All For What!

60

Emerging from the room and heading to theirs, she bumped into someone, making her almost lose her balance. "Habi—" raising her head, her gaze met with that of someone who wasn't Sa'eed, nor Manal. Her eyes bulged and she took in a sharp, sudden intake of breath. Every single word Sa'eed had said about her, resurging into her mind. She gnashed her teeth as her gaze trailed the bag she was holding and Sa'eed's cellphone in her other hand. "Nafisa?"

She gasped and attempted to run away, but Maryam was quick to get a hold of her hand. "Where do you think you're going to?" She questioned, bile rising in her throat. She couldn't believe the effrontery in her — after what she did to them, she felt sneaking into the house and stealing from them is as normal as a singer, singing.

"Just let me go. Please." She beseeched

"Or what?" She inquired. "You're going to have to tell me why you maltreated my daughter in my absence. What did the little girl do to you, to warrant such treatment. Haven't I been kind to you? TELL ME!"  She yelled.

"Just let me leave in peace." She repeated, all traces of fear disappearing from her demeanor. In fact, she seemed confident about something Maryam couldn't quite put a finger on. "Get your hands off—" She was cut off by Maryam raising her hand to hit her. She shut her eyes and awaited the impact of the slap.

One second...

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

Four seconds...

Five seconds...

She felt nothing, so she reopened her eyes.

Maryam's hand stilled midair. She wanted to slap her so badly, but she managed to control herself. She wanted her to feel all the pain she made Manal go through. She wanted her to be genuinely sorry and beg Manal for forgiveness and to repent, but with the way she was acting, she knew it wasn't going to be anytime soon. "Leave in peace?" She asked sarcastically. "Not until the police arrive."

"If you don't let me go right now, I'm going to hurt you." She threatened. "I'm serious."

The anger that suddenly surged into Maryam was immeasurable. She grabbed her by the collar and started moving towards hers and Sa'eed's room.

"Leave me." Nafisa began to struggle for freedom and when Maryam's grip on the collar of her shirt wasn't loosening, she stepped on her foot, hard.

Due to the pain in her foot, her grip on Nafisa loosened.

She took the opportunity to push Maryam to the ground, making her fall with a loud thud. She fled from there afterwards.

Winching in pain, Maryam placed a hand on her abdomen and got up. With the help of the walls, she maneuvered towards her. "Stop! Come back here, Nafisa!"

Turning to take a look at Maryam behind her, Nafisa didn't realise she was already close to the stairs. Taking a backward step, she rolled down the stairs.

Maryam gasped and her hand flew over her mouth. She was even more surprised when Nafisa began to make attempts to get up and fleeing from the house. She hurried towards her and before she could be able to stand to her feet, she caught her. "Your game is over. You can't escape from me anymore." She took a hold of her foot and dragged her towards the guest room, like some bag of potatoes. Pushing her in, she swiftly locked the door with a key. "Let's see how you're going to escape now." She muttered to herself.

Sweating profusely, she thought of what to do next. She couldn't possibly keep her in the room for a long time. She was bound to break the door open with the way she was banging at the door from inside. Call. "Yes. I need to call habibi right now." She hurried to the kitchen, where she left her cellphone. Thankfully, it was still lying there. She picked it up and dialed Sa'eed's number, but it wasn't going through. "The number you're trying to call is switched off, but you can send an insta—" she ended the call. "Why is his cellphone switched off?" Just then, realization hit her, like a moving truck — his cellphone wasn't with him, because Nafisa had it.