Unbreak Me

★CHAPTER TWENTY- THREE★

ZAYN
"Out," I said to both Anas and Zayn.
They stared at each for a moment before leaving the room. Leia moved aside so they could get out of the door. She closed the door behind her. Locked it.
Something was wrong. I could feel it with everything inside of me.
I might only be able to see anything other than her eyes but they said enough.
"Zayn, we need to talk." Even her voice didn't sound the same. I hoped everything was okay. I couldn't stomach the look in her eyes.
I motioned for her to take a seat. After a moment of hesitation, she did so.
"Is everything okay?"
She shook her head. "I want you to listen to everything calmly, Zayn. Don't get mad at me. I'm mad enough at myself." She rubbed circles over her temples and shifted in her chair, wincing loudly.
"Do you not feel well?" Concern for her lit up inside of me. The way she was wincing . . . "Did he hurt you?" The chair creaked as I stood up as fast as lightning. "If he so much as touched a hair on your body, so help me God, Leia."
Leia just stared blankly at me. "I said you have to be calm. I haven't even told you anything and this is how you behave. I won't say anything until you get ahold of yourself."
I raked a hand through my hair and took deep breaths. You can kill him later, Zayn. She needs you right now.
"Okay," I breathed out and plopped down on the chair. "Sorry. Go on."
She played with her hands, eyes not meeting mine as she spoke. "When your Mom was in the hospital," she started and I stiffened. She noticed and the nervousness in her voice intensified. "My Dad and Mom had a big fight. He found out that my mother was . . . uh—"
"In a relationship with my Dad?" I supplied.
"Yeah," She cleared her throat. "He kicked us out that night. My mom contacted your Dad. He wouldn't—he wasn't of any help. Mom didn't have any family we could turn to." Her mother was an orphan. I knew that. Where was she going with this? "I didn't talk to you at that time, Zayn. She was manipulating me; telling me all sorts of things about your Dad and what men were like. I wanted you to stay out of my problems. I didn't want to get you tangled up in my mess especially when you were so worried about your mom."
I released a harsh breath. All those years spent hating her. I wasn't even thinking about her part of the story. I only cared about my feelings. Believed what was in the news. What her father told me about her.
"Is it true that you stayed in a prostitution centre?" Somehow the words formed on my tongue. I swallowed bile.
"No," Her eyes were haunted and I hoped to God she wasn't lying. "For a month, maybe . . ."
A whole freaking month?
I gnashed my teeth together, not sure where to unleash my anger. She had told me to be calm. How could I be calm knowing that she had . . . she had stayed in that eccentric place with leery men and whatnot.
My entire body shuddered as a thought dawned on me. Had someone tried something on her?
I opened my mouth but I couldn't, for the life of me, ask her that question. "Were you—did someone—?"
She seemed to get it and quickly shook her head. "It's not that simple, Zayn. Please be calm. We don't have time to waste. This is urgent."
"What's going on, sweetness?" I asked softly, wanting to touch her. Wanting to just hold her hand. To pull her close to me and wrap her up in my arms, to protect her from the world and the cruelties that had always been too much for someone as small and sweet as her.
She simply wasn't meant for this world.
She shook her head, again and again, tears lining her eyes. "I need your help. I really, really need your help, Zayn. I don't want to be a burden—"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," I warned. "You can never be a burden to me, Leia. How could you ever think that?"
"I don't want to ask too much of you," she said. "I just want a good lawyer and—"
"What do you mean? A lawyer? Lee, start from the beginning."
"Ammar and I got married when I was twelve," she stated indifferently, as if we were talking about the weather.
Twelve? I shot up from my chair. "That's illegal! If he forced you, Leia, I swear to God I won't let him take another breath. Say the word: yes or no."
"No," she closed her eyes, letting the tears fall. My chest constricted at the sight. "Mom wanted me to work at that place," God, I could see the horrors it brought to her to just speak about it. Dammit. I hadn't been able to protect her. "Ammar's cousin was a regular customer and when he saw me, he wanted to . . ."
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I was very close to losing my temper. Heck, I was ready to trash the room. I couldn't bear hearing the words. Couldn't think about Leia—eleven-year-old Leia—being at a place like that.
"He was rich," she said. "And was offering a lot of money. He insisted on taking me to his house. Said the place where we were was very dirty. Mom let him take me."
What piece-of-shit mother would do that to their child? I was on the verge of committing a murder. I was going to find that guy after we were done with this conversation and when I met him . . . nobody wanted to know what I would do to him.
"I met Ammar there," she said and the blood roaring through my veins halted temporarily.
"So, he got to be the Knight in shining armour?" The distaste in my tone was clear.
Leia shot me a look. "He saved me, yes. He helped me and mom. Bought us our own place and provided for us."
"And then the bastard decided to marry you so you could pay off all his favours?"
Something like shame flickered in those eyes. "I was a child. I didn't know what was illegal or not. When he proposed, mom convinced me that he was a perfect match. She manipulated me into it. I didn't want to return back to the place where we came from so I accepted. It was supposed to be a five-year marriage but—"
"What? What do you mean by that?" Was I understanding her correctly? "Lee, that's not how marriage works. You can't just decide on a certain amount of time you want to stay married."
She winced again as shifted uneasily in her chair. Dammit, what was wrong? Had he hit her? I wouldn't put it past a man like that. It was only because I respected her wishes that I wasn't already out for a hunt. She needed me to be calm and calm I would be.
"I know that now. Our parents never really taught us much about our religion. When I started looking into it some years ago, there was nothing I could do. I couldn't support myself. Ammar paid for my education and other expenses. His uncle and aunt are very nice people. I live with them now. Because of me, he supports them too. I couldn't just leave him. There was too much at stake."
She was talking in past tense. She couldn't leave him before. Did that mean she wanted to do so now?
"Are you planning on getting a divorce?" I asked, hope ignited inside me like a thousand stars.
She said, "I—"
Then the worst happened. Leia toppled over in her chair and pressed a hand to her mouth. The other one rested on her stomach.
A horrible feeling took place in my chest. I tried denying it but a sixth sense in me already knew what was happening.
This was my worst nightmare come true.

•••
Who else has holidays?
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