When Dreams meet Destiny

Chapter 11 : Unspoken Truths

As the car door shut behind him, Yahya couldn't shake the image of Maryam in her bridal attire. Sara, walking beside him, nudged him playfully, "So, how was she?"

Yahya couldn't help but grin. "Is there any chance we can have the ruqsati tonight?"

Sara chuckled, shaking her head. "Nope, that's not happening, sir."

Yahya sighed dramatically. "Then what are you doing here? You're no help at all."

Sara laughed. "You're impossible, you know that?"

They settled into the car, but Yahya's mind was elsewhere. His heart was still with Maryam, and the thought of leaving her behind tugged at him. He leaned back, trying to push away the ache of separation, but her image remained vividly etched in his mind.

Meanwhile, back at Maryam's house, she was a storm of emotions. Her heart was heavy, tangled with confusion and doubt. If Yahya was truly doing all of this for money, then why was he making it so difficult for her to not fall for him? His every gesture, every glance, was making her question everything. He was being too perfect, too sincere—it was too much for her to bear. How could someone who was supposedly in it for the money put so much effort into every little detail? The thought tormented her, making her want to cry, to scream, to tell someone—anyone—but she couldn't.

In a desperate attempt to distance herself, Maryam had deleted her Instagram and Snapchat, knowing that Yahya would try to reach out. She couldn't bear to see his messages or hear his voice, not when she was drowning in her doubts.

Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Fatima noticed the ring on Maryam's finger. "Yahya bhai gave this to you?" she asked, her eyes wide with admiration.

Maryam nodded, feeling the weight of the ring on her finger.

"It's so beautiful, MashaAllah," Fatima said with a dreamy sigh. "I must say, he already likes you. The way he was looking at you today was enough to tell me that he's already fallen for you."

Maryam rolled her eyes. "Really? In what way? Stop being dramatic, Fati."

Fatima shook her head. "I'm not kidding. Let me show you his entrance video. He was so lost, just staring at you."

She handed her phone to Maryam, who reluctantly took it. As the video played, Maryam saw Yahya's gaze fixed on her, his expression unreadable but intense. For a moment, her heart fluttered. How could someone act so convincingly? If this were all true, if his feelings were real, she would have already started loving him. But she couldn't let herself believe it. She couldn't afford to be that vulnerable.

The video ended, and Maryam handed the phone back to Fatima, her heart heavier than before. She was caught in a web of doubt and emotion, unable to see the truth, too scared to hope for anything real.
———-

It had been a week since their Nikah, and Yahya sat in his office, staring blankly at the documents before him. His mind was elsewhere, completely consumed by thoughts of Maryam. From the moment they had exchanged vows, Yahya had been trying to connect with her. He sent messages, made calls—each attempt met with silence. His last resort had been to reach out through Sara, and that's when Maryam finally replied, explaining that she had deactivated her social media for a while.

But Yahya knew better. Something was wrong, something that she wasn't telling him, and it was driving him mad. He couldn't focus on work, couldn't think of anything else but the reason behind Maryam's distant behavior. His heart ached with the need to understand what was troubling her, and he was growing increasingly impatient.

Just as he was about to reach out to Sara again, Yahya's phone buzzed with a call. It was one of Maryam's relatives, inviting him to a dinner that Maryam's cousins were organizing at a hotel in Bandra. Yahya's heart leapt at the opportunity. This was his chance to finally speak to her, to ask her what was going on, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

But as he tried to prepare what he would say, rehearsing the words in his mind, Maryam was on the other side of the city, dreading the evening ahead. The invitation to the dinner had initially seemed like a good idea—a chance to escape the turmoil in her mind, to spend time with her cousins and maybe, just maybe, forget about everything for a while. But now, knowing that Yahya would be there too, her heart sank.

The thought of facing him again made her chest tighten. Every time she saw Yahya, every time she heard his voice or read his messages, she felt herself falling for him. And that terrified her. She couldn't allow herself to love him—not when she was so convinced that his feelings weren't real, that everything between them was just an act.

Yet, she couldn't refuse the invitation. It was too late now. As she prepared for the evening, her mind was a swirl of anxiety and confusion. She didn't want to see Yahya, didn't want to be reminded of the vulnerability he stirred within her. But the thought of him being there, of his eyes on her, made her heart flutter in a way she couldn't ignore.

As the evening approached, Yahya steeled himself, determined to finally confront Maryam and find out what was really going on. Meanwhile, Maryam braced herself for the emotional storm she knew was coming, unable to escape the pull Yahya had on her heart.