No matter how much Muhibbah willed for herself to stop crying, she just couldn't. She could remember vividly as though it kept on happening on repeat how Alhaji Nasir wanted to take advantage of her. She had seen the gleam of his smile after they had drove out of Dutsinma and wondered if it was his usual thing to do. He was the smug type, always. Especially now that he believed she had failed since they were already engaged.

But then things began to change after she noticed him moving to the roadside and she had managed to ignore him until she saw that he had parked by the roadside, turned the general lock and turned to face her fully. Muhibbah felt when her heart lost a beat as he tried to hover over her while he instantly pulled the seat she was seated on and it went nearly flat.

"What do you think you're trying to do?!" She screamed at the top of her voice, trying all she could to get up from the reclining position he turned the seat into, but he had hovered over her and used both his hands to make sure he pinned her to the seat.

"Get off me!" She thundered, but every inch of her body was shaking with so much fear she had never felt in her entire life.

"Trying to kiss you, what else does it look like I'm doing?" He answered her with his eyes filled to the brim with lust. She wondered what had gone over him. Yes, she knew the reason why he wanted to marry her from the beginning, but she had never thought he had the nerves to try to steal a kiss from her.

Her very first kiss. And she could do all she could to make sure he didn't steal it away from her. Someone like him would never be worthy of being her first kiss, never.

She tried pushing him away from her but he showed her their strength differ and tears had already washed down her face when she realized he was actually going to do what he said he would and she didn't know how else to protect herself.

"You're going to regret this, Nasir. Get off me before I do something that you'll never forget in your life. Get off me, you bastard!" She screamed, trying to push him away yet again but he pinned her down.

"Don't act like you've never done little as kiss a man before in your life, okay? I know you want to do this, if not, why would you try to seduce the man you stayed in his house? And do you think I didn't know where you stayed the night after his wife sent you out? You're no stranger to men, Muhibbah. Stop being a hypocrite for once and give your heart what it wishes for, okay?"

He leaned down, making sure he added more strength to her shoulders so she couldn't lift herself off. He was an inch away from landing his lips on her, to the point that she had given up from fighting and was just crying as she desperately begged Allah to rescue her when Bilaal came. Like a knight in shining armor. If not for him, she would've lost her virgin lips to that pervert and she would never be able to forgive herself if that had happened.

"You came at the right time, I don't know what I would've done if you came a minute later." She whispered, not knowing the words came out as she intensified her tears.

Even though it took the strong will of Allah before she was able to unlock the door, she did it. And she had never felt so relieved seeing someone like him at that very moment in her life. She felt like hugging him and bursting into tears of relief and the sound of the punch he landed on Alhaji Nasir's face was the most melodious sound she had heard for a very long time.

"I'm so sorry, I must've been late, still." He said and that was when she realized she had been speaking to herself outwardly and she looked up at him.

They were already in Katsina and she saw him taking her toward the path that would take them to Barhim estate and she nearly screamed. She knew that she had said he should take her away, but where would he take her if he did?

"Are you taking me home?" She asked with a voice so slow she knew she sounded so pathetic. And maybe a little childish. Because frankly speaking, she knew she was over the age that she would be running away from home, but this was a battle that was strong for her.

"I don't know where to take you, Ma'am..."

"Please don't call me that for now, will you? Call me Muhibbah, or Addah, anything." She didn't know what to feel if he continued referring to her as ma'am and they were discussing this much about her personal life. He was her student, whom she was supposed to keep at an arm's length. But here they were. They kept getting closer with every day that passed.

"Okay, Addah. I don't know where to take. You probably wouldn't like any public space for now, you need somewhere quiet enough for you to think through about what happened. And booking a hotel room for you to totally out of option. So I figured maybe I should take you to Amir's house, and later after Isha his mother will escort you back home and explain everything to your mother. How does that sound?"

All that he said was true, and it was the only way she would be able to collect her thoughts and think of the next thing to do. Because she'd rather be dead than marry Alhaji Nasir, no matter what Mama would do, she would make sure she didn't marry him. At least she could do just one thing for herself.

She only nodded her head at him as he drove until he parked in front of the house. Houses away, Muhibbah could see a few cars parked in front of their house and she wondered what was happening. Even though it was only a few days left to Bilkisu's wedding and she knew new guests arrived every day, she couldn't help but wonder what happened.

She quickly rushed into Amir's house because she didn't want anyone to see her and tell Mama that she was back yet she branched at their neighbor's house. She turned to him when she heard him clearing his voice as if he wanted to say something to her but the sound of her phone ringing stopped him and she picked the call. It was Sareena.

"Addah, where are you?" Sareena asked, her voice breaking as she panted.

"What happened Sareena? Why do you sound this way?" Muhibbah asked, her heart beating rapidly against her ribcage. She knew those cars she had seen, something definitely must've happened.

"Are you back in Katsina or are you still in Dutsinma?" Sareena asked, and Muhibbah wasn't sure, but it sounded as if she was racing to and fro wherever she was. And whatever it was that had happened must've shocked her to the extent that she didn't even know what to do.

Even though Muhibbah felt like rushing home to find out about what had happened, she stayed calm and looked away from the questioning look Bilaal was flashing at her.

"Sareena, calm down a bit, will you? Tell me, what is it? Did something happen? Did someone die? Or is someone sick? And for your question, I just arrived in Katsina, something happened to me on my way back, will tell you about it later. I'm at Amir's house for now until after..."

"Don't go back home yet! Just don't. Whatever happened is with Alhaji Nasir ba?" She asked and it was as if she could see her, Muhibbah began to frantically nod her head. She could already feel her blood pressure rising because by Allah, whatever will have Sareena sounding as distraught as she did was definitely something huge.

"Yes, Sareena. What happened?" Her lips trembled as she asked and she silently prayed that whatever it was would be something easy for her to take.

"He's still at the house. He told Mama about your case with the man you stay as a tenant in his house, how you seduce him and how his wife caught you that they threw you out of the house. And that night, you stayed in another man's house. Mama even called someone in Dutsinma and asked to confirm the story and they went to the area, everyone confirmed it, even kids."

Muhibbah felt her legs going weak, she was about to slump abruptly when she held the wall by her side as Sareena continued to speak. "As I'm talking to you now, your nikkah with Alhaji Nasir had just been solemnized. Because Mama was crying frantically and begging him to please marry you because she knows that no man will marry you now..."

Her phone fell on the ground and she turned to look at Bilaal that had walked up to her since she shook and nearly fell. Her face was so cold and blue with no sign of blood circulating in her veins. She watched him, emotionless as he took her phone from the floor and asked Sareena what had happened. It felt as though she were being controlled by a remove because she suddenly felt like her legs couldn't take her and she slid down on the floor, resting her body on the wall.

She didn't care that it was on the ground or that she'd soil her clothes with sand. Or that it was outside and all the people walking to the mosque could see her. She didn't even know what she was feeling at the moment. Her brain had still yet to understand the meaning of the words Sareena had just uttered to her.

'As I'm talking to you now, your nikkah with Alhaji Nasir had just been solemnized.'

Those were the words Sareena had uttered and even though they were straight as ABC, Muhibbah found out that she still didn't understand what she meant. It was as if something had blocked her brain completely. Bilaal squatted right in front of her and handed her the phone.

With cold hands, she collected it but didn't take her eyes off him. "Sareena just said something to me, Bilaal. I don't know if I'm the one that didn't hear her correctly. Did she just say that Mama got me married to that man or am I just imagining she did?"

Instead of him to answer her, he slipped on the ground too and rested his back to the wall just like she did. She turned to look at him and realized that the agony that was visible on his face alone could confirm what she thought she had heard from Sareena.

"She's only joking, right?" Muhibbah's lips trembled as she spoke, desperate for him to look at her and tell her with conviction that yes, Sareena was only joking. Or maybe had threatened to do that but she's yet to.

But he wasn't looking at her. He had his eyes fixed on the ground.

"Bilaal, I'm begging you to please tell me if she's telling the truth. I'm not married to him, right? It didn't happen. Yes, Mama must be angry about all he told her, but she can't get me married to him, right? It's not going to happen."

"Addah, take a deep breath, will you?" She didn't know she was about to suffocate until she heard him telling her to breath and showing her to join him as he demonstrated for her to breath in and out.

It took her just two breath before she burst into agonizing tears. She turned to face him fully, totally forgetting that he was her student as she started rambling to him with tears rolling down profusely from her eyes.

"He tried to kiss me less than an hour ago. Not just to kiss me, to force himself on me. I don't know what to do now after he had made it clear to me that he just wants me sexually and once he fulfill his wishes, he's going to divorce me. Listen..." It was as if she had gone a bit crazy, because she frantically started looking into her phone until she found the recording she did hours ago and played it for him.

"You've heard it too, right? But no one will believe me now, Bilaal, no one. Wallah I didn't try to seduce Baban Fatima, I didn't. I've never thought about doing anything of that kind in my life. Love may be a luxury to me for me to say I'm preserving myself for my husband. But I know that even if the man I'm going to have as a husband doesn't love me, he at least deserves it. But not him, Bilaal, definitely not him."

"Muhibbah..." The way he called her name with an air of command and comfort forced her to look up at him despite making a mess of her cheeks. For the few seconds she had looked directly into his eyes, Muhibbah felt as though he weren't that student of hers. He had turned into a man she had no knowledge of.

"It's fine, okay? You might be married to him now, but that's not the end of the world. Don't fret. I won't say you shouldn't cry, you should. We'll find a way to have the marriage nullified. You have the recording. I was the one that saved you from him hours ago. We could do this, okay?"

She palmed her face, feeling the weight of every word he had said to her. Just that he didn't know the kind of mother she had. Mama will readily curse her if she dared do anything that will nullify this marriage. Especially now that she had heard about the Baban Fatima case, she was doomed.

"They won't believe me, Bilaal. No one will trust me, no one will be on my side. I have no one." She had never felt so alone and so weak in her entire life. She had both parents alive and half siblings, but she had never felt so alone.

"They might not believe you, but I do. I trust you, okay? And you have me, I've got for life, Hibbah, okay?"

Before she felt the impact of his words in her heart and how comforting it felt whenever he called her 'Hibbah', Muhibbah's phone made the sound of an incoming message. It was from Alhaji Nasir. Her tears intensified as she read the message and just handed Bilaal the phone. She just knew that her life had ended.

'Hello there, Wife. I'm sure by now you must've heard about our impromptu marriage, thanks to how desperately your mother was begging me as she cried profusely. I had no choice but to agree to go on with the marriage even though it won't take long before I send you back to her. Anyways, enough about that. I want you to get ready because I'm going to come and take you by ten so we can spend the night together before the house we're staying in gets polished a bit. Funny how I only wanted a kiss when today started, yet it's not finished and I'm guaranteed the whole package. Can't wait to see you, feel you, and taste you, Sweetheart.'

Should I end the preview chapters from here?

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