Salam.
Triple update🙂🤧
Yes please.
Enjoy.
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Tawfiq arched a brow at Karim.
"You're not going anywhere."
"I know what you're thinking. You're free now. You're going to escape when no one is watching. The guards have orders to stop you with whatever means necessary. That includes shooting you down...anywhere in your limbs at least."
"They'll kill her, dad. And you know it." Karim was trying so hard to avoid an argument.
"There are people doing everything to find her, Karim." Tawfiq looked back to his papers he was going through before Karim entered the office.
"And you know I also want to find Yasmine and Hamid and bring them back to answer for their crimes. No matter what, I'll let them pay for every single thing they've done." Tawfiq added.
"It's going to take what? Days? Weeks? Months? A fucking decade? How do you know Zaira would be alive by the time you get them?"
"First of all, language. And secondly, I don't know if Zaira will be alive by then."
"Dad, please. Please. I can't let her die. Please." Karim pleaded with everything he had.
Tawfiq sighed.
"You know why she's not a priority to me? She hurt you, Karim. She deceived you. She lied to you. She almost got everyone killed. No matter how much you love her won't change the facts to me. You're my son. And I'm supposed to protect you from people like her. The army will try their best to find her but I can't assure you anything. And even if she's alive I'm not letting this marriage continue." Tawfiq looked Karim straight in the eye.
Karim's face fell. He was about to say something when Dean barged in.
"Karim! You! You my boy have made me a happy man!"
Karim didn't know his Uncle was in the house. He had woke up that morning without his hands cuffed to the bed. Thinking about it...what if he wanted to use the bathroom or something? It seemed his father didn't care how he went about it. And luckily the only liquid he had taken was that glass of water so he didn't need to use the washroom anyways.
He had taken a bath and made up for all the prayers he had missed before making his way here.
Karim looked at his uncle.
"Uncle Dean, I didn't know you were here."
"Oh yeah. I came yesterday but you were dead asleep I guess. Your father tells me you beat his ass!" Dean grinned.
Karim frowned. When did he beat his father up?
"Unaware...Dean...Unaware." Tawfiq reminded him.
"Unaware or not, you still beat his ass. And I'm so proud. I feel like I am the best fighting coach in the world!"
Karim was still confused.
"And as your fighting coach, I hereby graduate you from my trainings. You, my boy, are ready to face anything. I wish I was there to see you knocking him on the ground for more than 3 seconds. I should give you a medal." Dean patted his back.
Karim realized what he was talking about. Before he lost consciousness, he remembered having his father on the ground and threatening to fight him and beat him up if he tried to stop him. At that time he didn't fully realize what he had done. His head was just running with wild emotions so he did what he thought he couldn't do at first.
That didn't matter now anyway. He just needed his father to understand him. He wanted to be in the frontline looking for Zaira himself. Not leaving her life in the hands of people who might know what she had done so wouldn't care about her.
"Thank you for graduating me, Uncle Dean." Karim gave him a quick smile and turned his attention to his father.
"I know she isn't priority to you. But she's priority to me. She hurt me. She lied to me. Not you, dad. And if I've decided not to care about it anymore, I don't see why you should. I need to find her before it's too late." Karim said calmly.
"What shows she wouldn't buy into any lies they feed her and do the same thing she's already done, this time with you wrapped around her fingers."
Tawfiq stood up.
"She's the reason Yasmine was able to get in and she's the reason Hamid is out in the world now. She's the reason Hassan is dead. If she had not stepped in the palace, there would have been no EMP to go off and allow Yasmine's men inside. She's the reason so many people are hurt and still in the hospital. She's the reason your friend, Basmah was kidnapped and almost died. She's the reason innocent people died in the plane bombing. She's the reason you almost lost your senses to rage. She's the reason you're hurting ever single day. So no, Karim. No, she's not a priority to me or my army. And as long as I'm the king, I decide who is priority. You need to understand that before you think about that love of yours." Tawfiq gritted out angrily.
It didn't deter Karim. He stepped closer to his dad and the only thing separating them now was his dad's huge desk.
"You're wrong. You're so wrong. We're the reason she has so many scars. We're the reason she didn't have a normal life. We're the reason they made her go through so many ordeals. We're the reason she's alone in this world. We're the reason she lost a part of herself to rage. We're the reason she threw away everything to get her only family left in this world back. We're the reason they used and abused her. We're the reason she almost died." Karim paused. "I'm the reason she put her life on the line to save mom and the twins from being blown up in the jet. I'm the reason she decided to help save Basmah. I'm the reason why she took Samia away so they'd not kill her when they began to suspect me. I'm the reason she's been taken."
Tawfiq looked at Karim with a strong gaze but he still continued.
"I know you think everything was her fault and maybe it was. But she only wanted to get inside the palace with me because she must have believed it to be safe. She brought along guns because she wanted to protect me if it came down to it. Because of her I'm still alive. Because of her, you're still alive. She saved you twice, dad. Twice. And you're someone she hated with a passion just over a day ago. Yet she took a bullet for you. Not me...you. Because she doesn't want to see me sad. Everything she did was because she wanted to see me happy. See me safe. She stopped caring if I'd hate her. Every time I announced my hatred for her she'd not care. As long as she accomplished her goal of keeping me safe. Everything was to keep me safe and happy. So if you'll blame someone, blame me. I brought her into the house. I could have informed you of how things were but I didn't. I caused everything. Not Zaira. So don't give the blame to her. She's innocent. We have to find her, dad. Please." Karim dropped his head.
His family might not have been directly behind it but it was because of them Zaira had suffered greatly in life.
Tawfiq didn't say anything. He just sat down in his seat and looked at Dean who had his arms crossed and listening carefully.
"I'm grateful for her saving our lives Karim. I really am. That's why I'm putting so much effort into finding her and Yasmine. As well as Hamid. I didn't say we wouldn't look for her. At this very moment, there are so many people searching for them. All I'm saying is it's more a capture mission than a rescue mission. They have to strategically approach this in order to get them and not just rush in for the rescue. We could rescue her but we'd lose Yasmine and Hamid. I know you're expecting more but I'm thinking as a king. I can't put your emotions or mine in the way of the greater good. They could be planning something worse which could hurt more people, Karim. And as the king, I have to make sure to stop them before they try anything. But trust me when I say they'll do everything to bring her back alive." Tawfiq sighed.
He had to think of the bigger picture. What was more important at the moment and what was at stake. If Yasmine and her people had the resources to infiltrate the palace and bomb a plane then they had the resources to cause havoc in the country. They were terrorist no matter how you put it. Tawfiq wasn't going to sit around and wait for them to throw the first punch. He was going to hit them hard first. So hard that they'd never stand back up again.
Tawfiq thought maybe Karim was thinking what he said through but he was surprised when he heard him chuckle.
"They? The army? You're entrusting everything to them to find Hamid and Yasmine. I don't know if you've forgotten but we can't trust anyone. Yasmine may have said Emirs and council members but what shows that's all? We don't know who and who are involved. They'll be on a wild goose chase for years and never find them. Someone will always tip them off, dad. You don't know who they have in the army. They should definitely have been in the country the whole of yesterday and the chances of catching them yesterday were high. All security agencies were alert after the hostage situation. Yet somehow they still haven't been caught? They would have been cornered everywhere if the army and whoever were so trustworthy. But it's currently another day and they still haven't been arrested. I'm not sure they're even in the country. I know it's difficult to admit it but the army has been infiltrated as well. They'll never find them at this rate. You'll lose your most wanted fugitives and I'll lose my wife. Is that what you want? To let them slip away every time you're close to catching them?" Karim arched a brow.
Karim saw his father's jaw tick. He had gotten to him. This was just what he needed. To get him to question his own self.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right, T."
"I don't like the Zaira girl one bit and even when Karim was painting her as a saint, I still didn't buy it. But you've got to admit, he's got a point. As long as we don't know who is in or what, there's a possibility we'll never find them. It could just one man hindering it or a group of people in the army. But we won't know. Leaving it to the army to find them is like asking Jafar to find Yasmine. It won't happen, even by a miracle
Karim looked at his Uncle and nodded at him in appreciation for defending him.
Karim could see from his father's face that he did not like where this was going one bit.
But he sighed eventually.
"What do you suggest, future king?" Tawfiq exhaled again and now had his hands crossed looking at Karim intently.
Dean also had his eyes on Karim.
Tawfiq was expecting a reasonable answer other than 'Let me go and find her.' He'd rather let a bunch of traitors find them first before allowing Karim to go and find her. He wanted Karim to learn how to reign over his emotions when it was needed. He had to think straight and not like a broken doll. Tawfiq had to learn that the hard way. He expected Karim to be better.
"We go and find them ourselves." Karim said.
"Who's we?" Dean questioned.
"The best of the best. We'll let the army continue with their mission but we go through with ours. We create our own army." Karim nodded.
Tawfiq looked at Dean for a second and Dean nodded at him.
"You've got my attention."
"The army can't know we're going to find them ourselves. If they catch wind of it then whatever we would do would be for nothing. We gather our own information, get our own details and set out to find them."
"Who do you have in mind for this 'best of the best' team?" Dean questioned.
"You and Aunt Bella of course, no question there. Then dad..."
"I can't leave the country. People would notice. The army would notice." Tawfiq explained.
"I hate to say this, but dad, you're really good. Too good. And you're an important asset as much as Uncle Dean is." Karim said to him.
"I cannot cover up my absence without reasonable explanation."
"Um yes you can." Dean stepped in.
"How?" Tawfiq arched his brow.
"Well, remember when your parents died? There were news going around that you were dead and what not and your death was being covered up by your family? Well it's the same case here. You've literally been attacked in your own home. It has shocked you to your core at the idea of losing your family, so you've decided to stay in for a while to get over it." Dean shrugged.
Tawfiq thought for a while.
"That could work as long as it doesn't take long to catch Yasmine and her people."
"And save Zaira." Karim added.
"And save Zaira too." Tawfiq nodded.
"So the three of us, against what could possibly be a small army?" Tawfiq questioned.
"Oh I'm going. And before you say I can't go, just remember Uncle Dean just graduated me. And you saw what I could do when we faced Yasmine's men. I might never get over the fact that I've got blood on my hands but as long as it's not innocent blood, I can mange." Karim explained to his father.
Naima would kill him for agreeing but it was necessary and besides Karim was right. He could handle himself.
"Okay, so four? That still doesn't change anything."
"Aunt Layla and her girls too. I'm sure, Uncle Dean can convince them to join us."
"Well, I think your dad should do that. My sister and I are having a sort of misunderstanding at the moment."
"That could work. I'll just send her double the money to get prepped before ...fuck." Tawfiq muttered.
Dean was here and he'd rat Layla out to their mother if he knew.
Dean opened his mouth in shock.
"You're paying, Layla!? Oooo wait till I tell mom!"
"You're not telling Harriet anything, Dean. You know she needs the money to help all those people." Tawfiq frowned.
Dean better than anyone knew how the mafia worked after Layla took over. It was basically like a foundation. Even though they were still the biggest and strongest mafia group in the world, they had different ideologies now.
"She still took money from you. Remember when you paid for Alpha? Oooo I'm going to get her now."
Tawfiq remembered. Harriet got so angry at him and Layla and even used her walking cane to hit them.
To Harriet no matter what, they were never supposed to accept payment for anything they did for Tawfiq or vice versa.
Alpha was however one of its kind and it required a lot of resources. That's why Tawfiq insisted on paying for it.
"Dean." Tawfiq glared.
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm just going to mess with her till she forgives me. I guess I'll make the call then." Dean grinned.
Tawfiq facepalmed. Dean would never grow up no matter what happened.
"Forget Dean. So now what?"
"How good is Uncle Zain with computers?"
"He's top class."
" That's good. Then I could get Michael too."
"So that's the team members. Basically a family reunion." Tawfiq chuckled.
"I guess." Karim muttered.
"We've got a team. Then what? Search every country for them?" Tawfiq asked again.
"No. There had to be survivors from the shoot out right? We question them, narrow down any possible locations Yasmine could be hiding at. And if we come up empty, we could always question Zaira's brother. He definitely knows more than he should. He could be useful." Karim stated.
"He could be." Tawfiq paused.
"I need some time to fully think over everything. But before I agree to anything, I need you to accept my one condition."
"Name it." Karim urged him on.
"If we get Zaira...or let's be positive. When we get Zaira back, you'll let her go, Karim. You'll end this marriage and let Zaira go. That's all I ask. Save her but she leaves." Tawfiq said firmly.
He wasn't going to allow her near Karim again.
Even Dean was surprised at the condition. He expected an argument between father and son. But he was shocked by Karim's answer.
"Fine. When we save her, and her safety and health are assured, I'll end the marriage and let her go." Karim said flatly.
"Good then. I'm glad. I guess it's time to start preparing then. Remember, it's your plan. So make sure you're ready to set everything going." Tawfiq said finally.
"Sure. Excuse me." Karim excused himself and walked out of the office.
There was one thought going through his head.
You were right, Zaira. I guess, you, Samia and I will move very far away from everyone then.
Just like you said you wanted.
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I'm 9 days behind schedule and I'm so sorry 😭😭😭💔
That's why I gave y'alls three updates😭❤️❤️😁
Anyways I know the three updates wasn't so exciting and I apologize but I had to get through with it. But much more is coming so anticipate🥵🥵❤️
I however hoped you liked these updates even if you didn't let me know what you think🥺🙂
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