Nayla was struck by a deafening silence.
Her phone screen kept flashing, like the pulse of a wound that hadn't closed.
Notifications poured in without pause, revealing hundreds of comments tagging her name beneath several photos of Nathan with a woman she knew all too well.
"What the hell is this," Nayla whispered.
Nathan was walking with his arm slung around the waist of a woman in a black dress. The space between their bodies spoke volumes about their relationship. It wasn't just professional. Especially not when they smiled like they had nothing to hide.
The pain returned. It snuck in like a thief, stabbing straight into a wound that hadn't even begun to heal. Maybe it never would. Maybe it didn't deserve to.
Yes, Nayla had already made the decision to leave. Yes, she knew their marriage wasn't worth saving. Still, her heart bled. Heavy, relentless, like the downpour outside.
She had known for a long time who Nathan truly was. He had slept with nearly every model who'd ever been Nayla's client. And yet, tonight still hit differently, like a new blow. Especially now that his betrayal was laid bare for the world to see.
This wasn't the first time Nathan had walked into a hotel room or a villa with another woman. Nayla was no longer surprised by the thought of him sleeping with multiple women. But what tightened her throat was the fact that the world had now seen the filth behind the man who wore a saint's mask.
'So Image Doesn't Equal Love! Nathan Caught in Cheating Scandal.'
'Perfect Husband? Turns Out It Was All a Lie! Nathan Spotted Getting Cozy with a Woman Who's Not His Wife!'
'Nathan Isn't Who We Thought! Behind That Gentle Smile Lies Brutal Betrayal!'
'Not Husband Material After All! Nathan, the Public's Sweetheart, Caught with His Mistress!'
The headlines spread like wildfire through dry grass. Fast, wild, and merciless. Their names became trending topics. Thousands of words crammed into Nayla's screen, dragging her name into a story she hadn't even begun to process.
Some DMs slipped into her social media inbox. Without a shred of empathy, people demanded Nayla respond as the legal wife.
She swallowed hard. The world was dragging her mercilessly into a storm she never chose. She hated Nathan's actions. Yes. But that didn't mean she wanted the entire world to know. To Nayla, Nathan's true face should have been for her alone to witness. She didn't need the spotlight on the ruins of her marriage.
Her marriage wasn't a stage. Their relationship, no matter how broken, was once sacred. Once guarded. Once loved with every fiber of her soul.
Now, stripped bare in front of millions of eyes, Nayla felt naked. Not physically, but emotionally.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to deny everything. But at the same time, she wanted to hide. To draw the curtains and disappear from all the assumptions and accusations. Not because she was protecting Nathan. But because she still wanted to protect herself.
[Turns out that perfect man was just a wolf in sheep's clothing. Nayla, you deserve so much more.]
[God doesn't sleep, Nay. Hold your head high. You deserve to be happy.]
[Now we know how much of a devil Nathan really is.]
[If Nathan cheated, then the wife must have done something wrong too. There's no smoke without fire.]
Nayla's eyes scanned the comment section. There were many who defended her as the betrayed wife. Strangely, there were still those who blamed her. Called her an ungrateful wife. A woman who let her husband wander because she was too busy with her career.
Absurd. As if betrayal was justifiable as long as there was a reason. As if a cheating man was simply a victim of a woman who failed to "keep" him. As if love could only exist if one side was flawless.
"Fuck!"
Nayla hurled her phone onto the nightstand. That tiny device now felt like a dagger. The stitches she'd tried to make over and over had come undone. Again.
Tears brimmed, but didn't fall. The pain hadn't healed. Maybe it never would. But suddenly, her emotions pivoted. Now came the fury, hot and fast and raw.
-Nathan:-
[What's out there isn't what it looks like, Nay. You have to speak up.]
Nathan's message pulled Nayla's eyes back to the screen. She read it. Then smiled, nearly laughed.
Ridiculous, she thought.
His words felt like a bad script. As if the public had misinterpreted. As if the cameras were too honest in capturing the truth. And yet, he was still wearing the same suit he had on when he sat beside her earlier. Even his tie was still perfectly knotted, the same one from just a few hours ago.
Nathan wasn't a fool. But he would have to be, to think the world would believe an excuse flimsier than a toddler's storybook.
-Nathan:-
[We can say the meeting was purely professional. We need to be on the same page so no one gets suspicious.]
Nayla wiped her face. By now, the anger had dulled. Even the tears had dried up. She wasn't even sure what she was feeling anymore. But one thing was clear, she was exhausted. Tired of being the shield for a man who never truly protected her.
-Nathan:-
[Nayla, you have to speak up. I'm waiting. You don't want this to spiral out of control, do you? Then let's stop it before it does.]
A few seconds later, Nayla burst out laughing. Not amused. Deranged.
The way he scrambled to re-polish the lies he paraded in front of the world was almost comical. Nathan couldn't wait to reclaim his image as the perfect husband. He couldn't stand the thought of his fairytale falling apart, though it had been cracked from the start.
Nayla's phone vibrated again.
Soft, but sharp. Another wound sliced into what little remained. A message from Nathan. Then another. And another.
-Nathan:-
[I know it's messy. But I love you, Nay. Always.]
[No matter what happens, you'll always be home to me.]
[Nay, please. Don't stay silent. I swear I never meant to hurt you, or us.]
Nathan sounded desperate. Even his words had softened, sickeningly so. Each message oozed from the same mouth that had set fire to everything she believed in.
"Are you kidding me, Nathan?" Nayla said to the screen.
One second, sadness. The next, rage. Then laughter. She didn't know if it was Nathan who'd lost his mind… or if she had.
Maybe both. Because only madmen could say things so contradictory in the same breath.
Her hands trembled as she read his messages. Her eyes burned, not from tenderness, but from emotions that had no place to escape. She didn't know whether to reply… or to hurl the phone against the wall.
How could the man who had just broken her heart now speak of love?
His words on the screen were sugar-coated. But in Nayla's chest, they were shards of glass. Jagged and cruel. The man who had shattered her again and again still thought he had the right to talk about love.
This… this was torture.
But the most excruciating part?
The tiny, treacherous part of Nayla's heart that still wanted to believe him.
Even though she knew that was the wound that would hurt the most.
Maybe it was because she had once loved Nathan so deeply. Maybe because she had once believed that he would be her shelter… not a storm that never passed.