Whimsical beauty ✔️

Chapter 17

**Fate**

Maree

Maree tried to act like she didn't care about the marriage with Amal. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even act it.

First off, this small gaja of a girl found a way to latch herself unto her husband when she least expected it.

Secondly, that little girl, already has a place in her husband's heart. Maree no longer believes Saif doesn't care. He may not love her, but Saif definitely cares. It's is one mystery that she has no way of solving. Just look at Saif! An amazingly handsome rich guy with a bright future. Then there is Amal. The ugly duckling who had to beg to feed her sisters. She doesn't see where the point merged.

Saif is very picky.

Maree believes it's destiny that forced Saif to marry her. But at least she was being honest and anyone with eyes can see that she deserves to be his wife! In fact, anyone with a heart will never question her marriage with Saif.

They used to be classmates in school. Saif was the most handsome guy back then. He wasn't rich when they were in high school. Everyone knows that Pretty's father was the rich one. Saif was just really hardworking. He wasn't very brilliant academically, but dedication pushed him up among the brightest. He was just every girls dream. It's not uncommon to find a group of girls gossiping about him. He used to have this smile that perfected his charm. He was the target of a lot of crushes.

Maree had loved him even back then. He was also her first crush. Later her first love.

She and pretty were best friends. Then pretty confessed that she loves Saif. She was always talking about him. She couldn't get over how Pretty isn't even being a little modest about it. She guessed jealousy had torn them apart. But Maree never ever let anyone know. Maree is beautiful. It's a wide known fact. To find a girl with her class is very rare. Of course she had suitors. Guys used to like her since in her preteens and her parents needed to be very watchful. But Maree had eyes only for Saif.

She couldn't see anything past him.

Saif doesn't really make friends with the opposite gender. Imam, shaheed and Zakir were his only friends. But then one day, Maree asked him to help her with her assignment. Saif was very helpful. This kind of drew them together a little. It's evident that Saif liked her because he was always staring at her with this interested gaze that always makes her breath hitch. But he never said anything. Maree could've waited a lifetime to hear him say he likes her because Saif wasn't ready to confess.

It was during a debate. She was going for the unforgiving treatment of women in northern cultures. Saif talked against her motion that culture is being too strict on women. It created a frenzy because no one wanted to lose. It got to a time when the teachers were like 'you both have a point, haba leave us naa!'

Maree remembered Saif winning with one point. It got them both quite sully. He wanted to win with at least ten points. He said that the teacher must've liked Maree to have given her all those points for the trash she spoke against her own people! Maree supposed it's a little true. But she never accepted it. She kept saying that Saif is being a sore winner. She had wanted to win with more than just a few points if for nothing but for the glory of being right.

This was the beginning of what felt like a strong friendship.

In their final year, Maree got tired of waiting for him to ask her to be his girlfriend. She had to go through his friends, using all sorts of wayo to make it look like she didn't have a hand in asking him if he liked her. She 'accidentally' overheard them asking him if he likes her and he said 'I don't know. But I like her smile' his friends had laughed and teased him for it. Maree then announced that she thinks she likes his smile too and that she wants to find out what this 'like' feels like. He had smiled and said "okay".