10

Her heart danced with happiness that day.

Yet no matter how much time passed, she would never forget the reproachful look her father had given her.

It was as though his eyes were saying,

You have disappointed me.

He had asked her what she thought about the marriage, even though he already knew her answer.

Perhaps a tiny part of him had still hoped she would refuse.

“What do you think, Ghalia?”

Her eyes sparkled with happiness as she answered in a soft, shy voice,

“I agree…”

Her mother immediately began ululating with joy.

The engagement was completed, and everything went smoothly.

And here she was now, standing in the white dress she had dreamed of for so long.

She finally returned from her memories, a huge smile decorating her face.

But the voice of her cousin Samar broke through the happiness surrounding her.

“Ghalia, where’s Khaled? It’s nine-thirty already, and all the guests are waiting at the hall. Khaled’s phone is switched off, and no one knows where he is!”

For a moment, Ghalia’s heart clenched painfully.

“What are you saying? What do you mean no one knows where he is?! Where’s my phone?”

The beautician brought her phone, which she had placed on the charger.

Ghalia took it with trembling hands.

She searched for Khaled’s number and called him, desperately hoping he would answer.

But her hopes were crushed when she heard that his phone was switched off.

She immediately opened W******p.

Nothing appeared in their chat.

His profile picture was gone.

His last seen was gone.

Everything was gone.

Yes.

He had blocked her.

She quickly switched to Messenger.

There was a message from him that she hadn’t opened yet.

With tear-filled eyes, she opened it.

Her heart dropped the moment she read its contents.

“I’m sorry, Ghalia. I can’t marry you.”

A short sentence made up of only a few words was enough to drain the blood from her veins and turn her face deathly pale.

The last thing she heard before collapsing unconscious was Samar screaming her name when she saw her devastating condition.

❈-❈-❈

A warm tear rolled down her cheek.

She quickly wiped it away before straightening in the chair on the balcony of her room, which overlooked a side street in the neighborhood.

It was past one in the morning, yet she remained exactly where she was, unable to move.

Every night, the thoughts attacked her, squeezing her heart all over again.

More than a year had passed since what happened.

Yet it still left its mark inside her.

She had managed to move past most of it, but a scar from the past still remained buried inside her, reminding her that all the progress she had made meant nothing.

What had happened had been unbearably difficult.

It would have required ten hearts to endure it.

But she had only one.

How could she have possibly survived it?

A tremendous amount of regret filled her.

If only she had listened to her father.

None of this would have happened.

But how could she have known?

Everything had been going according to her dreams and wishes.

How could she have known that Khaled—the man who had been more eager than she was to marry her—would do all of this?

How could she have known that he would run away on their wedding night, leaving no trace behind?

Even now, no one knew where he was.

A huge scandal had followed their family for months.

Everyone talked.

Everyone asked the same question