RashidPacing around the hallway outside of Lyla's room, I tried to not let the nurse's words get to me.'We'll run a test to make sure the baby is yours, but for now, we'll take him back to the nursery.'I hated to see them cart away our son, only having been born a few hours ago and already being ripped away from us. I wanted to believe Lyla, of course, I did, but she was also incredibly exhausted from having labored for so long, as well as barely having any food in her system.Sighing, I rubbed my hands over my face and headed down the hallway to where I knew there were a few vending machines lined up. I could at least get her some snacks to recover with while we waited for the test to come back. They'd reassured us that it wouldn't take too long for a match to be confirmed—and according to them, they didn't have any other middle eastern families on the unit, so the chances that our babies were swapped with someone else's were low. Still, the panicked look
LylaThe cookie in my hands dropped into my lap at the doctor's words. Not Rashid's?My mind reeled.What? How was that possible?He was the only man I've ever been with. How… how could he not be the father?I could see out of my peripheral vision that Rashid's shoulders stiffened. "What…?"The doctor frowned, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Yes, we… ran the panel and—""No." Rashid stood up, shaking his head. "That isn't possible."My eyes began to tear up. I quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it as tight as I could because words weren't forming in my mouth correctly. I'd never cheat on him. I'd never try and pass off a baby that wasn't his to him. He had to know that.Right?"Mr. Al-Aryani—"Rashid held his hand up. "There must be a mistake. My wife has never cheated on me. Trust me."I squeezed his hand again, noticing acutely that he didn't squeeze back.Oh god, did he think that it was
LylaMy entire world stopped."W…What…?""Mmm, isn't that right?" she spoke in a soft voice, the same cooing noise that I'd heard earlier suddenly clicking into place in my brain.No, no no no...I couldn't breathe. My lungs were frozen, ice leaking into them and causing me to choke on my own words."Now," she went on. "I didn't get a chance to ask but, what was it that you named him? I'm thinking of something meaningful, like Asif. It means strong and powerful which is perfect for the next king of Abu Dhabi."My hands shook so violently that I could barely keep the phone pressed against my ear. "W-What?"Next king? What?Where did she...? How did she even...?This couldn't be happening."It's only fair that I take what was supposed to be mine, Lyla." Her tone was matter-of-fact, almost relaxed sounding. There was another soft cooing noise on the other end that tore my heart in two. "He was supposed to be my heir, not yours. So I b
RashidI hated the way my hand shook as I held the phone up to my ear and the dial tone on the other end rang.I swore to myself that I'd never unblock this number and call it again, not until my child was grown and old enough to be on his own and in no danger of accidentally falling into their hands due to their manipulated whispering in his ear. But here I was with nothing else left to do but call the only people I never wanted to speak to again to ask for help.When the other end of the phone picked up, I sagged against the wall I'd been leaning against. I didn't want Lyla to overhear me begging my parents for anything, my pride was already destroyed with Hafsa telling me that the reason she'd taken my son was to destroy my future because I'd destroyed hers.Now I was in some dirty stairwell away from any prying eyes ready to get on my hands and knees and plead with the only people that I knew I couldn't trust other than Hafsa herself. "Hello?"M
Rashid"What's going on?" my sister asked.I never thought I'd be calling Salama of all people, but I was desperate for anything at this point. We'd never really gotten to be close as siblings with our parents always dragging us away from each other to groom us into the separate gendered roles we'd soon fall into once we were adults.It'd been sad to see my only companion at a young age, her being only a year and a half younger than me, get dragged off by her maid staff while we both kicked and screamed for the opposite to happen. We wanted to play and be children, not have the world's weight in responsibilities placed in our laps before we even knew how to drive. As I was trained to be the next future king, Salama was trained to be an attentive wife to whatever leader or high-profile man she found herself married to. Our mother had always planned big things for her. As the oldest daughter, she'd be the one to be married off first as was custom in our family line.
LylaWhen I woke up, I was back in bed at Zayed and Melanie's house.I had no idea how I got here, but I wasn't about to try and figure it out. I remembered I'd asked to be sedated after that phone call with Hafsa, not being able to stop from dry-heaving the empty contents of my stomach longer than it took me to take in a full lungful of air.I couldn't cope anymore, my body was giving up on me and the only way that I was going to stop it from trying to actually kill me was to beg one of the nurses to put me under with something strong.My mind was fuzzy now that I was finally awake and alert enough to know where I was.Rashid must've carried me from the hospital and up to our room to tuck me into bed so I woke up comfortably. He was so sweet…Lifting myself up slowly, I winced when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and quickly reached down to put my hand over it. My belly was still swollen from being pregnant and all over again I was reminded of the
RashidMy sister and her fiance arrived just shy of the sun setting the next day.It'd been a long while since I'd seen my sister, even before I'd left Dubai to come to the States to find Lyla again. We'd never been close as siblings and with her and my engagements happening at the same time, our schedules colliding were even less often.Still, it was nice to finally see a member of my family that wasn't interested in cutting me off just for the sake of not following archaic rules. Salama was a tough person to get along with sometimes, but her coming here to support me was more than enough to wipe away that age-old sibling strife.She hugged me when I greeted her at the door, a surprising gesture but one that I welcomed. My guards carried in her luggage, along with Javier's, who wasn't far behind her."How was your flight over?" I asked them both, briefly hugging Javier as well.I didn't want to, not after what Lyla had told me—but I needed all of th
LylaWatching Rashid and his sister head into the kitchen, I let myself relax back on the couch.I was acutely aware of Javier's hands still hovering over mine, clasped around my own in a gentle hold that, if I didn't know any better, I would think was simply friendly and not anything else.Although, maybe it was. I'd spent so much time building up what he'd said to me the last time I'd been in Dubai, that I never stopped to consider if he'd changed his mind or come to his senses. Sure, he'd kissed me and confessed to liking me when he was still engaged but I was married now and had just had a child.Surely that changed things? Maybe it was just a random crush at the time and he's over it now. So much time had passed since I was last in Dubai, so surely he can't still feel the same way as he did then. Looking over at him, I smiled. At the very least, I wanted to keep the peace. "How have you been, Javier?"He smiled at me with that same boyish grin that I
RashidThree Months Later…"Rashid! Can you come grab the milk out of the microwave!" Lyla called out through the house.I looked up from the laptop resting in my lap, my eyes readjusting from looking at the screen for too long and watering slightly. "I got it," my sister said, pulling herself up from the floor."Thanks." I stretched my arms over my head, feeling my shoulders crack as I did so. Who knew trying to find accommodations for a former princess was going to be this much of a hassle?Salama and I had been working on finding her a place to live on her own while Lyla and I's house was being built. After her breakup with Javier, my parents had disowned her as well, cutting her off before she had a chance to explain that he'd masterminded an entire campaign into trying to steal my wife away to Spain with him.According to our parents, Salama was just as much of a failure as I was and since she'd gotten back into contact with me and come ov
LylaJavier smiled at me. "I told you that. Remember?"I shook my head at him, trying to move backward but was only met with the hard bodies of the guards surrounding me. In my arms, Nasir began to cry. The sound made my heart ache. It fucking sucks that my newborn child has been put into this situation. It's not fair. "What is going on!" Salama tried to jerk away from the guards surrounding her too. "Javier, what are you doing!"He sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you, but I have to break off our engagement. Don't worry, I won't make it look like you were at fault.""I don't care about that!" she snapped back. "You're not actually taking her back to Spain with you, right?""I am, actually."I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Javier. You know that."He frowned at me. "Lyla, we had a deal. I help you get your baby back and you come with me to Spain. You agreed to that.""I got my own baby back! No thanks to you!" I cried, holding m
RashidI wasn't completely familiar with the palace but I had a general sense of where things were from the copious amount of times my father had gone into great detail about the intricacies of how this palace had been rebuilt after he'd become king.Why my father had been so obsessed with discussing architecture with me was beyond my comprehension at the time, but today I was grateful for it. Thankful even. Maybe I'd send the old bastard a thank you card after this was all said and done.After we'd closed Hafsa inside the nursery, we hurried down the hallway on the opposite side of where we'd come up from the staircase. I remembered there being a door to the outside toward the back of the palace, used for any of the waitstaff that came and went as they needed to.I didn't have any worries getting past them. By the time any of them realized who we were and what we were doing in order to call someone, we'd be long gone in a car to my jet sitting in the hangar w
LylaI instantly wanted to cry.All of my emotions over the past few days that I'd bottled down in favor of trying to remain headstrong were finally coming up to the surface at the mere thought of finally being able to see my child again. Was this it? Was this really it?"Is he…?" Rashid asked from across the room.Before I actually broke down though, I reached over the side of the crib and gently folded my hands under the bundle lying there, lifting him gently until I had him out of the crib and tucked into my chest. He made a small noise as he readjusted himself, pressing his face into my neck and sighing softly against my skin.Oh my god.Finally.My hand came up to curl around the back of his head, my entire body folding around him to protect him from everything. Like I was his own personal human meat shield. My baby. My son.Finally, back in my arms.I rocked him gently, feeling that familiar weight I remembered on my chest
LylaDucking and weaving around corners to remain hidden was more annoying than I thought it would be.With Salama guiding us through the palace, she was constantly grabbing my arm and yanking me into a dark room, the sounds of others passing by or even the remnants of someone moving down a corridor had us both spooked beyond belief.I wasn't sure as to why Salama's parents wanted her back just as badly as they wanted Rashid, but I tried to stop understanding them a long time ago. It was easier to just assume the worst at this point.We wandered around what felt like every single damn hallway we could find. Having no clue as to how we were supposed to get out of here, or where to find Rashid in all of this as well as where Hafsa had run off to. Both of us were slowly growing more frustrated with each hallway we stumbled upon."This place is so horribly mapped," she spat as she dragged me down another corridor. "Who in their right mind would design a palace like
LylaI had no idea how long I sat there on the floor before I remembered I had my phone still tucked into my jeans pocket.Sometimes past-me really had future-me's back. That was for sure. I had no idea who the hell I was going to call, but I had to try someone.Pulling my phone out, I dialed Melanie first. Her groggy voice answered me only a moment later."Mmm… Lyla?"I gasped into the phone. "They have me locked in a room!""What?" There was rustling on the other end. I sobbed into the phone, my entire body shaking as I spoke. "They locked me in a room! They took Salama away too! Javier's going to take me to Spain with him and I'm never going to get to see my baby again!""Hold on, I can't—hold on." There was a groan on the other end from Zayed before Melanie came back on the phone. "Lyla, where are you?""The palace in Abu Dhabi," I choked out. "They… I don't know, had this plan to give me to Javier to take back to Spain. I don't k
LylaI pushed past Salama to get into the room, a gasp leaving me the moment I laid my eyes on the scene in front of me.My heart pounded so wildly in my chest that I was afraid it was going to split my ribcage open and jump out. It felt like a dream to see what was in front of me—to finally lay my eyes on the one person who'd completely ruined my life and the one that had completely changed it too.There was Hafsa, seated in a large round chair with her arms cradling a small bundle. She smiled down at it, rocking slightly as she murmured something softly. The scene was so domestic and sweet looking that for a moment I felt delusional. There was no way that someone looking that content with life could have done all of this.But as soon as I heard a soft cooing sound, my dream-like state crumbled, forcing me back into the reality that was and not the one that my brain wanted me to believe in.I stumbled forward toward her, a hand quickly jerking me back from the
RashidWe followed the attendant to an unmarked room away from the waiting room we'd been kept in for a little over half an hour. I wasn't surprised they were all taking their time. It was normal for officials to draw these kinds of things out, either for their own benefit by starving their clients, or making them too aggravated to think properly.And while normally it had the potential to work, both Javier and I were above falling for such things. We'd been trained in it, after all.Although, I am becoming a little jittering having to wait for so long. Because I know that if all goes well with this meeting, I'll be one step closer to getting my son back and holding him in my arms, and witnessing Lyla be a wonderful mother to him like it's second nature and she was born to do it.We're missing out on so many firsts with our newborn baby all because of that selfish fucking woman. The thought of Hafsa with Nasir caring for him like Lyla and I should be at this t
Lyla Waking up the next day to Rashid's grave face sent me into a small panic attack that I ended up locking myself inside of my bathroom to deal with it while he got the rest of our stuff ready to head out.I didn't want to bother him with more of my head-shit, having seen him stressed way too much about the other things on his plate he had very little control over. It wasn't fair of me to monopolize him with all of my problems when he had his own to sort out too. Dumping everything onto him, especially right before we were going to be heading out, was a shitty thing to do.Finally, after what felt like an hour, I gathered myself and splashed some water on my face before finally leaving the bathroom and heading out to join the rest of our group in the living room. Surprisingly enough, they all looked just as stressed as I felt, even Salama who I'd suspected only came on this trip to supervise her fiance looked like she'd barely slept all night. I didn't know whet