Chapter 77

“Ziza!” Surprise registered on the man’s face the instant he opened his door. He craned his neck out and looked both ways before looking back at her.

“Hey Ferran.” she gave him a half-hearted smile. “Sorry to drop in unannounced. Is it okay if I come in?” Her smile widened when she saw he was in his ratty and stained sweatpants. He hadn’t been counting on anyone coming around.

“Do you even need to ask?” He moved aside to allow her enough space to walk by. I’m surprised you’re alone.”

“I’m not. Majeed’s taking a walk around, the guy takes his job seriously.”

Ziza said as she brushed past him, then quickly wrapped her arms around his torso as soon as the door clicked shut. “I needed to get away a bit.”

She hugged him as tight as she could. And as if someone had flipped a switch within Ferran, he knew exactly what she needed. Saying nothing else, he too wrapped her in his arms, pressed a brief kiss on the crown of her head, and stood with her there. For a while, only the sound of a distant grandfather clock was the only sound in the house. Ziza was glad. She wasn’t sure she’d have wanted to put a brave face on for Fiya. It was a blessing that he was home alone because she’d needed someone else to care for her, too.

“Come, let’s talk.” He stepped back, then gently tugged at her hand. “You’ve got incredible timing. Cala and Fiya just went out shopping and ice cream so it’ll be just us for about two hours.” He walked her into the living room, then took her by her hands again.

“Why don’t you take a seat, relax while I fix us both a quick snack, then we can talk. Huh?”

Glad at having something to eat after hours of nothing but water and crackers—courtesy of an awful spell of morning sickness earlier—she nodded eagerly.

While Ferran worked quietly in the kitchen—like usual—Ziza sat on the sofa, admiring their new décor. They’d rearranged the place and bought new curtains since the last time she was here. Even new pictures hung from the ‘milestones wall’, and amongst them was a picture of the four of them at her graduation. That had her grinning in record time.

As Ziza got up to get a closer look, memories from that day rushed to the surface like they’d happened yesterday. She traced a light finger over the frame’s unique design when her train of thought was cut off before she could do anything else. As new notifications and messages poured in, her phone pinged and buzzed insistently until she had no choice but to open them. It was that, plus the hope that Rafiq had finally decided to respond.

With that thought in mind, she couldn’t have gotten the device in her hands faster. However, just as soon as her excitement had skyrocketed, it plummeted into the Mariana trench. She gasped.

**Notorious Bad-Boy Prince Rafiq Untameable After All?!

Scandalous Trouble in Royal Paradise?

Is it over? Prince Rafiq Seen Getting Cosy with Ex.

Rashida and Prince Rafiq Exclusive Again?

The list of horrible tabloid headline went on and on, each one getting worse.**

“**Buckle up**.” read Zach’s attached message at the bottom. They all bit into her very soul, making her reel with their stinging venom.

Funny enough, this was one of the recurring nightmares she’d been having since she and Rafiq last spoke. How sardonic was it it was coming to life? What’s a worse nightmare than to have one become a reality?! Her brain screamed for her not to do it, but her finger pressed the last headline where a picture was peaking.

Curiosity killed the cat.

The high-res picture was taken at night. The two, Rafiq and Rashida, were walking out of a fancy restaurant together, heading towards a waiting SUV. Rafiq’s palm was placed dangerously low on the small of her back, and what Rashida was wearing wasn’t helping the situation at all.

A fiery rage and a boatload of betrayal churned within her. Ziza had to resist the strong urge to crush her phone in her hand, or throw it into the wall as she eyed the way Rashida clung to Rafiq’s arm as if sharks instead of people surrounded them. This was ridiculous! Ziza thought as she switched her gaze to Rafiq.

How could he? Was he so bold to do this to her after their last conversation? Would he dare to stoop so low? Was she that insignificant to him? Not enough of a woman like Rashida was? Suddenly, Ziza felt as if someone had punched her hard in the stomach. Pain was all she felt.

What did this mean for their marriage? Was he really thinking of polygamy? If so, she couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t! She loved her husband, but she never would share him with anyone. Certainly not with the woman he’d chosen. They wouldn’t force her to. Then Ziza thought, why was she kidding herself? She was fussing over everything, as if their arranged marriage meant anything to him. Evidently he didn’t! She was the one stressing over it when he had his arms wrapped around another woman!

Once again Ziza replayed everything in her mind as she bit her nail. What if she hadn’t told him the truth that night? Maybe they’d still be together. She’d have known that he’d be coming home to her tonight. To her arms. But then again, the truth had become harder and harder to bury every day.

“Here you go!” Ferran’s sudden appearance had her flinching in fright a little. “You look like you need this.” He set a tray of sandwiches and tea in front of her, then took a seat next to her.

“Thanks.” She muttered and reached for a sandwich, though she doubted she could eat anything anymore.

He paused and then frowned as he looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“How—“

She paused, trying to figure out how best to gather her words. “I told Rafiq I loved him.” She interjected him.

“What?!” Ferran’s lifted his eyebrows and almost choked on his food. Ziza knew if the circumstances were different, she would probably choke on her dessert from laughing.

“Yeah.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Judging by your expression, it didn’t go well, did it?”

“I think that’s a bit of an understatement.”

“Royalty or not, I swear that man is the walking stereotypical representation of everything wrong with people like him. If he weren’t who he is I’d kill him for treating you like trash—“

The moment he realized what he’d said, he stopped himself mid-sentence.

“Ziza I didn’t mean—“

Not being able to form any words without falling apart in tears, Ziza only gave him a small dejected smile before looking down at her bowl of food so she could blink away her tears.

“Tell me what happened.”

____________________

The Day Before

Utterly side-tracked, Rafiq ended his heated business call with one of his managers in Tamar by slamming his office handset back into its hook, then snapped directives at his PA to not patch through any more calls, visitors or messages. Ever since he left Dhakhar, he’d acted like a bat driven out of hell. So much that even his top management team now scampered about when they heard he was on the move around the building.

There were many important things that demand his attention, but for the life of his usual razor-sharp mind had become as blunt as a spoon. Even pouring himself a whiskey proved to be a bit of a task! Work should have been the only thing filling his mind. Instead, only mental images of Aziza kept playing in his mind over and over.

Rafiq shook his head for the up tenth time to disperse the memories of their last conversation. But like a persistent fly they invaded his thoughts again and once again, Rafiq trying to understand that evening. How had things gotten so out of hand so fast with Aziza? He hadn’t even thought about Rashida since their honeymoon! Not until his father brought her up that night.

I love you, Rafiq

Leave… that’s all you know how to do!

Run out of here—go!

Her words still bit into his heart like spirits on an open wound. By now Rafiq had lost count or how many hours he sat in his Sydney office, trying to convince himself that he didn’t love her. He couldn’t, and he didn’t. Right? Love wasn’t in his vocabulary. It was too messy. Plus, he’d vowed he would never allow himself to become so vulnerable ever again. Never would he fall into that chasm of loneliness and heartbreak again.

No way was he prepared for such a commitment. He stared at one of her latest messages, one sent a few days prior. He couldn’t bring himself to reply to her. It had to be this way; he thought. If he did, she would hate him probably more than she already did.

Maybe she’d forget about caring for him and things would go back to the way they were. Rafiq sighed as he combed his fingers through his hair again. How could she be so pathetic as to allow herself to fall for a bastard like him? Everything was as it should have been before she ruined it all. Things had been good. Better than good, explosive even!

With another sigh, Rafiq massaged his temple to ease the headache that was gnawed at what’s left of his sanity. Then he laughed like a maniac. So this is what it had come to? He couldn’t even bring himself to concentrate on the papers before him long enough to know what on earth he was reading! It was as if she had bewitched him as a punishment for what he’d done to her.

Though this business trip had only been for a few days, Rafiq kept convincing himself that they needed his presence still. Which only fed the guilt boiling within him for forcing Ziza into the ‘funeral arrangements’ situation she was in.

Rafiq rolled his shoulders and rubbed at his temple again. After reading through the project proposals that he’d been holding on to for hours, he quickly put his pen down, picked up the desk phone, and patched a call through to his PA.

Eyeing the document in his hand, he said, “Make dinner reservations for two at the Maison Blanche for 7 pm tomorrow night.”

“And get Miss Mustafa on the line for me.”