Eternal Temptation

❥ 48| epilogue

ONCE UPON A TIME, there lived a girl. She used to be miserably infatuated with someone she could never have and had to accept her fate when she was persuaded into a marriage with another man. A man she had never once met before but had somehow understood the feelings she possessed for another. It was something she had thought was a mistake that she needed to rectify immediately. Only, that man turned out to be the one the stars had signed her name next to. The one her heart was destined to beat for. The one she was always meant to fall in love with and the one she was meant to end up with.

It was happily ever after.

Such happiness came in many forms, where it could be something such as a simple life of domestic bliss, tied in with pretty words and poetry. The only thing better than words that spoke directly to your soul was when you could spend the rest of your lifetime with the epitome of poetry.

When the clock hit exactly five, I quickly shrugged on my jacket, grabbed my bag and rushed out of the door, waving to my co-workers on my way out of the clinic. They waved back in full spirits, theirs raised because it was a Friday evening and mine raised because of my family. It was always because of them. Whether it be because of flowers that Zayaan had randomly sent, or a text to show me that even when I wasn't with him during the day, I never really left his thoughts, or perhaps even a spontaneous visit he made with Riyad to the clinic despite being the sole manager of the Tales of Persia branch that we'd opened in London and the CFO of both restaurants in both countries.

Zayaan's workload was heavy, but he never let it interfere with family. Not even when he continued to leave for Iran whenever he needed to. The crime was never truly going to end until the government opened their eyes and allowed its people to use their voices, listening to their pleas and struggles and kept up with what was going on in the country instead of reinforcing more laws and ruining more lives. It was a cycle of crime that never seemed to cease, where lives were threatened each day, and I hoped with everything I had that one day, a new dawn would bring an end to all these problems. Not only in Iran but in every single country where its people were struggling and living each day with dread and uncertainty.

Everyone at least deserved the right to live in safety and peace.

It made me remember to never take for granted all that I had. Not only visible, concrete objects but also abstract things, such as my family's presence and their love. My relationship with my parents had immensely improved over the past few years, slowly being repaired after all the lies that had damaged the ties. Our family would always be incomplete and there wasn't a single day where I didn't think about Aden and imagine him by my side, silently cheering me on. There would always be days when the grief seemed to hit harder than others and although it would never get easier, the pain and memories served as a reminder to always show my loved ones how much I appreciated and loved them.

And yes, there were arguments and fights but I refused to sleep on that anger and go to bed without making amends because there was always no certainty that things would go as planned the next day.