ZAHRA——
"Why have you been acting so strange today? Like as if you're hiding something." Bilal asks
"I haven't." I lie.
"Yes, you have, don't deny it. You suck at lying by the way. What's wrong."
"Nothing." another lie.
"Zahra." He says my name with a serious tone, making it clear that he wants a truthful answer.
"Nothing is wrong just leave me alone!" I almost yell as I slightly push passed him, walking away from the room, but he grabs my sleeve to turn me around and look at him, causing it to roll up my arm, revealing my—almost— fresh wounds and bruises.
I quickly cover my arm again with my sleeve, but Bilal grabs my arm and rolls my sleeve up again.
His gaze darkened as he looks at them with pure shock and anger.
"Who. The fuck. Did this." He asks slowly through his gritted teeth.
I don't say a word. I just stand there, as still as a statue, staring at my arm and tears welling up in my eyes.
"Your father. Isn't it" he answers his own question.
Again, I say nothing.
"Where else." He demands to know.
I look up and stare into his hazel eyes, my eyes glossy, and my lips trembling.
He waits for me to show him, and my hand shakes as I roll up my other sleeve, showing him the other bruises and wounds.
"Is that all? " he asks, already knowing the answer to that question. I shake my head 'no' and he clenches his jaw.
"T-there are some o-on my back too" I manage to say—well, mumble— in a low voice, looking down at the ground and fidgeting with my fingers with tears rolling down my cheeks as I remember what my father did to me.
What hurts isn't the pain I felt while I was being hit. What hurts is that I always try to forgive him, even if he probably won't ever apologize, but he still ends up doing it over and over again.
All I can see is the anger in Bilal's eyes which fades away and looks at me with concern. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me close as I cry into his chest. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asks in a low, comforting voice. "He-he threatened that if I told y-you, he'd kill you... I didn't w-want you to get hurt, let alone killed." I try speaking, my crying making it harder for me to explain without stuttering.
Bilal smiles slightly, "Hayati... your father won't even be able to touch me."
His hold around my waist loosens, his hands cupping my face and wiping away my tears with his thumbs.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks, looking down into my eyes. I hesitate for a while, contemplating whether or not I should tell him, but he'll find out one way or another do there's no point in not telling him right now.
"The woman you think is my mom, isn't my biological mother." She starts. "My real mother died in a car accident when I was seven caused by one of my family's enemies... My father loved her. She was his second wife. Farah is Anas and Amira's biological mother, but not mine. My dad blames me for her death because she was driving fast late at night just because I was sick and she was somewhere else... She drove fast just to see me and be there for me." A tear escapes my eye. "...and today is her birthday, and he always hits me on the day of her birthday."
"But how did he get to you? " he asks
"I was at her grave. Praying for her, and he was there." Another teardrop falls down my cheek.
Bilal doesn't know what to say. He just looks sad for me. That I had to lose my mother just when she wanted to see me.
But then, he looks angry again. Thinking about what my father did to me.
He relaxes a little a hugs me tightly again, holding me close to him. "I am so sorry you had to go through that. And I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you. " he tells me, guilt evident in his tone.
"It isn't your fault. It's okay" I say.
A couple minutes pass by a we're still in that position, not a single word exiting either of our mouths until he finally breaks the silence, "Do you want to lay down to rest a little?"
I nod and he scoops me into his arms and walks back to our bedroom. He gently places me on our bed and lies down next me, pulling me closer to him. I lay down with my head on his chest with his arm wrapped around me and he gently strokes my hair while I slowly fall asleep.
✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼
BILAL——
When Zahra told me what happened, my heart broke with every tear that fell out of her eyes.
I felt guilty that I wasn't there to protect her from her father. But I felt infuriated too.
At what he did to her.
He thinks he can hurt my wife and get away with it?
He thinks that I'll do nothing after realizing that he abused her?
But he is wrong.
He is so fucking wrong.
*****
Asalamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakato 🤍
Thoughts?
Not proud of this but here we are.
ANYWAY 🤚
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your day😊
Thank you all and Ily all sm for the sake of Allah <3
Allah Hafiz 🫀
YOU ARE READING
Heartless Love
Romance"Heartless Love " tells the story of Zahra Najjar, a Lebanese doctor from a mafia family, who is forced to marry Bilal Saleh, a longtime rival from a rival mafia family. Despite their hatred for each other, their marriage turns out to be the cataly...
