"a lie always remains hidden by an invisible layer of truth - sarah."

"No , I don't like this one ."

Faaris pouted and shook his head .

Mahreen sighed , tapping her chin with her eyes clearly scrutinising the doll with extremity .

"Why so akhuya ? I think this dress is pretty ."

For about an hour now , Faaris has been playing dress up with Mahreen . Although she seemed to be unaware of his weariness , Faaris would occasionally receive suspicious glances from her.

"Don't you think we can try on that purple one right there ?"

Faaris pointed out a bright purple dress with a fitted skirt and a flary top .

Mahreen took a moment in analyzing and comparing the dress he had chosen over the one she had in her hand .

He smiled at how adorable the young lady was . Her brain always worked faster than any other child's . She had better skills at figuring out what was wrongly done or made . Whether it was a dress up game or a jigsaw puzzle , she knew it all .

"Not a bad idea !"

And then giving him an appreciative smile , she turned away to dress her doll up .

"And don't you look here ! It's bad manners Akhuya . Does the doll watch you undress ?"

Faaris pursed his lips and obediently shook his head .

"No boss ."

Satisfied with herself — still engrossed in undressing the doll on the other end — she nodded .

"Good ."

Just as Faaris had propped his chin on his hand boringly , the door was thrown open and Inaya marched in .

She stood at the doorway for a minute and when Mahreen looked at her imperatively , her otherwise teary face broke into a forced smile .

"Hi Mahreen ."

She ignored Faaris' baffled look and hurriedly joined Mahreen .

"Hi ."

Inaya bent down on her knees and watched as Mahreen put on a blue dress on the Barbie .

"Ooh , that dress is pretty ."

Mahreen smiled at her and continued to zip the dress in place .

"Akhuya Faaris loves it too ."

Inaya's smile dropped and almost instantly her eyes travelled to Faaris , who was waving at her . All she did was throw him a cold gaze and turn around .

Faaris frowned with worry . Something wasn't quite right .  Not only was her nose red and runny , but her eyes were puffy and her voice was hoarse .

"Habibti , can I take Akhuya Faaris with me for a while ?" She turned around to look at Faaris with a stone face . "He has forgotten to complete his homework ."

Mahreen looked confused .

"He has homework too ?"

Inaya nodded , smoothing Mahreen's hair .

"Yes baby . Unfortunately he doesn't deal well with them ."

Mahreen nodded a little hesitantly .

"Okay ."

Inaya got up and placed a kiss over her head .

"Thank you my love ."

While walking away from the little one , she barely turned to him and muttered a few words .

"In our room ."

Faaris was about to ask her what had happened but she had walked away .

Getting up from his seat , he placed a kiss over Mahreen's head and left her to herself .

Once he entered their room , shutting the door behind him , he observed her standing with her back to him .

"Inaya , what happened ? You — "

"Take my phone from the bed and read through the pages . Possibly you might recall what you've kept hidden from me ."

Her voice was so dull that a few hairs on his arms had risen .

He blinked in confusion , his eyes darting between her back and the phone on the bed .

Not able to understand the reason behind her upsetness , he held the phone in his palms .

First off , he recognised it as Hafsa's handwriting . What came after was almost akin to suffering a heart failure. 

Whatever held was almost equivalent to explicit matter to him . For all these years he and Mariam had worked hard in making sure to not let Hafsa let that out .

Not in his wildest dreams was he aware of Hafsa's journal habit . Conceivably , if he would have been aware of it , maybe he could talk her out of writing that one entry .

But he was actually bewildered .

They both were aware of the problems it could create if the occurrences slipped past Hafsa's mouth.

So to believe that Hafsa would've done it despite getting negative answers from them no matter how many times she pleaded was unlike her . He just wasn't set to believe that .

Once Faaris had finished through the whole excerpt , his now shaky hands dropped the phone down on the bed .

Following the revelation of his deep rooted secret , he felt air being sucked out of his lungs .

Despite all the challenges they overcame to hide the facts , it was only natural that he'd have to one day encounter them .

Sighing and massaging his temples to let the realization sink in , he proceeded towards her with a step and an arm out .

"Inaya.....— "

He had barely managed her name out with a Whisper . But she whirled around , facing him with a pang of hurt on her face and tears .

"Why Faaris ? Why would you do that ?"

Faaris opened his mouth to answer back , but the moment Inaya's hand went up with a sudden deathly expression , he pursed his lips close .

"Perhaps if you would've let the real truth out I wouldn't have treated you the way I did . Was it not hard for you to keep it from me ?"

Faaris hung his head low .

"Do you think I would have treated you in the same manner had I known the facts ? For all these years , I had considered you as a hostile human . Thinking that you were the only one who was the reason behind the ruin we had to suffer from . I felt terrible at times for being the way I was with you . But then I would recall all that had happened and the bitterness of hatred would coarse back in me ."

Faaris watched as tears streamed down her face .

"WHY FAARIS ? DIDN'T YOU KNOW OF MY NIGHTMARES ? WEREN'T YOU AWARE OF THOSE COUNTESS MEMORIES I RELIVED EVERY NIGHT ?"

Faaris took a cautious step but she raised a finger at him with coldness .

"Don't . Don't you dare come to me ."

"Inaya — "

"Now how do you suppose I can forgive myself for how I was to you ?"

Her voice raised and she advanced closer to him . He didn't attempt to even look her in the eyes .

She took ahold his of his collars and shook him all with her might .

He was well aware of the pain she was beating . None could associate with the feeling of treating someone harshly only to come to the realization that they hardly deserved it .

As she kept jerking him violently , he shut his eyes close and fisted his palms to the extreme that he could sort of feel his nails digging into the skin .

"Faaris , why ?!"

When Inaya stopped , letting go of his collars and slipping down to the ground , crying loudly , Faaris cringed sickeningly .

For a few minutes she sobbed right by his legs , but he couldn't find himself worthy of having to touch or even caste his eyes over her .

Just like that , without even giving her an idea of his departure , he limply managed to turn around . Without any more resistance to the scene he had witnessed , tears dropped across his cheeks .

He shouldn't have done that . It was very wrong of him to have kept her in the dark .

It took him longer than a few minutes to recompose enough to walk out the door without attracting unnecessary attention . Mariam and Mahreen both were at home and it would be a miracle enough in itself if they had not heard anything .

With his arms hung limply by his side , he dragged his feet to towards the door . Unable to bear the pain he had inflicted upon the love of his life , he solemnly started out for the exit. 

"Where the heck do you think you're going ?"

Inaya's whisper startled him for a minute and instantly wiping his tears , he cautiously turned about .

"I — "

She caught him off guard by sniffing and struggling to her feet . Faaris couldn't keep his breath in as she drew closer to him and brought a hand to his cheek .

While rubbing away the teary residues she would look into his eyes . Silently it went on , until tears started making their way into her eyes .

At first , she didn't say anything but cried softly . Her hands lay upon his chest as she sobbed with her head hung down . Faaris could feel her tears drop by onto his shirt and his palms and the effect they pulled off on him were worser than what a fire would .

He could declare that — no matter how hurt she was — those tears were his weakness . Nothing in the world could break his confidence and courage except for the tears of his wife .

It took her another few seconds before Inaya quitened relatively . After clutching onto his shirt one last time she let go and moved backwards .

Faaris helplessly flickered his gaze back and forth between Inaya and the ground behind her .

She bit her bloodied lips and under his scrutinizing gaze — in a second — fell to the ground , instantly joining her hands together and meeting his eyes .

"I can only beg for your forgiveness now . For all the misery you had to suffer from . For all the months and years you had to keep your mouth shut and bear my insolent behaviour . For all the times you've smiled and never received the same reaction from me . For all the moments your heart broke yet you so breathtakingly smiled . Just because you loved me . I don't deserve you dear husband ."

Faaris gasped aloud and reached forward to shake her by her arms .

"Are you in your right mind ?"

He shouted and pulled her to her feet , peering intently into her eyes . She stood lethargically , just by her balance .

"Inaya , look at me ."

She kept weeping ; distractedly and wildly keeping her eyes on anything but him .

"Inaya ."

He murmured , tilting her chin up and forcing her to look in her eyes .

"I love you . And incase you didn't know hayaati , love has never been easy and simple . What I have been doing uptil now was to prove my love for you . Don't you think if I wouldn't be the way I was ,  we would probably have long seperated ."

Inaya sniffled nonstop , with Faaris moving the pad of her thumbs across her cheeks to consume her tears .

She just wasn't stopping . At this rate — even though she already looked ghastly pale — it wouldn't be long before she collapsed with overexhaustion .

"F...aa.. ris....— "

"No you're not apologising !"

He held a finger and shook his head like a teacher scolding his student. 

She innocently gazed into his eyes for the first time in a while , and in them he noticed something new and fresh. 

"Faaris , tell me what can I do to correct things and make it upto you ?"

Faaris scrunched his face . He had been trying to come up with funny faces to calm her down . But all he could find on her face was stressful anticipation .

"Inaya , can I have a hug ?"

She released a breath and slapped his arm .

"No ! I meant is there anything more serious that I can do ?"

He nodded thoughtfully as he rubbed his jaw . All the while she followed his moves closely and before she could grasp anything , he pulled her with a jerk and enveloped her .

"This is all I want from you . Would it be possible for you to let me hold you in my arms forever ? If that is permissible , I'd not change it for anything at all ."

As he patted her fragile back and the feeling of holding her in his arms overwhelmingly weakened his knees , he attempted to stand strong and relish the feeling .

A few minutes passed by — or perhaps a certain amount of appreciable time — and it only made it more exceptional for him to have time and the world stop as a token of their love .

"Faaris ?"

She prettily — though her voice was hoarse — mumbled into his shirt and the breath that tickled his chest made his lips turn into a lopsided grin .

"Hmm ?"

"Are you crying ?"

His lips widened with a huge grin and he nodded vigorously .

"Let me cry just this once ."

He tightened his hold and nuzzled his head into her neck , although he was not ignorant of her shuddering .

"Why ? You didn't do anything wrong ?"

He shook his head softly .

"Because I did everything wrong by not letting you know about it ."

Inaya began to shiver in his grasp more than he had been enduring so he released her .

Once he did that , she didn't move away but stepped only far enough to stand face to face with him .

After looking at him for a continuous five minutes unblinkingly , he gave her a small smile despite the tears that fell .

"What is it ? Why're you staring ?"

She shrugged and dropped her gaze to the floor .

"Crying doesn't look good on you ."

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist , resting his head over her temple .

"Can I wipe them away ?"

He raised his brows at the sudden demand . Once he understood that there was a faint blush emphasizing her teary cheeks .

"Do me the honour Princess ."

She smiled ; the most magnificent and heavenly one . Where her eyes twinkled blindingly . Her lips looked like the soft petals of lotus that bloomed against the harsh environment . Her face glowing brighter than the sun .

"I love you husband ."

She leaned across his face and ever so gently laid a kiss over his lips as his eyes open further and it seemed like he couldn't breathe .

Hafsa lazily walked down the hallway to Samantha's room . She had been searching for her journal since the morning and when she didn't find any trace of it in her room , it only sounded fair that she check for it in the whole house .

"Sam , did you — "

She stopped speaking as her gaze fell over Samantha who was sprawled over the floor .

"Oh My God ! What's wrong ?"

Hafsa jumped over to where Samantha was and as her eyes fell over the journal she had been clutching , Hafsa happily pointed at it .

"Hey that's my journal . I'm glad it was here ."

And just like that Hafsa's eyes narrowed curiously .

"Wait a minute ! What's it doing in your hands ?"

Just as the words splurred out of her mouth , Samantha broke into loud sobs .

"Oh my god , what is it ?"

She fell down beside Samantha , who kept shaking her head .

"I....read your journal ."

Hafsa's jaw fell and she further adjusted on the ground .

If course it was devastating that someone went through the lines of her mind that had been thrusted into that book . However , she didn't think it was worth Sam's cries .

"Sam , it's alright . I was just a little stunned — "

She nervously laughed and when Samantha's cries only turned louder , she moved closer and pulled her in her arms .

"Hey , calm down . I'm alright okay. "

Samantha kept shaking her head wildly .

A few minutes later , she moved away and let Samantha speak up .

"I.....read the part where you....you wrote about Faaris ."

She stuttered .

"Okaaay ? But don't worry about it . Somehow even Sarah went through that part . I guess you guys were destined to read it ."

Samantha's lips quivered and she began again , slower than before .

"But I sent those pages to Inaya ."

Hafsa's eyes shot open .

"YOU WHAT ?!"

Her voice came out more panicky than she had expected . That entry held some rather disturbing events that could — most possibly — awaken rude problems between the husband and wife .

She did agree with Sarah to make Inaya read it but she had come up with the decision of letting her go through it personally , under her cautious surveillance.

"Sam , why......ya Allah !"

She clambered to her feet as her hands began to softly shake with the fear of the unknown . Clutching her scarf , she walked in a frenzy muttering words of wisdom and trying to keep herself composed .

Samantha got to her feet a moment later and looked at Hafsa pleasingly .

"Hafsa , I'm so so sorry . I didn't intend to do anything of that sort . Your bookmark lay across that part and once I read the first sentence I couldn't holdback . When certain truths became clearer to me , I...... just went with my instinct to let Inaya know about it ."

Hafsa sighed , holding her palm against the forehead . Samantha did the right thing . Maybe if not , she would not ever have the courage to deal with it on her own .

What was now making her heart pound was how to deal with it . They both probably might be tearing apart the apartment with their screams and shouts .

And to think that she had promised to never let the truth out .

"Urgh !"

She groaned and pulled at her hair .

Samantha looked at her sympathetically , her eyes with more tears .

"I'm sorry ."

Hafsa gulped and turned to her .

"Sam , really . It's okay . It was to happen anyway . I think whatever happened was for the best , however I'm worried about how they must be holding the shocking revelation ."

Sam ducked her head low .

"It's all my fault ."

Hafsa rolled her eyes and whirled around .

"Sam cut it out please . Perhaps you could be a little more understanding and help me figure out what to do now ."

Sam instantly looked energetic as she jolted in her place.

"Maybe — " she paused to sniff ,"— you could try calling either one of them . I think that'll be the best way to start off ."

Hafsa looked at her with a sad face .

"What if Faaris or mama threaten to kill me ?"

Sam grimaced ; holding up a hand .

"They wouldn't..... probably ."

She added , watching Hafsa throw an intense glare at her .

Sam cleared her throat and nodded with determination .

"We don't have another choice ."

Hafsa groaned and threw herself on the bed .

"Should I actually do that ?"

Sam nodded earnestly , shooting her a thumbs up .

"Let's hope for the best ."

Hafsa started to take in quicker breaths while Sam motivated her to take the challenge . It was as if , a student was about to start off with their match and the teacher was doing everything in her power to help the athlete boost in their confidence.

Hafsa drew in a long breath , dialled Faaris number since she was aware of how bad of a news her sister would be and began swinging back and forth in her seat .

A few rings later , a soft voice greeted her.

"Assalaamualaikum ."

Hafsa stiffened . Upon Sam's nudging , she quickly tightened her grip on the phone and licked her lips .

"Walaikumusslaaam Faaris ."

"What is it ?"

His snappy voice hurt like deeply . That one sentence made tears well up in her eyes .

"Faaris , I'm sorry . I'm extremely sorry . You have to trust me on this but I didn't intend on sending that to Inaya ." She paused to look at Sam who was apologetically gazing at her.

"I didn't.....it was a mistake from my part . I'm extremely sorry ."

There was absolute silence from the other end .

A few seconds passed and someone cleared their throat on the other end .

"Young lady , you're about to be punished for keeping this from me !"

Hafsa's eyes happily gazed at Sam as she sat up properly .

"In... Inaya ?"

"Yup , but you're in for some trouble . I can't believe you , YOU , out of all the people had listened to this idiot here ." She stopped as Faaris started shouting words of accusation at her.

Hafsa chucked , as Sam drew closer and wrapped an arm around her .

"I didn't mean to . I'm sorry ."

She hummed .

"Well , that still isn't enough . We both have decided to arrange for you a pretty unique punishment ."

Hafsa sadly nodded .

"Yes , I understand . But are you both okay ?"

"Pretty much . I love you Habibti ."

Hafsa smiled , a few tears of joy collecting in her eyes .

"I love you more . I have always wanted to tell that to you , but Faaris and mama decided against it . They made me promise them to not let it out to you ."

"Then what made you send those to me through Samantha's phone ?"

Hafsa winked at Sam , her lips cracking into a small smile .

"It's a long story . One day ,who knows you'd find that from my journal again ."

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤ .

this is legit my favourite chapter .

Did you all like it ?

Jazak'ALLAHU QAIRAN KATHEERAN for all the endless love and support . Now that these revelations are out of the way , I can happily focus on Sulaaymaan and Afra .

❤❤❤ .

Love you all so so much .

Take care and always stay safe .

Much much love ,
Me ;) »