the informer

part7

The music suddenly stopped.

I turned to Shahaan, confused.

He let go of my hands and walked toward the door, but before he could reach it, someone slammed it open.

Two police officers stood outside.

My eyes darted between Shahaan and myself.

"Arrest them!" one of the officers barked.

…

Hours had passed. I'd already been interrogated, yet they were still keeping me in the damn room.

I had a pretty good guess what the charge was. Being alone with Shahaan in a room? Yeah, they’d probably send me to the medical examiner next, and it’d all spiral into a mess.

I had no idea why they wouldn’t even let me make a call.

Frustrated, I got up and knocked on the door for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Hello? I need to call my lawyer!"

I kicked the door hard.

At the same time, it swung open—

And I froze when I saw Uncle Reza standing there.

"Uncle?"

He pointed at the badge on his uniform and said coldly,

"There’s no 'uncle' here. I’m Colonel Davari."

He gestured to a chair.

"Sit."

I dropped into the chair, still trying to process.

Uncle Reza—my family friend? And now apparently Jahangir’s superior? What the hell was he doing here?

He sat across from me. I leaned in and whispered,

"Uncle, I need to call Jahangir, but they won’t let m—"

He cut me off, his tone sharp.

"Colonel Davari. Not uncle. I’ve read your case file. I need your help."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Help?"

"Yes. You’re going to infiltrate the Mostoufi family for us. Be our informant."

My eyes widened in disbelief.

"An informant?! Why? I’m not even a cop!"

"You don’t have to be. You’re still going in. The Mostoufi family is running a drug trafficking operation. We’ve had them under surveillance for ten years, but we’ve never had solid evidence to make an arrest."

He paused.

I sat there, stunned.

Shayan... a drug trafficker?

My worry for Nava only grew with each second.

"Will you cooperate?"

"No! I can’t be Shayan’s informant, I—"

He didn’t let me finish.

"You have exactly two choices," he interrupted sternly.

"Either you take the fall for what happened tonight—straight to detention, medical exam tomorrow, and forced marriage to Shahaan..."

"Or you help us. Be our informant. And walk out of here tonight."

My whole body went cold.

Was this a joke? Just yesterday I was calling him uncle, and now he’s threatening me with jail and a forced marriage?

No way. He was bluffing. He just wanted to scare me into saying yes.

"I’m not going to be an informant. You have no proof. Nothing happened in that room. We weren’t drunk, and we didn’t cross any lines."

He stood up, his voice loud and commanding.

"Abbasi! Take the lady to the detention center!"

He turned to me, and his voice—cold, serious, and full of threat—cut through the air.

"I’ll build such a solid case against you that they won’t let either of you go unless you marry him. And trust me, none of the Mostoufi family's big-shot connections, not your father, not even your brother, will be able to save you."

Then he stormed out.

A guard came in, slapped a pair of handcuffs on me, and led me down the hallway. That’s when I saw Nava and Shayan. Her eyes were red, and she was leaning against him.

She rushed toward me.

"Don’t worry, I called Jahangir. He’ll get you out in a few hours."

But I was too stunned by what Uncle Reza had said to speak. I knew he was serious—and not even Jahangir could help this time.

I just nodded and walked past them.

Right up until the detention cell door slammed shut, I kept thinking maybe he was just bluffing.

But the sound of that door locking—it hit me.

His threats were real.

I sat in a corner of the cell, numb. I didn’t cry, but a heavy lump was stuck in my throat.

I used to call that man Uncle. I’d been best friends with his daughter for six years. Even back when I lived in Kerman, she used to call me "sister."

Now he was acting like some two-headed monster.

I thought so much I lost all sense of time. I didn’t know what to do.

If I agreed to be a spy, I’d be putting both myself and Nava in danger.

If I refused... I’d be stuck with Shahaan for the rest of my life.Just like my mom.

Married to a criminal.

But I had promised myself—and my mom—that I’d never become her.

I didn’t want to be another woman with two kids, divorced from a man like Shahaan.

Not that divorce was even an option.

By morning, my head was pounding from overthinking.

The door opened. A voice called out:

"Janan Shari'at! You're out."

I stepped outside. A woman in a black chador handcuffed me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Forensics."

I had no choice but to follow.

"I want to see Colonel Davari," I said.

"Alright."

She led me to a door, knocked a few times.

"Come in."

He smiled when he saw me.

"You’ve always been a smart girl."

He turned to the woman.

"Take off her handcuffs."

She did, then left the room.

Before he could say anything, I jumped in.

I had to try one last time.

"I don’t know anything about being a spy. I’ll ruin the ten years of work your team’s done."

"Don’t worry," he said calmly. "If Jahangir agrees, he’ll work with you. And it’s not like you’ve never done this before. I’m not worried about your safety either—you have certificates in both boxing and shooting. I doubt anyone could really harm you."

His words triggered a flood of memories.

He was right. I had worked with them four years ago.

The door opened.

Jahangir walked in, saluted the colonel, and came straight to me.

I stood up.

The moment I fell into his arms, all the tears I’d held back since last night came pouring out.

He wasn’t just my brother—he’d always been like a father to me.

"Hush... Let it out, pretty girl," he whispered.

He pulled away a little and asked,

"Did you get scared?"

I shook my head, then buried myself in his arms again.

I’d missed him so much. And now... I finally felt safe.

The colonel cleared his throat. Jahangir stepped back.

He pointed to a chair.

"Sit. We need to talk."

Jahangir and I both sat.

"You remember the Mostoufi case? You came to Bandar Abbas last month for it."

"Yeah, I remember."

"The guy your sister got caught with—that was Shahaan Mostoufi.

We asked him to cooperate with us in the case. He agreed."

Jahangir turned to me, shocked.

"You agreed? Do you know how dangerous they are?!"

He turned back to the colonel, furious.

"No, Uncle, I won’t allow this!"

"She already agreed," the colonel said firmly.

"It’s too late to back out now. And I didn’t ask for your permission. You’re part of the case—you can protect her. But I won’t let ten years of work go to waste."

He turned to me.

"The Mostoufi family has been in the criminal business for years. It’s practically a family tradition.

They used to work with your father too—smuggling girls. But ever since the grandson, Shahaan, came into power, they cut ties and now only traffic drugs.

Your job is to get close to them. Especially to Shahaan.

And report everything you learn to your brother."

Then to Jahangir:

"Come by tomorrow. We’ll go over the details.

You’re free to go now. Any longer, and things will look suspicious.

By the way, Shahaan thinks he and you both got released because of his connections. Let him keep believing that."

"You’ve stitched this whole thing together and just threw it on us, Colonel!" Jahangir snapped.

"This wasn’t the deal."

"We got lucky, Jahangir. This is how our job works.

I can’t ignore an opportunity just because Janan is your sister."

"After this case, I’m done with you. I’m resigning."

He grabbed my hand. We stood and left without saying goodbye.

Outside, I pulled my hand away and stopped in front of him.

"You knew?"

Angry, he snapped,

"You really think I’m that stupid?! I didn’t even know you knew Shahaan Mostoufi!"

He was right. I had no idea what I was saying.

If he had known, he never would’ve let it get this far.

"Damn me for getting into this mess," I muttered.

Four years ago, Jahangir and I had been part of a joint operation.

That’s when he joined Intelligence—to stop people like our father.

He became an undercover agent.Back then, our so-called father suddenly decided to act like a parent. He wanted to see us.

But later, I found out he never really wanted me. He wanted Jahangir.

He needed an heir—for his twisted empire built on broken lives.

He spoke to me first. Begged me to come see him.

I went.

Slowly, he started asking me to bring Jahangir along.

He told Jahangir he wanted him to be his successor.

Jahangir was furious.

After twelve years of absence, now he wanted him back—just because he had no heir.

When Uncle Reza saw how angry Jahangir was, he used the moment to recruit him as a mole.

I helped Jahangir.

We got our father locked up.

But it didn’t last long.

He got out two years later.

He didn’t know who had betrayed him.

He suspected us.

We used that.

We told him he was paranoid. That mom was right to leave him.

We backed away and cut all ties.

Since then, Jahangir worked with Intelligence.

A hand on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts.

Nava hugged me tight.

I hugged her back.

"You okay? Where were you last night?"

"I’ll tell you later."

As I stepped back, I saw Shahaan across the room.

They were just taking off his handcuffs.

Shayan, standing next to us, called out—

"Shahaan!"