Novels by Aisha Siddika Shimu

The heat from the shower still clings to my skin when I step into the room.Jennifer is sleeping on the bed.For a moment, I do nothing except stand there and look at her.The house is unusually quiet for this hour. No footsteps in the corridor. No distant clatter from the kitchen. Only the low hum of the air conditioner and the thin rustle of curtains moving against the window. Sunlight slips through the fabric in pale bands and settles across Jennifer’s face, softening every sharp line. In sleep, she looks younger. Softer. Almost fragile.It is an unsettling thing to watch.She shifts slightly beneath the blanket, her brows drawing together for a second before smoothing again. One hand rests over her stomach as if even in sleep she is guarding it.My jaw tightens.That child is the reason Adrian Hale stays quiet. That child is the only reason she is still in this house, still under my roof, still tied to everything I am trying to control.None of this should matter to me.Yet I keep

Morning arrives with the thin, gray light of victory.The alarm cuts through my sleep, sharp and mechanical in the quiet room. I open my eyes and stare at a ceiling I do not immediately recognize. For a second, I forget where I am.Then I remember.It is one of the older rooms in my own house, a room I have rarely used, with pale walls, heavy curtains, and the faint smell of polished wood and a faint scent of jasmine lingering in the air.A small smile touches my lips as I remember Jennifer sleeping beside me.I reach to the bedside table, take my phone, and silence the alarm before it rings again. I do not want Jennifer waking to that sound. Doctor Carter says she needs rest, and for once I agree with her completely.I slowly turn toward Jennifer, lying on my side.To my surprise, she is already awake.She lies flat on her back, staring at the ceiling as if she has been looking at the same spot for hours. Her eyes are red and swollen. At the corners, tears have dried into faint, tigh

At first, I lie perfectly still and pretend to be asleep, keeping my breathing slow and measured beneath the blanket. It feels safer that way. If I do not move, if I do not let him know I am awake, maybe he will stand there for a moment and then leave.Then memory tears through me so suddenly that the pretence shatters.Two days ago, this same man tried to kill me.The thought strikes like ice water down my spine. I push myself upright before I can think better of it. The blanket slips from my shoulder. Cool air brushes my skin. My heart pounds so hard it feels visible.Mr Shaw stops just inside the doorway.For the first time since he entered, something close to surprise crosses his face. His brows lift slightly, and his lips part as though he had expected to find me helpless and unaware.“I thought you were asleep,” he says.His voice is low, almost gentle, and that gentleness frightens me more than anger would have.I am wearing a thin nightdress, one that suddenly feels far too fl

By the time we reach Shaw Mansion, it is already afternoon.Maria is already at the door, as if she has been waiting for the exact second I arrive. The car has barely stopped before she hurries forward and opens it.“Miss Smith, how are you feeling now?” she asks.For a second, I do not know what to say. My body is better. The aches are duller now, no longer sharp enough to steal my breath. But my mind is another matter entirely. Fear presses against me from all sides, quiet and suffocating.I try to smile.It flickers and dies before it can become real.The moment I step out of the car today, something inside me recoils.Fear closes around me so quickly it feels physical.I have lived in this house for almost three months. Long enough to know the shape of its silence. Long enough to recognize the sound of footsteps on every corridor, the way light falls across the marble in the late afternoon, the cold dignity of each stone wall.But even now, I am afraid to set foot in this house.B

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either.But I don’t know what medicines the doctors give me, or maybe I am simply too exhausted to keep my body awake any longer. I sleep through the whole night without stirring once. Thick and bottomless, the kind that feels less like rest and more like collapse.When I finally open my eyes, morning light is already spread across the hospital room in pale, washed-out streaks. The air smells of antiseptic, cold linen, and the faint metallic chill of air-conditioning. For a moment I lie still, disoriented, staring at the ceiling.Jason is not here.An attendant is sitting quietly in the corner. The moment she notices that I am awake, she rises and comes toward me, smoothing her uniform with uneasy fingers. My throat feels dry, and my voice comes out weaker than I want when I ask, “Where is my brother?”She hesitates, then lowers her eyes. “I do not know, ma’am.”That answer settles heavily inside me.Today I feel better than before, at lea

“Go,” I tell Jason. “I’m okay.”The lie comes out steadier than I expect, but I can feel the strain in it. My throat is dry. My fingers curl into the thin hospital blanket, twisting the fabric while I force myself to look calm.If Jason stays, he and Heidi might lose another chance to fix what is broken between them.I don't want it. I want them to be happy together.There is another reason too.I do not want Sterling to see how weak I am right now.I do not want him to look at me and know that beneath this hospital gown, beneath this stiff voice and straight spine, I am afraid.“But Jenny...” Jason starts, his voice low and uncertain.I lift a hand before he can say more. “Please. I need to speak to Mr Sterling alone.”Then I turn to Sterling.He is already looking at me.His gaze does not flicker. It does not soften. It rests on me with that same cold patience, as if he already knows I would have asked for this conversation.Behind me, I hear Jason exhale through his nose. A moment