Salam.
Okay so I said double updates so here it is.
Yipeee Chapter 18.
And oh I hope y'all remember Michael? He's a friend of Karim from London when they were there...he's the guy who even showed him Tawfiq's picture after Karim thought he was dead? I hope y'all do.
Let's go on then.
*****************************************************
"Hello mate." Michael greeted through whatever means he was video calling Karim.
Karim was just casually using his laptop in Daneen's room as she slept when it turned dark. Only for Michael's face to pop up the next minute. Hackers.
"What did you do to my laptop?" Karim's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Absolutely nothing. It's been a week now but I have information and I can't have anyone listening in on us." Michael shrugged nonchalantly.
"Which app?"
There was no symbol anywhere just his full screen covered with Michael's face.
"Not an app. I just hacked the system and got into your camera. It's pretty much what all security agencies do. Just you don't see them, they see you." Michael explained.
Karim just nodded in understanding. Everyone knew that somehow someway someone was watching them through their camera.
"So what do you have?"
Michael took out a file which Karim was sure contained Zaira's information. He opened it.
"Well. First things first, her name isn't actually Zaira Abdul Rahman. It's Zaira Sulayman." Michael revealed.
"Wow. I have a fake marriage with a fake person."
He should have seen that coming.
"Unfortunately. Well Mr. and Mrs. Sulayman had two kids. Zaira and Zureiya. Zaira was the youngest and the good Muslim. Perfect child. Her sister was 3 years older. Not a hijabi like her sister or that perfect but they were very close. According to her neighbors."
"She has a sister? Amazing."
"Actually had. Her sister and her parents died over a year ago. Car accident. Her sister was driving."
"Maybe that explains why she is messed up?" Karim tried to understand.
"I'm not so sure. They died in the UAE in a rental car."
What on Earth? Is that why she hated Karim? Because he's crown prince of the country that took away her family? Shouldn't her anger be directed to his father and not him?
He hadn't started any official royal work even. So why was she on about him?
"The Emirates!?" Karim exclaimed.
"Yeah man. It says here that they were on vacation from Qatar. Where they are originally from." Michael continued.
So she was Qatari.
"I haven't explained why I think she's messed up. When she was 15, a missing notice was sent out by her parents for her. To them she was missing but two months later she was found living with a guy literally at the other end of the country. Here's her picture before she got missing." Michael removed a picture from the files to show it to him.
The picture showed a girl wearing a full black abaya with a black hijab around her head. She was smiling as the picture was taken. This was Zaira? What happened to her then?
"Were her parents abusive? Why would a 15 year old ran away from her parents to live with a guy if they weren't abusive?" Karim was sure something was wrong somewhere.
"They weren't. As far as their neighbors I have talked to were concerned they were pretty much a happy family. They lived with his father's brother who was supposedly a very kind man in the neighborhood. They were good Muslims, helped out in their communities. The normal average family."
"So she just left? Shouldn't she have been happy with that? Something is missing."
"Yes. So the boy she lived with, supposedly they were in love and as you know she couldn't tell her parents that she had started seeing a guy. And she was too young to get married too. So she just decided to ran off with him." Michael explained.
So she could love someone. Karim didn't think she had it in her.
"This was a picture of her the police got when they arrested her."
Michael pulled out another picture. In this picture, she looked like she had been hit by a hurricane. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was disheveled and not in a nice way. In a 'I have done some drugs' sort of way. Her clothes looked like they hadn't been washed for weeks.
"She was arrested for possession of drugs. That's how they found out she was the same missing girl. Since she was a minor, she was let go after a lawyer fought that she had been forced by her supposed boyfriend to have it. They returned her soon after."
"That's just, wow." Karim was shocked to say the least.
"I can't really tell what went down with her parents but in less than a month she had disappeared. Again. And this time she went out of the country. Possibly by road to a neighboring country and then took a plane to the US."
That explains her desperation to become a citizen so she doesn't have to go back.
"I see. What else?"
"Well, it looked like she had been hard headed from the very beginning. She was involved in petty thefts, under age drinking and over speeding. She literally faced deportation every time but she was still a minor and so was placed in juvenile detention for a year. Mostly for reforming."
"She's been to jail? Wow. I know nothing about this woman and she knows everything about me. Very unfortunate." Karim sighed. What had he gotten himself into?
"I know. She was released a few months before she turned 18. She came out a bit reformed I guess. She had stopped using hard drugs. She however acquired some tattoos there, and started to dye her hair after she was released."
"Instead of being reformed for the better she just created another version of herself where she is a makeup monster who changes her hair color every minute?" Karim said bluntly.
Michael laughed.
"Precisely. When she was released though she got in touch with her sister. Since they were very close I'm sure it was to set herself straight.
From her call records I dug up, they just spoke up becoming a family again which Zaira was very much against. She didn't want to go back. Zureiya begged her to at least talk to her parents. Be on good terms with them.
After she turned 18 she finally agreed to talk with them.
So they decided to meet with her parents without them actually knowing that they were going to see her. They would act like they randomly met her in the Emirates when they went on vacation. The perfect plan."
Michael sighed.
"She didn't get to meet them, did she? That's when they died." Karim put the pieces together.
"Yes. She had just arrived in Abu Dhabi to meet them. Only to find out they were dead." Michael put the file down.
Karim's face went blank. He still didn't understand why she supposedly thought he had taken away everything from her. He didn't even know her parents. Maybe she just despised him because her parents died in his country. But that didn't make sense. And she didn't have to go through making his life miserable to get revenge. He felt sorry for her loss but it didn't mean he liked her anymore than he did yesterday. She was still very despicable to him.
"Thanks Michael..."
Michael stopped him.
"That's not all. You see, right after her parents death, she changed her name to what we know today but her previous files were very hidden like no one was supposed to find it. That's why it took a while for me to get it."
Karim listened on.
"Whoever is trying to keep her past under wraps may be working with her or just protecting her." Michael ended.
Working with her? Maybe they had planned to get citizenship with her since she'd get hers soon. It was a possibility. He remembered how she dismissed the men from the cafe the day she proposed to him. Maybe this was all a bigger plan for all of them to become citizens??
What was the big deal about citizenship even?
"Why would anyone want to hide everything about her?" Karim was confused.
"That's what you have to find out because I don't know. But be careful. Whoever it is could be dangerous."
Karim thought carefully. It meant she was working with someone but who? She didn't look like she was connected to anyone in authority but you never know.
Wait...
"Michael, in her file, does it mention any family member by name Jafar? An uncle maybe?"
Michael took the file and opened it again. Maybe he had missed something somewhere but he really hadn't come upon the name.
He glanced through carefully through the family list.
"Naaa. No Jafar. She had just one uncle from his father's side and he was called Yunus. Her mother was a single child. Maybe one of their cousins but I didn't really go into that." Michael said.
"It's alright. Thanks again. I owe you." Karim really was indebted to him.
"You owe my senior officer too, unfortunately. I couldn't access the dark web to search about when and how her information was deleted. He could. So I might have told him it was a favor to the king of the Emirates. So officially you owe him one."
Karim chuckled.
"I seem to be owing a lot of people one."
"Yeah. I better get off your screen then. Bye mate."
"Bye Michael."
His normal screen quickly appeared.
Jafar wasn't her Uncle. But his Uncle Dean also wasn't his actual Uncle but he still took him as an uncle. So what was he to her? Was he the one one who deleted everything about her? Karim wasn't sure. If he was that smart or powerful his dad would have gotten out a fight from him but he just stood there as he was beaten. Maybe they worked together?
Whatever it was Karim would find out what it was. And why she had married him in the name of getting citizenship because now he was sure there had to be a bigger picture.
Something bigger was being planned. And he had to find out what before someone got hurt. He'd bring Zaira and whoever she was working with down.
If not for him at least
For Shamsiya, for Amira,
And for Samia. Everything for them.
~
"I'm making something. You want?" Zaira said from the kitchen.
"So you get the chance to poison me for 'taking away everything'? No thanks." Karim didn't even bother to look at her.
All he was interested in was looking at Samia play on the ground with her dolls. He smiled down at her.
"You know I didn't mean you exactly. I meant all rich people in general. You are all a bunch of corrupt, proud, masochist. And since you were closer to me I thought I'd tell you instead." She casually shrugged and brought her bowl to where they were and sat on the very clean white couch...
"I really don't care. But shouldn't you eat in the kitchen or the dining area? Where people should eat? And not on my couch which you might stain with your food?" Karim stared at the bowl in her hands.
"My favorite program is coming on. Don't worry, I will make sure nothing happens to your precious white...oops." Karim's jaw tightened at the new stain on the couch she intentionally created.
He couldn't stay here. Or he'd literally blow up on her. Unfortunately, she was still a woman. Even if a despicable one at that.
"I'm leaving." Karim picked up Samia who began to protest at him interrupting her game.
"Suit yourself."
He sighed and picked up her dolls too before leaving the room.
Sabr
Sabr
Sabr
Ya Allah, Sabr.
He needed a lot of that before he ended up doing something he was going to regret. And oh God he was at his breaking point.
~
"What!? No. I'm not doing that."
Karim heard Zaira say from inside her room. He never came to her side but he needed to check something in an empty room by her. For someone who owned the house, this was the first time coming here and guess his surprise when he heard her voice. She was probably on the phone with someone.
"No!"
The room was quiet now. Karim couldn't hear what the person on the other swas saying but he had to be saying something very strong because in the next minute she just agreed without any argument.
"The thing has to end soon."
This thing?... their marriage? He really hoped it was that. He himself couldn't wait for that day. They were just waiting to receive a call from Samantha.
Karim thought it was enough so he went back down before she realized he was outside her door.
**
In the next few days something changed. Karim hadn't noticed at first because he always tried to avoid her but one afternoon he did.
She was smiling and making lunch in the kitchen...smiling...wearing a dress...and....and no makeup.
She never wore a dress. Only on their wedding day. The biggest thing was her makeup.
She always wore makeup. Always.
Karim ended up staring longer than necessary. He was confused. If she was this beautiful why did she use so much makeup like her life depended on it. It turns out she was a natural beauty. She had a soft look actually. But he wasn't going to tell her that. There were a lot of beautiful devils these days and she was their Queen.
"Is there something on my face?" She touched her face and furrowed her eyebrows when she realized Karim had been staring at her.
Karim quickly looked away and cleared his throat.
"No. Actually there's...nothing." Karim commented.
Zaira began to realize what he was getting at.
"Oh my makeup? I decided I could cut it off at home now. To be comfortable." She went back to cutting her carrots.
"I see."
"I look horrible don't I?" She frowned.
Karim raised an eyebrow.
"Horrible? Horrible was when you wore tons of makeup. This feels refreshing to my eyes." Karim walked away from the kitchen area into the living room.
He honestly had to get something to do with his life. He had stopped going to UCLA for reasons unknown to him. He could go to work at CaPeCo though. His dad thought it'd be a good idea if he helped with management because he was good at Business.
He would give it a thought because this new routine was just getting boring. The only problem was who would take care of Samia when he went to work. Obviously not Zaira. And he couldn't take her to any of his Uncles house. Because they'd question why Zaira who didn't seem to work or go to school couldn't take care of her. Then his parents would find out and then bam...they'd come for Samia...what was he even thinking!
"Ouch. Very nice, Karim. Anyways I'm making lunch. You want any?"
Karim just looked at her wearily.
Was he imagining it or had her voice dropped an octave? It sounded smaller now. Smooth even.
But...
What's up with her always inviting him to her food as far as he was concerned they weren't friends. Just two people who were married for their own benefits. His, to hide a little secret and hers, to get citizenship and probably use it as a means to get her whole gang to be citizens. It seems she had the most benefits though.
"Again. No thanks. I do not feel like dying by poisoning." Karim flatly said.
"Oh come on! I'm not going to poison you. Okay if you think I will poison you, I will taste your food first before you. Then you will know it's not poisoned." She tried to get him to budge.
"You could have the antidote." Karim added as a matter of fact.
"Oh my God! Can't you see I'm trying here? I just want us to be friends in the very least and here you are trying to act stubborn." She groaned in annoyance.
Well this is the normal voice he was used to.
Karim stood up and was walking towards Samia's room but stopped when he got close to the kitchen.
"Let's get something straight here. We are not and never will be friends. You are just my fake wife who has made my life a living hell. Taking away my freedom and not giving me a chance to say goodbye to Amira. We will never be anything more than a fake couple. So get that into your head." He continued walking. "I'm going out with Samia." He said before entering her room.
He didn't need to go out but he felt he had to leave the house. He didn't want to bring Amira into this. He didn't like the idea of even remembering her. Yes it was a foolish thing but every time he did, a part of him just tore away.
**
Karim didn't take Samia's baby seat but rather took a trolley from the supermarket entrance to place her right in front of him when he used it to shop.
She laughed when he strapped her in.
"What's so funny to you?" Karim asked her with a smile.
She just laughed more. She was getting to 6 months already. She was getting that big that Karim decided to even get her to say dad once in a while but she would just laugh or ignore him.
"Is there something on my face?" Karim acted shocked and brought his nose down to her to be at her eye level.
She just laughed again.
"So you won't tell me? I'm calling the tickle monster then. Maybe you will tell him. Tickle monster!" Karim growled jokingly and began to tickle her belly as she screamed in laughter.
She held unto his nose.
"The tickle monster will get you now!" Karim laughed too.
How could she be so precious? She was like a priceless gem.
He had literally forgotten he was still outside the supermarket and his little drama had caught attention. Some people were even taking videos. When he realized and stopped he saw people giving him different faces.
Some younger girls were looking at him blushing, they were even fanning their faces. Did they see he had a kid or they just didn't care?
Some older people were just looking at him with a 'that's father of the year' face. Karim just pursed his lips and smiled a little as he stepped inside.
"That's why you were laughing. You sly girl. You saw me joking in front of people and you were laughing at me." Karim continued to speak with her to which she just clapped her small hands like what he said was true.
"You are supposed to be on my side. Huh. Traitor. Daddy won't speak to you again then." Karim pouted and looked away as he went down one empty aisle.
She actually didn't care and continued to clap in excitement. She screamed in delight.
"Cheat. You know I can't ignore your cute self even for a second. You are daddy's favorite girl in the whole wide world. Don't tell your grandma though. She's going to get jealous of you." Karim joked.
She clapped harder as Karim began to remove some needed stuff from the aisle. If he was making a lot of noise he wouldn't have heard it but she had said it out loud.
"Da...da...da..." Samia screamed in delight and continued clapping. She seemed to love clapping.
Karim stopped moving and stared wide-eyed at her.
She wasn't even 6 months old. Was it possible to even say anything at this age? But every child was different. But still.
"What did you say angel?" Karim looked at her intently.
She didn't mind him though as she turned her attention to the shelfs in obvious amazement.
"You said da...didn't you? Well that's what I'm going to take it as. I'm my little angel's first word. You have my whole heart now." Karim made a show by holding unto his chest.
"I'm sure you have her heart too." A voice said from behind him.
Karim turned to see a familiar face. He knew her from somewhere. Yes the girl at the children's hospital. What was her name even?
Bushra?...Baraka...it was B...oh yes Basmah.
Karim finally smiled.
"Basmah? Right?" Karim asked her.
She had the same little girl with her. She was also seated on the trolley.
"And Nabeela?" Karim added and the little girl turned her attention to him when she heard her name. She smiled at him. Was every little girl trying to steal his heart!? He only had one and it belonged to Samia now but Nabeela was just cute with her hair in cute pigtails. If this was how cute Samia would get then he was so dead.
"For a moment I thought you didn't remember us." Basmah smiled politely and turned her gaze to Samia instead.
"You seem to have the best dad in the world. See him melting over you." Basmah joked and Karim couldn't help but smile.
"Well you have the best sister in the world too." Karim said to Nabeela to which she smiled shyly and looked away.
"She's pretty shy." Basmah brushed her hair with her palms.
"I noticed." Karim chuckled.
"Oh okay then nice to meet you two again then. I hope we see ourselves again." Basmah walked by them to move ahead.
"Sure. In Shaa Allah." Karim nodded.
Before she got any further though she stopped and turned.
"Umm...there's this annual party my parents have. It's sort of a lunch and we invite a lot of our friends and family to it. If you aren't busy next week Saturday do you think you can come? You know Muslim brother and all." Basmah stared at her feet.
What was she doing!?
Karim lightly chuckled. Should he accept the invitation? A random lady was inviting him, a married man, to a party. Was he going to go?
"I don't think Samia would be happy if I left her alone at home."
Alone? Umm you are supposed to have a wife?
His mind tainted but he ignored it.
"Oh oh umm, she can come. She's very invited to my house...I mean the party. So you want to come?" She looked super embarrassed.
Karim thought about it. Did she realize he had a child which meant he could possibly be married?
That's when he remembered that when he was filling Samia's details for the hospital, he had listed the mother of child as deceased.
Felix.
It was just lunch though. And besides it wouldn't hurt anyone if he went. Besides he needed to destress himself too. A lunch party was just right. And he wouldn't know anyone there so it was a plus
"Muslim brother and all, we wouldn't miss it." Karim accepted her invitation which made her eyes glint in happiness.
She gave him directions after that and bid them farewell.
Next week Saturday it was then.
~
The whole of that week, Zaira was just trying to get under his skin and not in her normal way. She was being...nice.
And he hated it. She would invite him to all her meals and he'd reject it as always. She'd clean after she was done eating in the living room. And every time he saw her, she'd smile.
What was she planning? Because that was not normal Zaira. She even prepared Samia's milk a few times before Karim woke up but he never gave her the milk. It could be poisoned he thought. Whatever she was doing, it was pissing him off.
Luckily Saturday came quickly. Much quicker than he had anticipated. He dressed Samia in a nice little blue dress with shoes. He combed her hair which wasn't long enough to hold in any style so he let it be.
He wore blue jeans and a light brown with coffee brown shoulders long-sleeved sweater shirt. He finished it off with a brown timberland boots. (Picture up top.)
He wore his watch and picked up Samia in his arm.
"Aren't you the cutest? Don't go and break someone's heart at the party, okay?" Karim joked as he opened the door to leave.
Just as he opened it, Zaira's hands were raised as if to knock on his door.
He looked at her hands and then at her make up less face. Then back to her hands again.
She dropped it quickly and stepped back.
Karim stepped outside the room and closed the door behind him.
"Did you want something?"
His eyebrows knitted in confusion. Was she just about to knock on his door?
"Umm it's nothing. It's just I realized it was Saturday and I thought we'd play a game. Play Station or maybe board game. I promise it's not poisoned." She chuckled lightly and brushed her hair behind her ear.
"You play Play Station? FIFA?" Karim asked.
Still confused as to why she was inviting him to play a game with her.
"Oh of course and I'm very good. I'm sure I can win over you." She lightly hit his free shoulder.
Karim looked at his shoulder and then looked slowly at her.
"Oh God. I'm sorry." She gnashed her teeth in embarrassment.
What were they now? Buddies? Well buddies don't go round blackmailing themselves.
He felt Samia playing with his fixed hair. He'd have to fix it in place when he got to the car
"It's okay."
"So what do you say?" She asked excitedly.
Is it that she didn't see that they were dressed or she thought she'd change his mind to stay.
He bit his lips and checked his watch. They were getting late.
"We are kind of going to lunch party right now." He revealed.
"Oh okay. May I know where?"
That was too polite but Karim answered vaguely. In case she'd make people follow them and kill them...what's all these thoughts dancing in his brain?!
"A...friend invited us."
"Oh sure. Have fun then. Errhh, I'm going to my room then." She quickly turned and left towards the stairs.
What was all this behavior? Did she think there was a chance for them to ever be friends? It just wasn't possible. It had to be a game. He was certain.
But why did she sound so...
Disappointed.
_____________________________________
I promised two chapters and I gave it. Even though it's a bit behind schedule. Don't blame me though, it's that pain in the ass writers block and the fact that I feel like I have ran out of words. But Alhamdulilah I'm back on track and I have got my words back.
Anyways what do you think of Zaira's new behavior?
Is it real?
Or fake?
I honestly don't like her so🙂🤷🏻♀️😂😂But anyways I changed my synopsis on the book.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter because it took a lot from me.
And COMMENTS‼️‼️‼️
Don't forget that if you want a sneak peek of the next chapter you can find it on my IG page
@fara.khan_abdul
Fun fact: Did you know I revealed something here but after editing decided it wasn't yet time for it to be revealed so I deleted that part...oops...hihihi🙂💀💔😂😂😂
I finished writing this on 5th May🙂
#VCS
Ciao🙂❤️💯