Days and weeks passed with Nafisa's behavior only worsening. Whenever Saeed and Maryam are out for work, she maltreated Manal; she made her do some household chores and starved her whenever she didn't get satisfied with her work. She even went to the extent of hitting her sometimes. Her parents were oblivious to all these. They failed to notice the change in Manal. She was not as happy as she used to be and her confidence was slowly crushing down.

Nafisa's plan to extort money from Mukthar worked tremendously. She jumped at the opportunity when he asked her to be his girlfriend and ever since, he had been spoiling her with different types of gifts; money, jewelries, clothes, et cetera. He even got her a new Nokia 3 cellphone. Nafisa accepted his gifts happily, not worried about where he always got the money from. He wasn't a worker, so where did he get his money from? - it was a question Nafisa never entertained in her mind. Whenever such thoughts came to her, she always spurned them as quickly as possible. In such a short period of time, she became very popular amongst her friends and school as well for she spends extravagantly. She even started skipping school to go on dates with her boyfriend. Every morning, she'd leave the house with her uniform on and divert her way to Mukthar's house.

• • •

On a Friday, Maryam returned home to Nafisa relaxing on the sofa in the living room. She was watching a TV show and was oblivious to her entrance. She was so relaxed that one would say she was in her home. "As salamu'alaikum." She said, but to her dismay, Nafisa ignored her. "Nafisa?" She called, but got same still motionless reaction from her. "Nafisaa." She called once more in a high pitched voice and this time, she got a reaction from her. Nafisa flinched and quickly pulled out the earpiece from her ears swiftly. She quickly hid her Nokia 3 cellphone behind her before Maryam could see it.

"You're... You're back..." She stuttered, springing up from her seat.

"Obviously. I have been here for almost ten minutes now calling you and you chose to ignore me," Maryam said, raising a brow. She was very surprised at Nafisa's uneasiness. She was definitely hiding something!

Nafisa gasped. "Wallahi, I didn't hear you. I was..." She trailed off, not knowing the right excuse to give.

"You were?" Maryam asked and when she got no reply, she asked spoke again; "I'm listening."

"I was thinking about my... My late brother," Nafisa replied and instantly began to shed fake tears. She sniffed and wiped her tears away with the back of her palm. "I remembered all the good times we spent together with him. I really wish to see him even once again." She finished and more tears escaped uncontrollably like a loose faucet.

Maryam instantly took pity on her. She knew it was not easy to lose a loved one. She understood her pain. "He is in a better place, in sha Allah." Maryam smiled.

"Thank you, aunty." Nafisa said, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"It's nothing. Where is Manal?"

"She's in her room, doing her homework."

"Alright. What did you prepare?"

Nafisa's eyes widened at the question. She had totally forgotten to cook anything. What would she say in her defense now? "I haven't-"

"You haven't prepared anything?" Maryam questioned. "What did Manal eat?"

"She... I prepared indomie for her." Nafisa replied.

Maryam sighed and went upstairs without a word to Nafisa. She stopped at her room first and changed into more comfortable clothes before going to Manal's. She was so engrossed with her work that she didn't notice Maryam entering the room. Maryam smiled and inched closer to her. "Salamu'alaikum, baby."

Manal looked up to her mother smiling brightly at her. The pen she was holding slipped out of her hand and she ran into her arms.

"How was school?" Maryam asked, pulling her back and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Alhamdulilah" she replied, smiling.

"Have you eaten?" Maryam asked.

"I..." Manal was about to speak when she spotted Nafisa by the door making gestures for her to say yes. Out of fear for Nafisa, she had no choice but to do as she was commanded otherwise she would face the consequence later. "I have."

"Good." Maryam said, taking a look at her books. "- Are you done with your homework?" She asked.

"Noooo, but I'm almost done. Please help me with this," Manal said, passing her hand writing book to her mother. She helped her with it and they spent quality time together - something they hadn't been able to do for a very long time due to work.

• • •

Saeed came back late I'm the night, after Isha prayer. By the time he arrived home, Manal was already asleep as usual. He really wished he met her awake for he had bought gifts for her. He missed spending time with his baby. It had been long they went on a family vacation. He planned on making it happen again soon. He went straight to his room afterwards. Maryam was in the bathroom when he entered the room. He plopped into bed with his eyes closed. Different kinds of thoughts running through his mind. He was grateful for the family Allah gave him, but he didn't like his wife working at all. It would have been better if she was the one taking care of their daughter. This way, she would be brought up with good morals and values.

Maryam emerged from the bathroom and saw her husband already in the room with his eyes closed as if he was in deep thoughts or sleep. She smiled and walked towards him. Before she could do or say anything, Saeed's eyes fluttered open. "When did you come in, habibi?" She inquired with a smile.

"Some moments ago," Saeed replied, sitting up. "When did you?"

"Some hours ago. Welcome home," Maryam smiled and kissed him on his right cheek.

"Alright. I see Manal is already asleep."

"Yes, it hasn't been long she slept off. She was waiting for you."

Saeed felt extremely bad for his daughter. She rarely got to see him these days for he always left the house before she would wake up and when he returned, she would already be asleep. He felt his daughter wasn't getting enough attention from her parents like she's supposed to. It would have been reduced if Maryam had agree to stop working - Saeed thought, but he knew she would never agree willingly.

"Hmm" Saeed hummed. "I feel bad for her." Saeed voiced out.

"I also feel the same, but there's nothing we can do. We're trying our best as parents." Maryam smiled. "- earlier, she was really very excited when I went to her room to spend some time with her. That was when I realise she misses us a lot when we are away."

"I have noticed that too. It would have been better if one of us stays at home all the time..." Saeed said. He was about to start a conversation Maryam detested - she could sense it. She quickly avoided it by changing the topic of discussion.

"Have you eaten?" She asked.

Saeed knew what she was doing. He knew she was trying to avoid the topic, so he let go. He also didn't want to start an argument. He was tired of saying the same thing over and over again and getting the same reply from her. "No."

"I will go get you something to eat from the kitchen-"

"No, it's okay. I will come with you downstairs instead." Saeed interjected.

"No, habibi," Maryam disagreed. "You're tired from work. Let me bring it to you."

Saeed smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you."

She returned the smile and left the room for the kitchen. Immediately she opened the pot and perceived the aroma of the food, she felt the need to throw up. She gagged and quickly covered her mouth with her palm. She placed the pot cover back on it and stepped far away. What was happening to her? She began to recall that recently, she always felt dizzy, her period was extremely late and now, this? Could she be pregnant again? She gasped at the possibility - she'd be happy and sad at the same the if that was to be the case. Happy because she was going to be a mother again and sad because Saeed would have more reasons to stop her from working. "Am I really pregnant?" She asked herself.

• • •

What do you think?