A walk on thorns

Chapter 65| Denial and Manipulation

Sabrina's POV

“Don’t you dare spit out such things at us, Salmah. It is not like you are a saint either,” Aunt Saudah retorted rudely, disregarding the fact that Aunt Salmah was her elder sister.

“Will you shut up, Ya Saudah?! Is she not telling the truth? What a shame this is!” Uncle Hafeez scolded, his tone laced with frustration.

“It’s not Saudah’s fault, Hafeez,” Baba interjected coldly. “It was Rukhsar. She’s the one behind all of this, I know it! And I’m commanding all of you to return every single penny you’ve taken from her. Otherwise, it will be on your marriage, Rukhsar. The compensation will be the death of your marriage!”

“Innalillahi wa’inna ilaihi rajiun! Alhaji, Anisha, what have you caused for me? Wallahi, I will never forgive you for this. What did I even take from you? Was it not just five hundred thousand that you gave us to pay for the train?!” Mama cried, her voice rising as if trying to drown out the accusations. Meanwhile, Aunt Saudah rolled her eyes indifferently, clearly unbothered by the chaos, and Aunt Haseena remained silent, a dealer of bad advice as always.

“Mama, I’m not as dumb as you think,” Anisha said firmly, her voice steady and unyielding. “I’m still Anisha the pen breaker. If I go to the bank right now, you won’t like it because the total amount I’ve sent to you from the first year of my marriage until now could rival what’s in Dangote’s savings. So don’t even start with me, just return the money as Baba said.”

At the mention of Dangote’s savings, Alhaji Barkindo and Aunt Salmah chuckled quietly, unable to suppress their amusement. It wasn’t her fault she felt so frustrated, this family had been pushing her to her limits for years.

“Such a lie!” Mama yelled, her face turning red with indignation.

“Shut up!” Baba’s voice roared, silencing her instantly. She flinched, her defiance vanishing in an instant.

“Anisha,” Uncle Hafeez began, trying to maintain a calm demeanor. “We are your parents, and as we all told you before taking you to your husband’s house, marriage is patience and tolerance. There’s no way you’ll achieve anything in your marriage without patience and diligence. You know this. I don’t know what triggered all these lies and this stubbornness, but whatever has gotten into your head, it’s making you behave in such a way that you’re no longer tolerable. You’ve canceled yourself. You no longer have a space here. Calm down and stop exaggerating things, especially since you’re lucky your husband is willing to take you back.”

Anisha’s response came swift and fierce. “If you force me back into that house, I will kill him. I will kill Mukhtar, I will kill Nadeera, and I will be killed too because I won’t hide. I’ll report myself to the police and tell them everything that’s happened before they kill me,” she vowed, her tone so cold and resolute it sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. Her dried-out eyes and the passion in her voice were a wake-up call for anyone wise enough to see it.

“Innalillahi wa’inna ilaihi rajiun! Anisha?! Is this you? Is this what I taught you? What have we done to deserve this? After ruining your marriage and blaming us, you’re shamelessly claiming you’ll kill your husband? What do you want in life?” Aunt Haseena yelled, her voice trembling with disbelief.

“I want peace and freedom!” Anisha shouted, her voice cracking with emotion. “I want to be understood and accepted for the way life has turned out for me. I want to be applauded for all that I’ve endured, the things you know and the things you don’t. Killing Mukhtar was something I almost did yesterday, but I held back because of one reason: Sabrina. If I kill him, I’ll be killed, and our name will be tarnished forever. She lost Abdul Majeed, so I won’t dare. If she were married, wallahi, Mukhtar would have been in barzakh by now because there is nothing left in this life for me!” Her cry echoed in the room, a mix of pain, frustration, and desperation.