hoping Amira would never know.
But the truth had a way of crawling back through the cracks.
And he had run out of places to hide it.
Zainab stood waiting.
"You don't have to read it now," she said gently. "But you should read it before you give him your heart again."
Amira sat down.
Stared at the envelope.
Then picked it up.
Her fingers trembled.
The seal wasn't broken yet. But her trust might be.
She didn't open it that night.
She placed the envelope in a drawer, turned off the candle, and lay in bed.
But sleep never came.
What could he have hidden?
What truth was Zainab protecting her from?
And most of all…
Would it change everything?