Two weeks later

Maryam had just finished breastfeeding Imran. She put him back in his crib and ambled to the other side of the bed, where Sa'eed was lying down and working on his laptop. "Habibi." She called.

"Hmm." He hummed, his gaze still fixed on what he was doing on the system.

"I want to go to a salon and have my hair done. Can I go?" She asked.

"It's too dangerous to leave the house, knowing Nafisa is wandering about somewhere. She could be near for all we know. No, you're not going." He declined.

"I won't take long. Please let me go." She beseeched.

"No, you can't go, especially if I'm not with you." He remained adamant. "What exactly do you want to do in the salon?"

"Washing and setting." She replied.

"That's even easy. You can wash your hair here at home." He reasoned.

"No, I can't." She whined. "Just let me go, please. I promise to head straight back home afterwards."

"Alternatively, I can help you wash your hair like I used to do before." He offered.

Maryam shook her head. "No way! I'm not ready to get soap into my eyes right now."

"Fine. You can wash it yourself then if you don't want mine. The choice is yours." He shrugged.

Maryam groaned. Knowing Sa'eed, she knew he would stick to his word of not allowing her leave the house alone. The only choice she had was to accept his offer. "Fine. You can help me."

Sa'eed chuckled. "You're ready to get soap in your eyes now?"

Maryam hit him on the shoulder playfully. "You better be careful."

"Alright, ma'am. This way, please." He motioned.

Maryam chuckled and sauntered to the bathroom, with Sa'eed trailing behind her.

"Where do I start?" He asked himself. "Oh yes! The shampoo. Which one should I use? This or this?" He asked, waving both bottles at her.

"Anyone you want." She replied and face palmed.

"Alright then." He replied. "Stay still while I begin." He got into the bathtub with her and poured an incredibly large content of the shampoo into her hair.

Maryam squeaked as the shampoo trailed down her the sides of her face and almost got into her eyes. "Habibi."

Sa'eed cringed. "Sorry. Here." He took a towel and helped her wiped her face. "All good?"

"No." She shook her head, feigning hurt. "You've succeeded in making me blind." Maryam suppressed the urge to laugh at how panicked Sa'eed looked. "Serves you right!" She muttered underneath her breath.

"I'm sorry, habibty. Do you think you can open your eyes? Let me help you wash it off." He offered, remorsefully.

"Just leave me alone. This wouldn't have happened if you had just allowed me go to the salon." She whined.

"Sorry." He apologized for the umpteenth time. "I didn't mean to. This was a bad idea." He muttered solemnly to himself.

Maryam couldn't suppress the urge to laugh anymore and she burst into laughter. "You should see your face." She teased.

Sa'eed's brows furrowed. "You were deceiving me all these while?!" He asked, more like stated.

Maryam chuckled. "It was fun teasing you. You were so remorseful."

"Naughty you." Sa'eed smiled, hitting the side of her head gently. "I'm definitely going to get even."

"I will like to see you try." Maryam stuck out her tongue at him.

"Oh really? You will be astonished."

"I doubt." She shook her head. "Continue please. I'm already catching a cold."

"Alright, but make sure to close your eyes." He advised. "We wouldn't want the shampoo to get into your eyes for real this time."

Maryam nodded and did just that.

Gently, he massaged the scalp of her head as he washed the dirt away. He couldn't help admiring her long, silky hair as he poured more water in it. "Manal's hair is exactly like yours." He voiced.

"Of course. I'm her mother after all. She got it from me." She replied with a smile plastered on her face.

"Right." He replied, rinsing her hair finally. "Done."

"So soon?" Maryam frowned.

"Yeah." Sa'eed shrugged.

Emerging from the bathroom together, Maryam took a seat in front of the mirror and brought out her hand dryer from one of the drawers. "We aren't done, habibi."

Sa'eed groaned. "Alright."

Approximately fifteen minutes later, he was done. He helped her combed her hair and tied it in a bun. "I deserve some accolades for this." He mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done.

"Indeed." Maryam turned around and pressed her lips against his. "Thank you, habibi."

"You're welcome." He smiled.

"About Manal." She suddenly remarked. "When are we going to visit her? It's been two weeks and she hasn't gotten the chance to see her brother yet."

"On Saturday In shaa Allah." He replied. "We can go there and return the next day."

Maryam hummed. "So we're only going to stay a day with her?"

"Unfortunately yes." He replied.

"For how long is this going to continue?" She questioned. "This is becoming unbearable. I want her to come home already. She's been there for more than six months already. I can't take it any longer. Is there nothing we can do about it, Habibi?"

Sa'eed sighed. "I understand your predicament. Believe me I do. I also feel the same way, but for the time being, we have to keep being patient until Nafisa is caught."

"For how long do we have to keep being patient? Ever since she escaped, we haven't seen her near our territory. It may be possible she has gone back to her village for good and we're here hoping she will be caught soon. If that's the case and she never returns here, does that mean my daughter will have to stay there forever?"

"No. Of course not. It's only temporal." He assured. "You can stay a week longer with her."

"Really?" Maryam's lips curved into a smile. "Thank you so much, habibi." She threw her arms around his neck.

"Anything for you." He kissed the side of her head, before disentangling their bodies. "It's oddly strange, Imran isn't awake and crying yet."

Maryam instantly got a bad feeling. She rushed towards his crib and to her dismay, he was gone. She crouched down against the crib and started sobbing. Without a doubt, she knew he was kidnapped by no other but Nafisa. "He's gone. Nafisa took him."

Sa'eed rushed towards the crib and took a look for himself. "She should still be in this house. Come with me." He rushed down the stairs and towards the exit of the house.

"Did you allow any stranger into this house without seeking for our permission first?" He asked one of the security men guiding the house.

"No." He replied.

"No one at all?" He questioned.

"Yes. We only allowed the plumber in. He said you called for him. We tried calling you for confirmation, but you weren't picking up your phone." He explained.

"A plumber." Maryam stated. "Did you call for any plumber?" She asked Sa'eed.

"I didn't." He replied. "I thought you did."

"No, I didn't." She denied.

"He is an imposter. With what did he come?" Sa'eed boomed.

"With a small box in his hand." He replied.

"Has he left already?" Sa'eed questioned, impatiently.

"Has he?" Maryam yelled. Tears already threatening to fall from her eyes.

"No." He replied.

"Good. Secure the area. Immediately you see him, don't let him escape. Catch him!" He ordered. "He has my son. And please call the police immediately!"

"Yes, sir." He replied.

"Don't worry, he is still within the premises. Our son will be found." He reassured.

"How could I have been so careless?!" She cried.

"Get a hold of yourself. It wasn't your fault, okay? Let's just focus of finding the so called plumber."

"Looking for me?" Someone screamed from upstairs.

Averting their gaze to the source of the voice, both Maryam and Sa'eed took a short intake of breath. In spite of how Nafisa had disguised herself to look like a man, they still recognised her.

"Nafisa." Maryam called through gritted teeth.

"Surprised to see me after so many years? Oops! Months." She giggled.

"What do you want, Nafisa? What have we ever done to you? Why can't you just leave us to live our lives in peace?"

"And why should I?" She questioned. "You sent me. Me! To jail."

"You deserved that and you're definitely going straight back." Sa'eed threatened.

Nafisa shrugged. "I know. Do you both think I came here unprepared? I came back here with a single motive and that was to kill that little brat, Manal once and for all, but unfortunately she isn't here. Tsk tsk." She sighed in disappointment. "I felt really bad and was about to leave, but decided to check your room, perhaps she would be there and fortunately for me, I met this beautiful crib in the room and being the smart person I am, I guessed Maryam had given birth to another brat and you both know of the saying right?; when the desirable is not available, the available becomes desirable."

"I'm begging you, Nafisa." Maryam cried. "Please don't hurt him. Just give him back to us alive and we will allow you escape from here."

Sa'eed gazed at his wife in disbelief.

"Oh Maryam! I am not as foolish as you think." She chuckled. "I will be arrested, that is fine, but before that, your beautiful bouncing baby boy will be killed."

"No, please." Maryam sobbed.

Sa'eed placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Where is he?" He asked, his patience slowly dissipating.

"Right here." Nafisa grinned, waving a box at them and right on cue, he began to cry from inside the box.

Sa'eed attempted to run up the stairs and save their baby, but stopped abruptly at Nafisa's threat.

"One more step from you and I won't hesitate to throw him down."

"Please let him out. He's going to suffocate." Maryam begged amidst sobs.

"That's exactly what I'd want." She let out a perilous laugh. "But thankfully, I'm not as wicked as you both think. There's a little room for ventilation in this box. I want to give you both a chance to say goodbye to him. You should be thankful to me." She opened the small box and carried Imran out. "I hate to have to do this to this cute, little baby, but I have no choice. The sins of the parents obviously rubbed off on him." She was about to let go of him and allow him fall down the height, when she felt a gun held up her skull.

"Hand the baby over, otherwise I won't hesitate to blow your brains out." The policeman threatened.

Sa'eed heaved a small sigh of relief. None of them had even notice him discreetly climbing up the stairs.

"No." She replied adamantly.

Maryam quickly rushed up to them, but before she could reach them, Nafisa had already let go of the baby.

Maryam's breath seized for a second or so, but heaved a long sigh of relief when Sa'eed was able to catch him before he reached the floor. Fortunately for them, the height wasn't very faraway from the ground, otherwise Sa'eed wouldn't have been able to catch him.

Maryam rushed down

The policeman grabbed Nafisa by the arm and was about to put handcuffs around her hands, but she kept on struggling and attempting to escape. Accidentally, she lost her balance and fell down with a loud thud.

Maryam gasped and covered her slightly agape mouth with her palm, but to both hers and Sa'eed's astonishment, she got up with so much difficulty. Without mincing words, she had broken a bone or two. She began to maneuver towards the exit of the house in the hopes to escape, when a gunshot was heard, then followed by multiple shots.

Instantly, Maryam shut her eyes. She couldn't even bring herself to open her eyes even if she wanted. Visibly, she was trembling and in shock.

Sa'eed held Imran who had strangely stopped crying close to his heart. His gaze darted to Nafisa who was lying in the pool of her own blood, with her eyes widely opened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Assalamu'alaykum wa rahmatulah wa barakatuh! / hello

Nafisa's chapter has finally ended 😢 💃She was shot so brutally.

Who's going to miss her? 😂😏

Liked or loved?

What's wrong with the baby? 🤔 is he perhaps...?

few more chapters to go, so Comment! Comment!! Comment!!!

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