UNTAMED PRINCESS

•Chapter 45•

MALAK'S POV

"Oh!" I whisper. "Is that all you have to offer after telling you the biggest secret of my life?" Ya Imran laughs disbelievingly and I give a sheepish smile. "Why are you so against each other then?" I ask and he shrugs. "Things happen I guess" he mutters with a faraway look.

"You're not being fair to Fariha" I say to him. "I know, maybe we'll come to an agreement along the way" he answers. "Whilst being in love with her sister? C'mon Ya Imran!!" I shriek. "Said sister is going to get married too" he gives me a pointed look.

"Do you know that you guys chose your partner's to spite each other?" I ask and he shrugs. It's the truth but he might never admit it. Fadul chose Hamza because he's Ya Imran's nemesis and Ya Imran chose Fariha because she's Fadul's sister. "And that's really fucked up Ya Imran, you can't do that to yourselves or the people you want to marry" I add.

"She definitely deserve better than the sorry excuse of a man like Hamza" he ignored what I said even though I saw him processing it. "Then tell her" I urge. "Did you miss the part where I'm the last person she ever wants to see? Pretty sure she told you herself" he lets out a dry laugh after that and I looked away.

"It's your turn" he breaks the silence. "Huh?" I raise both my brows. I really wished I was able to evade that topic. "C'mon, I can't be the I only one with the trauma" he groans and I only smile with a shake of my head.

"My marriage was a lie" I start then wait for him to maybe shout or glare at me but the rules of the game still applies I guess. "Mama forced me into it and I don't have a way out. I then used the marriage to achieve what I assume to be my dream, get married for a year and attend that Academy I've been dying to go. Mama will be off my back, I'll achieve my dream and I'll get away to Europe until I find the man of my dreams" I explain.

"What went wrong then?" He ask. "Feelings?" I laugh at my misery then sniff to keep my tears at bay. "There was this little girl Ya Imran, she was just five. Very innocent and broken, she had trust issues at five.  She lost her mommy and then I came and I promised....I promised that little child. 'I'll always be here Nads, Mama will always be here cupcake'" It was when Ya Imran takes my hand in his did I realise I was crying.

"I promised then left and.......we had so many good memories. She calls me her mother and she was such a good kid, very cute..." I lean my head on his shoulder staring down at my palms.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly and I only shake my head to show he doesn't have to apologise. "But it's not a year until next month. Why are you back?" He ask. "I just wanted to get away. It was too much pain" I answer and he sigh.

"Do you want to go back?" He ask. "I can't" I shake my head. "That's not the question Malak, do you want to go back?" He ask. "Yes" I whisper. It's a scary admission but I never wanted to leave in the first place, I just had to. "Why can't you go back then?" He ask. "It's complicated" I answer and hopefully he leaves it at that.

"You don't love your husband?" He ask and I kept quiet. "Malak?" he calls again. "I do" I say quietly. I do, a lot. "Then where's the problem at?" He turns to ask softly. "I can't throw all my dreams away Ya Imran, you know I can't" I say and he nods his head as if in agreement. But I know he's not in an agreement to what I said.

"Mama fucked us in a lot of ways no?" He laughs humourlessly and I nod joining him. "What?" He asked when a bitter smile crossed my lips. "Na'eem would've lost his shit because he doesn't like it when people swear" I answer and he laughs. "You're kinda obsessed with the man" he teases. "No I'm not!" I quickly defend and he roll his eyes.

"You know life isn't fair so we don't expect to have her crawling back and begging for forgiveness. Some bad relationships are not meant to have closure and that's alright, we get it and we'll live with it too" Ya Imran starts referring to Mama and I nod in agreement.