authorhayaiqbal
What would you do if you discovered that you had been married since you were twelve?
Not to a stranger.
Not to some wealthy man your family chose for you.
But to your own cousin-the quiet, handsome imam you've been teasing since the day you met him again.
Maryama has no idea.
She grew up in Abuja, far away from the strict Islamic household her father left behind. Parties, friends, expensive clothes and a life of her own have shaped the woman she has become.
Abba grew up differently.
He is Malam's son, a respected Islamic teacher, imam and tafsir scholar-the man everyone expects to become his father's successor. Calm, disciplined and painfully handsome, he has spent years carrying a secret Maryama doesn't even remember.
When Maryama and her mother return to the family to meet her sick grandmother
, she meets Abba for the first time as an adult.
She thinks he's too serious.
He thinks she's too shameless.
She teases him about his body.
He hates the way she dresses.
They argue.
They annoy each other.
And somehow, Abba finds himself smiling whenever she speaks.
But Maryama doesn't know the truth.
She doesn't know that before her father died, he and Malam made a decision that would bind their children together.
She doesn't know that the man she's calling **"Malam's Abba"** isn't simply her cousin.
**He's her husband.**
And when she finally finds out...
Will she accept the marriage she never knew existed?
Or will the life she built for herself-and the man she has secretly begun to see differently-make it impossible to become **Abban Malam's wife**?