The next morning, Yazan sat in his room, his eyes lost in the void, his thoughts chasing him like a shadow that wouldn't leave. His heart was still beating fast from the scene that happened at the company, but he still didn't understand why he felt all that jealousy, as if a fire had been lit inside him.
He took his phone and opened a chat with Chat GPT, he typed: "If a man gets jealous over a woman, does that mean he loves her?"
The reply came: "Jealousy can be love, or it can be a desire to possess. Love cares about the other person's happiness, even if they're not with you, but possession is the desire to control them and not accept their presence with anyone else."
Yazan stayed silent, as if the words pierced his heart, then he whispered: "That means I… love her."
He finally admitted it to himself. But fear immediately seeped into his heart… "But does she love me? Or will she be like Karma…?"
He got up, got ready, dressed, then headed to the company. There, his eyes fell on Rahaf, he watched her for moments, his features no longer hiding his admiration.
He then went to Rayan's office, sat in front of him, and a short conversation started before Yazan began to pave the way for confessing his feelings, he said: "Rayan… I feel…"
Rayan smiled, interrupting: "Why are you so nervous? Does what you're about to say have to do with Rahaf?"
Yazan replied with difficulty: "Yes, but how did you know?"
Rayan answered firmly, looking at him with a smile: "You love her, Yazan."
Yazan's eyes widened in surprise: "How did you know that?"
Rayan said calmly: "Your looks, your actions, your jealousy… they all say it, don't deny it."
Yazan sighed, as if admitting it to someone else made him feel relieved. They then talked about some practical matters, and Rayan said: "By the way, the current secretary handed in her resignation, so we'll open applications for the position starting tomorrow."
Elsewhere, Reema sat in her room, holding her phone, watching the flood of messages Marwan kept sending her. A cold smile formed on her face as she told herself: "I'll make you feel the sting of betrayal, Marwan… and you'll see what I'll do."
She opened the notification list, put his messages on silent. Then she turned off her phone for a bit, and brought back the image of the man she had ridden with before in her mind Rayan. He was the perfect person to execute her plan.
She tried to remember where she'd seen him, and recalled that he had come out of a fancy building with a sign reading "Al-Rayan Construction & Development."
She started searching online for the company until she found the official website. She clicked on the "Owner" section, and his picture appeared in front of her… it was him.
She smiled coldly and said to herself: "I'll hit two birds with one stone…"
On the other side, Tala was on her bed, her head resting on the pillow. She woke up late that day, didn't go to university, and hadn't eaten since morning. Her phone screen was lit, showing her last conversation with Sami… she was waiting for his reply impatiently.
Suddenly, she saw the typing dots appear… her heart started beating faster. She adjusted her sitting position, staring at the screen as if she could pierce it with her eyes.
The message arrived, shocking: "Honestly… you're such a wonderful person, and I've considered you more than a friend. But you deserve someone better than me. Goodbye, Tala."
Her face froze, then she quickly typed: "Wait… why?" But her message didn't go through… he had blocked her.
Tears streamed down her face, before turning into a scream of anger. She threw her phone to the ground and smashed whatever her hands could reach.
Downstairs, Issam was in his office when he heard the sound of smashing. He rushed upstairs, opened the door, and found his daughter broken down. He didn't speak, just walked over and held her until she calmed down in his arms. He didn't understand what had happened to her, but this wasn't the time for questioning.
In the evening, Rahaf returned home and found everyone asleep, as she had come back late today. She entered her room, sat at her small desk, and browsed through some files she had brought from the company. She tried to focus, but her mind kept drifting back to what happened yesterday… to Yazan's looks, his fierce anger, and the words she couldn't forget.
She put her pen aside and rested her head on her hand, whispering to herself: "Why does he act like this?… Could it be…?"
She suddenly stopped thinking when she noticed her phone lighting up on the table with a new message. She hesitated before reaching for it… it was a message from Yazan, but when she opened it, she found only a short sentence:
"Are you okay, Rahaf? I just wanted to check on you."
She kept staring at the screen, her heart pounding hard, not knowing if these words were the beginning of something beautiful… or the beginning of bigger troubles than she could imagine.
To be continued…