Auth_MeekMaryum_
2014. A blood-stained Captain, a dark wardrobe, and a fourteen-year-old girl who whispered, "They won't find us." On that night, IHSAN saved a man's life. On that night, Shuraim Imran Zaki promised never to forget the girl who was his light in the dark.
SIX YEARS LATER.
Kaduna is a city of secrets and structure.
Ihsan is no longer that terrified child. She is a brilliant medical student who views the world through the cold lens of science and logic. To her, love isn't destiny; it's a psychological illusion she doesn't have time for.
LT COL SHURAIM IMRAN ZAKI is no longer the wounded soldier. At forty-two, he is a man of iron and arrogance. A single father and a high-ranking officer, he commands respect with a single look and rules his world with rigid discipline.
When a chance encounter in the chaotic Kaduna traffic brings them together, he doesn't see his savior. He only sees a reckless girl on an Achaɓe who defies his authority. She sees a "lovely giant" whose arrogance is as vast as his rank.
He calls her "My Ustazia." She calls him "Mr. Arrogant."
And then there is MURAD AL-MANSUR RUBAƊO, DON MURAD, a charming, spoiled rival whose obsession with Ihsan blurs the line between desire and danger.
Meanwhile, IRON SMOKE, the shadow syndicate that manipulates governments, militias, and terror networks, casts its dark hand over Nigeria. Its secrets threaten everything Ihsan and Shuraim hold dear.
In a battle of military discipline, scientific logic, hidden desires, and global danger, who will surrender first and who will survive the smoke?