Mending You And I

Chapter Thirty-Two

--Maryam's POV--

The next few days were peaceful. I forgot about my parents ever coming in the first place and I had to admit, it was only because Abdullah made everything seem so normal that I couldn't make it a big deal even if I tried to.

It turned out I was right. Of course, mother and father only came to visit me to exploit Abdullah's power and wealth for their own benefit. They had been evicted from their house and property because some social workers found out they were trying to adopt another kidnapped child from human traffickers to get paid by the government.

The news made my body shiver.

Abdullah told Rashid to crack the egg when father pleaded for him to help them financially. It was one shell of a scene but I was in my room, snoring my dreams away by the grace of Allah.

It made me think; if it weren't for my foster family's wrong ways, I would've never been adopted by them from those kidnappers. And if that never happened, Allah knew where I would be at the moment. In the end, it was all by Allah's mercy and Rahmah that I was saved.

Even if Allah was the creator of evil, ultimately it would be the cause of a greater good because Allah is light and The Guide towards salvation and goodness.

In a way, someone's evil saved me and caused a good deed to happen.

These thoughts continued to cross my mind as I stood in wait at the school's exit. Many students passed by me but I was too busy to notice them. Bringing the phone to my face to see if I had received any message, I put it back with disappointment.

I had been waiting for almost twenty minutes and there was no sign of Abdullah. He had promised to pick me up that day so we could go to a formal dinner at one of his partner's place later that evening.

I started to look around for any sign of him but all in vain. I was getting used to being dependent on him but it was okay, right? We were finally a proper couple and things looked like they were finally falling into their rightful place.

In the end, I decided to go home myself. I did not want to stand alone at the exit and keep on waiting for him. I called the driver and went home with him. Returning home, I changed clothes, prayed, and then went down to the kitchen to help out with dinner.

"Are you going to continue your studies after high school?" Mila asked me as I made the salad. I shrugged in response. "No idea. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Right now I don't have anything to do so might as well study."

That earned me a laugh from one of the senior maids, Reema. She was a woman in her late fifties, with white hair and a wrinkly but soft face. She was Bangladeshi and Muslim too so I enjoyed talking to her.

"That's really easy to say when you don't have any children," she said in her raw accent. "Inshaa Allah, when you're going to have your first child, you'll probably have sweaty hands just from the thought of exams, assignments, and degrees." she chuckled once more. The mention of having children made me go red.

The other two maids in the kitchen laughed in chorus, making me feel more embarrassed.

"That's... I don't think..." I stammered, directing my shy gaze towards the bowl filled with cut vegetables and greens. "I don't think I'll have kids right now," I whispered which was hardly audible. Though Reema had bad hearing due to her age, she heard me in an instant.