How could this be?

Anisa had trouble believing her eyes. She scoffed as she spoke to herself and said, "I must've been broken to the point I'm seeing hallucinations."

Seeing Mr. Amin in front of her had come as a shock she had not expected. Especially his ghost. But that guess was overruled as soon as he spoke and told her,

"No, child. I'm not a hallucination."

Her breath hitched after hearing his voice. She slowly got up from her chair, releasing the pen in her hand. Walking around the desk, her eyes were fixated on him, never leaving her gaze.

"How...how is this possible?" She was still in disbelief.

Mr. Amin walked up to her and slowly grabbed her hands. She looked up at him and seeing the sorrow and pain she held in her eyes, Mr. Amin looked down at her hands in regret.

"I don't have much strength left so please explain how I'm able to see you at this moment," Anisa sobbed.

She was feeling so many emotions, she couldn't look Mr. Amin in the eyes. He understood, so he directed her towards the chairs on one side of the room. He made sure to sit beside her so she wouldn't hurt herself from losing balance.

"Child, there's so much to explain. I want you to understand everything from the start. But first, I want you to know I never left. I was always there...watching you," he explained.

Anisa continued to sob. Mr. Amin reached in for the tissue in his chest pocket and gave it to her to wipe her tears. Then, he began to explain everything to her.

"I'm sure Saif told you about Tahir's occupation and how I was the head of the whole organization. There's a task that the head of that organization must do. In order to truly test the ones I can trust, I must observe their actions during my absence, once they've known I'm truly gone. That is why I faked my death. I gave you the evidence for everything, wanting you to find it. But, casualties occurred along the way and Abbas got to it before you could. He figured out our secret. The document I left in the safe that was in your office detailed everything you needed to know."

Anisa looked up this time in shock.

"You were going to find out everything that day, through me. I left a phone number inside that document so I could reach you without alerting the others of my survival. I was the one that made the explosion at the palace that day. But, it was only so you could figure out the true culprit behind the problems in the castle, which was Abbas."

"Mr. Amin, how could you plan something so public, so violent. People could've gotten hurt," Anisa told him.

"I was aware. I made sure the explosion was set up in the right place of the castle. We escorted everyone out and then I hit the switch for it to go off. You see, everything was my doing. No one was going to get hurt that day and I made sure you were the first person I see to it that was out of there," he assured her.

Saif paced back and forth through the hallway. He was eager to know what was going on. He knew that Mr. Amin was going to re-introduce himself to Anisa. But, he was still in the hospital and Nadia was the one assigned to Anisa in the palace.

"Is something troubling your mind? Did the doctor tell you something I don't know of?" Reem asked, observing his behavior.

He stopped and looked at her for a few seconds.

"No, there's nothing wrong. Just, I've gotten tired of sitting down all day," he made an excuse.

Reem nodded, unwilling to get the truth out of him.

As they continued to wait, they watched many nurses go in and out of the room. Even Doctors would go in to check on Tahir but all they watched were their silent passings through the hallway. None of them said anything to either of them. Even as they asked about his vitals.

Then, Saif suddenly received news through his earpiece. Nadia's voice was heard through it where she informed, "The princess has arrived at the hospital. She'll continue her stay for another day before returning back to the palace."

"The princess is here," Saif told Reem.

Reem stood up and poked her through the wall to see Anisa approaching them. But, she wasn't alone. Mr. Amin was beside her.

Wait...Mr. Amin?

Reem looked back and tried to pinch herself. Saif tried not to laugh at her reaction. He tried hard after seeing her pinch herself. Luckily, his training on maintaining emotions paid off as he didn't make a sound.

"Salam..." Reem's voice trailed off as she greeted Anisa with a hug, keeping her gaze fixated on Mr. Amin.

"Salam. I know what you're thinking right now and you have every right to be in disbelief. But, I'll explain everything to you. Right now, I must go somewhere. A different room in this building," Anisa explained. "Would you be willing to watch after Tahir a bit longer?"

Reem nodded. So did Saif.

Anisa allowed Mr. Amin to walk ahead of her, making it easier for her to follow him. There were people he wanted her to meet. Now, that Tahir was unconscious, they needed to do the remaining parts of the job he left unfinished.

Mr. Amin opened a door and gestured for her to go inside. Once she entered, she saw only one unfamiliar person in the room. But, she wasn't surprised to see Mr. Hakim inside.

"Take a seat, my dear," Mr. Amin told her.

Anisa pulled out a chair at the center of the table, with a view of all the men in the room. They all wore the same concept of clothes: dark and monochrome. How could she not notice all this time? They were screaming that they were spies from every movement they made. But, she never predicted it.

"This is Mr. Latif. He's the second in charge. In my absence, I count on him to do the right things," Mr. Amin introduced.

Anisa simply nodded with a slight smile formed on the corners of her lips. Mr. Latif did the same.

"It's an honor to meet the princess in-person. I've watched you for so long through screens. But, it's nice to finally introduce myself."

Anisa froze after he mentioned he had been watching her.

"Watching me?"

The men looked towards each other for approval of the situation and once Mr. Latif felt assured, he told her, "We've always kept watch of the royal family for as long as we could. I've seen you through the eyes of my spies, as well as the security we go through from time to time. It's not as sinister as it sounds. I assure you."

Anisa nodded once more.

"I'm sure you've been informed of mostly everything," Mr. Hakim began. "So, we won't waste any of your time and get into the details. I'm sure you've recently known you were adopted?"

"Yes," Anisa replied.

"We're running tests and numerous information on the woman you've retrieved from Abbas. There's a possibility that she could be your birth mother. But, then there's also a possibility she isn't," he warned her.

"Where is she now?" She asked

"She's with us, don't worry," Mr. Amin reassured her.

Anisa nodded.

All of this felt somewhat strange, strangely assuring. She trusted Mr. Amin with her life. And if this was a foundation he had established, then it only meant pure intention of assuring the country with trustworthy leaders.

"We're also aware that you're trying to remain calm with what has happened to Tahir. During the times of our observation, we've noticed the bond he's grown with you. For a spy, it's not permissible to form such relations," Mr. Latif told her.

Anisa was taken aback at his statement but decided to listen before she said anything.

"Because of relations like that, he has not ended up in this situation. Our rules are there to protect not only our clients but also ourselves. Our job only gets harder once we've grown emotional towards it," Mr. Latif explained. "I'm not going to ask you to stop your relationship with Tahir. But, we kindly want to remind you that if you wish to further your relationship with him, he's not your average man."

"It's true," Mr. Amin replied. "He's a spy. While he is my son, he has a duty to fulfill for the organization. What you're experiencing right now, is the least of your worries. He's our best asset both on and off the field. We trained him to be that way."

"I apologize. But, I don't seem to quite understand where this is going," Anisa looked into each of their eyes to present the curiosity and hint of anger forming in her own.

"What we're trying to say is that you need to think of this relationship once again. You're constantly going to put not just yourself, but Tahir's life at risk as long as the two of you stay together." Mr. Hakim made sure to speak as clearly as he could.

Anisa's eyes trailed off into the distance. Of course, she wasn't fond of the words she was told. But, she already felt deep regret for the situation she put Tahir in. There was not a second she wished that it was her who got the bullet in his place.

Then, she looked back at Mr. Amin to get a read of the emotions he was conveying physically. He looked worried about her. Major hints of regret were also clear with the way he was looking at her.

Finally, she sighed and said, "You all might have been watching us. But, you all have not come to notice that we need each other to survive."

The whole room went silent.

"Tahir had no purpose. He thought his father died just as I thought Mr. Amin did. He lost his sister to a purpose that was out of his control. His mother was even in the hospital, still getting her treatment till this day," Anisa explained. "Don't you see? He was hiding all his pain inside. It wasn't until we met each other that we realized we both needed each other. He doesn't speak to anyone about his pain. Not until I came along. And I never knew how it felt to be loved up until he came."

Mr. Amin smiled proudly at her words. Mr. Latif didn't know whether to speak or not. But, Mr. Hakim simply nodded. He was in no place to counter Anisa's words. Mostly, they admired her strong will to continue. Even if it meant hardships were to come their way.

Finally, Mr. Amin sighed from disappointment directed towards himself and said, "I think we are getting ourselves into a business we cannot afford to be a part of. So, forgive us for ever bringing such a topic with you."

Anisa looked him straight in the eyes, "As long as I've helped you all realize that, I'm content."

The meeting continued. Anisa retained every bit of information they chose to disclose with her. They thought that the only trustworthy person, close to the throne had every right to be informed of the work they were doing. So, they tried not to leave out a single word.

Suddenly, as the meeting began to feel like it neared its end, the door opened so fast and swiftly as Saif revealed himself out of breath. An expression of shock and relief was present. In response, Anisa stood up from her chair and looked at him, hesitantly awaiting his response.

"Tahir...Tahir woke up."

A/N:

Hi everyone. Hope you all are safe and doing well both physically and mentally, Insha Allah.✨

I also hope you found this chapter to be of your interest. Don't forget to leave a comment anywhere you'd like and vote by hitting that star icon.

Thank you~