Time stood still as a whirlwind of emotions ravaged Afrah's soul. The room around her seemed to blur as if the world itself had momentarily ceased its vibrant existence.

Tears prickled her eyes as she imagined Jameel making love to another woman—promising Najah the same things he had promised her... kissing her and loving her. Afrah felt herself sinking into the depths of despair. The news was just too much for her to take. She felt like screaming at the top of her voice. Again, she regretted her decision to take Jameel back. If only she could turn back the hands of the clock and rectify her mistakes, she would. Afrah hated the person Jameel was turning her into. Everyone had always known her to be the sweetest person ever. She hated to see people fail or in pain. Her best friend, Amal could attest to that.

More than ever, Afrah felt her heart swell with hatred for Najah. If Najah hadn't compelled her, she wouldn't have gotten married to Jameel despite having so much love for him. She had given up on Jameel. She was ready to live the rest of her life without him. She had made peace with the fact that they were not meant for each other, but Najah had to intervene and destroy everything. Despite having a good heart, Afrah knew the one thing she would never be okay with was sharing her husband with another woman because her level of jealousy was just over the roof, and that was why she fought so hard to stay away from Jameel even if it meant losing him. This was exactly what she was avoiding.

Each thought of Najah's unborn child intensified her pain. She felt weakened—betrayed.

Afrah couldn't bottle her emotions up anymore. She needed someone to speak to. This time, not her friend, she wanted to speak to her mother and tell her all about her worries because she felt no one could understand her like her mother. She wanted to unload everything that was in her heart. She felt suffocated. Her breath was emerging in ragged pants.

She needed to go home. To her parents.

Swiftly, Afrah rose to her feet and left the room for Jameel's.

Just as she was about to go in, she heard him talking to someone. At first, she thought he was on the phone until she heard Najah's voice.

"I don't remember the last time I saw this much happiness in your eyes."

The words, though simple, carried a strong impact that pierced through her heart. She wasn't blind, she had only seen the immense happiness in Jameel's eyes. Afrah was very much aware that it was bound to happen eventually as Najah was still his wife, but she never expected it to be that soon. She had absolutely no control over the uneasiness that had settled in her. She felt betrayed...to an extent.

Afrah walked back into her room, wiping the tears at the corners of her eyes. She clutched her stomach with her right hand and mumbled; "I only have you in this house."

Afrah was still immersed in her thoughts when her phone began to ring, jolting her away.

It was her mother. Just whom she needed to speak to at that moment. 

"Mum!" Afrah called, her lips trembling. She was trying so hard to control her tears but it was too difficult.

"Afrah?" Mrs. Amina called; concern dripping off her tone. "Is everything alright with you?"

"No, mum," she stifled a sob. "Nothing is alright with me here. I want to come home."

"SubhanAllah, Afrah, why would you say that? Did something happen between you and your husband again? What did he do to you?"

"I just don't want to stay here anymore, Mum...I don't want to be married anymore. Please tell Dad to come and take me away. I'm so tired. I can't do this anymore. My heart can't take it."

"Afrah!" Mrs. Amina called sternly. "What rubbish are you saying right now? Do you even hear yourself?"

"I know exactly what I want, Mum, and that is to be away from Jameel for as long as possible. If you won't come and fetch me, I will call Dad right away. He won't think twice before coming here."

"You wouldn't dare." Mrs. Amina warmed. "If there's something wrong, speak to your husband and resolve it instead of running away every time. That's not how marriage works. If I decide to be running away every time your father and I disagree on something, then I'm not sure we'd be where we are today. You need to calm down and build your marriage. It's not a joke. It's not something you can decide you want one minute and in the next minute, you don't want anymore. Didn't I tell you all these before you left this house?"

"Stop it, mum! Just stop it," Afrah cried. "Don't you even care about my happiness? My mental health? I just told you I'm sad here. I'm falling into depression, Mum. I expect you to be concerned and hear me out but you're the one pushing me into the depth of this fire. You're only concerned about your image. You just don't want people to make side talks about me returning home. I'm so disappointed in you, mum. Dad would never treat me this way."

Mrs. Amina heaved a sigh. "That's not true, Afrah..."

"It's true! You haven't even heard why I want to come home and you're already telling me to endure."

"Nobody in this world can love you the way I do. No mother in this world would want a broken home for her child. You're pregnant, Afrah, I think you keep forgetting that."

Although Afrah felt the pregnancy came at the wrong time, she still loved the fact that she was pregnant. No regrets whatsoever. "I'm capable of taking care of my child with or without Jameel."

"Shut up! Keep quiet, Afrah. One more word from you about separation and I'd come over there, not to take you but to slap some sense into that thick skull of ours. Have you gone mad? Is this what you intend to do every time you quarrel with your husband?"

"I don't want this marriage anymore. I can't bear the sight of him. I want out!"

"Afrah, believe me, I understand how difficult marriage can be. It can't always be rosy. It has its ups and downs. Calm down and tell me what happened to get you this erratic."

"Mum, Najah is—" Afrah quickly cut herself off before she could spill the beans to her mother. Knowing the kind of person her mother was, she would indisputably judge her for feeling sad about it, so she had to deviate from that. "Jameel...we had a disagreement...with Najah and he took her side and slapped me."

There was silence for a minute or so before Mrs. Amina broke it. "What did you just say?"

Afrah swallowed a painful lump in her throat. It was a hard decision for her to let her mother know, but at that moment, she knew it was the only thing that would make her mother give in to her request. "Jameel laid his hand on me."

"Afrah, you're not—"

"I'm not lying, mum. Why would I even lie about something like that? Jameel raised his hand against me. I'm so scared of what he would do to me in the future. Please take me away from here, Mum. If you still refuse, I'm going to call dad—"

"You will do no such this. I will be there."

"Thank you."

Afrah's phone slipped out of her unstable hand and she crouched against her bed, sobbing. What she had feared had happened. She had tried so hard to keep what Jameel did to her away from her family but he pushed her to spill to them.

"Afrah?" Jameel called, snapping her from her reverie. She hadn't even realized he was hovering over her.

"Afrah?" He called again and knelt in front of her, cupping her face in his palms. "What happened to you? Why are you crying? Are you in pain? Should we go to the doctor?"

With glassy eyes, Afrah looked into Jameel's. "I don't want to remain married to you."

Jameel's hands automatically left her face. He looked at her in absolute disbelief. "What?"

"I want to be freed from the shackles of this marriage." She repeated, lowering her gaze. She couldn't look him in the eyes and repeat the words that drained the life out of his eyes the first time.

Jameel chuckled humorlessly. "You're just tired. Have a rest, I'll be back later."

Afrah shook her head in disagreement. "My mind is already made up. I feel like an obstacle between you and Najah. I don't want to feel that way anymore. I have tried to endure, but it's not working...I can't do this anymore, Jameel. Not even for this child I'm carrying. I'm breaking down slowly every day."

Jameel furrowed his brows in disbelief. "Obstacle? You? How?"

"Jameel, please," Afrah wiped her face with the back of her palm. "Don't act slow. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I don't know what you're talking about or maybe I am indeed slow. What the heck do you mean by you being an obstacle between me and Najah? Before her, there was you. What are you even talking about?"

"It even doesn't matter anymore, bottom line is, I want to go back to my parents'. I'm not even asking for a divorce...yet, I just want to be where I feel loved."

Jameel cupped her face again, making her look into his eyes as he spoke. "I don't make you feel loved?"

She remained silent.

"Answer me," he commanded in a stern, yet soft voice. "I don't?"

She shook her head as more tears welled up in her eyes. "You don't."

"Afrah," Jameel caressed her face with his fingers. "I love you. So much that I can't imagine myself surviving without you. Sometimes, I get so mad at you—" he chuckled. "For always giving me a tough time. You've done so many things to annoy me that sometimes I think you do them intentionally because you want to torment me, and even in those moments, my heart still beats for you. I can never bring myself to hate you or even stay mad at you. No one has ever made me feel such strong emotions, except you. You're my home, Afrah. You're the mother of my unborn baby."

Jameel's last word ticked Afrah off. She removed his hands from her face. "Just like Najah is the mother to your unborn baby too. Nothing special there."

"There is," he took her hand in his despite how hard she tried to prevent him from doing so. "It's special because children are blessings from Allah, and—"

"Can you please stop? There is nothing you can do or say to make me change my mind. I don't like it here anymore. I want to go home."

"This is your home, Afrah."

"This stopped being my home when you fell in love with Najah. This is her home now, not mine anymore."

"Okay," Jameel started. "I won't say I don't feel anything for Najah."

Ouch! That sent a pang directly to Afrah's heart. It was so painful that she almost let out a sob. Knowing he had feelings for Najah was something and hearing him admit it to her was another. There was no room for redemption anymore. Jameel had blocked it with his confession.

"Because," he continued. "That would be a lie."

Another arrow successfully shot into Afrah's fragile heart.

"Since Hajiya got us married, Najah has always been an understanding wife. No complaints, no nagging, regardless of how cold I was to her. She has been patient with me. Then, she became a friend—a friend I could confide in. I confided in her about you. I thought you had died in an accident and I made it known to her that I could never love anyone else in my lifetime, yet she remained understanding. She didn't even object or try to make me move on.

"When I found out you were alive," he wiped the corner of his eye. "I was over the moon. I was so happy, and Najah was there to share the happiness with me. When you rejected me, I was devastated, Najah saw and opted to help. I was a bit skeptical but because I know the type of person she is—selfless, I accepted her help. She told me she would convince you to marry me and she did just that. My respect for her grew tremendously and I began to develop a soft spot for her. Najah is very close to Hajiya. She could have told Hajiya about the platonic relationship we had but she never did. She remained patient. She helped me to get you. How can I not love someone who brought the love of my life to me?"

Afrah didn't fail to catch the keyword 'LOVE'.

"I have lived with Najah longer than you but all along, this was just a house to me, you came in and made it a home for me. Najah has created a space in my heart for herself but no one can ever take yours in my heart because you occupy a bigger space. I'm being a hundred percent honest with you right now. I love you so much, much more than I did when we had our covenant. My love for you increases daily. No matter what happens, I can never stop loving you because you like the blood that runs down my veins. You mean the world to me, Afrah. I can't even express myself properly but I just need you to look into my eyes and you'll get all the answers you need. You're my JaFrah and I'm forever your AfMeel. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change."

Despite how hard Afrah tried to remain stone-hearted, she failed as his words worked magic and softened her heart. She was reminded of his love for her. She felt like that reassurance was needed for she had begun to forget his love for her. In everything he said, she figured she was the reason Jameel began to develop a soft spot for Najah. She had given him the chance especially when she left the house the last time. She wouldn't want to make the same mistake twice.

"But it seems a lot of things have changed for you. You don't even think twice about leaving me. Is that so easy for you? Do you know how much it hurts to hear you say those words to me?"

"You deserve it for all the hurt you've caused me." Afrah sneered.

"Yes," Jameel agreed. "I do deserve it, but at least, if you won't love me, let me love you instead. I will remind you of why you fell in love with me in the first place, and when our baby arrives, our bond will grow even stronger."

At his word, tears streamed down Afrah's eyes.

Jameel drew her into his embrace. "Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?"

"I..." Afrah's voice trailed. "Mum called and I...I told her to come and get me from her and she's already on her way."

Jameel pulled back and looked at her. "That's fine, my love, you can tell her you've changed your mind and you don't want to leave anymore."

"You don't understand," Afrah cried. "This is different because I told her you slapped me. She's not going to leave here without taking me with her."

•

Assalamualaikum/hello everyone.

First off, I'd like to apologize to every single person reading my book and waiting for me to update. From the depths of my heart, I'm sorry.

So this was what happened; I had 3 chapters completed but this app decided to deal with me by deleting everything I wrote. It was so saddening. I almost cried cos that was a lot 🤧 I didn't know where and how to continue hence my absence.

But, thankfully, I was able to rewrite this chapter, although I feel the first draft was better, but anyways, here it is. I hope you enjoyed reading.

I will try my best to publish the next as soon as I can (I'm already on it)

In the meantime, make sure to support me by voting, commenting, and sharing this book.

You can also follow me on Instagram@deey_jah

Thank you❤️

deey_jah