**Winner 2024 Amby Awards**
Fiza has everything planned-medical school, a respectable future, and an engagement she never wanted. Determined to escape a loveless match, she creates a checklist to find the perfect husband her father will approve of.
...
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I sat on a tree branch, leaning against the rough bark, completely lost in the magic of Hogwarts.
The resort lake shimmered below, mirroring the emerald hills. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and distant rain. The only sound was the rustle of pages and my own breathing.
Well, almost the only sound.
A splash and a peal of laughter shattered the silence. My twin, Farzana, was knee-deep in the water, her yellow sundress soaked and clinging to her figure, her hands skimming the surface like she was a carefree mermaid in a mountain lake.
"What are you doing?" a voice called out. Fahad. My father's business partner's son. The obnoxious addition to our family vacation.
"Catching fish!" Farzana laughed, spinning in a circle and sending a spray of diamond droplets into the air.
"With your skirt?" he asked, chuckling. He stood on the bank, hands in his pockets, looking like he owned the place.
"What else should I do with my skirt?" she shot back, her tone playful.
"I can think of some things," he replied, and I didn't have to look up to know he was wearing that handsome grin he reserved for my sister.
I shoved my nose deeper into The Half-Blood Prince, trying to block them out. Just noise.
When I finally looked up again, Farzana was gone. Fahad remained, but the playful ease had vanished. He was just... staring across the water, his profile unreadable.
"Hi!" I called brightly. I scrambled down from my branch, and walked toward him with a hesitant smile.
He turned. His eyes swept over me and then just... emptied. No smile. No recognition. Nothing. How could he be so warm with her and so utterly cold with me? Had I done something to annoy him?
My smile faltered. "I... I messaged you last week," I said, the words feeling small and pathetic the moment they left my mouth.
A curt, almost imperceptible nod. Then he turned to leave. Just like that. Dismissed.
