Damian shakes this man's hand, "You haven't made any contact with me either, I can't get all the blame."

"Forget about that, mate. I see you scooped up yourself a beautiful bride." He turns his attention towards Sahara, "Hello, my name's Imran Colombo, I have it that you already met my mother."

"Hi, you're Mrs. Angela's Colombo's son? But your name-"

He cut her off, knowing what she was going to say, "I'm adopted, originally from Pakistan but raised in this beautiful British country. Mum and Dad let me keep my name."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to pry, I just got curious and accidentally asked. I'm really sorry."

Imran laughs, a quite deep but heartfelt laugh, "You're absolutely adorable. Does she always apologize for silly things?"

"She's a mess." is all what Damian said.

Sahara couldn't help but notice Imran's strong features such as his hazel eyes, strong jaw, and beautifully slicked hair. Sahara, stop! You're married! She scolds herself in her head.

"A mess?" Imran snakes his head, "Na shukarguzaar banda (Urdu: "Ungrateful person")."

Sahara quietly laughs and then suddenly her eyes widen, "you speak Urdu?"

"Yes, mum made sure we knew our original language so we'd be able to connect back with our culture."

"Our? Who else–"

"Damian! Dude!"

Sahara turns her head to see a young looking man. But his features are also mesmerizing as heck. He a has long, pale face with a tight jaw. His eyes are the colour of the ocean on a sunny day, whereas his lips look as soft as the clouds that are in the sky on a foggy day. He's attractive, there's no denying that. Is this family just full of attractive people... Sahara asks herself.

"Holy shit, Damian. You hit jackpot with your wife. Mum was telling us she's beautiful but, bloody hell, she's gorgeous." He's very outspoken. "Hi, my name's Carlos."

Sahara, at this point, is blushing uncontrollably.

Imran points at Carlos, "meet my brother, who's also adopted like me, as I was about to mention."

"Jeez, do you go around telling people we're adopted?" Carlos jokingly says.

"I'm so sorry, it wasn't his fault. I started asking and he was polite enough to tell me. I'm sorry." Sahara apologizes.

Carlos and Imran look at each other and start laughing, "She's adorable! We were joking. It's nothing serious, stop stressing yourself over it."

Damian snakes his arm around Sahara's waist, surprising her with his touch, "All of you seem to be more interested in my wife, than in me." Emphasizing the word wife.

"Oooo, someone's getting a little jealous." Carlos teases.

Imran jokingly inserts, "If he's ever a dick to you, I'll take you away for myself in a heartbeat."

Sahara smiles sadly him, wishing she could run away from this destroyed marriage. Imran notices the gleam of sadness in Sahara's eyes, but doesn't say anything.

For half an hour, Damian has been introducing her to his business colleagues and all she wants to do is sit down in the corner of the room, away from everyone. She's been trying to find Ana and Jen but she couldn't spot them anywhere.

Finally, Damian excuses himself and Sahara from the group of people. "I'm going to go meet a few others, don't talk to anyone without my presence."

Sahara nods and he leaves. She finds a seat in the corner of the room, away from the crowd. She was about to text Ria, who's been busy studying for her entrance exam for med school for the past few months.

She suddenly hears someone pull out a seat and looks up to see Viktor. She's been avoiding him for the past month because of what happened.

She gave him a smile, knowing it wasn't his fault. He's been friends with Damian longer than he's known her, obviously his first instinct would be to protect his best friend. Sahara didn't hold silly grudges.

"Hi, Mr. Petr– I mean Viktor. How are you?" Sahara asks to Viktor's surprise

"Hi? Come on, Sahara. Don't you think I've noticed you avoiding me. I've come to apologize for–"

"No, it's okay. You only did what you did to protect you best friend."

"No, it was absolutely shitty of me to do such a thing. I wanted to tell you the truth but I didn't want you to feel hurt." His deep brown eyes, sparkling in search of Sahara's bitterness towards him but shockingly, all he saw is sadness.

Sahara slightly drifts off into thought, not picking out her next few sentences consciously, "I don't have the right to feel hurt in this relationship. He's made it clear I'm nothing to him and he probably wants to get rid of me quickly. I tried, I tried, and I tried, I can't get him to even like me."

Not expecting everything she's just said, Viktor sat there in silence. He didn't know Damian was causing her so much pain that she sounds almost broken. Yet, there's no bitterness or hateful tone in her voice towards Damian. She's so strong willed, there has to be something he can do.

Sahara snapping back to reality, "I'm so sorry! I have no clue what I just told you. I didn't mean any of it. I–"

He gives her a genuine smile, "You don't have to worry. Not a single word of this conversation will be said to Damian." And he nods. For some reason, Sahara fully trusts Viktor with this.

Their conversation was cut short when Imran and Carlos came and sat down at their table.

They start talking and few minutes in, Imran asks the most blunt question, "Does Damian make you happy?"

The table goes quiet, Carlos laughs awkwardly, "Why are you asking such a silly question? Of course he makes her happy or else they wouldn't have married each other."

Sahara could feel Viktor's concerning eyes on her, begging her to not reveal anything. She abides and tries to flash her most sincere smile, Allah, please forgive me for lying, "Carlos is right. I wouldn't be in this marriage if he didn't make me happy. I love him."

The last three words came out a bit too naturally, shocking, not only Viktor, but herself as well because it almost sounded like she meant it.

Carlos clears the air by clearing his voice, "Ahem, stop trying to create imaginary problems, Imran!"

Imran didn't blink, he keeps studying Sahara as if she's hiding a world within herself. Sahara starts squirming under the pressure of his gaze.

Suddenly, the DJ announces a change in the music theme and turns on Lady In Red by Chris De Burgh.

Viktor interrupts, "This is literally the best song to slow dance to. Let me call Damian so he could take you away." He winks.

"Let me have the first dance." Imran's comment shocks everyone at the table.

"I don't think that's a good–" Imran cuts off Viktor.

"Damian won't mind. It's not as if I'm stealing her from him. Just a dance with the new sister-in-law." Before Sahara could even assert her own opinion, she's swept away to the middle of the ballroom.

"This isn't right. You aren't my husband. I can't..."

"Shh, pretend you're dancing with a brother. I mean no harm, I promise."

Ya Allah, why am I about to do this... but then again, Damian wouldn't give two sh–

Her thoughts interrupted by his hands on her waist, making her gasp quietly. No, no, no, this is haram (Arabic: Forbidden) but how do I end this without sounding rude?

She looks up at him to excuse herself but his wide grin almost melts her on spot. His smile so warm compared to Damian cold exterior. His eyes inviting her into his mind unlike Damian's ivy blue's constantly pushing her away. Her inner-self was craving for someone to look at her like Imran is looking at her right now, with happiness and affection. His grasp on her waist becomes firmer, as he slowly pulls her closer.

"This song sounds as beautiful as you look today." Imran's voice as soothing as the sound of rain against the window pane.

Sahara's breathing coming out uneven, this is the affection she's been craving from Damian for months but receiving it from a wonderful stranger.

SNAP, OUT OF IT, SAHARA. DAMIAN DOESN'T LOVE YOU, BUT THIS IS WRONG. YOU'RE MARRIED, FOR ALLAH'S SAKE, Sahara's conscious screaming, yelling and kicking at her to stop before she regrets everything.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this, Imran. I'm– this is really against my morals. I'm so sorry, I have to–" before Sahara could even finish her sentence, she heard herself screaming and a few others gasping loudly.

Imran collapses to the floor as the corners of his mouth start dripping with blood.

"DAMIAN! WHY DID YOU JUST DO THAT?" Sahara goes into total shock.

"Keep your fucking hands off of my bloody wife, you cunt!" Damian tries to go in for another blow but Sahara comes in between them, grabbing Damian's hands.

"Stop! You can't hit him like this!"

Damian's eyes flaring with anger, lands on Sahara. He looks like as if he could grab her and throw her across the room if he could. The look in his eyes send shivers down Sahara's back.

In a low, angry growl, he says, "You, come with me." He grabs her wrist in a painful hold and drags her across the room and into a storage closet.

"You're hurting me." Sahara tries to unlock his grip on her wrist.

He pushes her against the wall, locking both her arms up against the flat surface, "Oh, I'm going to do worst than hurt you."

• • •

"I want to leave. I can't go on any longer in this poisonous relationship. Please, let me go. I want a divorce." Sahara couldn't believe her own words, all she wanted to do was push through this marriage, she had no plans of abandoning it. But today became the last straw she never saw coming.

"You- what?" His grip on her wrists, loosen.

- - -

A/N: ooooooooo the Sneak Peak is interesting, isn't it? 🤔👀

♥️