"If He Asks For Forgiveness, Will You Be Able To Forgive Him, Zia?"

Zianna played with the kitten that Azhar had given her a few days back. It was something she needed, but she knew that her stepmother wouldn't allow her to keep it when she lived in their house.

But alhamdulilah for her brother and his wife who took Zianna in when the incident happened a few months back during Tay's nikkah.

"Zia, are you busy? I want to talk to you", her brother asks as he walks inside her room.

"No, I am not busy. I am just playing with Midnight, and before you ask, yes, I did take my meds..."

This made Tayyal chuckle knowing how Zianna has changed ever since she left his stepmother's house.

"Zia, I want to talk to you about Dad. I know that he hasn't been a great father to you and I understand if you don't want to see him or..."

"Tay, he disowned me the day that he divorced my mother. But my mother tried so hard to shield that from me except I heard everything he said to her that day. As for forgiveness, I have nothing to forgive him for because I don't know him as a father. He is just someone I share my DNA with and that's not going to change. I accepted that my mother was also my father. And Alhamdullilah she made me the happiest daughter in the entire world. As for Mr. Hussein, I can't say anything that would make him look like a father to me because, in reality,y, he isn't", Zianna said.

I hope that Dad will come to his senses and try to get to know that he has four children instead of three. Ya Allah, I pray that this happens before it's too late.

"I understand you, Zia, but what if he asks for forgiveness? Will you be able to forgive him and maybe have a relationship with him?" Tay asked, hoping for a positive answer.

"Tay, that's a question that would be unanswerable because I am innocent in all of this. He married my mother because of his parents' persistence and then divorced her a few months after they died. I wish I could say yes but I don't even know if I will be able to call him dad after everything he has done", Zianna explained, with tears threatening to fall from her face. "I am sorry if that's not the answer you were expecting, Tay. But it's the only true answer that I could give you right at this moment," she added wiping the fallen tears.

Tayyal understood what his sister was saying but he knew that she also needed their father's protection even though she didn't say it.

"I understand and I will always be here whenever you need me, Zia. As your older brother and also as your friend. You will always be my sister no matter what", he says, hugging her.

Zianna smiled sadly, knowing that Tayyal had been trying to get Mr Hussein to reconcile or even talk to her. But that won't be happening when his mother would always be there to stop it.
Meanwhile, in the Hussein household, Dalia was trying the same thing as Tay.
I need to get Dad to talk to Zia, even if it's just one time. I can't let Mum hurt her anymore. Zianna deserves to be happy even if it's one parent.
Dalia confidently walked inside her father's study with a mission in her mind. She prayed that no one would interrupt them.
"Asalam Alaikum, Dad. I need to talk to you, and it is very important".
Her father looked at her and knew that Dalia wouldn't walk inside his office without a reason.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about my sister, Zianna..."
"Dalia, she isn't..."
"Dad, why don't you want to acknowledge that she is your daughter and my sister? Is it because of Mum? Do you realize that you are hurting her by the way you are acting? Why dad? What did she do to you, to make you like this towards her? I need to understand why?"
"This doesn't concern you. It isn't about our family..."
"So Zianna isn't your daughter? She isn't my sister? Is that what you are saying, Dad?"
"Yes, that's what I am saying, Dalia. Zianna isn't and will never be my daughter..."
"If that's what your answer is then you shouldn't be sad when you hear the news that I am about to give you. Zianna...has a bad heart. She is dying, dad. She is dying. If she doesn't get a new heart in the next year, Zianna will die. And that would be on your conscience," Dalia said, shocking her father.
He quickly masked the feelings he was showing when Dalia looked at him.
"Zianna has suffered a lot in this house, Dad. With mum's beating her, starving her, and now this. To be honest, she is lucky to have had a mother who loved her instead of sending her to boarding school and not caring what happened... "Your daughter is dying; Dad and I will do everything in my power to help her get better. With or without your help," she said, wiping her tears, and leaving the office.
Zianna is dying...
Zianna is dying...
And it will be your fault if you don't help her.
He unlocked the drawer and removed a picture frame of Zianna and her mother and him.
I was happy with her but I knew that if I didn't do what I did, things would have been bad for her and Zianna. How I wish I could go back in time and do things differently but what is done can't be undone.
People forgive to forget but not everyone has that in their minds and hearts. Forgive, but remember because once bitten, twice shy.