Anisa's eyes widened and froze into a state of shock. She couldn't believe her ears and didn't know how to respond.

"What? Is it that surprising? Were you expecting someone who acted more like my father to be his child?" He asked her in defense.

"The father you said left you...that was Mr. Amin?"

His silence spoke for itself and Anisa scoffed in disbelief. There was a mixture of emotions spiraling her mind.

"Why didn't you say anything? All this time I spoke of him, you could've told me," she said.

Tahir scoffed this time and told her, "What difference would it make?"

It would've made a huge difference. She wouldn't have treated him the way she did. She wouldn't have given him a hard time with Mr. Amin's death being so recent. There were a lot of things that would've changed.

But, Anisa preferred not to answer.

"Either way, you're not going back to the crime scene. If you really want, I'll go myself and acquire everything you need."

Tahir stood up and headed out of the room. Anisa looked down and tried to transfer everything that just happened.

As she got prepared, she only thought about Mr. Amin. She thought she knew him. She thought he'd tell her everything. Of course, his family was none of her business, but how could he conceal someone like Tahir from her?

After she put the last pin on her hijab, she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Tahir was standing beside the front door. He opened it for her after she walked closer and made sure to give the room the last scan before officially leaving.

Both of them avoided speaking to each other during the ride to the airport. Anisa couldn't help but try to sort out all this confusion she had created in her mind. There was a mixture of them and she had far too many questions for Tahir.

But, out of everything she wanted to do right now, she strangely felt like wanting to comfort him. Anisa knew how she felt upon hearing Mr. Amin's death. She couldn't imagine how worse it must've been for his son, Tahir, to hear that his father had left him too.

The silence was still present and there were still a few more hours before the plane was to land. Anisa couldn't take it anymore and finally spoke up, "This silence is killing me."

Tahir looked up at her with his calm expression that was always plastered on his face. But, he was curious as to what she had to say, especially with an agitated tone.

"None of this is ok. You don't get to end your explanation where you declared he's your father because I know that the pain behind that sentence is much more!"

Anisa started tearing up. This time, it wasn't for herself. Rather, for Tahir.

"How can you not express yourself? Yes, he happens to be your father, but take your anger and every ounce of pain that you're holding, out on me. Just do it!"

Tahir sighed before he spoke up.

"I saw you that day...the day of his funeral. You got on the dirt that held his coffin and cried with so much pain but I was the coward," he said looking into the distance, "I couldn't even get close to it no matter how much I tried."

"How come?" Anisa asked while holding back tears.

"Because I just couldn't. There was this weight inside me. Though it wasn't visible, it held me down where I stood and watched from a distance. There was a reason my father didn't go into detail about his family with you and that reason was because of me," he told her.

Anisa furrowed her brows, eager to know more, "What could you possibly have done? He wasn't the type to hold grudges or get mad easily."

"It's because I killed Waliyah...my sister."

He no longer looked at her and faced the window. He covered his mouth with the palms of his fingers and didn't utter a word.

Anisa covered her lips from shock and her gaze fell to the ground. This was harder to believe. So, she shook her head in disagreement and told him, "No, I don't believe that."

Tahir turned to meet her eyes once again and said, "I shot her in broad daylight during a mission assigned by my father. He never looked me in the eyes again. He tried, but I couldn't face him."

"There must've been a reason you shot her," She took the seat just beside him

Tahir looked down as he answered, "Because she wanted me to end her suffering."

Anisa was able to see the crimson color of red that surrounded his eyes. This was difficult to talk about for Tahir. But, he realized that he couldn't hold onto the secret any longer.

"She was wrapped up in an evil she couldn't get out of. From a young age, she fell in love with a man. She had fallen so deep that despite the criminal he was, she couldn't stop loving him. That man was a human trafficker, murderer, and a drug dealer. He was someone my father loathed," he explained, "I did everything I could to keep her away and safe, but then she fell miserable after finding out she was pregnant with his child and she knew our father would lose all his respect for her if she had the baby."

The tears had already made their way down Anisa's cheeks while she listened to Tahir speak of his past.

"The mission my father gave me that day was to terminate that man. But, she somehow found out and interfered. I was about to pull the trigger of my gun on him, but she stood in the way and begged me for mercy. I didn't give in. So, she held the gun as it was in my hands and asked me to kill her," Tahir ran his fingers through his hair, vividly remembering that day, "I refused and tried to take the gun away from her, but she pulled the trigger as the gun was in my hands and fell to the ground."

Anisa couldn't take it anymore and wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't watch him in this state anymore and Tahir couldn't hold back the tears. They slid down to Anisa's dress while he rested his head on her shoulder.

"No, it's not your fault," she cried, "It's not your fault."

Tahir felt like saying something but there was a lump in his throat, preventing him from speaking at all.

"You must've lived your whole life with this trauma," she sniffled, "Things were so hard on you. You don't deserve any of this."

She tightened her grip while her hands were around his shoulders. It was as though their emotions were linked and they shared a common pain. They both were welcomed to a world in which their fathers didn't welcome them in their hearts. While Anisa's father didn't show the care and affection she yearned, Tahir's father wasn't able to forgive him, causing him this trauma in which he wasn't able to forgive himself.

Paperwork was a never-ending field of science that no one could understand. At least, not Anisa. It had only been a couple of hours since she landed back home to be welcomed to a stack in her office.

Ever since what happened in the plane, Anisa had gained Tahir's trust. Yet, he couldn't tell how. It was never his initial plan to be so close to her. All he ever needed to do on this mission was to gain her trust. Yet, she gained his.

Suddenly, the door was opened with such force that Tahir instantly pulled out his gun and aimed it towards the door, only to be greeted by Yasin, raging with anger and annoyance. He quickly put his gun down upon seeing him as he walked up to Anisa and yelled at her.

"Do you have any idea how many times I called you!? Do you know how to use a phone!? We've been worried sick, especially after seeing the news! How could you not answer me, all this time?!"

"Yasin!" Anisa raised her voice which made him come to his senses.

"As you can see, I'm fine and I haven't lost my hearing abilities for you to be yelling so loud!"

Yasin scoffed, "Do you realize I almost called the National security and sent them to you? You're lucky you have someone like Reem in your life who knows and understands you because, despite all these years, I never understood how you couldn't pick up a single call!"

"If you're going to be speaking like this, I suggest taking a nice cold bath and returning," she told him.

Yasin was in disbelief. How was she able to have such an attitude, even after experience a life-threatening event for the second time this year?

"If anything, you're the one who needs a bath with medicine to heal your audacity to joke with me right now. Do you know how worried I was?" He said.

Anisa finally dropped her pen and looked up with a short sigh.

"I could sense your worry from thousands of miles away. I'm aware of it Yasin. But, look, I'm fine."

Yasin took one last glance at her before he said, "You could've been hurt or god forbid, dead. I don't trust the news enough for them to confirm your life status."

Anisa let out a small chuckle and asked, "Yet you believed the scenario parts?"

Yasin nodded, "Of course. Those, they never get wrong. Take it from someone who had to do an internship at a news agency."

"Well, then it's noted. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's lots of paperwork I need to catch up on," she grinned which annoyed Yasin and prompted him to stand up from the chair.

"You might be out of the castle but I have access to every building you own, don't forget that," he warned her.

She rolled her eyes and once he walked out through the door, Tahir finally made his move and said, "I'll be right back."

As soon as he was out the door, he spotted Yasin just a couple of feet across from him. He quickened his pace to stand in front of him while Yasin came to a halt and questioned, "What is it?"

Tahir tried to read his expression through his eyes. He frowned in disappointment before he asked Yasin, "What did those pills actually have?"

Yasin immediately reacted with the widening of his eyes but instantly tried to act as though he wasn't phased. Tahir took notice and confirmed his thoughts about the pill situation. But, Yasin wasn't going to give up so easily.

"I think you're overstepping your boundary," he said.

Tahir scoffed, "This is natural for me to do as her bodyguard. Despite your relationship to her, you're still considered a threat, no matter what you do."

"Look, I don't know what you've imagined in that mind of yours, but I already had this discussion with Anisa. I don't answer to you," Yasin warned him.

Tahir held a smirk on his face, maintaining his angered expression as he said, "You mean the discussion where you lied for your mother?"

Yasin froze into a state of disbelief while Tahir continued talking.

"You made the choice. Anisa or your mother, and you chose your mother even when this was the princess's health on the line!" He raised his voice at Yasin but quiet enough so he wasn't heard from a distance.

"You know nothing, "Yasin told him, "It wasn't choosing between family members. It was much more difficult than that."

"Really? I can't seem to think of anything that'd make it hard to tell honest results to your sister," Tahir glared at him.

Yasin's eyes were trying to find distractions. He felt uncomfortable and didn't know how to get himself out of this situation and he didn't want to confirm anything to Tahir either.

"I want to know the real contents of those pills. If I don't find out by the end of today, I'm personally going to announce the removal of the queen to the king myself. And trust me, I'm capable of doing that." Tahir threatened.

A/N:

It's currently past 3 am in the morning here and I just wrote this chapter. God knows if it even makes sense but I hope you enjoyed it because I don't know what my tired mind decided to make my keyboard type.

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Thank you~