STRINGS ATTACHED

The clock read 8:47 p.m. The room was silent except for the whir of ceiling fans and the faint hum of the city beyond the glass windows. Kareem sat alone on his bed, sleeves rolled up, eyes fixed on the laptop screen, scrolling through messages that didn’t make sense anymore.

No replies. No updates. Just silence.

Sofia hadn’t shown up to work for three days. Lamia wasn’t answering calls. And Nazneen... she’d stopped speaking to him entirely.

Everything was slipping away right through his fingers.

He threw his phone onto the bed and leaned back on it, eyes closed. "You’re losing control, Kareem," a voice inside whispered. "And once they stop needing you, you’re done for."

The sound of stilettos echoed from the hallway.

He straightened up quickly, wiping the frustration from his face.

Lamia stepped in. Dressed in silk and shadows. Her lipstick was darker than usual, her smile slow and deliberate.

“You called for me,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

“You weren’t answering your calls.”

“I was busy.”

“Busy with what, exactly?”

Lamia tilted her head, a small smirk touching her lips. “Finding new ways to keep our plan alive.”

Kareem eyed her suspiciously. “You mean controlling Sofia?”

“Among other things,” she replied smoothly, walking straight to the bed. “She’s become... useful.”

“Useful?” Kareem repeated. “You said you’d keep her quiet.”

“I did.” Lamia’s smile widened. “Just not in the way you meant. Sure, you said you know the type of person i was? So, then, I am sure you know she's hot”

He frowned. “Explain.”

But Lamia only leaned closer, resting her palms on the bed. “Let’s just say she doesn’t want to expose us anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s in love, already.”

“With who?”

The pause that followed was long enough to make him realize he didn’t want the answer.

Lamia smiled faintly. “Of course, I am hot too, don’t you think so?.”

Kareem’s jaw tightened. “You’re joking with me right now, right?”

She laughed quietly. “You really think I’d joke about something like that? Kareem, I told you, I know how to keep people loyal. Sofia just needed a different kind of promise. And what i gave her.”

Kareem’s face darkened. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Lamia. You just don't know Sofia, yet.”

“And you’re losing yours,” she shot back. “Your obsession with Nazneen has made you sloppy.”

He slammed a hand against the table. “Watch your mouth.”

But she didn’t flinch. “Face it. You can’t control her, and you never will. She’s not one of your desperate little love. She’s stronger than you think... and maybe that’s why you want to break her.”

Their eyes locked, power versus poison.

Finally, Lamia stood straight, smoothing her scarf. “I’ll handle Sofia. You just make sure our dear Nazneen and your beloved Nazneen stay too distracted to notice what’s really happening around her.”

She walked to the door, turning back once. “Oh, and Kareem... try not to call me when you’re angry. It’s not attractive.”

Then she was gone.

Two hours later...

Sofia’s laughter filled the room like a secret she shouldn’t be telling.

Lamia sat beside her on the bed, her hair undone, eyes bright with the thrill of something forbidden. 

Sofia leaned closer, brushing her fingers against Lamia’s wrist. “I didn’t think you’d actually show up.”

“I didn’t plan to,” Lamia said softly. “But then I remembered how persistent you are.”

“Persistent,” Sofia echoed with a small grin. “That’s one way to put it.”

Their lips brushed hesitant at first, then deeper. A tangle of confusion and control.

When they finally pulled apart, Sofia was breathless. “What are we doing?”

“Whatever we want, my love.” Lamia whispered. “Kareem thinks he’s the puppeteer. Let him continue to believe in that.”

Sofia smiled faintly, tracing Lamia’s jawline. “So, what happens next?”

Lamia’s tone dropped to a whisper. “Next... we build our own game.”

Her hand slid to the nightstand, where a small drive lay beside a half-empty glass of wine. “You still have her photos? Nazneen’s?”

Sofia nodded. “Every single one. Kareem asked me to delete them, but I kept copies of them.”

“Good girl.”

Sofia’s expression softened. “You’re not using me also, are you?”

Lamia smiled, the kind of smile that said everything and nothing. “Not really! You're hot for that.” Their eyes locked, and they started kissing each other like some hungry beasts.

Outside, thunder rolled. Inside, the room glowed with the kind of heat that felt more like danger than passion.

Nazneen arrived earlier than usual. She hadn’t slept... again.

Her phone buzzed before she even sat down. Another unknown message.

“Your past isn’t done with you.”

Her chest tightened. She opened her emails... the subject line of one caught her eye.

Photos you should have deleted.

Inside were images...blurry but familiar. Her and Ajeed. Years ago. At the old garden. His hand on her cheek. Her smile was soft, pure.

A whisper from a time before everything fell apart.

She covered her mouth, eyes burning. “Why now…" Why after all this time?”

A knock at the door pulled her out of it. Nusayba leaned in, smiling at her.

“Morning, Director,” she said.

She wiped her eyes quickly. “Morning, to you too next in the line.”

“Who? Not me. You okay?”

“Fine, why?”

She stepped closer, too close. “You look like you’ve seen some ghosts or something.”

“Maybe I have,” she said quietly.

Nusayba gaze lingered, curious. “You know… you never talk about your problem. Everyone else does, but not you.”

She looked up at her. “Because not everything deserves to be remembered, sister.”

She smiled faintly. “Then maybe you should let someone new make better memories for you.”

Nazneen’s tone hardened. “Don’t try this, Nusayba. You're too young to understand such matters, be warned.”

But Nusayba didn't back down. "But you really need someone in your life like Kareem, I think he's a good match." Without a word, Nazneen got off her bed and went straight to the bathroom, leaving Nusayba standing.

She held her stare for a moment, then nodded, masking her frustration with calm. “You always know how to kill a good moment.”

“Then stop creating bad ones.”

She shouted from the toilet.

Ajeed stood in the garden, the late afternoon sun glinting off his wristwatch. From afar, he looked composed, the perfect heir recovering from tragedy. But his mind was chaos.

He had stopped taking the pills three weeks ago.

At first, it was small, forgetting one or two doses. Then, skipping them altogether.

Now, the memories were returning like waves not full, but enough to drown him slowly.

He remembered laughter under rain. A scarf that smelled like amber rose. And a woman saying, “You’re a small boy.”

Nazneen.

The name tasted like sin and salvation.

But there were other memories, too. How his brother narrates her wedding and images of her wedding photos and family.

Each fragment stabbed deeper.

He clenched his fists, muttering, “She moved on.”

Behind him, Lamia’s voice was soft. “Thinking of something?”

He turned slightly. “Just... catching up with the ghosts everyone keeps talking about.”

She smiled. “You should stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Letting her live in your head.”

He looked at her, a dangerous calm in his eyes. “And if I like it there?”

Lamia’s smile faltered. “Then I’ll have to exorcise her myself.”

He chuckled dryly. “You’ll have to find her first.”

She stepped closer. “Maybe I already have.”

Their eyes locked. For a second, the mask slipped, and he saw the jealousy burning underneath her poise.

He didn’t know she’d already been meeting Sofia in secret. He didn’t know their late-night whispers were about him.

And Lamia didn’t know he was pretending too.

Because Ajeed had remembered more than anyone suspected.

And what he remembered most... was Nazneen betrayal.

Khalid’s pen tapped rhythmically against the file. “So by this time,” he said, “the power dynamic had shifted completely.”

Sergeant Ameen nodded. “Yes, sir. Kareem thought he was in control, but Lamia and Sofia had already started their own alliance. And Nazneen... she was being threatened again.”

“By who?”

Ameen hesitated. “The number traces back to a burner SIM. But the last ping came from within Kano, near the Abdur-Rauf mansion.”

Khalid’s eyes narrowed. “So one of them... maybe even Ajeed was sending those messages and pretending.”

“Possibly.”

Khalid leaned back, thoughtful. “You know what this means, don’t you? Every single person in this story was blackmailing someone else.”

Ameen sighed. “Strings attached, sir.”

Khalid nodded. “Exactly. And when one string snapped… the whole web collapsed.”

He stood, walking to the whiteboard where Sofia’s photo still hung. “We’re getting closer, Ameen. Whatever happened in that hotel wasn’t random. It was the ending to a chain of manipulation that started long before the first body hit the floor.”

He paused, eyes narrowing. “Now find out which string broke first.”