Chapter 50-Liar Liar

Aslan scrubbed a hand over his face after his Zuhr prayer, wiping away the tears on his face. He had cried his woes to Allah during his sujood and after his salah, he felt better.

Since childhood, Anne had always thought them to put trust in Allah whenever they made du'a and to have faith that things would work out well and so he did, every day and every night for the last three months she had been away from him.

He could still feel the pain, the agony and turmoil raging within him like wildfire; nothing he had done was able to calm the fire, and he knew that only she had the ability to do so and yet, she kept on denying both of them the solace they needed. And now, she was willing to give it to someone other than him; she was willing to find it somewhere else.

He knew that she could be a handful sometimes when he annoyed her or when he said something that triggered her emotions but the look she gave him when he kissed her, deep down in his guts, he knew that she had given up on them.

Despite everything going on, he would not go down without a fight. Fighting was his until his last breath or until he lost her to Fahad which would definitely be over his dead body. He wouldn't give up just yet.

Lale found her brother in a state of desolate, tears flowing down his face. The last time she had seen him in such state was when Muhan had died. Seeing him like that, she wondered if Najmah was really worth his sanity.

She really liked Najmah and would love it if they got back together but if that would happen at the expense of her brother's sanity and his peace, then she'd rather Najmah stayed as far away from her family as possible.

Aslan has been through a lot, and for once, he had made peace with his past and has moved on. Najmah would not thwart that progress for him. If she still denied him a chance to explain himself, then she'd do everything in her power to see that their marriage would dissolve; that was a promise of a sister looking out for her brother.

{••}

Hanifa dragged Umar to the kitchen when Aslan showed up in her in laws house per her request. She was mad at Najmah for her nonchalance, but with her mental condition, she couldn't be mad at her for long. Najmah needed to be with Aslan no matter how hard she denied it, she was in love with him and was finding it hard to let him in again.

"Haani what have you done?" Umar sucked in a breath, gripping the edge of the counter forcefully.

"They need to patch things up. Najmah's miserable without him," she reasoned, stepping in front of him.

"He hurt her," he seethed. "What more is there for them to talk about when he sent her out of his house in the middle of the night when hours before that, she was hospitalized? What kind of man would do so?"

Hanifa groaned, slapping her forehead. What was wrong with the Haroun siblings? Would they ever listen to reason? "He's trying to make amends for what he did. Put yourself in his shoes."

"How can I put myself in his shoes when I don't know what possessed him to make such a stupid decision."

"Exactly," she sighed happily, the guy still had some sense in him. "You don't know his reason for doing so."

"And you do?" he cocked his eyebrow.

"Well," she bit her lip, debating on whether to tell him or not.

"You know something, don't you?" he placed his hands on her shoulders, searching her eyes for answers.

"Haani tell me," he pressed when she kept mum.

"He let her go out of love," she blurted, entwining their fingers together.

"What?" his brows creased with confusion. "Babe, you aren't making any sense."

"He has some kind of problems with his father and he loved her too much to let her get caught up in that, so he decided that letting her go at that time would keep him from hurting her and she in turn, is hurt by his decision."

"Doesn't make any sense," he shook his head.

"Just let them be okay? Allow them to harsh things out on their own without you trying to throw punches at him every time you see him."

"Please," she prodded when he made no sign of agreeing with her. "For me."

"Fine," he sighed as she placed her head on his chest.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest. One stubborn sibling down, one more to go.

{••}

"I have no idea how stubborn you are willing to be in other to prove that I am wrong. I know that I was wrong and that I hurt you but can you please stop it now? I need you to listen to me, I am so tired of your denials. Can't we just sit down and talk like normal people would do?"

"Are you calling me abnormal?"

He sucked in a breath, brushing a hand over his face. Najmah was looking for a way to pick a fight with him so they wouldn't talk about what really mattered, but he wouldn't go down that road with her. He had had enough of the games she was constantly playing, it was time to put an end to it all.

"Najmah I love you, I insanely do. I went through an ordeal just so I could be a better version of myself for you. I went through that with the hope that one day when we meet again, you would give me a chance. I understand that you are hurt but is it worth letting us go? Is it worth ruining the relationship that we shared? Is it worth giving up on us. Najmah, are you even listening to me?" he almost yelled when he saw her gaze fixed unflinchingly on the wall behind him.

"Just stop okay?" she whisper yelled, placing her hand over her chest. She didn't like what she was feeling one bit. He was slowly weaving his way through her heart and that was definitely something she hated.

"Lemme point this out to you. You let me go, you gave up on us so don't come here with your silly excuses trying to get me to listen to you. You went through an ordeal well guess what? I went through the same because of the decision you made on your own. I don't think you got what I said the last time we talked. I really do not care about what you have to say. I don't care about you anymore, you mean nothing to me. Is that clear enough for you huh? Can I leave now?"

"For the love of God!" he groaned. "Can you swear to Allah that you have no feelings for me? Can you swear that you don't want us back?"

"I..." she gulped, unable to complete her sentence.

"You can't say it, can you?" he stalked towards her, talking as smoothly as he could muster despite the fire roaring within him. "Sevgilim, there is no future for us apart. Our life is together, with each other. You cannot not want to get back together with me. Our destinies are entwined with each others."

"Not anymore," she rasped, feeling her insides churning. She took a step backwards, swallowing her tears. "It's a little bit late for us to get back together. Fahad's the only man for me."

"How can you talk about another man when you are still married to me? How can you say another man's name in front of me? You want to punish me for what I did, all right then go ahead punish me. You want retribution for what I did to you then go on Najmah, have at it but please do not repeat his name. Please do not think about getting out of this marriage because there is no out for either of us."

"We'll see about that," she deadpanned.

"Najmah," he called out softly, stalking towards her like a prey. He was way past her comfort zone and she was aware of it, but there was nothing she could do about it; there was no space between them and she knew what was coming next.

"Please don't kiss me," she whispered lowly in her last feeble attempt to stay strong. She clenched her eyes shut, knowing that if she dared look into his eyes, she'd lose it.

Aslan retracted his hands then left without another word, pain and contrition swirling in his heart. When she couldn't feel his presence anymore, she allowed herself to open her eyes to make sure he really wasn't there before dashing out of the living room.

Once she was in the confines of her room, she slipped down on the floor and allowed herself to cry. She knew what she was doing was hurting the both of them, but she couldn't find it in her heart to forgive him just yet.

A selfish part of her wanted to see him suffer just like she had suffered but for how long was she going to keep up with the charade? For how long was she going to pretend that he meant nothing to her when it was as crystal as daylight that she was madly in love with him and could not live without him?

The selfish part of her that wanted him to suffer also wanted to see how far he was willing to go just to get her back. Was he ready to do everything and anything just to get her back? Would he chase her to the end of the world, or would he grow tired of the chase and let her go, halfway through the journey.

We'll find out soon enough.

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