BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

A NEW BEGINNING AND OLD CONSPIRACIES

Chapter 5: A New Beginning and Old Conspiracies

The moment Zain stepped out of the hotel grand ballroom, the heavy mask of composure he had worn for weeks finally shattered. He stumbled into his car, his hands shaking so violently that he could barely turn the ignition. He drove blindly, leaving the flashing lights of the Pearl Continental far behind, until he reached a completely deserted, dark stretch of the road. Parking the car by the sidewalk, Zain rested his forehead against the steering wheel and wept bitterly.

​The tears came from a place of deep, agonizing betrayal. Every memory of his love for Elyana felt like glass cutting through his chest. As he sobbed in the silence of the night, a dark, cynical thought took root in his mind: Perhaps this world truly only belongs to the rich and the deceitful. No matter how pure your intentions are, people only love status, money, and grand illusions. True love and loyalty have absolutely no value here. He felt completely hollowed out, convinced that his heart would never heal.

​Several days passed in this deep, agonizing misery. Zain isolated himself from his social circle, wandering the city like a ghost. One evening, seeking a quiet place to escape his thoughts, he walked into a small, dimly lit coffee shop on the edge of the city. As he sat by the window, his gaze was suddenly captured by a waitress working behind the counter.

​She was breathtakingly beautiful, but it wasn't just her face that stood out; it was her aura. She carried herself with a quiet, dignified grace that felt completely out of place in a small coffee shop. Her eyes looked tired, yet they held a profound depth of innocence. Zain instantly thought to himself that she looked like she belonged to a highly educated, respectable family. Why is someone so stunning and refined doing such a grueling, low-paying job? he wondered.

​Driven by a strange sense of curiosity, Zain found himself returning to the coffee shop day after day. He would sit in the corner, silently observing her hard work, her polite interactions with difficult customers, and the heavy sigh she released whenever she thought no one was watching.

​Finally, after a week of observation, Zain gathered the courage to speak to her as she brought him his order. He spoke gently, ensuring he didn't sound intrusive. To his surprise, she opened up. During their brief conversation, Zain learned the heartbreaking truth: she was a single mother. Her ex-husband was a wealthy, reckless playboy who had brutally betrayed her trust and abandoned her and their infant child without a single penny.

​Looking straight into her sorrowful, honest eyes, Zain felt a powerful wave of empathy. He saw his own pain reflected in her story—both of them had been broken by people who treated loyalty as a game. Zain was so overwhelmed with emotion that he found himself at a total loss for words, unsure of how to continue the conversation without overstepping. However, in that very moment, a quiet resolve settled in his heart. He promised himself that he would do everything in his power to be there for her, to support her secretly, and to ensure she never felt helpless again.

​Elyana's Lethal Trap

​Meanwhile, the high-society scandal had completely ruined Elyana’s life. Her reputation was in tatters, her family was disgraced, and she was burning with a vicious desire for revenge. She knew Zain's vulnerabilities, and she was determined to drag him down into the mud with her. Using an untraceable, unknown phone number, she contacted Zain, disguising her voice and identity, claiming to have urgent information regarding his business. She lured him to a secluded luxury hotel room under the pretext of a private meeting.

​When Zain walked into the designated hotel room, he was met with absolute blackness. Elyana had switched off every single light. The moment the door clicked shut behind him, a figure approached him swiftly in the pitch dark. Before Zain could react, Elyana’s hands were all over him. She desperately unbuttoned his jeans, her fingers tracing his skin with a frantic, intimate energy.

​Zain’s breath hitched. In the darkness, a wave of intense familiarity hit him—the specific, expensive French fragrance, the contour of her posture, the warmth of her touch. It was undeniably Elyana.

​A sickening feeling of disgust washed over him. Feeling violated and manipulated, Zain used his strength to push back, trying to break free from her grasp. But Elyana, driven by pure desperation, used all her force to drag him back toward her, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

​"Get off me!" Zain roared, panic and rage exploding inside him. With a swift movement, he reached into his pocket and switched on his phone's flashlight.

​The bright, harsh beam of light flooded the room, and the scene before him made his blood run cold. It was indeed Elyana. She had completely stripped off her clothes, leaving every single part of her body exposed and vulnerable in front of him. Her eyes were wild, a desperate, manic smile plastered on her face.

​A surge of uncontrollable fury took over Zain. The sheer audacity of her trap disgusted him to his very core. Without hesitating for another second, he violently shoved her away from him. As she stumbled backward, Zain raised his hand and landed a powerful, resounding slap right across her face. The force of the blow sent her crashing onto the carpet. Turning his back on her exposed form, Zain stormed out of the hotel room, slamming the door shut.

​However, as Zain rushed down the corridor, he had no idea that he had walked straight into a meticulously planned ambush. Elyana slowly sat up on the floor, rubbing her bruised cheek. Instead of crying, she looked up at a dark corner of the room and smiled wickedly. Hidden perfectly in the shadows was a high-definition night-vision camera (Night Cam). It had recorded every single second of the encounter in the dark—and from the camera's angle, it looked like a passionate, secret rendezvous between two lovers. Elyana now held the ultimate weapon to destroy Zain's dignity.