26 December 2020

Hello, everyone! How are you all? I'm back, with another book! Liyana and Zain's story. It's a very different one to my other books, I hope you all love it nonetheless!

Long ago, several of my readers had requested for me to write such a story. So, here it is. A dark romance. A story of hatred, of family rivalry. It is NOT linked to any of my other books. Liyana, Zain and all the other characters in this book aren't related to Zaid, Zara, Zayan or Alayna. I hope you'll come to love these characters just as much as Zaid and Zayan, though! Especially Zayan. ;)

WARNING: This book will contain mature scenes. It will contain blood, violence and sex scenes (later on). I'm rating it as mature, because I know for certain that my younger readers shouldn't read this book. I'm sorry!

Another warning. Just two weeks ago, one of my readers told me that 'Arranged or Love?' has been copied onto another site. This is NOT right. Plagiarism is wrong, against the law. If I find out that any of my work has been copied ever again, I will report. So don't do it. It's not fair to the writer, is it?

On a lighter note, I hope you all enjoy this story. I love you all!

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Liyana's POV

I stand at my balcony, staring at the dark, moonlit sky, lost in my thoughts. I wish I could fall asleep and not wake up to the world. I wish I could live in my dreams forever, so I wouldn't have to face reality. But these days, sleep doesn't come to me.

Gazing at the moon always gives me hope. It always gives me peace, promise for a new day. I've forgotten what happiness is. It sounds like a foreign word, something I've not experienced for a long, long time. But today, nothing will give me the slightest bit of peace. Nothing will give me hope today. Maybe this is what's destined for me. This is what I deserve, how I'll spend the rest of my life.

A tear slips out of my eye, and I quickly wipe it away with the sleeve of my woollen dress. I can't cry. What good would that do? It's not like I'm crying in front of anyone, it's not like there's a single person in my life who'd do anything to help me. I'm all alone, just like I always have been. I'll get through this too, like everything else. I got through the engagement today without crying once. I'll get through the wedding, too.

I raise my slender, fair hand to the moonlight, staring at the ring on my left hand. I chuckle humourlessly to myself. Even the ring isn't of my liking. It has a thin sterling silver band, with a huge single diamond in the middle. The ring feels extremely heavy on my hand, it's way too flashy for my liking. I want to take it off, but I don't think my father would approve of that. I prefer a simple, more elegant and sophisticated ring style. Not that it'd ever be my choice, though.

I'm engaged, to a man I absolutely detest. I loathe Ayaan Abdullah, my fiancé. He'll be my husband in two short weeks time. I can't even stand to see his face, I have no idea how I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him.

Ayaan's a multi-millionaire, like my father. He's my father's business partner, and he's always had his eye set on me. Ever since he first saw me many years ago, he made it clear that I would be his one day. As soon as I turned twenty-one, he asked my father for my hand in marriage. And of course, daddy dearest happily accepted the proposal without once asking me what I wanted. My father's always loved Ayaan more than his own family.

Although Ayaan's a multi-millionaire, he's known to be a gangster, a bad boy. He has a bad reputation. He's someone who always gets what he wants. And he wants me. He always gives me filthy looks, dirty smirks, he always tries to touch me. My back, my hands, my shoulders. In front of my father, too. And my father doesn't care a single bit.

I think back to that dreadful night my father told me I was to marry Ayaan.

"Liyana, Dad wants you in his office," Shehryaar Bhai says to me, his voice calm. I'm sitting in my bedroom, reading a book I've had for years and read several times.

I frown, worried. 'Why? Is something wrong?' I ask my brother, afraid. My father only ever calls us into his office when it's something serious.

"I have no idea, Liyana. I hope there's nothing wrong. You should go soon, you know he doesn't like to wait," my brother tells me worriedly.

I nod. 'You're right, Bhai. I'll go and see what he wants.'

I leave my room, walking past Shehryaar Bhai who's standing in my doorway, and head upstairs to the second floor of our mansion, walking to my father's office.

I stop outside the large, brown wooden door of his office, knocking twice. My palms are sweaty and my heart's racing with worry and fear. I'm terrified of my father, as is everyone else. No one wants to get on his bad side for anything. I wonder what he wants at this time of night. It's almost 11pm.

There's a short pause, and then I hear his loud, commanding voice. "Come in."

I open the door with a trembling hand, and stumble clumsily into his office, almost falling onto my face. I look up from the ground, and I see his large form standing near the window, looking out. He turns towards me, his face showing no emotion whatsoever. His face is like a blank slate. I have absolutely no idea what he wants to say to me. I haven't done anything wrong.

'Dad, you w-wanted to see me?' I ask, my voice croaky. I clear my throat, uneasily.

He nods once, taking a seat in the dark brown leather armchair behind his mahogany desk. He glances shortly at the papers on his desk, and then back at me.

"Yes. There's something you need to know," he says, his voice low and composed. He's not talking loudly, but it's his quieter voice that frightens me more than his loud one.

'Y-yes? What is it, Dad? I hope everything's okay?' I ask, as gently as I can. I don't have a good feeling about this.

He stares at me for a few seconds. "Liyana, your engagement is in three days' time. Your wedding is two weeks after the engagement," he says, staring at me.

My eyes widen in shock, and I blink twice, not believing what I've just heard. He surely can't mean that. Has he gone crazy?

'W-what?' I ask, in complete and utter shock.

He nods, looking very serious. He's definitely not joking. I know that my father doesn't joke. He means it.

"You'll be marrying Ayaan. Get ready for your engagement." His voice is humourless and cold.

No. This can't be happening. I can't do this. I know better than to disobey my father. But I can't let him ruin my life even more than he already has. Since I was a small child, my father has decided everything for me. He's even decided the clothes I wear, for god's sake! But I can't let him choose who I'll marry. I can't even think of marrying Ayaan. I hate the guy! He's so dirty, so disgusting, he's not a good person. I can't spend the rest of my life with someone I can't even bear to look at.

'N-no. Dad, no. I'm sorry, but I won't marry him,' I say, my voice shaky. I shake my head furiously. I feel like pulling my hair out.

My father stays silent for a few seconds, before he rises to his feet. Slowly, he walks towards me with confident, loud steps. He stops a few feet in front of me, and he looks at me angrily.

"What did you just say?" He asks, his voice low. He's furious. And I'm terrified.

'I.. I'm sorry, Dad. All my life, I've done what you want. I'm studying psychology and business, when I wanted to study medicine. You even decide what I can and can't wear, what I can and can't eat. But I can't marry Ayaan. You know I hate him! And I'm not ready for marriage. I'm only twenty-one,' I raise my voice slightly.

His tall, large frame hovers over me menacingly. My heart pounds loudly in my chest, threatening to escape. I feel tiny and worthless in front of him. He hates when anyone speaks back to him. No one ever does. And now I just have.

He grabs me roughly by the shoulders, making me flinch. His fingers dig painfully into my shoulders, he's hurting me. I try to stay strong, to not appear weak. I can't become weak on this matter. It's a question of the rest of my life. I can't marry Ayaan. I won't.

"You will marry Ayaan, Liyana. I won't hear anything on this matter," he says quietly, his voice cold and emotionless.

Tears rise to my eyes, and I shake my head furiously. I won't. I can't. I'm not going to be forced into a marriage by my father. That, too, to a man I hate. To a man I can't stand to look at. I recall Ayaan's dirty gazes, his cold laughter. I recall every time he's told me that I'm only his, that he'll marry me one day. I'm not his.

'Dad, I'm not marrying him. I'm sorry, but I can't,' I say weakly, trying to keep my voice calm. For one of the first times in my life, in my twenty-one years of existence, I've spoken out to my father.

He's silent for a few moments, and I can see his jaw ticking. I train my gaze to the floor, terrified as hell. My heart's racing at a thousand times the normal rate in my chest. My father's furious.

I'm taken by shock two seconds later, when he slaps me hard across my face. I scream loudly, holding my palm to my stinging cheek. The slap takes me by surprise, and I land on the floor a few feet away. My hip hits the corner of a wooden table, and I scream out in pain.

Tears start to run down my cheeks, and I half sit, half lay on the floor in a fetal position, terrified. I'm scared for my life. My father is a monster. I've always known it. He's hit me and my brother many times, but it's been years. It's been at least three years since he's hit me. He even hits Mum. We can never do anything to fight back, we can never disobey him. He thinks that he owns us. I feel like he does.

He rushes to me, grabs me by my hair and pulls me up. I cry loudly at the pain, at the fear, but I know that no one can hear me. Mum and Shehryaar Bhai are on the other side of the mansion, in their rooms. And even if they did hear, they'd do nothing to help me. They wouldn't dare.

"You'll marry him, and you'll marry him willingly. If you try to disobey me again, I'll kill you," he whispers into my ear, his hand still in my hair. He pulls it again, hard. The tears continue to stream down my cheeks, my face is red with pain.

I stay silent, afraid that he'll kill me right now if I dare to say another word to him. He looks like he wants to say something else to me, but I hear him curse under his breath. He shakes his head, pushes me back onto the floor, my head colliding with a chair. I see stars behind my eyes and almost pass out with the pain, but I breathe a huge sigh of relief when he walks out of his office, loudly banging the door shut behind him.

********

"Mum? Dad? Please can I go outside for a short walk?" I ask, knocking twice on the living room door before taking a step inside.

My parents turn to face me, my father sitting on the large, black leather sofa in front of the flatscreen, and Mum standing beside him a few feet away. She looks towards my father questioningly, not daring to give me permission to go outside. It's always Dad who makes every decision in this household.

Dad stares at me for a few seconds, before nodding. 'Yes, you may go outside for half an hour. Not one minute longer, do you hear me? You've made me happy today, Liyana, by getting engaged to Ayaan.' Then he turns back to the TV screen.

I flinch, hearing my fiance's name. "Thank you, Dad. I'll be back in half an hour," I mutter, before rushing out of my house. As soon as the cool, night breeze hits my face, a tear slips out of my eye. I wipe it away, shaking my head. I want to enjoy the few minutes of freedom I've been given by my father, not spend the whole of the half hour crying. For the last month, I've not stepped out of my home. I haven't been allowed to.

I currently have holidays from university. Usually, I'm only allowed to step outside for university, but I have to be back home right after that. My father has a copy of my full timetable, so I have to reach home on time everyday. For the past six months, I haven't been shopping, to the park, or anywhere else. It's just home and university. I haven't seen my best friend in a month, and I know that she's extremely worried about me. She always is. She knows what my father's like.

I decide to head to my local park for a short walk. The city looks deserted at this time of night. But then again, it's almost midnight. I'm so happy that Dad's finally allowed me to step outside, because I felt like I was going insane locked up at home.

I walk into the small park, looking around. There's no one around me at all, not a single person. I'd hoped to see someone, even if it was only a stranger. I can't describe how lonely I feel right at this moment. I've never been close to my family, and even when I've come outside, I see no one at all. Perhaps this is what my life is always going to be like. Lonely. Empty.

I take a seat on a child's swing in the playground of the park, enjoying the cool weather. I feel slightly relaxed now that I'm not surrounded by my family. It's a bit cold, but I love it. Getting fresh air after so long feels wonderful. I laugh humourlessly to myself. I'd even forgotten what the English weather is like in the month of October.

I'm a prisoner in my own home. It feels weird calling that place home. It's never felt like a home to me, I've never felt a sense of belonging there. I've always felt lonely. There have been countless times in my life when I've wished that I could run away to a place far, far away and never look back. But then I remember Mum and Shehryaar Bhai. They love me. If I ran away, I don't want to think what Dad would do to them. They're terrified of him. The whole city is.

I take a deep breath, sighing sadly as I remember my engagement ceremony only a couple of hours ago. I was dressed in an elegant, full-sleeved royal blue gown. My dress was absolutely beautiful. My hair and makeup was done professionally, my makeup soft and subtle, and my hair styled in a beautiful updo. I haven't taken off my makeup, or taken out my lovely hairstyle. I still have it, but I changed into a comfortable, warm grey woollen dress which fits my petite, curvy form nicely and ends mid-thigh. Underneath, I'm wearing a pair of black tights, and black leather ankle boots. Before stepping out, I shrugged on my grey, long winter coat that reaches my knees.

I should probably introduce myself. I'm Liyana Ahmed, twenty-one years old, born and brought up in London. I have an older brother, Shehryaar Bhai, and I've always lived with him and my parents. I've never been too close to my family, though I love my mother and brother dearly. I always wanted to study medicine. However, because of my father, I'm now studying a psychology and business joint honours degree. For some reason, my father always wanted me to study business. And I hate it. Although I quite enjoy the psychology part of my degree.

I'm an average girl, I don't know why Ayaan's always been after me. I'd say that I'm average-looking, nothing special. I'm happy with myself, though. I'm not very tall, only five feet and two inches. I'm slim but curvy in all the right places, although I hate showing off my body. I have dark brown wavy hair which reaches my waist, and brown eyes. Pretty average.

My best friend, Maheen, is much more beautiful than I am. She's a few inches taller than me, with glossy black hair, hazel eyes and a perfect figure. I miss her so much. I haven't seen her in a month, although we've been texting. Dad's allowed me to have a phone, and weirdly, he's never said anything about me contacting my best friend. Although I text Maheen, we don't share everything over the phone. I have a feeling that my father's keeping an eye on my texts and calls, just like the rest of my life.

My mind wanders back to that dreadful evening when Dad told me I was to marry Ayaan, and I feel goosebumps form on my skin. I shiver, pulling my coat tighter around myself.

I sit on the swing for a few moments longer, enjoying the feeling of being outside after so long. However, it's not long after, when I feel as though I'm being watched. I look around the dark, deserted park, and I see no one.

I must be imagining it.

But I swear I can feel someone's eyes on me.

I shake my head and sigh, leaning back in the swing and swinging myself high in the air. I laugh softly, remembering when I was younger, when things were a little better. Mum used to bring me and Shehryaar Bhai to the park every weekend, and she would push us both on the swings. We'd laugh so much, loving it. Sometimes, I really miss my childhood. I wish that I could go back to my childhood, when I didn't know the harsh reality of the world. When I saw everything as harmless and innocent.

Even when I was a child, I was never close to my father. At times, I thought that he hated me for some reason. I'd never play games with my father, he'd never read me a story to bed, he'd never tell me how much he loved me. But I still loved him, I still looked up to him.

When I grew up, though, when I started seeing the world for what it really is, my views and thoughts on everything changed. I grew scared of my father, I wouldn't want to be around him. When he started hitting me, I was shocked at first. The mere presence of me angered my father. I've now grown to strongly dislike my father.

My gaze travels to the large, oak trees a few metres away, and I see him.

A man, dressed fully in black from head to toe. My heart rate increases when I see his face. He's so handsome. I've never seen someone like him.

He's tall, very tall. Even taller than my father. This man is over six feet tall, and I can tell even from a distance that he's very well-built. He's wearing black jeans, a black button-up shirt and black dress shoes.

My gaze travels over his built form to his face. My heart skips a beat at the sight of him. He has a symmetrical, sculpted, perfect face. He has dark eyebrows, dark brown eyes, a slim nose and full, pink lips. His hair is either black or a very dark brown, I can't tell from here.

What intrigues me most is his eyes. I've never seen eyes like his before. Even though he's standing so far away, his eyes dazzle me, they pull me in as a predator does to its prey. His eyes are dark and sparkling, and they're unreadable. I have a feeling that if someone looked into his eyes for a moment too long, they'd surely lose themselves.

I blink, looking away for a short second. I don't know why I'm staring at him shamelessly. He's a stranger, I haven't ever seen him before. It doesn't seem like he belongs to this area.

I look back towards the trees, and he's gone. I look around, but he's nowhere to be seen. Weird.

He's very fast, that's for sure. One moment, he was standing right there, and a split second later, he's gone.

I look down at my watch on my wrist, and my eyes widen. It's been twenty-five minutes, so I should get going now. My father won't be very happy if I'm even one minute late. He takes punctuality very seriously.

I sigh sadly, standing up from my seat on the swing and slowly starting to walk out the park. I'm only a few feet away from the large, steel gates of the park when I collide into a hard, large form. Two hands land on my waist to steady me, to stop me from falling on top of him. A huge rush of electricity travels through my entire body.

My head snaps up, and I meet his eyes.

I'm lost.

His eyes are dark and demanding, and they're perfect. I lose myself in them completely, and I lose sense of space and time. I suck in a breath at how dark his eyes are. I feel as though they're piercing my soul.

"Hello, angel," he says, his voice husky and cool. It sends a shiver down my spine. I don't know if it's a good or a bad shiver, though.

I snap out of my trance, opening my mouth to speak. 'I-I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going,' I whisper, my eyes wide. I'm afraid. His hands are still on my waist, and he's staring into my eyes.

He smirks.

'I-I really need to go, because-' I start, but the next thing I know is that I see black.

********

Hey, guys! How was the first chapter?

What do you think of the characters so far? What do you think of Liyana? What do you think's happened?

How will her father react? First thoughts on him?

Question: From all my books, who's your favourite character and why?

Bye guys!