Operation: Dard and Devotion

Epilogue | Dard & Devotion

This. Is. It. Sorta. After this epilogue, the story is officially over, however, it is not the end of this book! There are 3 more "extra features", including the Real Events of ODaD, the Q&A Session, and the Final Author's Note that will be crawling with juicy details and secrets, so be sure to read those! :3

I will save my omgthisstoryisactuallyover rant and my bittersweet tears for the Final Author's Note, but I will like to take this time to say thank you. Truly. Thank you for sticking around and making it this far. I'd really love to read everyone's thoughts as we've finally come to this point of the book. Even if you've never commented on the story before, I'd really, really appreciate it if you would let me know what you think of the epilogue and the story overall :) Hope you like it :)

15 years later

Hayat tucked loose strands of her greying hair behind her ears before mentally preparing herself prior to entering the lecture hall. It seated just about one hundred students and while the spring semester was nearly over, she was always mildly anxious whenever she stepped foot inside. She could never really foresee people's questions and comments, especially about the topics at hand. She took careful steps down the side ramp that led to the front podium and set down her bag and file, scanning the completely occupied hall with a satisfied look.

Nobody missed a lecture when Dr. Hayat Ishfaq was the professor.

Students loved her easygoing and kind nature. She spoke to her pupils as though they were her friends, and that helped them to easily come to her whenever they were struggling with anything in their lives. From the day she had taught her first class, she gradually created a bond with each of her students. She had even permitted them to just call her by her first name - she was never the type to want to be deemed superior in any way. However, out of respect, they would attach the title when addressing her.

Just about over a decade ago, she was referred to as Miss Hayat and only had a master's degree in education. After all of her psychiatric treatments and counseling sessions, she had found the will to move forward with her degree and eventually land her first job as an elementary school teacher.

Nevertheless, as usual, there was a problem.

Instead of seeing little Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, Yulissa and Scotty every morning, she felt as though she was face-to-face with Jamael, Sadah, Rania, Yara and Saad.

And so, she had relapsed and found herself thrown into another round of treatments. It was difficult for her to find a job afterwards, considering nobody wanted to hire an unstable individual to be around children.

Marc and Nat had convinced her to take a slightly altered path: teaching college students. Initially, they had been wary of even suggesting such a thing. But the moment they had given her the idea, they discovered a new wave of motivation radiating from her. She grasped the opportunity to pursue a PhD in Terrorism Studies. Her family and friends were pleasantly surprised with the fiery passion in her eyes as she worked tirelessly for her third degree. Eventually, when it came time to begin her career, people were still skeptical of hiring her, for reasons ranging from her past psychological issues to the time she had spent in Syria when she was twenty-one.

Marc, who served as an adjunct professor of International Relations at the trio's alma mater, Columbia University, had convinced the administration that there would be nobody better than Hayat to teach such a subject. As expected, there was yet another problem. There were already professors who were certified to teach the course and related matters. But, they gave her a challenge: design a brand new course from start to finish. If the administration approved of Hayat's course plans, they would have her course as part of the curriculum.