Sidratul Muntaha

Chapter 119

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu

Surpriseeeeeee

The chapter below contains scenes of violence. Proceed at your own risk.

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Haraira

In the dark prison cell Hareem lay on the bed and Nashwa stood facing her with hatred shining in her eyes. Her face reflected how much she wanted to hurt Hareem. Hareem couldn't understand how they both got to this point.

"What did I do?" Hareem rasped. Her face reflected the pain and helplessness she was feeling at the moment.

"You made me live your fate Hareem bint Mussab." Nashwa chewed out. "You pushed me in the darkness that was destined for you."

Hareem watched her with eyes that had failed to understand her words. Nashwa exhaled her frustration.

"Nashwa you know nobody can snatch your fate away. And nobody can push their fates on your head. What you get is always pre destined for you." Hareem whispered and by the end of her explanation she was feeling breathless. Nashwa scoffed as she turned away from her. Her heart had turned to stone. "You... You..."

"No... What I am living was actually supposed to be your life. He loved you! He was mad for you! He wanted to marry you. But you! You went mad. So he decided to marry me instead! And I was given no choice! The man I married was brutally murdered. The child I carried didn't survive my grief and passed away in my womb. I was snatched from the life I had worked for, I had prayed for... And thrusted here in this dark palace where to live, I don't have to breathe but plot. This is a treacherous web, where I am navigating for both my son and I. If I stop for a second, we are pushed towards death. I can't seem to catch a breath." Nashwa replied angrily and then started crying in indignation. "I wanted a simple life. I wanted the man I loved and nothing more. I got nothing! The one thing I prayed for and had gotten was snatched away from me. I didn't want to be a queen or to live in this palace. I wanted a small house where I was the only queen. I got this!" Nashwa gestured all around herself. She was sobbing. "Why? Because he loved you! He loved you and you went mad and I looked like you. But you didn't go mad, did you? You used your cunning mind and saved yourself. What about me? I wasn't gifted with your brains Hareem! I was threatened with the lives of my family and him. I agreed. I demanded for a divorce from him. And my beloved husband looked at me like I had killed him right then and there." Nashwa sniffled as she held a hand on her chest. It still pained at the injustice. "He tried to reason with me! He tried to tell me we will be fine. But would we be able to defeat Mansoor? He killed his own brother for what he wanted, would he spare us? I nagged my husband till he gave up and left me. Neither he knew, nor did I, that I was pregnant. When I came to know, it destroyed me. But it didn't end there Hareem." She angrily looked at Hareem who was watching her sister, horrified. "No! It didn't end there. Despite him letting me go Mansoor brought him back and tortured him before my eyes. And then declared to him that I had left him because I loved Mansoor and wanted to become his queen. And he pierced my love with the dagger. He borrowed my hand to do this. And then dragged me away from there. I could not even tell him that Mansoor was lying. I couldn't take him in my arms. He died... I wasn't there. He died believing I cheated him. He died believing I didn't love him. But you know... You know how many hurdles we had to cross before we even married. If Akhi Muhammad hadn't helped him then we wouldn't have been able to marry at all. And yet in one moment everything ended. All our struggles ceased and I was responsible. My child died because of the pain I was in. That little life couldn't survive the agony within my heart, within my soul. I constantly burned in the fire of revenge, fire of guilt and grief... The little one couldn't bear my heat. I lost it. And then... Then Mansoor married me. My marriage is another hell I have to live in. I am a bird with clipped wings. Abused. Hurt. I hate him. I hate him to the end of the time and back again. But I hate you more. If you hadn't been acting, my life wouldn't have been affected." Nashwa breathed deeply. "All these years, I thought you were mad, and I felt bad for you. But then I came to know recently it was all an act! The disgust and hatred I feel for you since that moment you can't even fathom Hareem. You destroyed my life, my dreams, my family... And you deserve every moment of pain and loss that you are suffering. And I pray that you are never freed from it even for a second! I came here to witness your misery, so that it can give a balm to my tortured, parched soul. And finally I can breathe easy. Your pain is my salvation. I hate you..." Nashwa told her. Hareem was crying softly. The agony and pain still warred within Nashwa and Hareem could see it as clearly as the sun at mid-noon. Her sister was still burning in the fire of Mansoor's craze. She couldn't even blame Nashwa.