On a very fine day, Afni sat on her bed relaxing and treating herself to a mug of hot chocolate and a book she har read a hundred times already.

The pages were all tattered and yellowed but she never lost interest in rereading the book, red queen over and over again.

The soft tap of her door had her bookmarking the book and dropping her steaming cup of chocolate on the bedside drawer.

"Come in."

She yelled and the door was opened and her mother walked in. She smiled and said,

"Assalamu alaykum Ammi."

"Wa alaykumu salam habibiti."

She answered with a sad smile and her eyes shone with worry and stress.

"Ammi, what happened?"

Afni asked and the older woman looked at her precious child with her mouth in a thin line.

"Your father just came back from the office and all is not well. He is on a hot seat right now and he might even get fired for it. Your father has been accused of betraying information to the enemy industry so the boss is coming over to discuss how to handle the situation."

She told her knowing fully well that only she will understand and twisted her hands together nervously with her head hung low.

'Inna lillahi wa Inna ilayhi raji'un' ran through her mind several times, offering a silent prayer to her lord above.

To some people the situation would hardly seem like anything to fret about if her father truly was innocent but these things are made to frame the victims perfectly. She knew her father would never do such a thing.

But when he had a rude and heartless man as his boss, there's not much argument he can make. She had never seen him, but she knew fully well that he didn't stand idly by and let people do as they wish around him.

He could ruin a person with the blink of an eye. And truth be told, in that family of not exactly rich status, they depend solely on her father's job.

There was no two ways about it and him getting fired would mean death for them. Their house was not their own but for the office.

"Ammi, is there anything I could do to help?"

Afni asked worridely and her mother smiled caringly at her daughter.

"Oh Afni. All I need you to do is to babysit your younger ones until I'm done in the kitchen, okay? That's all."

She instructed and Afni nodded her head in a manner that meant acceptance.

She quickly gulped down her chocolate, wishing she could savor every drop of it but that was not the time for it.

She then went ahead to grab her jar of cookies and candy that she normally stored for when she had cravings. She followed her mother downstairs to her little brother's room.

Upon seeing his older sister, Haris jumped up in excitement and squealed. He was closer to her than he was with the rest because she was the only one he ever saw all the time anymore.

"Ukhti is here!"

Haris shouted and Farhan came running to hug her knees very tightly.

She giggled and ruffled their heads. She then dropped her bag on the floor and picked up baby Hafsah who had crawled over to her with big dreamy eyes staring intently at her.

The nine month old yawned and rubbed her eyes with her delicate hands. Afni cooed at her and put her in her crib seeing how sleepy she looked then tucked her in. She rocked the baby to sleep then moved away.

She looked at the two boys and gestured for them to keep shut. They tiptoed out of the bedroom to the children's room where they played and spent most of their time, closing the door behind them.

Afni sat down and crossed her legs and the two boys followed her example.

"Today I'm going to teach you guys a game. I call it chewing gum."

she said to them with her grin getting bigger and bigger.

"But aunty Afni, why is it called chewing gum?"

Farhan asked with a cute expression on his face and she couldn't resist the biggest smile gracing her delicate features as she ruffled his hair at which he hit her hand away claiming that she shouldn't mess up his hair.

"Well, the game is like this; we will each put out 1 hand and I'll sing a song. If it stops on one of your fingers, I'll ask you how many chewing gums you want. Let's say it stops one your thumb and you say you want 5 chewing gums then I'll count five and if it lands on anyone's finger, they can take out that finger until all of your fingers are out and you'll get treats as the prize, okay?"

She taught them how to play the game and they nodded.

"So let us start, sister."

Haris said enthusiastically. She smiled mischievously.
"Chewing gum, chewing gum. How many chewing gums do you want?"

She sang and it landed on Haris's middle finger.

"Four!"

So she counted four and it landed on farhan's thumb and that's how they played until a winner emerged, Haris.

As a prize she gave him two cookies but because farhan got jealous, she had to give him too. She also ate some and stored the rest.

They did all sorts of fun things and in the moment, Afni couldn't help feeling like a kid again. It was exhilarating and exciting but yet tiring too.

They read books and discussed them between their selves,  saying what lessons they learnt and tried coming up with their own stories.

Haris told a story about a scarecrow and a passerby which was really creative and imaginative, Farhan told a story of a little girl who grew up as a jewel thief and it was both humorous and serious for a child like him and Afni told them a story about a cat whose curiosity got it killed.

Afterwards they danced and sung traditional songs and played hide and seek and then played games again and then they prayed together.

When their nap time came rolling by, the days events has already taken its toll on them so Afni put them to sleep.

When they were sound asleep and softly snoring, she checked on baby hafsah who was sleeping like a rock and tiptoed out of the room.

She went to the kitchen to help her Ammi prepare the food. They baked pies, tarts and grilled chicken. Her mother prepared her special fish biryani with shrimp sauce.

She then made macaroni and cheese for when the kids wake up. Afni made smoothies and milkshakes of different flavors and as she was taking out her beef casserole and croissants, the door clicked open.

It was her father and his boss. She quickly wiped her hands on her flowery apron and set the dining table.

She heard voices coming from the living room and quickly ran back to the kitchen. She took off her apron and fixed her hijab as her Ammi went to greet her husband and his guest.

She arranged all the amazing mouthwatering dishes on the huge rectangular table then she went to the living room. She ducked her head down and entered.

"Assalamu alai-" she didn't get to finish as she looked up to meet the shock of her life.

They had suprising visitors and she wasn't expecting the guy she punched in the nose yesterday would be one. 

Several other huge men in black with sunglasses and stiff postures were all spread around the room. They were like thrice her size each and they looked pretty intimidating.

"You?"

The guy sneered at the same time as she said,

"It's you."

They glared at each other as her father cleared his throat awkwardly. She turned to him and smiled like nothing happened.

"I see you have already met my daughter, boss."

her father said and she looked around the room to see who he was talking to and that's when she came to a realization and her eyes widened at that.

She punched her father's boss in the face! The guy smirked at her whom she came to know was the one and only boss Almir Akhdan.

She swore she thought he was this old man but boy was she wrong. She shook her head and looked down.

"Yes, I have and must I say your daughter is remarkably.. interesting."

He said smirking smugly.

Her father looked between the two of them and stood there awkwardly.

"So, lets go eat, shall we?"

Her Abba finally said and led frigging Almir Akhdan to the dining room.

Ammi went with them as Afni went up to her room and two hours later, she was called downstairs by her Ammi to help her with something.

When she passed through the other door that connects with the kitchen so as to avoid the dining room, she heard something she didn't expect to hear anytime soon and definitely not from the mouth it came from.

"Your daughter is the solution to all your problems. She's the only one that can get you out of the mess you started and if you would allow her so that we could talk about it, it will save your job so as you wouldn't live on the streets after I relieve you of your job."

He told her father sternly in a business way and his voice changed and she swore she could sense a serious aura around his words and she knew that daughter was her.

She didn't wait to hear her father's reply as she rushed into the kitchen to attend to her mother who had called her impatiently.

She helped her with cleaning the kitchen and when they were done with that, she found that the so called boss left with his several bodyguards.

It turned out that those cars Afni and her cousins saw at the mosque belonged to him. All of them! How rich could the guy possibly be?!

She packed all the used utensils and the empty trays of food and washed the dishes.

Afni wiped the dining table and stored everything where it belonged before going upstairs.

The hijab clad girl laid on her bed and started thinking, thinking of the accusation against her father, the fact that they knew nothing of how to clear his name and what might happen to their family.

She went and checked on the kids and they were still asleep so she went back to her room. Scenarios were running through her head. She was so scared for her family's safety.

She didn't know what to do. Sure in a few months she'd be done with her studies and try to find a way to help her family but was that enough? Could it solve all their problems? The answer was no and she knew that all too well.

She was still thinking when she started to get drowsy and she didn't know when she fell asleep until she heard a knock on her door.

She stood up and put on her hijab which she had unknowingly taken off. She opened the door and rubbed her eyes. When she looked up she saw the silhouette of a person, a large person to be exact.

When she looked closely, guess who she saw! If it was Almir then you got it right. In all his glory, he was standing outside her door. She looked back at the wall clock above her bed and saw that it was midnight.

"What do you want?"

She asked coldly without even batting an eye.

"How did you even get into the house?"

He looked at her up and down, scrunitizing her closely then he sighed.

"Are you forgetting this is my property?"

He retorted gesturing around the house.

"Of course I have a key. And the reason why I'm here is because I want to talk to you about something important."

She was about to talk back but decided against it so she gestured for them to go outside in case she wanted to scream at him or rip some parts of his body but it was only as she stepped outside did she realize how reckless and dangerous it was for them to be alone outside, together!

She dismissed the thouht anyway and as soon as they were outside she demanded him to tell her what exactly it was that he was doing at her- no his house that late at night.

Suddenly he snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards gave him a script of sort.

He handed it to her to read and she reluctantly took it. She was very cautious about collecting it from him. Then she scanned the title which read 'the contract'.

She skimmed through 'the contract'  which stated some unbelievable and unimaginable things.

Some things like 'In order for Mr. Sultan Imran to keep his job as the head financial manager of the Akhdan interprises, the following rules and conditions must be met.'

So she looked up at him and he nodded signalling that she should continue reading then she looked back at the paper. There in bold letters rules and conditions were written.

--------------------
RULES AND CONDITIONS

1. The daughter of the above stated, miss Afni Imran must get married to Almir Akhdan, lawfully, legally and willingly.

2. As the wife of Mr. Akhdan, the above stated must treat and respect him like all wives are expected to e.g. to be subjected to his every commands and to not disobey in any way without reason.

3. All matters of this contract shall not be exposed to anyone apart from herself and Mr. Almir Akhdan.

4. A lastname change will be required for miss Afni Imran to fit her marriage status to Mr. Almir.

5.) Afni Imran and Almir Akhdan will only be married for a period of 12 months with no romantic feelings to be exchanged between them whatsoever.

6. If all rules are followed and the end of the agreement is met, then a sum of 1 million dollars shall be given to miss Afni Imran and ways shall be parted with no strings attached.

Note: if any of the above rules and regulations are broken, there will be severe consequences and the sum of 1 million will be paid to Almir Akhdan and Mr. Sultan Imran will be relieved of his job at the Akhdan interprises.

signature and date
Almir Akhdan 3/4/2018

signature and date
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That was what the contract read. She looked up and glared at him then gave him back the papers. She was really furious.

"I refuse to marry you! Which type of human being are you. How dare you do this to me."

She shouted at him very angry as his actions were truly devilish.

She punched him on the shoulder repeatedly until she got satisfied enough and he let her do it. He rubbed his shoulder and stared at her in bewilderment.

"I'm not doing anything to you. I'm merely offering you a chance to make things better for you and your family."

The way he said it was as if he had her whole world on the palm of his hand and he could choose what to do with it.

"And how is making me marry you going to do that?!"

Afni exclaimed, worried for the sanity of the man.

"Look, I have my reasons for asking you to marry me but all those are not your concerns. And as for your reason, my father is hell bent on cutting your father off. The only way he'd ever let it go is if my relationship with your father goes deeper than workers. I'm sure you wouldn't understand all that now-"

He paused to take a breath, all the while Afni was just looking at him, trying to put her thoughts in order.

"All I'm asking is that you marry me and I promise that your family would be safe under my care."

"But what if I cannot?"

She asked, almost about to break down but held herself up.

"Then I'd have no choice but to go through with my father's decision. If everything in life is give and take then surely you cannot expect this to be any different."

He said in a calm way then handed the contract back to her and a piece of paper with some digits on it.

"Call me if you have made your decision. You have just three days but keep in mind that your decision affects not just you alone, but your entire family."

He said it so coldly and his eyes were like steel that it made shivers run down her spine at the gravity of his words.

With that he walked away leaving her in the cold. She stood there in shock before finally going inside.

That night she could not sleep. She was too busy thinking about the contract which could ruin her family if she doesn't comply or save it if she does. Should she marry him or should she not?

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