Mona Stories · Read & Watch
I am Adham, 28. Yazan and I had grown up and studied together. He was closer to me than a brother.
The opportunity he gave me
Yazan married Zeina, someone we knew from school, and moved to Saudi Arabia. Her uncle owned a large company there.
When I told Yazan I wanted to work abroad, he spoke to Zeina, who arranged help through her uncle. Within a month, I had a contract and traveled to Saudi Arabia.
They met me at the airport, helped me settle into accommodation, and supported me as I started work as a driver. Yazan taught me the routes, while Zeina worked in accounts and distribution.
I initially treated her with the respect owed to both a supervisor and my friend’s wife.
What I discovered after work
I began noticing private conversations and behavior between Zeina and her manager that troubled me. I stayed quiet, telling myself I might have misunderstood and fearing the damage an accusation could cause.
One evening, I returned after a late delivery and discovered them together in a situation that was clearly not work-related.
The manager threatened that both Yazan and I could lose our positions in the country if I spoke. Zeina pleaded with me not to tell her husband.
She rode home with me and said she loved Yazan but felt neglected. I told her I would not immediately reveal what I had seen, but that the affair needed to stop.
At dinner, Yazan welcomed me with his usual kindness. I was carrying a secret that could break his heart.
Silence becomes another betrayal
Knowing Zeina’s secret changed the way we behaved around each other. I allowed jokes and personal conversations that I should have stopped.
Later, Yazan asked me to collect her because her car was being repaired. We talked about school and home as we drove along a quiet side road near the mountain.
The car developed a fault, and the disruption brought us close enough for another boundary to be crossed. I knew she was my friend’s wife. I also knew that no explanation could turn the affair into an act of loyalty.
The secret continued for a long time. Yazan trusted me, welcomed me into his home, and called me his brother. Those words became increasingly difficult to hear.
Trying to start again
Two years later, I returned home and married. When I came back to Saudi Arabia, I intended to leave the past behind.
Zeina tried to renew our old connection, but I began distancing myself. I no longer described what had happened as love. It was a betrayal of someone who had helped me build my life abroad.
Adham’s account ends with guilt rather than a resolved confrontation. He asks whether he should have spoken the first day he discovered Zeina with the manager—and whether his silence was the beginning of everything that followed.
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Original Mona Stories narration. Playback controls are set to English; available audio and captions depend on the video.