All Chapters of He Was an Orphan, Then He Became My Lover: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ghalia walked toward her father’s shop at a leisurely pace, carrying a food container in her hands.The voices of street vendors rose all around her, mingling with the laughter and shouts of children running around and playing happily.She was accustomed to the constant noise of the streets around her. That was simply how the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood was—never quiet, never still.As she approached her father’s shop, owned by Haj Helmy, the largest fabric merchant in the entire Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood, she suddenly screamed in alarm when something hard struck her head.She immediately put a hand against her forehead, rubbing the sore spot as she glared around in anger, searching for whoever had thrown the ball at her.She grabbed the ball and decided to teach its owner a lesson—and keep the ball as punishment.Her eyes narrowed angrily when she saw Ali, the eleven-year-old son of Haj Moneim, the fruit merchant, approaching her.“We’re sorry, Miss Ghalia! We didn’t mean to hit yo

He quickly covered her mouth once more. “Where did you come from?! What a day… I’ll take my hand away, but don’t scream again. People are going to gather around us.” She nodded quickly, staring at him in terror. He was still a complete stranger. She had gone up to the rooftop as she did every day, only to find a strange man standing there. He removed his hand from her mouth again. This time, she took a step backward, staring at him in panic. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” He raised his hands and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, looking at Ghalia as she stood before him with her arms folded beneath her chest. “I’m Omar.” She raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “And I’m supposed to know what that means? Which Omar? And why are you on our rooftop doing what exactly?” “Haj Helmy is the one who brought me here…” She stared at him suspiciously. Why would her father bring him here? He certainly didn’t look like one of her father’s workers. From his carefully

“You know how busy I’ve been lately, Suad, my dear. I’ve been busy with the girls’ wedding preparations. I married two of them at once, after all…”Suad sat in the chair opposite her, immediately understanding the hidden meaning behind her sister-in-law’s words.She sighed patiently.“May God bless their marriages, dear. Hopefully the youngest will be next.”“Haidi? Haidi has suitors coming and going all the time. We can barely keep up with them. But her father says she’s still young—she’s only in her second year of university. Just the other day, an officer came to propose. Mashallah, the young man is practically flawless, from a respectable, well-connected family. But Hamdy told him he doesn’t intend to marry her off yet.”Suad sighed.She knew perfectly well what her husband’s sister was implying.She was talking about her daughter, Ghalia, who had reached twenty-six without getting married.Suad fell silent, unable to find anything to say.Elham continued, asking maliciously, unab

Whenever Youssef found an opportunity to belittle his son, he took it without the slightest guilt, never even considering that Omar was his only son. “You’re kidding yourself, Salwa,” Nadia said bitterly. “Your brother has been gone for a week. I’m certain your father said something that hurt him. I know my son. Omar is sensitive, and every time he fought with Youssef, he wanted to leave the house. I was always the one who stopped him, begged him not to go, and he listened to me because he didn’t want to hurt me.” She continued, “Why didn’t you look for him? Fine, we all know your father is heartless, but you didn’t even look for your own brother, Salwa! At the very least, you could have called me and told me.” Salwa answered sadly, guilt weighing heavily on her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I swear I was worried about you. And I didn’t just sit around doing nothing. Hassam and I searched everywhere. We went to every relative we thought he might have gone to and contacted every friend we kn

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, Ghal