#Chapter Thirty#

The days leading up to the wedding were hectic; not because there was a lot of organising to do in regards to the actual wedding, but because there was a lot of moving, renovating and relocation.

Salem had his own house and although it was relatively large and spacious - definitely big enough for two people and more - it was very bland and lacked that homey touch to it. So Mira being Mira, had to add her own decorative inspiration to the walls and bedrooms, which was understandable. I think the only colours I noticed were black and white and that was not Mira's style.

That meant she also had to move all her stuff in and reorganise her items as well as Salem's. Baba had finally found a new home for khalto and Houda to live in, a distance that was not far from both Mira and our home, a precaution to ensure maximum security.

Guards were shuffling between all three houses, driving things to their appropriate locations at Mira and I's orders.

Mira had been working effortlessly into the night for two weeks straight as she created her wedding dress. She wouldn't let anyone see it - not even me - and she insisted that it be a surprise on the wedding day. I knew that she had always dreamed of making it herself but when after a few days I noticed she was only averaging around four hours sleep, I suggested that she pass it on to our seamstress.

Let's just say that idea didn't go down too well with her.

I had been assigned the task of ordering and then sending out the invitations to the thirty people that would be attending. I had managed that within two days but we were all worried that it was too short of notice - three of our close friends had already phoned to say they couldn't make it. Other than that, the dinner hall and hotel had been booked, flowers and bouquet arranged, tuxedos ordered and flight tickets purchased for their honeymoon to Spain.

Now was the last and toughest issue. I blew out a tired breath as I tirelessly listened to the argument between Mira and her mother.

The wedding was tomorrow and she still had a major dilemma. The stress was building and I could tell that her normally high patience levels were falling drastically.

"I am not doing it!" she exclaimed, her arms flying around her in outrage.

"Well I'm not either! So you better figure out who will be signing for you tomorrow!" her mother responded hotly, crossing her arms over her chest. I shared a glance with Salem and he shook his head before moving towards the two ladies.

"I'll do it."

They both blinked up at him. "You want to speak to my father?" Mira asked uncertainly.

"Why not? It would only be fitting since I'm the one who's asking for your hand."

"I don't know why I didn't think of that before! Yes, Salem should speak to him!" I clapped happily, hoping this was the end of a fruitless discussion.

"He doesn't even know you're engaged. You want to go and see him for the first time and casually announce that you need his signature for his daughter's wedding?" khalto pointed out, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't really see what the other option is. Mira and I will go along with the sheikh, Sameena can come too, and he'll really have no option but to sign."

"You don't know my father Salem," Mira whispered, glancing at the floor. "He's stubborn and selfish and has a massive ego issue. He's going to get angry that we haven't told him before now." She glanced him with a solemn look. "If he refuses to sign?"

Salem's face clouded over and I noticed the subtle clenching of his fists by his side. "He will. If worse comes to worse, Sameena's dad can sign for you as your wali."

There was a moment of silence before she nodded hesitantly. "Insha'Allah it all works out." Khalto walked off after that, not looking quite pleased with the whole situation but knowing she could do nothing about it.

Mira blew out a breath and rubbed - quite viciously I might add - at her eyes. Salem's expression softened and he opened his mouth to offer, I assumed, words of comfort but I quickly cut him off, by clearing my throat loudly.

"I'm going to go check that all the boxes have been moved and there's no forgotten ones left." They both nodded at me and I slid out of the room quietly, leaving the couple alone for a few moments.

I manoeuvred my way around the house and ticked off a checklist on the tablet in front of me after I confirmed that tasks had been completed. Khalto, Mira and Houda's room were all bare of their items and no boxes were in sight. I hummed as I scribbled down a note that all three rooms needed reorganising at a later date. I was just about to head downstairs when I walked past a door that I hadn't come across in a while.

It was the door that lead up to the security room.

I paused and bit my lip as a sudden thought came to my mind.

I could take advantage of the momentary distraction everyone is in, knowing there would probably be on average three guards up there, or, I could be the good girl everyone knows me to be and forget the idea of snooping through the security room.

Screw it.

I opened the door and made my way up the steps slowly. After a few seconds, I was met with a second door that had a security lock installed on it so that only a select few people could enter. Before I even had the chance to figure what to do, a blue light emerged from a tiny screen and I watched as it scanned me from head to toe. It did it once more before the light was gone.

Bing!

The screen glowed green and it unlocked and opened automatically for me.

Well OK then.

Pleasantly surprised, I strode into the room and my eyes almost fell out of their sockets when I witnessed the happenings before me. The room - at least to my eyes - looked chaotic in a sense that the technological devices were so upgraded, I barely recognised the machines. Two men sat at what I thought were computers, clicking away at digits, numbers and codes I couldn't interpret even if I tried.

I coughed into my hand to get their attention. Immediately, they were on their feet and bowing their heads slightly in my direction. "Asalamu alaikum!"

"Wa alaikum asalam," I replied with a smile, my eyes flickering to what looked like the camera footage of our house, in the right hand corner of the room. I faced them again. "How are you boys?"

"We're good alhamdulillah, yourself?"

"Fine, fine," I mumbled, moving around to get a better view of everything. "This is all so cool!" I exclaimed, to which one of them looked at me oddly.

"I guess this is pretty...cool." He raised one eyebrow. "Is there anything we can help you with Miss?"

"Um, yes actually. As you guys know, it's been extremely busy with lots to do because of the wedding. I was wondering if you guys could head downstairs to help with the heavy lifting?"

They shared a glance. "We're not supposed to leave our posts, Miss."

"I'm sure it won't take you too long." When I could see them contemplating it, I added a 'pretty please' at the end.

"OK then," one of them relented and I mentally fist-bumped. "We'll be back." They both gave me a nod before moving towards the door. I smiled at them as they went.

"I'll be right down too!"

I waited until the door was locked shut again, before practically running towards the screens that showcased every room in our house, excepting the bedrooms.

I could already see the two guards making their way down the stairs through one of the cameras and I knew I had to hurry before they realised no one really needed help downstairs. I didn't know what I was looking for exactly, but I wanted to get an inside scoop on any information I could, no matter how minuscule it was.

There was only one problem...I didn't know how to work any of this machinery.

I began tapping the screens with my finger, hoping it would activate something, but to my chagrin, it didn't work. After another thirty seconds of uselessly tapping away, I heaved a frustrated sigh and moved to the next screen. It seemed that they all had fixed footage or codes on there and how it was supposed to change, I didn't know.

I decided to move to one of the 'computers' the guard was sitting on and I immediately noticed a difference in the layout and appearance of this screen. First of all, this one actually had words on it that I could read and when I hesitantly put my finger on the one that read 'surveillance cameras' it opened up the system for every single camera in our house.

"Aha," I murmured, making myself comfortable on the seat. It seemed that all the screens were controlled by this one here. I skimmed my eyes over the glowing screen and used my finger again to click on the word 'history'. As I anticipated, folders appeared with a thousand different dates starting from today and decreasing. I did a mental calculation in my head and noted that Isaac had started working for baba about three to four months ago. I scrolled down the list and clicked on a random date.

This would take me days to sit through and watch!

I tapped on the image of baba's office to be met with a crystal clear video recording of baba and Isaac both at their respective desks. Thankfully, I realised that I could forward the video and I did that until something of interest appeared.

Nothing.

I ran to the first screen to check where the guards were and I saw that they were outside in a conversation with Salem.

OK, this was good.

I ran back to the main computer and sat down again, tapping on a different date and forwarding through the video. The whole way through, I had my eyes mostly trained on Isaac's form.

A good ten minutes passed by as I did the same thing through a number of surveillance videos, focusing mainly on the dates where I could recall fighting with baba or Isaac. I especially searched through the day of the attack.

After a while, I began picking up on a certain trend in Isaac's behaviour. I realised that every time he would lean over baba's shoulder as he sat at his desk, one hand would go around the back of baba's chair, whilst the other fingered something on the inside of the desk, as if making sure that it was still there.

I frowned. I got up to check the whereabouts of the guards, when I spotted them walking up the stairs. I cursed under my breath and ran back to the main computer, exiting out of all the videos and returning to today's date.

I pulled out my phone and lifted it to my ear just as the door unlocked and they walked through.

"Yeah, I totally understand. It must be so hard," I spoke into the phone, feeling like a complete idiot. I looked up at the guards and pretended to stroll around the room, deep in conversation with, well...myself. They looked surprised to see me still here and I was quick to give them a reassuring smile. "Anyway, I've got to go now, but I really hope everything works out for you! OK, bye-bye!" I sang and pretended to end the call. The guards were still staring at me intently. "Sorry, a friend rang me...you know she's got an issue - I think it's got to do with some fungus - but anyway I got caught up and lost track of time. Thanks so much for helping downstairs, I'll be out of your hair now, bye!"

I opened the door and flew down the stairs without a single glance backwards. I probably just humiliated myself and they definitely thought I was bonkers now.

"Samir!" I yelled as I spotting him walking down the hallway.

He swivelled around to face me. "What's up?"

"Is baba home?"

"No, he's in a meeting with Isaac, he should be home soon though. Wh-"

"OK thanks!" I cut him off, running past him and down the stairs. By the time I arrived at baba's office, I was a tad out of breath. Damn this five story house! I don't even know why I was running but if I was snooping around, I had to be fast incase someone caught me.

There was a camera in baba's office so whatever I did, I know I had to come off as normal. I twisted my tablet between my hands and lazily strode over to baba's desk. I sat on his black leather chair and rotated myself around for a few minutes, acting as if I was waiting for him to come home. I made myself look bored at one stage.

I mean surely they wouldn't be suspicious if his own daughter came into his office?

Nonetheless, I continued on with my act and deciding now was the right time, I pushed the chair back and pretended to bend down to tie the shoe laces of my boots. In reality, I was searching for anything on the inside of baba's desk, anything that might lead me to have something against Isaac.

And sure enough...there was something.

I at least knew enough about technology to realise that there was a bug planted inside baba's desk!

I sucked in a harsh breath.

That would mean...

Oh no!

Everything I had told baba, everything about me suspecting Isaac of all this...

He would have heard us.

He knew.

####

Definitions:

Wali: 'Protector' - in Islam, when a woman gets married, her father or guardian at the time needs to sign the marriage contract as her wali.

A/N

Next chapter will be a special POV...Mira's!