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Staring at the gate to her home, Maryam muttered various duas underneath her breath. She prayed to Allah to make her conversation with Sa'eed easy. She prayed to Him to make Sa'eed understand her the way he always did.

With trembling hands, she rang the bell and almost immediately, the gatekeeper opened up and gave way for her to enter after greeting her. Ignoring him, she ambled straight into the house. Sa'eed's presence in the loving room startled her. She had expected him to be in the room or somewhere else.

Maryam watched as he walked towards her and did what she least expected - he embraced her. After everything that had transpired between them over the phone, she expected him to at least demand for an explanation first, but he didn't. It surprised immensely.

"Where have you been?" He questioned, tightening his arms around her.

Momentarily, she forgot what she was there to do - she wrapped her arms around his waist and cried her heart out.

Sa'eed allowed her to cry, but didn't
Stop rubbing her back soothingly.

Realizing the position they were in, Maryam pushed him away aggressively. Not only Sa'eed, but Maryam as well was taken aback by her action. She resisted the urge to gasp and apologize for what she just did. "Don't come nearer." She warned as he began to take few steps forward.

"What's wrong, Habibty?" He inquired. "You can tell me anything, remember? Where is Manal?"

"Didn't I tell you we're leaving the country?"

"No." He replied. "You actually told me you've left the country."

"Doesn't matter." She heaved a deep sigh. "We're leaving anyways."

Sa'eed heaved a fatigued sigh. "What's wrong?" He asked for the umpteenth time.

"I..." She trailed off. "I told you I want a divorce." She blurted the words out with difficulty.

"Why?" He asked, curtly. He still believed there was something behind her sudden attitude. There had to be something.

"We're only going to go around in circles, which I don't want. Haven't I already explained my reasons to you?" She questioned. "I don't want to stay married to a man who can't support me in what I like doing - is this so difficult to grasp?"

Wordlessly, Sa'eed gazed at her in astonishment. Hearing her utter the words over the phone was one thing and hearing her uttering it right in front of him was another thing. He honestly did not think she could say the words to him face to face, but she did...

"Please Sa'eed." She beseeched in a very low, pained voice. "Just do it, for Allah's sake."

Sa'eed's brows furrowed. "For Allah's sake you say?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"I have a good reason for asking this of you, please grant me this wish of mine." She begged amidst tears. In spite of how hard she tried to control her emotion and put on the mask of a strong woman, she failed miserably.

"I demand to know what the reason is." He deadpanned. "Why should I do it?"

"Because you promised. You promised to grant me my wishes at the best of your ability." She reminded. "Why are you breaking your promise now?"

"Don't remind me of what I already know. Please. I did promise that, but what you're asking of right now is beyond me. I can't do it. I will never do it without a valid reason."

Crying, Maryam knew it wouldn't be an easy thing for Sa'eed to do. She will have to provoke him into doing it, otherwise her daughter would be killed. The image of Manal crying and suddenly being injected, flashed into her mind. Spurning the painful image from her mind, she rushed to the kitchen and picked the first knife she saw lying on the counter.

Returning to the living room, she held the knife directly in front of her abdomen.

Sa'eed's eyes widened in horror.

"Are you willing to divorce me or do I have to stab myself before you do it? I'd rather stab myself than leave this house without getting the divorce I demand for." She seethed.

"Are you out of your senses?! Put down that knife right now! You could be hurt and the baby too." He reasoned.

"I. Don't. Care." She enunciated. "In fact, that is what I want - for this stupid baby to be gone." She pointed the knife closer to her abdomen. "Because of it, I had to quit my job and my life became miserable."

With closed eyes, Sa'eed spoke; "habibty." He opened his eyes amd called in his ever gentle voice. "You have no idea how much your words are hurting me right now now. That's enough now. Please stop."

Letting out the sob she had been trying so hard for the past few minutes to hold, she broke down. Not only Sa'eed, she was hurting perhaps even more than he was. She never knew she was going to be able to stand in front of him and say the words to him, but for her child, she was ready to make sacrifices to save her from the cruel hands of Nafisa and her accomplice, Mukthar.

Putting on her facade once more, she stood straight, cleared her voice and spoke in a more reserved voice. "I am sick and tired of this hellhole and I'm very serious. I'm going to stab myself if you're not going to utter the words I want to hear right n-"

Before she could finish her statement, Sa'eed had already lunged towards her and collected the knife. Flinging it out of her hold, he cut himself deeply on the palm in the process. "Maryam!!" He yelled, grabbing her not so gently by the shoulders.

For the first time in a while, Maryam saw the burning rage in his eyes. She felt his anger in a way she had never felt before. His eyes had turned red from anger and his hands trembling against her shoulders. At that very moment, she feared he would hit her judging by the way he was shaking in anger. He did not look like the Sa'eed she used to know. His demeanor had completely changed and without a doubt, Maryam knew she had punched a nerve. "Don't you pull a stunt like this ever again. Who are you to try taking the life that isn't even yours in the first place?" He questioned in a dangerous low voice. "And regarding the divorce, I have said it and I'm going to repeat it again; I'm never going to grant you a divorce without a valid reason, so the earlier you get adapted to living in this 'hellhole' as you called it, the better it would be for you." He let go of her shoulders so suddenly that she didn't get the chance to maintain her balance, making her fall on the couch below her.

He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. "You can leave this house if you really want to, but bear in mind, you don't have my permission to do so." And with that, he turned around and ambled out of the door.

Maryam's heart throbbed against her chest as she continued to sob - she had really lost her husband this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, little devil!" Nafisa glared at Manal venomously. In spite of seeing her in that position - tied up and eyes swollen from too much crying, she still wasn't satisfied. She wanted her to go through more pain - perhaps her heart would be contented then.

Manal who was too afraid to speak, kept quiet and tried all she could to muffle her sobs.

Enraged, Nafisa connected her palm with Manal's cheek aggressively. "When I speak to you, you don't snub me."

Covering her face with her palms, her cries grew louder - this irritated Nafisa further.

"It seems I will have to make you shut that tiny, little mouth of yours up." She looked around for what to use to gag her, but unfortunately she couldn't find any suitable thing around. Just as she was about to avert her gaze back to the crying kid, her gaze landed on a tattered, dirty rag laying by the foot of the door. "Just the perfect thing to use." She smirked.

"Wait right here, princess." She ridiculed. "I will be here with a special present for ya."

"Abiii." She cried out louder than before. Indubitably, she missed her father a lot and wanted nothing more than for him to appear before her and take her away from the cruel Nafisa. He had promised to protect her, but where was he now that she needed him? "Ummi."

Laughing out loud, Nafisa raised a brow. "Abi? Unfortunately, your abi doesn't know you're here. Only ummi knows. You saw her here few hours ago, right?"

Silence.

"Right?" She raised her voice in an attempt to startle her and she succeeded.

She nodded vigorously.

"Good. Do you want to know why she was here?" She questioned with a broad smile on her face. "Yes or No?"

"Yes. She... She wanted to take...me... Back home to abi." She hiccupped.

"That isn't true sweetheart." She feigned sadness. "The truth is that your ummi doesn't care about you. She hates you."

"That's not true!" She cried. "My ummi loves me. She told me so."

"And you believed her?" She questioned. "Tell me, if she lives you, why would she bring me to your house to deal with you? Why does she always yell at you? Why doesn't she help you with your assignments?" She paused and smirked before proceeding. "And why did she leave you behind with me? Yes! She's gone and she told me to keep you, because she hates you and you're always giving her a headache." She finished. She didn't need anyone to tell her she was doing a good job by planting hatred in the little girl's mind. She patted herself mentally on the back for a job well done. She was only starting and she would stop at nothing to make her hate her mother, just like the way her own mother hated her. No one was bound to live happily, especially Manal, when she was living in misery.

"That's not true!" She yelled. "She wanted to get me, but you held her. I saw everything."

Nafisa sighed - this was much difficult than she thought. Manal was smart after all, but she was smarter... "No wonder she always complains of how stupid you are. I can see that vividly now. You're ummi has sold you to me and that's the truth. She doesn't love you... She only loves the new baby she's gonna give birth to. She doesn't want you anywhere close to her, because she finds you irritating and stupid."

Not knowing what to believe, she began to sob silently at the new realization. If her mother really loved her, she wouldn't have been yelling at her for every little thing and most importantly, she wouldn't have left without her. If it had been her father, she was sure he would have taken her with him back to their home.

"Do you believe me now?" She feigned sadness again. "Your ummi doesn't love you. She never has and will never do." She knelt down in front of her to whisper more venomous words about her mother into her ears. "Stop crying alre-"

I love you so much, my baby - Maryam's voice suddenly echoed in Manal's mind. "No! My ummi loves me. You're bad!" She cut her off and spat directly on her right eye.

"What. Did. You. Just. Do?" She asked through gritted teeth, eyes burning in rage and voice filled with irritation.

Before Manal could comprehend what action Nafisa would take next, she began to shake in fear.

Without even an ounce of pity for the scared girl, Nafisa began to slap her repeatedly across the face, until she began to bleed from her nose and mouth.

"Ummi loves me." Was the last words on her lips before she slipped into unconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~

Sa'eed: I'm heartbroken 💔

Maryam: what can I do to save my daughter? Please help me 😭😭😭 your advice are needed 🙏

Nafisa: 😈😈😈😈

Manal: 😭😭😭😭😭

deey_jah: 😢😢😢😢

WHAT DO YOU THINK SA'EED'S REACTION WILL BE WHEN HE COMES TO KNOW ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER'S CONDITION?

WILL MARYAM BE ABLE TO CONVINCE HER HUSBAND TO DIVORCE HER TO SAV MANAL?

WILL MANAL BELIEVE NAFISA AND START HATING HER MOTHER?

100 COMMENTS FOR EARLIER UPDATE!!! WE CAN DO IT, LOVES ❤

deey_jah
Xoxo