"along the lines of her hatred, did his heart find true love- faaris."

Gabriel may not have much knowledge on the Islamic way of conducting marriages and the formal rituals .

But the moment he heard about Afra's Nikaah , he had started to feel some sort of natural denial .

Though he wasn't sure of what he felt about Afra's sudden decision . She was a good and kind person and even though he loved to tease and mock her to death , he still was fond of her .

As he skipped down the stairs , holding a laundry basket in his hands , he found Hafsa standing by a side .

Probably waiting for him to pass .

"Hi ."

He stopped a few steps away from her and greeted her .

It had been a long time since they talked . Much even looked at each other .

"Hello ."

She kept her head low and once he had turned around , he could hear her quick steps fading away .

Perhaps true love meant having patience and the ability to bargain with sacrifice .

Whether Hafsa truly did like him or if it was only a mutual liking he couldn't say .

But if she didn't , then he would just not bother her at all .

After all , it was her happiness that mattered the most to him now .

Setting down the basket in the laundry room , he rested against a wall and reached out into his pocket .

His fingers caressed the softness of a small cubic box . He pulled it out and placed it on his palm .

It took him a few seconds to not get clouded over with sadness and just stay positive with hope .

When he pulled open the lid , a bright diamond ring shone back at him .

He smiled ; reliving the memories of falling for her strength and workmanship .

He had been contemplating on heading to Hafsa's house to talk to them about her proposal .

Upon hearing some noise , he quickly pocketed the box and hurriedly walked out of the room .

As Afra's Marriage was approaching , he reasoned it would be more respectable to meet Hafsa's mother who'd be coming over too .

Perhaps he could be lucky that day .

"Hey man ! What's up ?"

Derek held a hand up with an enthusiastic smile .

"Nothing much ."

Gabriel looked at him with peculiarity . Derek seemed to have on a goofy grin and he kept bouncing up and down on his feet .

"What's with you ?"

Derek shrugged , the smile widening .

"Kind of looking forward ."

Gabriel frowned .

"To Afra's marriage ?"

Derek hummed a no .

"Then to what ?"

Derek tiptoed closer and whispered .

"To you proposing to Hafsa ?"

Gabriel's face clouded over and he pushed a laughing Derek away .

"Go away !"

Derek bent to support himself on his knees , attempting to control his laugh.

"Gabriel , seriously ? Why would you blush like that ?"

Gabriel abruptly turned on his feet and started to stomp away . Out of all the people who could see him it was this idiot .

"Hey man ! I was kidding . You weren't blushing ."

Derek tossed his arm over Derek's shoulders and gave him a playful grin .

"It's not funny though ."

Derek stopped , giving him a serious look .

"Honestly though , you like Hafsa ?"

Gabriel didn't bother replying . Lowering his head , he thrusted his hands into his pockets and matched along .

"Yeah , I do ."

Derek clambered to his side , looking at him briefly .

"How did it all start ?"

Gabriel smiled , the few memories he shared with Hafsa enlightening his mind joyously .

"It wasn't a out of the ordinary meeting . She just struck to me as respectable and strong . Innocent and simple . I guess that just ticked me off ."

Derek smiled ; not the usual that he sported . But rather , the one that was mature and sincere .

"What about you though ? I am aware of your feelings for Sarah ."

Gabriel questioned , watching Derek's face sadden a little .

"When ma was unwell and was spending the last of her days in the hospital , I was careless . Irresponsible . Bad . And notorious ."

Gabriel puckered .

"You were a bad boy ?"

Derek chuckled , kicking an invisible pebble to contain his embarrassment in .

"I guess you could say that ."

"But you don't look like one ."

Derek awkwardly scratched his neck .

"That's because you haven't seen my actually side . Which I haven't been like in a while ."

Gabriel stared hard at him , not believing his words .

"I refuse to believe ."

Derek broke into delighted giggles , unaware of his own discomfort . Talking about it all , wasn't as easy as he had provisioned .

Gabriel nodded , watching his steps intently as they walked leisurely .

"Ma constantly reminded me of what she'd want to see me as . She kept lecturing me — despite being in horrible pain — that it was better to be good now than regret later ."

Gabriel shot him a pitiful smile .

"She was true there ."

Derek nodded in response .

"But I swear , I haven't been the way I am right now . Somehow Sarah encourages me to be better than who I am . She — just like ma — knows how to deal with me . I do understand that we have barely managed to look at each other , but her eyes speak all that is needed to be heard or told ."

Gabriel turned to face him completely , a mocking smile on his face .

"So you like my sister ?"

Derek shrugged , trying to back out as heroically as possible from his mocking gaze .

"Those are your words you know ?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes .

"That's what you implied Derek ."

"Did not ."

"Did so ."

Derek heaved a sigh and crossed his arms , shooting intense looks at Gabriel .

"If you go any further with that accusation , I might tell Hafsa about the ring ."

Derek coolly eyed his nails and rubbed them against his clothing when Gabriel's face paled .

"You wouldn't dare do that ."

Derek threw his head back and laughed .

"You don't know how daring I could get ."

Gabriel examined his expressions for a minute before shrugging and flickering his gaze away .

"Well , I won't have anything to loose since I'll tell Sarah all of what you just confessed to me ."

Derek reacted instantly and joined his palms together in front of Gabriel .

"Woah , bro , I was kidding there !"

Gabriel's brows furrowed .

"Don't you kid around a little too much ."

Derek smiled cheesily .

"Ain't I the cutest in that case ?"

Gabriel grimaced .

"You are odd ."

And without sparing him another glance , Gabriel shook his head and began to walk away .

"Hey , can I be your girlfriend ?"

Derek shouted behind Gabriel's retreating figure .

"Shut up !"

Derek broke into loud laughter .

"But I love you so much ."

Gabriel shouted back , abruptly swinging around to glare at him .

"I'm not letting Sarah around you ."

Derek stifled back his intense laughter by cupping his hands to his mouth until Gabriel disappeared into the kitchen and it seemed safe enough to laugh hysterically .

Inaya was a little taken aback at how Samantha had sounded . In all of her time that she spent with her , she never did seem as bothered as she came off a few hours back .

Infact , her bubbly character and sarcastic personality were known to never fluctuate .

What had happened Inaya didn't know , but she sure could say that things were unfavourable enough to have her sound jittery and overwrought .

Just as she had tied her hair in a loose plait , her phone vibrated .

She instantly reached out for it and typed in the password . Once it unlocked , about twelve notifications from Samantha popped into her panel .

Curious about what it beheld , she clicked over the chat box and scrolled through the photos to get an idea .

When they came off as a diary entry , she scrolled upwards to go through Samantha's messages .

Hey girl ! I'm truly sorry if this offends even you or Hafsa . However , once I went through it , I just couldn't sit by and let the misunderstanding keep growing . You guys can punish me once it makes sense to you .

But I know I made the right choice . Hafsa wouldn't let this slide though ;) .

Inaya frowned .

Why was she referring to Hafsa ? Whatever the case , those pictures were giving her a bad feeling .

After clicking on the first image , she rubbed her palms together and kept muttering under her breath that everything was okay .

Page one held what paralyzed her for a few minutes .

Hafsa's handwriting .

This is why Samantha was worried that Hafsa might strangle her . It was Hafsa's diary entry dated to about a year back . If Hafsa found out about this , she might probably boil with anger .

She read the first page , skimming through each word carefully . As time passed by and the painful truth that had laid buried perfectly aligned in the words written down , Inaya's heart wrenched with disgust .

As each area of the paragraphs unfolded what had been hidden by clever amateurs , Inaya's eyes welled with the tears of penitence and remorse .

What had seemed like a load of dispute took no longer than a few seconds to evaporate like a wisp of air .

Inaya reread the pages over and over again to memorize and relive the moments in her head . To have been given the freedom of expression and right , she was obliged . But to have destroyed someone else's few years by disapproving of their rights , made her cry out in shame .

Her mother — for the first ever time — was so wrong .

She wanted her daughter to not be given the details which was sort of understandable from her point of view . But she didn't probably even think once about Faaris , who was too sincere , true and real in his behaviour . She didn't once bother to worry about a man who would be bearing the incessant and illogical attitude of her daughter. 

She fell face down on a pillow and sobbed hard — heavily — letting out the pain that had along the course of time made her normally soft heart into a stone that held nothing like humanity .

She cried , for she hated herself now . She couldn't understand how blind she had become to not once just even consider having to confront Faaris .

She sobbed , reliving those days of misery and rudeness . When she'd throw incessant remarks and watch Faaris' face cloud over with darkness but would not care .

She weeped , as she recounted the days when he would have suffered from his portion of nightmares and sleeplessness . How he must have dealt with the remorse of not having been able to save Daanish as he died right under his gaze .

Yet — despite the impudent remarks and audacious blames — Faaris had continued to smile at her with his scars and love her with his tears .

And what had she given to him ?

The question — though not very impactful — had still managed to make her burst out into a fresh set of tears .

After what seemed like an hour , she jolted up determined in her decision .

It was time that Faaris spoke his own story and release the pain he held in for years .

It was time for him to show how much of a man he was .

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤ .

What's up loves ?

I hope you're all enjoying the story so far . Dark things are to follow up but before that I needed to ask you all if you're having fun with the more faster updates ?

I sincerely hope this book is worth your time . ❤❤❤ .

I love you all so so so so much . Words can't describe my feelings for you all .

Take care and stay safe .

Me ;) »