Beneath Her Silence

"Your sister said Aman talked to you on your phone."

Abu's voice rolled through the room ; deep, steady, like thunder right before a storm breaks.

"I was going to tell you, Abu, I just-"

"Well, you didn't."
His tone sharpened.
"People only hide things when they have something to lie about."

"Abu, I swear... it's not what you think."

"Then you tell me, Haya-what does it mean when a boy texts a girl? And proposes to her?"

"He wasn't proposing. He just asked... my consent to the proposal."

Abu's voice stiffened, controlled like he was holding back the anger trembling beneath it.
"First of all, there is no proposal. And there will never be one. Not between you two."
He buttoned his shirt with rigid hands. "And if Aman truly had any sense of manhood, he'd have spoken to me, not you."

Something tightened around her throat. Thoughts scattered. She stared at the floor, feeling the weight of his words crush every bit of air in her lungs.

"You want to marry him?" he asked coldly. "You can walk out and do it tomorrow if you want. But Haya... understand whom you are choosing. And whom you are choosing against."

Silence swallowed the room whole.

"Now," Abu said, turning to her fully, "I need your answer."

And here she sits,helpless , watching her life unfold like a story written by everyone except herself.

Now she must spill an answer of her own voice, or the voice that was imposed on her.

What will she choose?

The home that never felt like one, or the person who became one for her.

A choice capable of shaking the strongest of souls.

Read "Beneath Her Silence" to witness the twists in Haya's life and how he enters filling the emptiness and untangling every twist and turn she carries.

Love Aalam