Third Person's POV:
To Maryam, the grand mansion was not a very surprising sight. Her foster parents were well-off too and she wasn't much interested in the splendor and luxuries of money. However, it did make her feel a little giddy.
The interior was even more beautiful than the exterior. Maryam looked around the house as Amna led her to Abdullah's room which was now hers. "I hope you like the decorations. I've been working on them for the past week." Her mother-in-law asked her sweetly when they entered the room.
Maryam smiled approvingly with a nod upon looking at the bed filled with roses and all the ceilings covered with LED lights. The furniture looked completely new and the king-sized bed was prepared as if it were waiting for just her.
"It's wonderful. Thank you," she replied. Amna took her hands in hers and came a little closer which told Maryam that she was probably going to say something important. "From today onward, this house is in your care. You know that I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow for Turkey and it makes me feel very guilty to leave you here all on your own but I can't help it." she squeezed her hands once.
"I hope you'll take care of Abdullah with patience and perseverance." She smiled a bit sadly as she continued; "He's a nice guy but he's not very used to sudden changes. I know he'll try his best but if he ever hurts you, please forgive him for my sake. I know it's even more selfish for me to ask you to ignore his mistakes but I'm helpless being his mother."
Maryam didn't let the light-haired woman continue. She put an assuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a bright smile.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll try my best to never let you down." it was as if those words were enough for Amna, who had a gut feeling that Abdullah wasn't one to step down so easily, especially since he was blackmailed into accepting the marriage proposal.
But Maryam didn't need to know that. She was pretty, young, sensible and most of all, a pious girl. Anyone could fall in love with her. Marriage was a bond that found a way to love no matter what and many people had arranged marriages that turned out to be best for them.
That was how Amna assured herself that everything would be alright. Besides, her long prayers and dua's had yet to bear fruit and she was sure Allah would never leave her empty-handed.
"Am I supposed to change... Or what?" Maryam's voice made Amna snap out of her thoughts and she gave the nervous girl a little laugh. "Oh no, not yet. Wait for Abdullah here. He still hasn't seen you properly yet." she gave her a wink which made Maryam feel nothing mainly because Abdullah wasn't nothing but a stranger for her, but for good manners' sake, she averted her gaze to the ground shyly.
After adjusting her on the bed, Amna left the room with a wave and high hopes.
Maryam looked around the room, trying to figure out what Abdullah's taste was but the decorations hid everything that had been personally designed by him. She didn't know how to feel about her husband because she didn't know what he was like. She had good expectations from him but the thought of being alone in a room with him scared her.
She recalled what happened when he sat next to her in the marriage hall. She had never felt so scared of being near to a man before. Her thoughts were disrupted by the sound of the door opening. As soon as the person set foot inside, it was like Maryam could smell out the familiar scent of cologne from afar.
She froze in her place and tried to look at nowhere but her henna-filled hands and painted nails. Cold sweat collected on her palms as the heavy footsteps neared her. She tried to inhale but forgot how to.
The movement of the bed caused by his weight when he sat on it, made her want to crawl under the bed and hide herself from him. Fine, he was handsome and overall looked like a person with an amazing personality but, he was still a man! One that she didn't have to cover herself from.
Expecting him to start asking her about how her day was, like any normal person, she was a bit surprised when the first words that he spoke to her were nothing like that.
"Sorry to say this, but you're not the one for me."
That hit Maryam like an arrow to the heart.
With widened eyes, she turned to look at him finally. That time, she was least concerned about his looks or his personality or the fact that she was alone in the room with him without her hijab.
"What?"
He looked away from her, clutching the small jewelry box he held in his right hand. "You're not the one for me," he repeated, sending another bomb to fall on her. "Before you think it's because you're not pretty enough or not good enough, that's not the reason. You're just not my type. It's also because I'm in love with someone else and I can't leave her for a stranger like you."
For a second, Maryam tried to digest his words but then she was confused whether to feel angry at the fact that he was so full himself to think she would not consider herself equal to him or at the fact that he had that annoying expressionless face as he casually said those words to her. She decided that both things were unacceptable and not to mention, annoying as hell.
The cold sweat that was making her shiver a while ago had disappeared and now, Maryam's body was fired up from the immense fury she was feeling. She looked at him–no glared at him as if that would make him understand what in the world he was actually saying to her.
"Then why are you here?" she asked in a low voice because she was afraid that she would not be able to control herself if she exploded. For a moment, he looked confused by her question but when he understood what she meant, his expression turned aloof again.
"I was forced into this marriage. I did all this just to maintain my position as the Saleh company's CEO." He looked at her. "Do you know how hard I've worked for this position? I couldn't let it go just like that." then he held out the jewelry box he had been clutching on to.
"Anway, this is your present. Mom told me to give it to you. Please wear it so she doesn't know that we're not planning to take this marriage seriously." he sounded like he didn't think of her as anything worthy of respect as he tossed the box at her. It fell right beside her knee on her spread-out lehnga.
She didn't bother picking it up, still unable to believe what was happening. Abdullah stood up and walked over to the mirror to look at himself, leaving her on her own. "You look pretty but you can change out of that now. It looks like a big problem to deal with and it's all fruitless when you have no one to show it to. The bathroom's right there."
Maryam just looked at him in shock and flabbergast. She was still trying to make herself believe that she was really hearing those words from him. Could anyone be that obnoxious?!
But she decided there and then. She wasn't taking it anymore. She got up from the uncomfortable position she was sitting in on the bed and grabbed her pajamas from her bag. Storming past Abdullah who was still checking himself out in the mirror, she hissed at him before walking away to the washroom.
"Well, thank you for the suggestion, you jerk. I don't want to wear this stupid dress for a person like you anyway."
With that, she slammed the washroom door behind her and quickly changed into her comfy clothes. She couldn't help but swear at him in her head.
If he didn't like her, why did he say yes? Why did he have to ruin her life? He was a sissy who couldn't say no to his parents and stand for himself. A coward!
But Maryam quickly took it all back.
She glanced at herself in the mirror, all her heavy jewelry and extravagant clothes replaced with her pajamas that had an irregular pattern of small yellow dots all over. Her wavy hair fell to her back and she tucked a few strands behind her ear.
In a way, it was a good thing he wasn't interested in her. She could just live there with a big status as the daughter-in-law of the house and go about her own business without having to fulfill her duties as a wife and taking care of him.
She would just separate herself from him and construct her little world in another room. After all, the main reason she had agreed to get married was to escape her foster family and their bad behavior towards her.
Yeah, she could do that.
With a satisfied smile, she walked out of the washroom, making up her mind to tolerate being in the same room with him for a night until her parents-in-law left for Turkey.
"You can sleep on the couch there," Abdullah said to her, pointing at a fancy couch that was on the other side of the room. Seeing the dissatisfied look on Maryam's face he added, "It's comfortable. Besides, you don't really have a choice." he sounded a bit annoyed by her probably because of the nasty words Maryam had said to him before going to the bathroom.
But, she didn't mind that. It was worth it.
"I'm keeping this up just for tonight," she replied, walking over to the couch after grabbing a pillow from the bed. "After your parents leave, I'm not staying here a moment longer." Abdullah looked more happy than angry at that.
"Fine by me."
"And if you think I'm doing this to hide your secret then you're completely wrong. I'm doing this just because your parents would be hurt to find out that their son is actually a coward." she sneered at him, taking him by surprise at how quick she could change personalities from being a shy bride to that.
But he narrowed his eyes at her. "How dare you call me a coward?"
Maryam did not want to continue it further. She could've been a bit accepting if he wasn't so arrogant and full of himself. But, because of his nasty attitude, she didn't want to have anything to do with him.
"I'm going to sleep. Please make this easier for yourself and me by being quiet for the rest of the night."
Third Person's POV:Abdullah was anything but guilty about his attitude towards his new wife. No matter how unbothered Maryam tried to be, she still couldn't help but feel that her fantasies about getting married were all thrown down the well.The morning was awkward as no one said a word and Maryam spent the whole day with Amna who looked very curious to know how things went the previous night."Did he give you a present?" Amna asked with twinkling eyes. Maryam nodded slowly remembering the jewelry box he had so rudely tossed at her. She didn't bother opening it or even asking about it from him as she wasn't interested in the jewel but the way he was supposed to hand it to her."Did you like it?" Amna asked, looking almost relieved that he did as he was told to. Maryam nodded again. "Yes, it was really beautiful. The erm... Colour... Was really attractive." she lied, wanting to make herself seem bel
Third Person's POV:Maryam closed the door behind her and dropped her bag to the floor. An empty room stood in front of her painted with a contrast of white and brown. Normally, she would look around and explore it but the event that had just occurred was too much for her.Her wrist still hurt and she felt water collect at the brim of her eyes.No, I'm not going to cry because of that idiot.She told herself that again and again but whenever she thought about how she felt when he grabbed her hand and demanded an answer from her, she fell into gloom again. She walked over to the mirror that was hanging a few meters across from the bed and looked at herself.Her eyes were watery but she didn't dare shed a tear. She had barely started her new life and he showed his dark colors without any hesitation. He could've at least thought about the fact that she was new there or that sh
Abdullah's POV:Another employer stood up to greet me. I didn't spare him a glance and swiped my hand in the air to acknowledge him. He sat back down while I kept on walking towards my office, my polished shoes clicking on the shiny marble floor making a noise that filled in the quiet workplace.I passed the long line of cabins aligned with each other on both sides. The walls of the great building strongly screamed 'success' which I knew was because of my efforts. Before my dad handed me the authority of the company, it was nothing more than just a normal textile company but at that time, it was one of the greatest companies in New York and it was due to my hard work.I opened the door and entered my room, passing Stella, my personal assistant. "Don't let anyone disturb me. Tell them I'm not feeling well if they persist." I ordered her before going inside and plopping down on my office chair tiredly.
Third Person's POV:Maryam rushed back inside her room, panting heavily. Once she was out of his sight, she calmed down and face palmed herself. It didn't even occur to her once that Abdullah could be there. If she had known that there was even a minor possibility of that happening, she would have worn proper clothes.It was such a bummer that her quiet time was interrupted by him but it was even worse that he saw her in that state. She only wore those clothes when she was alone in the room. Her face was still beetroot red and her heart was pounding out of her chest. Her dress was anything but appropriate and he was the first man to see her in that.She just couldn't forget the look on his face when he looked at her. It was almost as if... As if... He was checking her out. The way he looked at her in fascination made her heart skip a beat involuntarily. She tried to shake off the feeling but honestly, she felt a li
Third Person's POV:Maryam felt a little rumble in her stomach when she approached the classroom door quietly. She looked at the familiar wooden door with a glass box to peek inside through. A small metal tag was pasted beside it, labeled 12-A. Maryam gulped down the lump forming in her throat and she grabbed the hem of her baggy maroon t-shirt, twisting and twirling it between her fingers."Here it is. I hope you like it here." the voice shook Maryam out of her thoughts and she turned to look at the middle-aged lady standing beside her. "Have a nice day then, Ms. Maryam." the vice-principal, Ms. Caroline smiled at her and walked away.Maryam was now left on her own. She knew the way around the school and wasn't nervous because she was worried about her studies or her appearance but the weird looks the students gave her. They usually did that because of her hijab but then, it was different. And it was affecting her
Third Person's POV:Maryam didn't dare make a sound when she got into the car. Abdullah moved into the driver's seat and looked like he was about to murder someone. The spot of blood at the end of his mouth was still there and for some reason, Maryam felt that it was her fault.But it was okay. No one told him to save her if he didn't want to. Yes, she was grateful to him that he did what he did but if he was going to blame her for it, then she didn't need to be sorry. Surprisingly, he didn't.He started the car without a sound and began driving. Maryam clutched her seat belt as he drove fast, pressing on the accelerator to go even faster. The roaring of the engine was the only sound that filled the silence between them."Dammit!" Abdullah finally cursed, hitting the steering wheel with one hand. He swore a bit more before looking at her. "If that a****** does anything to you again,
Third Person's POV:If Maryam had the chance to murder someone and not be punished for it, then she would definitely choose Adam. It was a big thing to say since she had Shehroz and Abdullah as a good option too. But, over the past few days, she felt like Abdullah wasn't so bad after all.He wasn't the perfect husband but it seemed like he was trying a little to. Though it wasn't enough, it was better than nothing. He would drop her off and pick her up from school whenever he got the time and the other day, he actually treated her to ice-cream.Despite that, both of them rarely talked. Their conversations mostly consisted of; "How was your day?" or, "Did you like dinner?" or Abdullah would usually ask, "Did that Adam guy do anything else?"Of course, Maryam didn't tell him that she had yelled at him and humiliated him in front of his friends and a few other students that were at the scene. And she di
Third Person's POV"Dinner is served, Mistress." With her gaze on the ground and her head bend down with respect, the young lady in a maid's uniform stood at the door of Cornelia's room. She didn't dare move her gaze from the floor and waited for Cornelia's response."I'm coming!" Cornelia's tone was cheerful the way it had been for the last few hours. Even though Maryam was still furious at her for sending her very private 0.b: Abdullah, she was still excited to have dinner with her and her family."My mom's going to love you!" Cornelia remarked as both of them walked downstairs to the dining hall. Maryam nodded, a bit unsure. "Does she know I'm here?"Cornelia nodded. "Duh! I told her the moment you agreed to stay over. She was at her boutique so she couldn't greet you but told me especially to bring you to dinner." she explained to me while pushing the big door of the hall open. The door ope