FATE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE(part-one)

Nooriyya

"No! No! It can't be!" He kept muttering to himself, his entire being trembling. He felt a bone chilling cold piercing his soul.

He pulled himself up and blindingly made his way out of the house. He couldn't bring himself to look at Nooriyya. He just couldn't, he needed answers! he needed to clarify things. He went straight for his car, his heart beating loud like a drum.Tears falling one after the other almost blurring his view. He drove straight to Umma's house, knowing only she will provide the answers he seek.

Fahad managed to transport himself safely to Umma's house even though he couldn't explain how he did it. He parked the car and gave himself a few minutes to calm himself and appear as presentable as possible. After a few deep breaths, he couldn't wait any longer. He stepped out of the car and made his way into the house dreading what he was about to find out. Fahad met no one in the living room, he numerous salams before a young girl came out from the kitchen answering his salam. Relieved, he seated himself on the long sofa in the middle of the room while he asked the girl to announce his presence to umma.

When umma stepped into the living room, she met him seated while his head laid back on the sofa and his eyes closed. He looked tired and stressed, she thought at first glance. She sat adjacent of him studying his appearance, praying that nothing bad had happened to Nooriyya.

"My son," she said softly looking at him with a motherly smile.

The moment he heard her voice, he immediately pulled out of the trance he was in and sat properly displaying a fake smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Mun same ku lafeeya?," he managed trying to appear as normal as possible.

"Lafeeya qalau, how are you and your wife?" She inquired still trying to figure him out.

"Alhamdulillah, we are all good" he answered awkwardly, trying to figure out a way to ask what he wanted to know but was at lost of words.

She squinted her eyes at him, noticing how he kept squirming in his seat." Is everything okey, yarona?" She asked.

"Urhm...umma, everything is fine" he managed but failed woefully in convincing her.

Unconvinced, umma stood up and went into the kitchen while fahad followed her with his eyes until she disappeared. In less than a minute she appeared with a bottle of chilled water and a cup in her hand.

"Take this," she said thrusting the water into his hands. "Drink it and then you can tell me whatever it is that is bothering you because I can see it eating you up," she said getting back to her seat.

He took the water and drank all of it. The chillness of the water cooled his burning chest a bit, he felt a little better and a tad bit okey. He looked up and found her expecting eyes waiting for him to say something. He swallowed an imaginary lump in his throat and said, " umma, who is Abbad's father? Who was Noorie's first husband?" He finished looking at Umma's expression which looked pained. " I am sorry if you didn't like the question but I really need to know, umma. I deserve to know"

She took a long breath and studying him while pondering on what to say. "Fahad, Nooriyya has gone through alot in her life, she has seen alot. She came into my life after an incident happened to her which made her family to abandon her. She was abandoned in the hospital I work at, by her stepmother who didn't even glance back after leaving." She said with tears pooling in her eyes.

" she is an orphan from the village of "Bukkan Ado" just outside the city. She was raped by some men, the rape resulted to a pregnancy" she added carefully.

Immediately fahad heard of the "raped" and "pregnant" part he jumped from his seat and started pacing the room his hand going to and fro into his hair.