SA'ADATU'S POV.

KANO, NIGERIA.

I have never been to a police station before, so I did not know what to expect exactly. But, to be honest, my entire attention was more on Faiza, that I did not care to spare the place a glance the minute we stepped in, with me following behind Adnan in tow, who has been quiet our entire drive to the place. I stool a couple of glances in his direction while I was driving, and there was this serious look that took over his expression—one that I have never seen before.

I do not think I have ever seen him so serious and oddly calm as he was in that moment, and something told me not to prod him for answers to the many questions I have, so I did not. Instead, the minute we stepped foot in the police station, my gaze swept around the place seeking any familiar face. We only had to take a couple of steps further in, and a familiar face appeared.

"Ya Adnan..." Faiza's voice was laced with a hint of relief, but the hoarseness in her voice spoke loudly of the torn look masking her expression. The moment she approached her brother, she wrapped her arms around him, which he quietly returned, one hand on her shoulder while the other patted the back of her head.

He whispered a couple of words to her, but I could not hear, neither did I strain myself to, simply allowing the sibling to have their moment. The sound of Faiza's sniffs came soon enough, and a short moment passed with her having a breakdown—the sound of her tears making my heart squeeze.

I could only stand beside the two, watching them with my own slumped shoulders.

Faiza pulled away after a while, more tears streaming down her face as she parted her lips to speak. "It happened so fast, Yaya...I just...I could not...." She paused, not seeming to find the right words to use.

"Hey, look at me, kalle ni." His hands went to the side of her face, holding her head up so her eyes met his. There was this permanent frown that marred his face when he stared at her—his brows drawn in. "Take a deep breath, and then tell me what happened exactly." He added, his voice softer, as if to coax her.

That seemed to do the trick, because Faiza swallowed down a lump, her eyes flicking close as she took in a deep breath. She exhaled it, then parted her eyes to hold his gaze, her lips slanted into a slight frown as well though the tears seemed to have stopped. "Ya Yusuf and I were out get something for Amani, and while he was settling the bills, I stepped out first to answer a call from work, and that was when I ran into Zaheer." She swallowed down another lump, her breath shaky when she continued, "Abubakar showed up out of nowhere, and he started making all sort of claims about Zaheer and I, then he..." He clenched her eyes shut, her head bowed as more tears streamed down her face.

Adnan released an oddly calm breath, "Then he what, Faiza?" He asked, his voice low, but strained. It was obvious he was trying to keep himself calm.

Faiza sniffed once again, her voice breaking when she met her brother's eyes again, the tears streaming down like waterworks. "Then he tried to attack me," She whispered, her arms subconsciously going to wrap around herself. "He was so violent..."

Adnan's hands left the side of her face, and then he reached out to take a hold of her hand, pulling the sleeves of her abaya to reveal the new bruise forming around her wrist, but it was not what made me hold my breath. Rather, it was the scars I could see in her upper arm—deep, and without a doubt must have caused a lot of pain when it was inflicted. There were a few more around both her arms, all seeming to have there for a while.

My eyes then trailed upwards to rest on her face, and my own eyes welled up with unshed tears upon seeing the look on her face. It was obvious she was trying to stay strong, but she was only seconds away from breaking down.

To be honest, I commended Adnan's willpower to stay calm, because all I wanted to do was find the man that inflicted such injuries on her, and give him a piece of my mind. He was way too calm though—or so he appeared. There are moments when his calmness means peace—this time around I am sure it is anything but.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed down a lump as well, then he met her gaze with his cold, yet soft ones. "Did he hurt you anywhere else?"

Faiza shook her head, her lips trembling as her body shook slightly. "Zaheer stepped in before he could and they started fighting," She explained. "Ya Yusuf came out just in time and joined in on the fight as well. It was so...brutal." She shuddered upon remembering the scene I am sure is vivid in her mind. Then, she took a step closer to him, her hand reaching out as she fisted the material of his shirt's sleeve, then she whispered in a frail, and scared voice. "Yaya...I think they killed him."

I took in a sharp breath, the weight of her words weighing down on us all like a shroud.

To a certain extent, I was hoping he would comfort, and tell her otherwise. Despite her explanation, I am sure he knows much more to the situation—he made a couple of calls on our way here so he must know what is going on. I did not just hope, I desperately wished he would claim otherwise...that Ya Yusuf and Zaheer did not in fact kill the man, no matter how much he deserves it.

But, he did not.

Instead, he asked. "Did you tell Hajiya, or Baba?"

Faiza shook her head immediately, "You were the only one I called," She whispered, her voice shaky. "I did not know what to tell them."

"You have done well," His hands gave her shoulders a slight squeeze. "I will handle this, okay? Go back to my house with Sa'adah first." He made a move to take his hands off her shoulder, but before he could, she reached out again and took a hold of it, stopping him.

"Wait," She called out, her eyes hopeful as she held his gaze. "What will happen to Ya Yusuf and Zaheer?"

He offered her a small smile that did not reach his eyes. "I will handle it, do not worry." He did not explain any further, and something about his tone told us to leave it as it is and not pry further for now.

And it appears Faiza understood that as well, because she nodded, adhering to his words. He then turned around to look at me, taking a step closer to me, his eyes holding mine.

"I hope you do not mind Faiza staying with you for a while," He asked, his voice soft. "It is just for a while, until she calms down and I have this situation under control."

My lips slanted into a frown as I shook my head, "Of course, not." Faiza was my friend before becoming my sister-in-law, how would I mind helping her in her lowest moment after everything she has done for me? "Just take care of what you need to. I will take care of her."

He nodded, his hand reaching out to take a hold of mine and give it a small squeeze which I returned. He then turned around to face Faiza once again who was still quietly sobbing, then wiped her tears with his thumb, his frown returning. Like earlier, he whispered some words to her, which seemed to ease her mind only a tad bit. When she offered him a nod, in response to whatever it is he told her, he took that as his cue to leave and advance further into the station.

With him gone, I turned my head around to face Faiza, but she was already making her way out almost robotically. I followed behind her quietly, allowing her to have her little moment without prodding. We made it to the car, and she slipped in quietly while I slipped into the driver's side as well. No words were exchanged between us throughout the entire drive, save for the worries running through both our heads.

I have my questions, but I did not want to push Faiza and so, I did not say a thing and instead, allowed her to have her little moment while I worried about my own issues as well. When we arrived at the house, Faiza followed quietly behind me as I opened the doors, allowing her to go in first. Once she has settled herself in the living room, not seeming to care enough to move to the bedroom, I left to get her a bottle of water at the very least.

When I returned, she was in the exact same position I had left her, now hugging a pillow to herself as she stared into space. I settled down beside her, then placed the bottle of water in front of her should she be in need of it.

A while of silence passed, before her voice suddenly came.

"You know, you got the least violent brother," She stated, her voice low.

"Huh?" I blinked, yawing my gaze in her direction, taken aback by the sudden statement that came out of the blue, not expecting it.

Faiza blinked, then yawed her gaze in my direction, her expression blank when she repeated her earlier words. "You got the least violent brother," She stated, "You do not have to worry about him. He will not do anything irrational." It was almost as if she could read my mind and could tell what exactly I was worried about.

She is right. I was worried Adnan might end up doing something to get himself in trouble as well. He handled the news well earlier, but I did not miss the way his hands clenched by his side as he strolled further into the station, and the way his jaw clenched. He was infuriated to say the least. I was not sure he would not end up actually sending the man to is grave if he is not dead already—yet another serious issues that we have hanging over our head.

When I did not say anything, not knowing what the right thing to say exactly is, Faiza's voice suddenly came, calmer than earlier though hoarse. "You can ask," She said, her voice low. "You are curious, are you not? What truly happened with Abubakar, and why I kept it a secret all this while."

Once again, she is right. I am curious, but I did not ask before to protect her privacy, and I will not push her to answer now as well. So, instead, I found myself asking. "Do you want to tell me?" I asked, my voice soft. "Do you need someone to confide in?"

She held my gaze for a few seconds, and then quietly reached out to pull back the sleeves of her abaya just like her brother did earlier, except pulling it all the way up to expose the scars that decorated her upper arms, almost as if someone particularly chose to inflict the pain where it was the least obvious.

Then, she released a shaky breath. "He did all these," She admitted. Finding my gaze, she offered me a humorless smile. "He has always had anger issues, I knew since we were dating but I did not think much of it. I ignored it, and ended up taking the brunt of it when we got married."

I have questions at the very tip of my tongue, but I did not ask, not wanting to interrupt her. I can remember her complaining a couple of times when they used to date that he gets angry quickly, and they have had a couple of issue then but I thought they had gotten over it since they got married. I never thought it would lead to something bigger, an issue this big.

Faiza pulled her knees to her chest, her arms wrapping around it—the sleeves dropping to cover the scars as she shifted her gaze from mine—instead staring at the wall before she continued. "It started a week after our marriage, he started changing and at first, I did not know why I did not take it seriously. But, it was that ignorance that led to it becoming a bigger issue, and before I know it, he became physically violent." One of her arms reached out to where her shoulder is, her voice dropping to a whisper while her eyes glossed over. "I have scars all over my body, Walida." She tried to blink back the tears. "Every day came with more hell than the day before but I could not tell anyone—I did not know what to say exactly."

Faiza was the one recounting the story, reliving the hell she went through and yet, I was the one crying. I blinked, looking away as I tried to hold back the tears. She was not crying—though her eyes were glossy. But I was crying ugly tears that refused to stop. My heart ached imagining the hell she must have gone through all alone. We spoke on the phone then frequent, yet I never detected anything from her tone.

I should have known, I am her best friend. I should have known that there was something off about her so she did not have to suffer in silence. Faiza has always been an outgoing and bubbly person, one cannot imagine that she could possibly go through something like that. She never showed it—and none of us noticed.

I sniffed, reaching my hand out to furiously wipe the tears away while she continued.

"The day he divorced me," She started, her voice thick with emotion. "He came back home late that night, and there was this feminine perfume I know did not belong to me lingering on his clothes. So, I confronted him, and he went berserk, saying I am accusing him of chasing women." Her eyes met mine, her lower lips trembling as she exhaled a shaky breath. "Walida, I know he was indeed seeing other women—his sisters rubbed it in my face on more occasions than necessary, saying he has women better than me, and only married me because he was forced to settle down. He became violent at that moment, and started hitting me..." She trailed off, taking a sharp breath as she flicked her eyes close.

I buried my face between my palms, my tears refusing to stop but I did not want to look up at stare at her. How should I? She is the one that went through the hell and yet I am the one crying. Of course I feel ashamed even more.

"He divorced, and chased me out of his house that night," She carried on, her voice oddly stronger than I had anticipated. "When I came back home, I did not tell anyone. I wore clothes that covered my body so they would not see the wounds—I tried so hard to hide because I could not bear to witness their reactions should they find out. And yet, Yaya was the one that found out. He saw the scars, and forced me to tell him what happened, and that was how my family found out. My parents were heartbroken and upset to say the least, Ya Yusuf went berserk and ended up fighting with Abubakar as he went to his house—he was imprisoned then for about a day given the injuries he inflicted on the man. Abubakar had to get a restraining order against him.

And yet even with that, my extended family still wanted me to get back to him. So, Yaya took me with him when he left to further his studies and work. That was how I got away from him. Even when he found out I was pregnant and gave birth, he never showed up, and neither did anyone in his family."

I sniffed once again, then turned my head around as I held her gaze, "Why do you think he is back?" I am sure they could not have just ran into each other—it is possible, but if he truly was avoiding her as she said, then even if they ran into each other he would have ignored her and moved on.

But he stayed back, and even got involved in a fist fight. Of course, there has to be an ulterior motive.

She shrugged, "Revenge?" He asked, almost like it is a question.

"Revenge?" I repeated, not quite getting her.

She nodded, her lips pressed together. Sighing, she leaned her back against the sofa, "Yaya got him fired from work, and then blacklisted in the industry." She explained, "Not to mention, he got sued as well—he basically screwed him over without needing to get his hands dirty. So, he holds grudges."

I did not think her brother was capable of doing something like that, but I cannot say I blame him. If anything, I believe he did the right thing—if not that he deserves even more to be honest.

"But honestly, Walida," She started, her voice a soft whisper, as she found my gaze again. "I will never allow him to take Amani from me. I cannot live without her...." Finally, the tears began to stream down her face, and she did not make an attempt to stop it.

I reached out, moving closer to her and wrapping my arms around her. Faiza melted in my arms, letting it all out as she finally cried, the sound of her sobs filling the otherwise silent room. I tapped her back as I too found myself in tears, but I held myself back and tried to be the strong one for her.

I have no idea how long we sat there for, but I knew at one moment, she stopped crying and simply remained in my arms. Silence engulfed us, but was soon broken when the sound of the front door opening reached our ears, followed by the sound of soft footsteps that made their way towards the living room where we are. Just as Faiza left my arms and fixed her veil while I did the same with mine, Adnan made an appearance first, and then the other person followed behind him. Zaheer.

***

I may or may not have shed a few tears when writing this chapter🥹 see the way you're all freaking out on my Instagram just because I said you should bring tissues...I'm not that wicked now.

Besides, you should all RELAXXXXX . I've decided to be nice and not kill anyone (no promises). I'm saving all the wickedness for my next book because FAYA DEY THERE!!! See that new book I'm currently obsessed with, is everything Jannah Mia and more.

You see all that wickedness, the royalty!!!🫅 the dramaaaa!!!! 🔥 the plot twists!!!!! Everything is packed there. Even the romance seff you go get am because trust me, I always deliver now.

Those following me on Instagram already know, but in case some of you here do not follow me (my handle is the same as my username here) then you'd know that my next book's main character is YERIMA AMIR QASIM!!! I've introduced him in chapter 29 I think. So you can reread it and let it all sink in, I introduced him there for a reason🫢

And let me just tell you the plot I'm plotting for that book!!! Fayaaaaa kawai😌  Just anticipate me and that book, it might come immediately I'm done with this book hopefully so I guess PH won't be my last book this year after all 🫢

Anwayssss we've chatted enough. What do you expect to see in the book?? What do you think you'd see?? Hehehe let me see if you guys can predict how my brain works when plotting.

Tohhhh stay safe and single as always,

Avoid men like Abubakar! Run when you see a red flag do not ignore it!! Tam.

Love, Jannah Amir Qasim🫢🤍