"If you really were," he said again with a heavy sigh, then paused, his brow furrowing in contemplation. "Wait! Let's even entertain the notion that I'm naive enough to buy into your concocted tales of a blissful time with some mystery man you claim not to know, Jadu!" He retrieved his phone and navigated to Instagram, swiftly typing her sister's name and peering at her story.
"Who the hell is this?!" He erupted, his voice a thunderous roar as he loomed over her, causing Jadwa to instinctively shrink back against the door.
"He's Ya Ahmad's friend! Ya Imran" She shot back, her voice matching his intensity.
"That's why he's wining and dining you, while your sister flaunts it to the world?" His tone dripped with accusation.
Jadwa sighed, listening to his suspicions.
"I should have seen it the first day I laid eyes on you both at your brother's house! You were playing me, and I, the fool trusted you!" A bitter laugh escaped him.
"What are you insinuating, babe? If you'd only let me explain..." Her voice wavered, desperation creeping in.
"Do you have any idea the lengths I've gone to convince my family to accept you?" His frustration was palpable.
"Abdul," she began, but he rudely interjected.
"I should have known better! What a crafty deception to fabricate the story of an arranged marriage by year's end because of me! These images they've seen, they're not ours, are they?" He demanded, his eyes boring into hers, searching for any sign of deceit.
"Are they?!" His accusation reverberated through the room, leaving Jadwa reeling.
"Abdul, please..." Her voice trembled, tears threatening to spill.
"Yes! And I'm relieved I uncovered your deceit before falling victim to it. You sicken me, Jadu. I held you in high regard, but clearly, not all that glitters is gold."
"Fine, stand by your words, Abdul. May Allah grant you a woman more deserving than I if that's what you want. I'll talk to you later" she said not wanting to continue the fight.
"He did, and what did I do? I went against my family and her! For what? For you!" At this point, Jadwa was bewildered by his relentless onslaught, but Abdulhakeem persisted, his words a cruel lash.
"So, there was another woman?" Jadwa's heart sank at his words her eyes imploring him to retract his words. When he remained silent, she spoke again, desperation creeping into her tone. "Abdul, please, you can't..."
"Shut up, Jadu! I loved you, and all you did was manipulate and deceive me."
"Who is she—" She attempted to interject, but he forcefully swatted her hand away, cutting her off once again, his disbelief palpable.
Even the person she loved the most silenced her, refusing to believe her.
"Answer me! There is another woman, right?" She asked while he avoided the question again.
"I held you in high regard, Jadu, I truly..." His voice trailed off, but Jadwa couldn't bear to hear more, his silence to the question was enough answer, She cut him off this time.
"You're dead to me, Abdulhakeem."
Once he started screaming at her again, she unlocked the car door and went down shutting the door quietly.
Tears blurred Jadwa's eyes were red but she couldn't let them flow, the only thing on her mind was the mention of another girl but as soon as they flowed she cleaned it up aggressively and started walking home.
The eight minutes walk were the most heavy steps she had ever taken, every step drained and broke a part of her when she heard his engine roar and drive past her.
She was too angry, as soon as she reached her brother's house she went straight to the room and entered her blanket.
