They Will Have To Get Married
Ahmed couldn’t contain his anger. It was obvious that everything that had happened was planned by Aisha and her mother. The insistence on trying to marry him to that woman was driving him crazy.
“Don’t you remember what happened?” Aisha asked.
“No, and don’t even try to tell me that something happened between us because I know nothing has.”
This time, whatever they had given him made him fall into a deep sleep. He knew his body well enough to be certain that nothing had happened with Aracha.
“Get out of here immediately! I won’t respond for my actions, and I’ll expose you before the Tribunal. You know what awaits you for getting into a married man’s bed.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Of course, I would. If you don’t believe it, put me to the test.”
Aracha left the room, furious. In the hallway, she encountered Arkham, who had observed her leaving his brother’s room.
“Hello, little dove. I see you had fun with my brother,” Arkham teased.
“What we planned with your mother didn’t work. Ahmed fell into a deep sleep.”
“Hahaha, so you couldn’t even make my brother notice you with substances.”
“Shut up, you idiot. Don’t make fun of me. I planned to make him believe I got pregnant with his child, but how the hell can I do that if I’m still a virgin?”
“That can be easily solved,” Arkham said.
He approached her and kissed her passionately. Arkham was an attractive man, and Aracha couldn’t deny being somewhat drawn to him, despite what she had told Basima. They entered his room, and she hoped to get pregnant to tell Ahmed it was his child.
Unlike Ahmed, Arkham lacked consideration and treated the girl roughly, but she endured it to trap the man she had always loved. However, she hadn’t counted on Amira arriving at the palace at that very moment.
Seeing that Ahmed hadn’t come back to sleep, she went to look for him and witnessed the couple kissing and entering Arkham’s room. Ahmed came out of the room at that moment, and Aracha tried to excuse her behavior, but it was obvious she couldn’t. Ahmed approached and took the stained sheet, showing it to his mother and some witnesses he had called, including Amira.
Basima tried to stop him but failed. Ahmed opened Arkham’s room, finding the couple in bed, clearly caught in the act. His mother was outraged, but the situation had happened with Arkham, not Ahmed. Aracha covered herself with the sheet, trying to explain, but it was evident that she couldn’t.
Ahmed approached her and showed the stained sheet to his mother while his brother stood aside. After all, if they forced him to marry Aracha, he was fine with it; his family had a lot of power and could help him in his plans to take power from Ahmed.
“Since you like to observe stained sheets so much, here’s one for you to exhibit. I’ll tell you one thing: there are several witnesses here of what happened last night. I know you planned it, and right now, I’ll take a test to find out what substance was given to me. When I return from the island, I want the engagement between Aracha and my brother to be announced. If not, I’ll present the evidence to the Tribunal, and believe me, I’m not joking. Here’s the proof that I didn’t touch her.”
Enraged, Ahmed left. Before his mother could say anything, Basima approached Aracha and slapped her hard.
“What the hell were you thinking? You’re a stupid girl; you’ve ruined everything.”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
“I just wanted…”
“You didn’t want anything. Now you’ll marry Arkham or face punishment when Ahmed tells the Tribunal what happened. So, you decide.”
Basima left the place extremely annoyed. It was true that she wanted Aracha to become her daughter-in-law, but the girl had chosen the wrong son. Meanwhile, in Arkham’s room, he observed with amusement as Aracha cried inconsolably.
Ahmed headed to the hangar to catch the flight that would take him to the island. He needed to stop being so trusting; his position demanded that he didn’t trust even his own shadow. Before boarding the plane, Zafir approached him with a small golden box, and Ahmed smiled as he received it.
“Zafir, I want you to keep a close eye on all my mother and brother’s movements,” Ahmed instructed.
“I’ll do just that, sir.”
He arrived on the island in the afternoon. He hadn’t been able to communicate with Aisha, and that worried him. He headed to Malak’s house, but he didn’t find anyone there, making him even more concerned. As he was about to get back in the jeep, he saw them walking back from the beach, looking very animated.
Aisha ran towards him as she noticed him, still wearing her diving suit, which made Ahmed smile as he realized what they had been doing.
“Darling, you’ve returned!”
“I’ll be leaving more often,” he said, smiling, and lifting her in his arms.
“Why do you say that?” she asked, puzzled.
“It’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
Aisha blushed; she had missed him so much and hadn’t expected to feel so empty when he wasn’t by her side.
“I couldn’t sleep; the nightmares returned. I don’t understand why when I already know it was you,” Ahmed said.
“Have you been diving?”
“Yes, it was incredible. Malak and her parents taught me.”
Ahmed approached the family to express his gratitude. They got into the jeep to return to the villa.
“I need to talk to you; something has happened,” Ahmed said.
“What happened?”
Ahmed told her everything that had happened with Ibrahim and his sisters, and with Aracha and his mother.
“I can’t believe what they’ve done to force you.”
“Well, it turned out in my favor. I’ll finally be able to get rid of that woman, and my mother will leave me alone.”
“I’m telling you one thing; I won’t let your mother make my life a living hell.”
“I won’t allow it either. We’ll have to be careful with Aracha. When she marries Arkham, she’ll probably live in the palace with my mother. I hope that won’t be the case, but it’s what she has always wanted. She’ll be close to us, and she might try to harm you.”
“I can take care of myself, and Amira is on my side. She knows them well.”
“Then tell me, did you really miss me?”
She answered with a flirtatious smile. They had already arrived at the villa. Ahmed helped her out of the jeep, and they headed towards the bedroom.
“You know, when I woke up, for a brief moment, I doubted if I had been unfaithful to you. But when I realized I hadn’t, I felt relieved. It’s something I couldn’t forgive myself for.”
“It wouldn’t have been your fault.”
“Even so, I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”
Ahmed’s words melted Aisha’s heart. She had never met another man as romantic as him. She thought that maybe such a man didn’t exist; he had to be the only one on the planet. She smiled, thinking about that.
“Is something funny, Mrs. Assad?”
“Hmm, ‘Mrs. Assad’ sounds very good, too good, I’d say.”
Ahmed laughed heartily. Then he approached her from behind and placed something around her neck. Aisha looked at herself in the mirror and was amazed. It was a fine gold chain with a pendant that had their initials intertwined-an ‘M’ and an ‘A.’
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“It’s your birthday present. I owed it to you.”
From the small golden box, he took out another identical chain and asked her to put it on.
“This chain is now the symbol of our love.”
“Why the ‘M’ and not the ‘A’?”
“Because I met you when you were ‘Mía,’ even though you had to change your name.”
She moved closer to kiss him. Falling in love with this man was proving to be so effortless. When she first saw him at the church, she never thought all of this would happen. She had thought she had to resign herself to being the wife of a man she couldn’t stand.
They surrendered to each other again, without reservations. They understood the language of their bodies perfectly and knew what each needed to feel satisfied.
In New York, Cambell was on his way to the clinic with Thara. Emma had gone into labor and was crying out for him to be there. When they arrived, Thara waited outside the delivery room while Cambell changed into appropriate attire. He approached the hysterical Emma, who was lying on a bed.
“Damn you, Cambell. It’s not fair, it’s not fair.”
“Calm down, it’ll be over soon.”
“It’s not fair that you enjoyed it just as much as I did, yet only I have to suffer through this. It’s not fair.”
Emma gripped Cambell’s arm tightly, digging her long nails deep into his skin. He closed his eyes, trying not to show any pain.
“I should grip another part of your body; then I’d be sure you won’t cause another woman pain.”
Cambell tensed at the mere idea of that. After Emma pushed a few more times, and Cambell nearly lost his arm, the cries of a baby were heard. Cambell approached the baby and realized he looked exactly like him, with his blond hair. The baby opened his eyes a little while crying, and Cambell saw that the color of his eyes matched his own.
He felt so happy and proud to be the father of such a beautiful baby boy. The doctor asked him to cut the umbilical cord, and a nurse recorded the moment. Then the doctor tried to place the baby on Emma’s belly, but she rudely rejected him.
“Take him away from my sight. I don’t want to see him.”
Cambell clenched his fists. What kind of mother did that?