--------Indonesia, Palembang
-----------------Present day.
I had to leave my class immediately Ummi texted. My mind wasn’t at rest, I really hoped GrandPa was okay. He didn't have to leave us now. I felt a warm substance roll down my cheek as I quickly ran into the hospital in search for Ummi. It was very large, Al-ameer specialist hospital. I wasn’t not sure we could afford bringing grandpa here. I walked further into the hospital and found Ummi sitting on a bench. I slowly walked to her and sat by her side. I wanted to comfort her with my words but I couldn’t, I always tried my best to. Not that my tongue was cut off or anything, I just couldn't say words out loud. It's very hard for me and I've lived this way for sixteen years. Ummi said I was sick when I had a terrible accident. The shock of the accident did something to me.
I pulled Ummi into a warm hug, she was sobbing lightly. I gently caressed her back and hair as she cried on my chest. " Faryah, he had a stroke, I feel like he won't survive this" Ummi said in a low tone as she cleaned her eyes with her handkerchief. Grandpa has lived for 75 years, he once had a case of cancer but he survived and now stroke.
"Faryah, Firdaus is going to pay the hospital bills don't worry about that okay. Just come let's pray to Allah for your grandfather" she said again, as she held my hand in hers.
I was a Hafizah, I am very happy for that, all thanks to my Grandpa. He taught me everything. He taught me how to be a good muslimah.
We sat quietly and prayed for grandpa for almost an hour until the ringtone of Ummi disturbed our peace. " Firdaus?" it was my sister calling.
I and my sister were two different people, we don't even look that much alike, she looks more like Ummi and Grandpa. The only thing we have in common is our height. We are of average heights, I looked nothing like my family, one could say I was stolen or adopted or something absurd.
" You should come Firdaus, just leave work and come here now" Ummi says into the phone. Firdaus was a model, she wasn't really that deep in the deen but Ummi always tried her best to help her out. "Good, we'll be waiting and before you come, can you please drop by the house and get some of my clothes?" she asked again. I looked round the hospital, nurses were all over, doctors and everything. I admired doctors a lot, one needed to be dedicated to be able to be a doctor.
I sighted an old man in his blue scrub walking towards us, he must be the doctor that was operating on Grandpa. "Excuse me, are you a relative to Mr Musa Mustapha?" The man asked and I quickly got up from where I sat and nodded. Ummi joined us after she ended her call. " Yes doctor, I'm his daughter" Ummi answered. " Well we managed to get him stable, he is now unconscious, and he's being taken to his room. We still have more tests to run, I can't say he's safe until we do more tests. You'll be able to see him in a short while, the nurse will show you to his room" He said calmly as he smiled at Ummi and I. " But he's hopefully going to be okay right doctor?" Ummi asked. " I can't guarantee you anything till he's awake" he answered. For all I knew, stroke could cause paralysis. " Thank you doctor" Ummi said and sat back down to wait for the nurse.
" Faryah we're going to lose your grandfather. I can feel it Faryah. We'll be all alone, but we can manage, we're strong" Ummi cried as she dumped her head into my chest. " We can do this, we can and we will" I needed to be strong for Ummi. She was our grandfather's only daughter and child, and her mother died whilst giving birth to her. Tears were brimming up in my eyes but for sixteen years, I have learned how to control them. I was not going to cry, my grandfather wouldn't want that.
We followed the nurse to the fourth floor of the hospital, Grandpa was in room 205. " Please don't overcrowd the room okay" the nurse said and we nodded before she left us alone with grandpa. The room was large and the equipment looked all brand new. It was also painted white and the curtains were blue.
Grandpa laid on the hospital bed, with the oxygen mask on his nose. There was a small couch by the side of his room and a table with magazines on them. "Su..suuu....Sumayyah" we heard grandpa whisper as he slowly opened his eyes. " Abbah, Abbah, I'm here" Ummi cried as she stood beside Grandpa's bed. I followed her and stood beside her, she needed all the support she could get. I watched as she took his hand into hers and kissed his knuckles. " Why are you crying Sumayyah?. Come on" Grandpa was always cheerful, he always had a smile on his face no matter the situation he found himself in. He was my role model.
He moved his eyes to look at me, " Faryah cheer your mother up, Sumayyah every soul shall taste death and its my time to. Sumayyah pray for me, pray for Allah's forgiveness for me, make dua for me, don't cry" he was always strong, I really couldn’t stop the tears from falling, it hurt me deeply, this wise man was going to leave us soon.
The door creaked open and Firdaus walked in, she was wearing a pretty nice Abayyah but she didn't cover her brown flay hair. She looked so pretty, well she was a model after all. " Ummi, Faryah" she said as she hugged us both. " Grandpa" she whispered and kisses his forehead. " Firdaus, where's your veil or Hijab?" Grandpa asked. I watched Firdaus roll her eyes and sigh heavily. Grandpa always complained about the way she dressed and she detested him for that. For all we knew, Firdaus wouldn't care if Grandpa died. " Grandpa, its sunny out there. I can't afford to sweat" she answered rudely. " Firdaus, Abbah, not now please" Ummi stated and Firdaus moved away from Grandpa’s bed to sit on the couch.
" Faryah, my little angel. I wish I could hear your sweet voice, but Allah knows best Faryah. Faryah a person who doesn't keep promises is a hypocrite right?" Grandpa asked me as he took my hand in his. I nodded in reply. " Good girl. Now I have one last request before I return to my Allah, and I am trusting you to fulfil it" I was more than willing to do anything for my grandfather, anything to please him before he finally left us. " Abbah, let Firdaus do it, she's more mature" Ummi said and Abbah shook his head. " Sumayyah, I want to make my friend see and be proud of the only granddaughter I raised properly and call my own with pride, and that is Faryah" his words were certainly going to hurt Firdaus. I tilted my head to look at her and found her reading a magazine, she acted like she didn’t care but I knew deep down Firdaus was hurting. I was happy that he was proud of me though, we were very close.
"Abbah don't say that, Firdaus is my flesh and blood and I am proud to be her mother" Ummi replied him. "Well of course, you gave birth to her, you forcefully have to be proud of what she is" he was using his words to attack Firdaus. They were never on good terms and he always blamed Ummi for it. " Abbah.." Ummi started but he cut her off. " leave that Sumayyah, Faryah I know this might come as a blow to you and you won't accept it for now, but Faryah, it is my dream to see my grand daughters get married to responsible men" I was starting to think twice about fulfilling his wish. He was suddenly talking about marriage, something I never for once stopped to think about in all my years of existence.
" Faryah, back then when I was so handsome.." Grandpa was funny too, I watched Ummi smile and it made me smile too. " Back then Faryah, I had a very ugly best friend. His name is Julius, me and him were so close and we wanted our descendants to be close too, first we said our kids were going to get married but his son fell in love with someone he married but she died on the wedding day of your father and Sumayyah. So Julius apologised and we decided that our grandchildren will get married instead" there it was. I didn’t want to get married, I never pictured myself getting married. I was mute, who would possibly want a mute wife?.
"Faryah, his Son has a very handsome young man, he's very responsible and nice and I would love to see the both of you get married" it was indeed a blow. It was my grandfather's wish but I didn’t want to face the torture of being married. I was a fan of romance but I never pictured myself being in a romantic relationship with anybody. I really didn’t want to. "Uhmm Faryah, you should be happy that your grandfather found a husband for you, at least your chances of dying alone has been reduced" Firdaus chipped in. It was a rude comment but it was true. "Firdaus stop that" Ummi snapped.
" Faryah we won't force you to do what you don't want okay" Ummi answered. I didn't notice the tears falling down my cheeks. It really wasn’t what I wanted, but for my grandfather’s happiness and peace of mind I had to consider it.
Prophet Muhammad(SAW) married his daughters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, off to Uthman bin Affan. They didn't complain or argue about it because they were obedient and they knew that their father knew what was best for them.
I could follow in their footsteps, Grandpa wouldn't marry me off to someone irresponsible. I had to trust in Allah and my grandfather, they knew what was right.
I cleaned my eyes and looked at grandpa, he knew I was going to agree. I nodded at him and watched him he smile. " Faryah you're agreeing to get married?" grandpa asked me with his sight not leaving mine. I smiled at him and nodded again. " Faryah are you sure you're doing this out of your own free will?" Ummi asked and I nodded. " Well I guess I better start preparing for a wedding" Firdaus sounded happy, she has tried different ways to get rid of me and now she has. She ought to be happy.
" Thank you Faryah, trust in Allah and all will be alright okay?" Grandpa said and I nodded again.
I was making a sacrifice and I knew if my grandfather was going to be pleased with me, it was worth it.
Most certainly.
---------------Los Angeles, California ---------------------Present day The lights and flowers were all set, everything was ready, Juris Fernandez's Sweet love was playing in the background. The garden was so pretty, the flowers were all ready, it was just going to be me and her and the snacks were all set for our dinner tonight. She was supposed to be here any minute from now. I was honestly so anxious, my palms were sweaty. Ethan had already convinced me to do it this way, secretive and lovely. It took me a week to plan everything, hoping she was going to love it. I could finally hear the clicking of heels from behind me, I slowly turned around and found her blonde wavy hair swiftly moving along with the wind. I felt the earth stop rotating and it was just me and her. Her long and sexy legs were the first things I caught sight of. She was wearing black heels and the off shouldered lon
-------------Indonesia, Palembang ------------------------A month later She was looking like an angel sent from above. Her dress fitted her perfectly. I looked at her dress in the full length mirror, she was in a white long sleeved flay and full satin long dress. It looked pretty tight from the belly up and flay from the belly down. There was a small white veil styled on her head. She looked really stunning, I couldn’t believe it. I have never imagined that I could ever look this beautiful. I was left in shock as I looked into the mirror taking in all the makeup Firdaus made me wear. I didn't like how I looked even though I looked so pretty, I was so used to my plain abayas and baggy skirts and shirts. This was a really big change. Time honestly was fast. It felt like it was just yesterday I agreed to get married to a stranger. I have never thought of
--------------Indonesia, Palembang ---------------------- Night after the wedding Everything about her screamed innocence. From her looks down to her quiet movements, I really, honestly couldn't believe that someone as beautiful as she was, was mute. She probably had the voice of an angel and the angels were jealous so they took it away from her, just saying. I tried being as nice as possible to her earlier today, GrandPa wanted me to and the glorious smile on her grandfathers face made me realise that it was worth it. The sacrifice was totally worth it. "Khalid" Sophia called as she walked over to where I stood beside the car. Sophia was the child of my mother and Brandon, she was still in college, UCLA, studying medicine. She looked a lot like my mother. She was beautiful, just like her. "Hey" I answered as she stood beside me. I was waiting for Faryah to say her good byes to he
----------------Indonesia, Palembang ------------------Next day( airplane ) I shut my eyes tight as the plane took off. This was my very first time and I was so scared, too scared. I had already heard about plane crashes and now I was on one. I didn't want to die young. I felt a warm, tough hand on mine as my eyes were shut. " Breathe in" I heard his deep voice say and I instantly obeyed. " Breathe out" he said again and I obeyed and slowly opened my eyes. His touch sent shivers down my spine. I really wanted to know more about Khalid. He was nice to me, right from the start. He even selected a table under the stars for us to eat, it was a very beautiful view. He was quite really entertaining also and slightly funny. " This is obviously your first time" He said and gave me a small charming smile. He was a very handsome man. I nodded and smiled as I looked at my lap. The cake Ummi packed for us was here.
-----------------Los Angeles, California. ---------------------- three days later, Olyster textiles. I had lots of meetings to attend to, Brandon was out of town in a meeting with our investors. I had already spent four hours in the office and I needed a break. I dialled my secretary and waited for her to come in. " Yes sir" she said as she walked in. " Uhmm can you order me a beef burger and fries, with a large milk smoothie from the nearby eatery?" I asked and she nodded and walked out. I still had a lot to do, I had contracts to go through and sign. There was a soft knock on the door and it could possibly be Ethan or my secretary. " Come on in" I answered, not taking my eyes off the contract I was reading as I twirled a pen in my hand. I heard the clicking of heels and took my eyes off the piece of paper to see who it was. " It's been a month Khalid" she said as she stood to look at
-----------------Los Angeles, California. -----------------------Same night ( Ella's apartment ) " Hey" she called as she pulled me into a hug as she opened the door. I held her by the waist and hugged her tight. She fit perfectly in my arms. " Come on in" She said as she pulled me into her apartment. It was still the same, it was pretty big, it had a pretty nice balcony with a great view of the city. It was painted white, with pink square tiles on the walls and floors. " I picked some funny movies, Jumanji?" she said as she pushed me further in. She was wearing normal shorts and a white tee shirt with cute slippers. " I've been wanting to watch Jumanji" I said as I followed her to the kitchen. " There's also Johnny English and I picked Parabellum out too" she added as she handed me a plate of brownies and another huge bowl of pop corn. " Take these to the living room, I'll take four Cans of Soda from th
-----------------------Los Angeles, California --------------------------- Present day( Olyster textiles) " So why did Brandon call this urgent meeting?" GrandPa Julius asked as we walked together to the Board room. I had no idea why he was calling a meeting, he only said it was urgent and all board members needed to attend, he was already in LA, on his way to the office. " I have no idea GrandPa, I guess it's something good" I said as we walked into the board room and were greeted. I took my seat beside GrandPa and we had to wait for a little why before Brandon arrived. " Good day sir" the others greeted as they got up as Brandon entered the room. " Good day everyone please take your seats, Son, GrandPa" Brandon said as he hugged both I and GrandPa. He considered me his son, even though I couldn't bring myself to see him as father figure for me. " Everyone I called this meeting to announce that we will
--------------Los Angeles, California ------------------ Same day( Olyster residence ) I slowly opened my eyes and tried adjusting them to the light. I looked at the familiar small dark eyes that were looking deeply into mine. I really couldn't believe I could ever see pity in his eyes. He was soaked. He saved me. After pushing me into the pool. Strange. " Are you okay?" I could feel a hint of concern in his voice. I nodded and rose my back up from the bed. I wasn't in my room, this obviously looked like his room. There were different photographs all around, the room was painted white and I was lying on a big white bed. " I couldn't let you die, I'm sorry " He was apologising, sincerely. Maybe this was the start of our friendship I guess. I smiled at him and watched him smile back. I tried avoiding his gaze as he stared at me intentl
" okay now I think I made a huge mistake in marrying you Tyler. Why the hell did you bring a dog in here?, you know how much I dislike dogs and you brought one here and it popped all over my favourite carpet" lately all I did was throw tantrums at Tyler for no reason in particular.It was probably the baby in me that caused it." But you love dogs!, I thought it was going to cheer you up" My poor husband was trying to defend himself. Pregnancy wasn't easy honestly. One minute I was so mad and the next, I was crying." why don't you just let me complain?" I whined and threw myself on the comfy bed in our room. I was three weeks pregnant and it's been approximately seven months since we luckily put Pa Alejo and Miss Hae Soo in prison. Faryah and Khalid were in Rabat now and here I was, travelling the world during holidays with my husband Tyler. The asshole reverted for my sake. I remember clearly how I helped him say the Shahadah, he kept on stam
----------------Rabat, Morocco.------------------------------Three Months Later, Khayah Farms, 5:00pm." Mother used to tell me, if I ever find a good girl, I should never let her go. I'll never let you go Faryah" I heard Khalid whisper in my ear and I responded to him with a big radiant smile. He was holding Najmah in his right arm and our hands were intertwined with his left as we walked together round our huge apple farm in the heart of Rabat while letting the cool spring evening breeze soothe ourselves.Alhamdulillah.Khalid invested a lot of money in farms around the world, even in Kuala Lumpur. He said he bought a farm for an old man he met when he first came to Malay with Zarah. The man couldn't accept it just like that so they decided to split the ownership. The man owned half and Khalid owned the rest of the half.Najmah could walk now and as always, she was smiling. She was learning how to talk now, no more baby jibbe
-----------------Los Angeles, California.----------------------------Masjid Umar Ibn Al Khattab, two weeks later, 2:00pm" I, Faryah Edwards Mustapha have given myself away in Nikkah to you, Khalid Myles Olyster on the agreed Maher " My heart was literally dancing inside me as I let those words escape my lips." I have accepted the Nikkah" Khalid answered and I could hear Raihannah's tiny squeal from beside me.I have never been happier. I could finally hug him and cling to him always like before. Alhamdulillah.My heart was at ease and I was alive Alhamdulillah. If a minute had passed that faithful day and I wasn't given proper CPR, I would've either returned to Allah or had severe brain damage but here I was now. I was fine Alhamdulillah. I was happy and everything was right again in my life.Miss Hae Soo and Alejandro Martinez were gone and Najmah was back to us again with Zarah's help. I could finally sleep well
----------------Los Angeles, California.--------------------------Lily's hospital, 8:00pm, same day." I swear I'm going to kill that woman if anything happens to my wife, daughter and sister" I couldn't stand not doing anything. I felt so useless.Goodness.Miss Hae Soo struck again. This time she hurt Sophia and took Faryah away from me just like she took Najmah. I was literally just going insane by waiting for the police and knowing nothing about where my daughter and wife were.Well fiancée. But to me she's still very much my wife and In Sha’a Allah it was going to be finalized soon.I was going to keep on praying but I was longing for answers. No one even saw the person who came in to take Faryah and hurt Sophia, even the body guards.What was their use then?" We're lucky Sophia's fine" Ethan said as we looked at her lying peacefully on the hospital bed. Her he
---------------Medellin, Colombia.----------------------------Next day, 5:00pm. Martinez's Villa.Miss Ji Hae SooI was running out of time. Shim Seon Ah was out there and I was a fugitive. Everything I owned, all the properties, the connections, the hitmen, the weapons and the power I had. They were all gone. All because of some ordinary family. I had nothing left. The only person that was giving me a little bit of hope now was Uncle Alejo but he himself was broken because of the words his adopted daughter spat at him.The girl broke his heart and the old man was sulking.Yes, Alejandro Martinez was sulking because his daughter failed his test and now he had to kill her.The same man who had a heart of stone was heartbroken.It was true that everyone has his weak point. Alexandra Martinez was his.I was going to make sure I got my revenge on that Faryah Edwards Mustapha before the police got to me. I h
----------------------Medellin, Colombia.-----------------------------Present day, 11:15am, Martinez's Villa.All I want to do right now is to take a shower, get myself comfy in my pyjamas and cuddle myself in my queen sized bed and hopefully fall asleep.We successfully got the Korean lady on the train to Cartagena. I made sure I lectured her on not trying to contact anyone and she understood. Things were easy. I explained why I did everything I did to Tyler.I just hoped he wasn't going do something stupid to ruin my plans.I really couldn't wait for all this to be over. I missed my camera and the beautiful nature, to think I got a new photography job and here I was, shooting people.What a waste!The hot water trickled down my body from the shower as I scrubbed the sweat out of my body. I didn't want to get out of it but I just had to.Getting dressed after drying my hair and gellin
-----------------Medellin, Columbia.---------------------------- next morning, 5:00am, Martinez Cartel." Por qué llevas esa bufanda fea? Quítatela y déjame ver tu hermoso cabello oscuro. Oh, te he extrañado mucho mi querida hija (Why're you wearing that ugly scarf?, take it off and let me see your beautiful dark hair. Oh I've missed you a lot my dear daughter)" I wasn't in the mood for all his crap.He was still disgusting as always, still drinking and smoking his cigars at the same time." Pa Alejo, no estoy de humor para tus juegos. Me querías de vuelta, verdad? Ahora estoy aquí y estoy muy seguro de que tenemos un trato. Te daré un último servicio y eso es todo, así que puedes dejar de jugar y ser serio (Pa Alejo, I am not in the mood for your games. You wanted me back right?. Now I'm here and I am very sure we have a deal. I'll be of one last service to you and that's it so c
--------------Los Angeles, California.-------------------------- Valentine's residence. Same day, 12:45pm." I got this for you when we newly got married back then remember?. I couldn't give it to you early because you were attacked and you went into a deep coma" Khalid said as he sat beside me with a little space in between us on my comfy bed with velvet bed sheets. Super amazing. He was holding the diary he got for me back then.The one with the password " My Voice"." of course I remember my diary Khalid" I answered and he handed it over to me. " Well it's no longer your diary, it's now our journal of happy memories, nothing sad. I want you to read the first entry" He replied as he stared at me. " Just type in my voice and start reading" He looked excited. " you look happy" I typed in the alphabets and the lock opened." I'm always happy when I'm around you" I heard him say as I flipped the cover of the diary over and lo
-----------------Los Angeles, California.---------------------------------Two days later, Freehand hotel, Los Angeles, 11:00am.Maybe I should just turn back and leave. I wasn't exactly the person he wanted to see or even talk to in his life so why bother?. He opened the door and I scowled at the sight in front of me. I was once in his shoes." Why are you here?" He asked with a growl as I played with my hands in my pockets. " I came to check up on you" I tried my best to stay cool but all I could feel was pity for the guy. No wonder Faryah was sad that they didn't get to talk to properly. " so you came to mock me?"" Oh no, not at all. I just came to talk to you, man to man" he frowned and tried to slam the door at my face but I was quick to stop him. " Look. I know I am someone you don't want to ever talk to in your life but please hear me out. I really need to talk to you" He squashing me between the door and the wall.This was all