Inaya's POV

My phone begins to ring and that caller ID says it's Cat.

"Hello?" I greet.

"Girl, you don't believe this!" She says, her voice filled with excitement.

"What?"

"Mehar just called me and told me her dad wants to speak to you! He really wants to talk to you!" She screeches.

My hands start shaking and I couldn't breathe. "Y-you're l-lying."

"I am not! I'm as shocked as you are! He said he wants to visit you at your and Dom's place." She says.

"I don't know, Cat..." but my doubts are quickly covered by happiness. "He really wants to? When?"

"Right now, if you want! I'll make sure Mehar accompanies him, just in case." Cat says.

My gut feeling... it's confused. I'm extremely happy but extremely suspicious. But is this a chance given to me to finally put the family feud behind? Will he finally forgive me?

• • •

I quickly wrap my hijab and smooth down my shirt as I wait for Mehar and my uncle.

The ringing of the door bell perks up my ears and I rapidly run to open the door.

When I open the door, I see Mehar with a wide grin on her face and my uncle standing beside her with an unreadable expression.

I'm sure it took him a lot of energy to even do this.

Mehar throws her hands around me, squeezing me into a tight hug. "You're okay! You're okay, Inaya!" She cries. "And you're married! I'm so happy for you. I couldn't believe it when Baba asked to put the past behind."

My eyes start tearing up. "It's all okay. It'll all be okay now."

I say Salam to my uncle and I invite them in to they take a seat.

"I see you found yourself a suitable man to provide you with a comfortable living." He comments as he looks around the house.

"Baba..." Mehar elbows her father.

"I found a man to love me. That's all that matters." I say politely.

It becomes extremely awkward as my uncle doesn't go out of his way to try to hold a conversation because Mehar seems to be doing most of the talking.

"Oh!" She claps her hands together. "Baba brought you your favourite, Mama's homemade pastries!"

When Mehar opens the box, my lips quickly curl into a grin. I love my aunt's homemade pastries. She always makes them with the perfect amount of sweetness and the second it reaches your mouth, it melts beautifully.

"Yes, please, have some!" Uncle encourages me to eat.

"Don't mind if I do!" I eat five within two minutes, while Mehar eats only two.

"Baba... I feel lightheaded." Mehar's eyes look foggy.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my head.

"Now... the real reason why I'm here..." my uncle stands up but I could barely focus with the sudden, splitting headache.

"I've been paid a hefty amount to deliver you to your father-in-law." He says with an evil grin on his face. "I was disgusted to find out you were alive and was concerned about which poor soul you trapped into a marriage."

"Baba... what's... going on..." Mehar's voice slowly starts drifting.

"Don't worry, Mehar. You'll be fine." He reassures her.

"Please... please don't do this." I say as my own energy slowly fades away.

"You should be grateful I even let you live under my roof. If it weren't for your mother... or should I say adoptive mother, I would've thrown you out long ago." He rolls his eyes.

Adoptive mother... what is he...

"Why?" Is all I could manage.

"Why?" He scoffs. "Let me tell you why. You were born out of wedlock, out of a stupid, stupid affair that my brother had years ago. You were left at their doorstep with nothing but a note talking mentioning your dead mother and your identity. I told him to give you away for adoption, leave you at the mosque's doorstep, throw you away, for all I care. But nobody listened to me."

Affair? I was born out of infidelity?

That burning feeling in my chest... it's not from whatever he put in the pastries. It's from this news. Tears sting my eyes as my hands begin to shake.

His eyes are burning red. "You were the reason for their deteriorating relationship. You were the reason they always fought. My naive sister-in-law wanted to keep you but my brother despised you. But she couldn't love you, no matter how hard she tried to treat you as her own. My brother never loved you either. You were a constant reminder of his foolish mistake."

"Why blame me? I didn't choose to be born out of that relationship. I didn't do anything!" I argue with as much might as I can.

"And that night... that night you wanted to buy that notebook. You sent them out. If you weren't stubborn, they wouldn't have gotten in the car. If you weren't stubborn, they wouldn't have driven that night. If you weren't stubborn, they wouldn't have been hit by that driver. Your existence ruined everything." His words spit venom in my face.

"I didn't... I didn't kill them." For the first time in years, I let go of the guilt I've had stored in my heart and soul about their deaths being my fault. "I didn't do anything. I didn't have the affair. I didn't cause my own birth. I didn't bring myself to their doorstep. I didn't choose to be raised by them, though I will forever be grateful that they tried to raise me. Yes, I asked for something that night but I didn't cause that driver to hit them. I didn't do anything." The straining of my voice worsens.

"How dare you say such things?" He raised his hands to slap me but I grab his wrist with as much force as I can bare.

"Am I wrong?" I couldn't keep my eyes open much longer. My tongue slowly numbing away. "People like you–like you... make me so sad. You have nothing–nothing but... bitterness in your... hearts. You–you only know... how to blame others... for..."

And that's it. I black out within a matter of a second.

Darkness surrounding my eyes but the darkness around my heart lifts up and disappears because tonight, tonight, I learned the truth about myself. Tonight I learned that I was never to blame for anything. Tonight, I became free, free of the past that was holding me by the rope.

Tonight, my broken soul ignites the fire of life and no matter what happens to me, I couldn't be more grateful.

- - -

A/N: sorry for the late update! My professor gave us a surprise 3-part-assignment and I only had a week to finish all three parts. Human Molecular Genetics gives me a whole ass headaches and the professor's random assignment doesn't help. 😤

: when I don't update on time, please, please, please check my message board/conversation board, I usually announce what's up with the delay! I hate putting author's notes as a separate chapter so update delay announcements are made there (when you click on my profile, there's a tab that says "conversations", that's where I put up messages about updates).

Next Update: I'm not sure but hopefully within the next few days! I still have to work on my parasitology class's assignment (I high key love this class bc I'm a freak 🤪)