Mujaheed opened his eyes with a smile and when he didn't feel her on his body, he wondered what had happened. Maybe she had pulled to her side without knowing? Because he was aware of the way she slept. He turned his eyes to the other side of the bed and when he didn't see her there, he thought she was in the bathroom. But for than five minutes he sat on the bed but there wasn't any sign of life in the bathroom and he got there to check it for himself to see if she was inside, but he met an empty bathroom. What just happened?

He went to the living room, kitchen but she wasn't there. Mujaheed could feel the tremble of his fist as he performed his ablution and walked to the mosque where he was certain he would meet Alhaji. During the last prostration, he prayed to Allah that whatever this meant, should be easy on him. Maybe she had went back to the mansion to deal with Asma'u when she was certain he was asleep knowing so well that he wouldn't allow her to go if he was awake.

All set of scenarios kept roaming through his mind until they were done praying and he moved to where Alhaji sat. "Good morning, Alhaji." He greeted with a soft and shaky smile and Alhaji shook hands with him.

"Good morning, Mujaheed. I hope everything is alright? You look somewhat disturbed. It's Fareeda right? What has she done to you?" He asked and pulled himself up to sit properly so he could what his troublesome daughter had done.

He quickly shook his head, "She hadn't done anything, Alhaji. I didn't see her when I wake up now so I thought maybe she's inside. If you'll please ask them to check if she's there." He scratched his nape and silently wished that Fareeda was in there, because if not there, where would Fareeda be?

Alhaji immediately stood up, he knew Fareeda so well to know that just for her to cause trouble in the house, she wouldn't cut her sleep. She loved sleeping so much that she valued it more than lots of her valuable things in life. "Did something suspicious happened last night?" He asked, and as much as Mujaheed raked his brain, all he could remember was her smile, the sound of her laughter, her soft and delicate body on his and how her lips tasted which he couldn't tell Alhaji that, obviously.

He shook his head instead, "Nothing happened that caught my attention, but they had a fight with Hajia and Asma'u so I think maybe she has sneaked inside to do what she knows best." Causing trouble was what she knew best, that everyone knew about her.

"I'll go and check for her myself." Alhaji briskly said and rushed back into the house, even though he had doubts in his mind about Fareeda being in the mansion. Mujaheed waited for him in the parking lot and when Alhaji walked toward him with a terrified expression on his face, he dreaded what would be his answer.

"What happened? Is she inside?" He immediately asked and Alhaji reluctantly shook his head at him, as if he didn't want what he thought to be true.

"She's not inside. I think she has left, with that idiot boyfriend of hers of course." Alhaji palmed his face and found a space to sit. He knew thinking about what what had happened could make him loose his temper and his blood pressure will rise. What had Fareeda done? Was this her way of making him pay for what he did to her? For getting her married to the gateman?

Even though Mujaheed's heart had lost a bit when he heard that, but he held a stoic expression and shook his head. "I don't think she can leave with the guards at the gate and all." Could Fareeda really do this? Was it what she meant by what she had said and her submissiveness yesterday? He just couldn't wrap his hands around what Alhaji had just pointed out and he didn't believe what he thought to be real even though he knew there was a higher tendency of it being true.

"There's a door at the back of the house, no one knows about it, not even the architect that drew this house. Because I felt that incase of emergency, maybe bandits or something, we can escape together with my family. Somehow, she's the only person that knows that door apart from me, because I know she's the one that's bound to cause enough trouble that might need an escape. Let's go there and check, if the lock there is broken, then she has left."

Alhaji immediately stood as they walked deeper into the house while he remembered the day he took Fareeda to that door. That was before he got married to Hadiza, he believed something bad might happen to her while he wasn't around and if she had her glasses on, she might run out of the house safely. He hadn't forgotten about the door, but he thought she had forgotten about it. And when they reached, the door was unlocked and that was the proof they all wanted.

"She has left! Ya Allah, what's wrong with Fareeda?" Alhaji chanted and Mujaheed stood there motionless. What was wrong with Fareeda? How could she do this to him? Why? So because he said she shouldn't have a phone call with that guy, she chose to do this? To him, her father and herself?

His eyes caught her bracelet and he leaned down and got it from the ground. It was the bracelet she had on her hand the night before and even if he found it so hard to believe that Fareeda have left with Adam, he knew this was enough proof. He didn't show it to Alhaji because he knew it would worsen his situation. He slid it into his breast pocket and acted tough, "We should go back, sit and think of the possible solution to this, Alhaji." And without arguing with him, Alhaji followed him back into the house.

✥

It had been two weeks already and of all the places Alhaji could think of, they went there but there was no sign of Fareeda. All the reports they got were the last time Fareeda went there was months ago and they hadn't seen her ever again. What proved to them that she was away with Adam was that all his friend said that it had been two weeks since the last time they saw him and that collated with the exact date Fareeda went missing.

Mujaheed could hardly sleep, because the thought of his wife away from home together with a man that wasn't his was torturing enough, he didn't even want to imagine what had been happening while she was away. He had never imagined that when Fareeda left or something happened that had them estranged, he would feel as terrible as he was feeling now. He couldn't remember the last time he ate something without Nana pestering him to, it hadn't been pleasant, the toughest he had ever had to live.

Alhaji called him and asked him to meet him in his living room and he rushed there silently praying that she had been tracked and he could finally know where Fareeda was. He didn't know what he would do to her after he saw her, but at least to know that she was alive and safe would be enough for him for now. He went there and saw some people together with Alhaji, and after they exchanged pleasantries, he sat down.

"This is her husband, like I told you she has a husband." He said to the men as he pointed at Mujaheed and turned to him, "We still can't track her phone, Mujaheed, maybe she had destroyed the sim and phone somewhere. But finally, I've called her bank and they told me the location of her last transaction, I know Fareeda couldn't go a day without spending money as far as she wasn't home. I wanted to have them freeze her account but I won't do it now. She's in Katsina, and when I asked, that's Adam's hometown."

Mujaheed felt a tightening in his heart. All he could see were clouds in his eyes and untamed anger to hit something until that thing lost the life it had. "I'll have to go to Katsina then, Alhaji." He said through gritted teeth. Now that he was aware of her location, he was no more forlorn because of her lose, he was furious and angry at her. He wanted to see her and have her look into his eyes while she had flown out of town with someone she claimed to love.

"Yes, you're going to go there." Alhaji said and realizing there were things they had to discuss in private, he excused themselves from the men and before they left, told them that if there was need of help, he would ask them for it.

As soon as they left, he turned to look at Mujaheed that was seething with rage, "You know if I go there with you, it will be worse, I might end up pushing her to do what's worse than what she has done. I'll arrange for everything and you'll live tomorrow, we'll have be communicating to see how it could be done."

Mujaheed immediately shook his head, "Can I leave today? I mean..." He let his words trailed off because he didn't know how he was going to tell a father that all he wanted was to kill his daughter with his own hands.

Alhaji smiled calmly, "I know how you're feeling and I won't stop apologizing on her behalf of her, I'm sorry. If I had known this is what she's going to do, I wouldn't have gotten her married to you. And like I said, when we finally have her back, you can divorce her if you don't want to be staying with her anymore."

Slowly, he shook his head as he tightened his hold on his hands. He didn't know what he was thinking yet or the solution to all that had happened, nor even how he was going to react to Fareeda, but one thing was certain, he wouldn't let go of Fareeda. Before, he thought it was because he was beginning to like her, he was smitten over her. But after she had left, Mujaheed didn't care even if that was still the case, he knew divorcing her will gladden her heart, and he didn't want that. As much as she hurt him, he wanted her to feel much more pained than himself. To hurt her, he was going to have her as his wife for the rest of their lives.

"I'll wait until tomorrow then," he said calmly and stood up, feeling as his blood boiled with his anger. "I'll take my leave, if that's all." With a soft smile, Alhaji watched as he walked out of the living room and he sighed, he wished nothing for Mujaheed but the very best in life.

Mujaheed thought as much as his heart ached. He wanted to see her despite all she had done, and that was what pained him the most. He would have to make her pay for all she had done, and that was a promise he made to himself. She could never go scot-free. He walked into his room and seeing her towel still hanged on the bathroom door, he threw it down and smashed off her cosmetics that were still on his mirror. He didn't want to see anything that reminded him of her. The Fareeda he used to live with and whom he was beginning to hate with so much intensity that it shook him. He knew no matter how cute she would act or how soft and delicate she would be around him, he would never forgive her.

✥

Alhaji paired him with two men and after they landed in the airpot, they were the ones that got him. Despite the way they were trying to act all friendly, Mujaheed was barely hearing a word they had uttered, all he did was stared around the streets of Katsina and he wondered where they were at the moment. They took him to the quest house of Alhaji's friend and provided all he needed and even more.

They got Adam's number and tried to track them down, but despite their attempts, nothing had happened until Mujaheed began to lose hope. Because he thought he could be able to see Fareeda the very day he came to Katsina. Nothing worked for days, and it was getting to a week since he came to Katsina. Everyday they went out and search all the places they knew, but nothig fruitful came out of it.

It was late at night and Mujaheed felt suffocated at the room they provided for him. He took the car and left the house, telling the guards that he would go and take some walk. He didn't know the area he was, but he heard them saying there was a nearby hotel and restaurant around. He went back to the house and parked the care, figuring it would be healthier for his mind to walk to the restaurant than drive and on his way there, Nana called him.

He smiled sadly before he picked the call and heard her crying voice. "Hello, Nana? What is wrong now? I told you I'll do my best to make sure I come back home with her, didn't I?"

She cried even more before she controlled herself and spoke, "Ya Mujaheed, I hate Asma'u and Ummah, they keep saying that she has left home for prostitution. I don't know what that means but from the way they say it, I'm sure it's not something good. She isn't like that right, Ya Mujaheed?" She was crying badly that Mujaheed had to find a spot for himself and sat down beside the road. As much as it hurt Nana, he could say it hurt him more.

"They kept saying that you're going to divorce her because no one can stay with a prostitute. I don't want you to let go of her, Ya Mujaheed, she's a good person." He wanted to cry for her, he doubt if someone had ever loved Fareeda like Nana loved her.

"Nothing could separate me and her, Nana, okay? You don't have to worry about all they said. And if before I come back they tell you that I'm going to divorce her again, tell them I've said that Fareeda is my wife and nothing could separate me from her, and Insha Allah she'll still be my wife until Jannah." He felt these words were more for him than they were for Nana. The sentence that Fareeda will be his wife until Jannah soothed his heart in a way he had never imagined.

To take her mind off the things that were bothering her, he stood up and began to walk, while telling her all about the places he had seen and visited in Katsina. It was fun talking to Nana, he loved talking to her because this was like the distraction he had needed since when Fareeda came. She abruptly asked him, "Ya Mujaheed, did you eat?" She asked, and he shook his head as if she was standing in front of him.

"No, what happened, Nana? Did you perhaps make my favorite today?" He asked with a hint of laughter and he knew of her strictness when it came to him taking his meal at the right time.

"I cooked for you despite knowing you weren't there. I wanted to be loyal and tried eating your white rice with okra but do you know what? I nearly vomited, I felt nauseous, how do you eat that concoction?"

He laughed as he walked into the hotel that had a restaurant attached, 'Soli Centre' he read the name in his mind and waked further into the spacious building. "I'll teach you how to eat it once I'm back in Taraba. Do you know what this place is called, Nana?" He laughed at the name, because he had never heard of something like that before.

"You better eat to your fill, I don't want you to lose weight, Ya Mujaheed. No, what is it? Something like Nana Fatima Zarah?" That made him laugh.

"I've almost forgotten what your real name is, should I be calling you Fatima or Zarah? Choose one amongst them. No, it's called Soli Centre, what's the meaning of Soli?"

"My name is Nana, that's what Nenne loves calling me with. Soli? Can you ask for us? Those Katsina people are weird." They laughed at the same time and they kept conversing until Mujaheed placed his order which she chose for him before she ended the call, saying she didn't want him to be laughing in front of people lest they thought of him as a newbie in the town.

"Thank you." He smiled warmly at the waitress and began to eat his food while he thought. Even though days had passed without him seeing Fareeda, he was still angry at what she did. He was still furious and her hatred was filling every nook and cranny of his heart. He had always imagined the worst she could do, but not even for once had leaving home crossed his mind.

"I wonder what those two are up to, Man. Look at how he kept treating her as if she wasn't a woman he took care of his desires with." He heard one of the men that sat on the other table spoke with distaste aimed at the man they were talking about.

One of them answered again, "I wonder why she's still living in a hotel with him, didn't she know her worth or at least have some self respect left? You weren't here yesterday, you would've seen the way he insulted her in front of everyone."

"It seems like she's a mistress and she didn't know he has a wife here already. Something about her going to his house without him knowing..." He let his words trailed off and shrugged off his shoulders, "I heard them fighting over there before I came here, and the way it looked, that guy could really beat her if she frustrates him more. Because she looks like the type that never keeps shut."

Mujaheed immediately stood up, he wasn't sure if they were the one, but he had to go and see for himself. He didn't lift a feet when he heard her voice. And that was what he needed, he didn't have to turn to make sure it was her, her voice was something he could forever recognize. She was crying and shouting at the same time. "Don't you dare touch me again! If you lay a finger on me, Adam..." He ran to the spot her voice was coming coming, he didn't have enough patience to wait.