Love And Revenge✔️

Three

Rumaisa stood by the wide bedroom window, her fingers lightly touching the glass as she stared into the garden behind the house. The late-afternoon sun had softened into a golden haze, brushing gently over the trimmed hedges and quiet stone pathway. It would have been calming—if her mind allowed calm.

Two years ago, she could never have imagined this. Not the hiding. Not the running. Not the bitterness she now carried like a second heartbeat. Nobody had seen it coming. Not even her.

She should have known better.

People like her didn't fall in love. They weren't made for it. They survived, they rebuilt, they strategized—but they never surrendered their hearts.

Yet she had. Stupidly. Recklessly.

And now, at twenty-eight—almost thirty—she was unmarried, uninterested in marriage, and unsure she would ever try again. Love had cost her too much. Trust had cost her even more.

But revenge... revenge was something she could control. And she would see it through. Every last detail. By hook or by crook.

She inhaled deeply, letting the thought settle in her bones.

She would make them pay.

Her mind was pulled deeper into its storm until the door burst open, shattering the silence.

Lara stepped in without knocking—she never knocked—and flung herself onto the bed with a dramatic bounce.

"Rumy," she announced, kicking her feet up, "lunch is ready. Come down before I eat your share."

Rumaisa tore her gaze from the window, raising an unimpressed brow. "Okay, but why exactly are you on my bed when we're supposed to be downstairs?"

"Because you're always up here," Lara said, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "You disappear the moment you wake up. You barely talk to me anymore. And considering we live together? That's impressive."

"That's not a compliment," Rumaisa murmured.

"Maybe not," Lara said with a shrug, "but it's true."

Rumaisa crossed her arms, waiting.

Lara hesitated before speaking again, her expression softening. "Just tell me... are you still planning something? Still stuck on that whole revenge idea?"

Rumaisa turned away instantly. "If I stop planning, I won't sleep. It's the only thing keeping me steady right now."

Lara sat up, watching her carefully. "Rumaisa... I know you're angry. I know what they did wasn't small. But this—this obsession—"

Rumaisa cut her off immediately, her voice sharp enough to slice the air. "Lara, I said don't interfere."

Lara blinked, caught between frustration and hurt. "I'm not interfering. I'm caring. There's a difference. You're my friend. You've been walking around like a ghost lately. Anyone would worry."

"I'm fine," Rumaisa replied coolly. "And I know exactly what I'm doing. I won't ask you to understand."

Lara's chest rose and fell in a slow, controlled breath. "...Alright," she finally said, her tone gentler. "Alright. I'll let it be."

The tension hung between them for a beat before Lara stood up and smoothed her blouse.

"Let's go eat," she said. "You still need to finish packing, and I'd rather you do it with food in your system before you collapse dramatically and blame me for it."

A reluctant smile tugged at Rumaisa's lips. "What did you make?"

"Your favorite," Lara replied, her confidence returning.