This chapter is dedicated to all my patient readers and followers who waited. Thank you.❤️

Harry stood there, rooted to the spot with a pale face. His mouth was agape, and his eyes were as wide as they could stretch as every part of him goes on pause whilst perspiration spreads over his body like a sudden allergic reaction. His addled, confused mind momentarily wondered if this is a dream, or the harsh reality playing out in front of him as he moves his eyes in a sweeping motion from Mr Malik to Mr Payne and then to Trisha.

That entire time, he was expecting the trio to disappear and for him to wake up, switching on his bedside lamp and realizing it's all just a bad dream.

But the longer he stares at them, the more he realizes what he's seeing is realism as it is, and when he saw their guilt-ridden faces, reality crashed into his brains like heavy cackling bricks then a wave of emotion gush over him like tsunami waves engulfing a land.

His breathing quickened, and his heart began pounding as memories of recent happenings rearrange themselves in his mind, putting together all the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle slowly fitting together.

Then suddenly, everything starts making sense.

A look of pain and dismay clouded his features then his lower lip began to quiver, his eyes welling up in tears. He leaned against the entrance post for support, conscious that he's becoming light-headed, and drew in shaky breaths to calm himself.

His eyes flicker back in the direction of Mr Malik who's unnerving gaze is fixed on him, the one without the attitude, without the facade, then a solemn tear fell down his cheek as the silence slithering between them wrapped around whatever space there was for words.

He didn't know how he should feel. Angry? Sad? Happy? That he has uncovered that Mr Malik is Rameses Zayn, his Pharaoh.

He continued to gawk at the raven-haired man who slowly rose from his seat, radiating dominance so effortlessly even in a simple T-shirt and jeans. His movements were deliberate like he was measuring every word he was about to say as he walks towards him. His hazel eyes shimmering with several emotions, that Harry couldn't tell which one he was feeling.

"Nefertari, calm down. Let me explain" He murmured gently like he was coaxing a child about to throw a tantrum.

Harry just stared at him, too shocked to speak. It was as if the muscles in his mouth were paralyzed and his green eyes glisten, like broken filament glass, on the sidewalk.

The Pharaoh closed the short distance between them and stilled, their eyes locked, their faces only inches apart. He raised his hand to wipe away the tear that had fallen down Harry's cheek but Harry slapped his hand away, looking at him with anguish.

The General and the Queen rose from their seats, watching them in anxious silence.

'um, Djehuty Liam. atarakna (Mother, Djehuty Liam. Leave us) The Pharaoh uttered in his native language, his tone leaving no room for arguments and disobedience.

His calm, placated attitude enraged Harry to a point where he wanted to shout and scream at him, to know why he did this to him? But instead, he turned around and started walking at a brisk pace, away from him, cause he already knew the answer to that question, and it's not like this is the first time the Pharaoh had done this.

"Wait! Nefertari! It's not what you're thinking!" The Pharaoh called out, jogging to catch up with him, and stopped him by grabbing his arm, and when Harry turned, the tears brimming in his eyes, spilled over, trickling down his cheeks.

He yanked his arm from the Pharaoh's grasp, and when the Pharaoh attempted to pull him into his arms, he raised a hand to slap him, but the Pharaoh caught his wrist in a swift movement, looking into his eyes.

"Calm down. Remember what the doctor said" He whispered.

His words bounced around Harry's head, first in disbelief, then in shock, and finally, in anger. With a wriggle, he freed himself from the Pharaoh's hold, his emotions too raw at this point.

"FUCK YOU!" He exclaimed, his chest heaving up and down.

"YOU DON'T TELL ME TO COME DOWN AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE! YOU SON OF..........

The rest of the words gurgled to a halt in his throat when he caught the sight of the Queen standing behind her son.

His gaze wandered in her direction for a moment and the Queen gazed at him with moist, pleading eyes and in her look, there was an entreaty for forgiveness and for him to hear her son out, but Harry returned her stare with his eyes filled with pain by her deceit and betrayal.

With a light sniffle, he turned around and left as quickly as his legs could take him, dodging the Queen's hand which she raised to touch him.

The Pharaoh attempted to follow him but the Queen stopped him, by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Son no!"

"He's pregnant. If you follow him, he would be forced to run from you which is bad for him and the babies. Please let's talk to him after he's calmed and ready to listen to us"

The Pharaoh sighed and whisked a hand through his hair in frustration. He let out a long, noisy breath as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples.

'iidha madha nafeal alan? (So what do we do now?) The General asked with a worried expression.

"Tell him the truth, but I'm not going wait for tomorrow" The Pharaoh uttered, glancing down at the path Harry had scuttled off.

As Harry moves down the path that led behind the main house, tears continued to seep down his cheeks, his brain formulating no thoughts but playing back the memory of what happened a few minutes ago, just like a movie. He was walking so fast that the wind was making his hair fly in front of his eyes, and his hand kept brushing it away.

He emitted a sniffle, feeling so stupid for not realizing it sooner.

He should have known Rameses Zayn would do this and the funny part is, he accurately guessed it on the night he laid eyes on him for the first time since they separated. His intuition had been right, but he was blindsided by Kwame whom he had trusted so completely.

That traitor.

No wondered he had all the answers and solutions to every problem they had encountered. Always so sure of himself that everything will go according to plan.

A plan already design to succeed as long as he played along.

With another sniffle, he dashes the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, as he approaches the back door of the house. He reaches for the doorknob but his hands were shaking so badly that he could hardly turn it.

After a few seconds, he finally manages to get the door opened and ran inside, bumping into someone. He looked up and saw Niall, gaping at him with wide eyes and holding his gaze with a perplexity look.

"What happened?" Niall uttered, his voice containing a hint of panic.

Harry shook his head, his lips parting to speak but then Niall took his phone from his pocket, mumbling. "Let me call Kwame, he will know...

"No!" Harry stopped him by grabbing the phone from his hand.

"He's part of it, everything was a plan. Everything!" He exclaimed through his tears, his chest heaving.

Niall's face scrunched up in confusion. "I don't understand"

"They were pretending so to punish me and-and Kwame knew about it, he's their inside man. I heard them myself"

The moment Harry blurted out those words, Niall's mouth dropped open in disbelief. He stared at Harry in shocked silence as seconds ticked by then blinked himself out of his stupor before murmuring slowly. "You mean this entire time, the Pharaoh, the Queen, and the General were pretending not to remember you, so to punish you? And Kwame was helping them out in their sick game?" He asked timidly.

Harry responded with a nod as more tears stream down his face. He leaned against the wall and sank to the ground, unable to quell the emotions roiling through him.

Anger flared in Niall's eyes, he hissed and balled his hands into fists. "How-how could they do this, knowing you're pregnant and in a vulnerable state!" He whispered yelled, trying to hold in his anger.

Harry just leaned forward, placed his head in his hands, and started sobbing.

Niall stares at him, feeling powerless.

Seeing Harry broken pained him but he didn't know what to do. He sat beside Harry and side hugged him, empathetic to the distress his best friend is going through.

Without blinking, his eyes moist with tears, seething inside not only by Kwame's betrayal but also the General. He genuinely thought the General was interested in him.

But it was all a facade.

After Harry's cries quieted into softer sniffles, Niall glance at him and asked in a low voice. "Is Mr Evans involved in this too?"

"I don't think so" Harry answered with a slight wheeze.

Niall nodded, leaning the back of his head against the wall and let out a sigh. He noticed Harry holding his phone and gently took it out of his hand, then texted Mr Evans to meet them in Harry's bedroom and that, he's to come alone without Kwame's knowledge. Afterward, they headed for Harry's room using a different route, since they didn't want Des or any of the guests to see them.

After a while, the door to Harry's bedroom opened and Mr Evans stepped inside with a puzzled look, darting his eyes to Harry who's leaning against the headboard of the bed with red puffy eyes, and then to Niall who's sitting beside Harry with an expressionless look.

"What's going on?" He asked as he slowly closes the door behind him and he could tell by the look that quickly appeared on Niall's face that whatever he was about to hear wasn't good news.

"Lock the door" Niall muttered.

"Okay" Mr Evans mumbled, looking more confused. He locked the door, stepping towards them. "Guys, what's going on? Did everything go according to plan?"

"Not exactly" Niall replied and took a deep breath, trying to hold in his anger, before going straight to the point.

"The Pharaoh, the Queen, and the General have been pretending all this while so to punish Harry, and Kwame knew about it, he's their inside man, playing the double agent this entire time," Niall said with a calm tone but you could still hear the anger in his voice.

Mr Evans stood there looking at Niall as if he'd just produce a rhinoceros from his pocket. For a long moment, he was too stunned to say anything.

"What?" He finally uttered with a dumbfounded look.

Niall repeated what he said earlier then Mr Evans slumped down on the couch beside Harry's bed like he's on autopilot. He heaved a deep exasperated sigh and lowered his face into his hands.

After a minute he glances up, blinking with a dazed look. "Are you sure-I mean how did you find out?"

"Harry walked in on them, talking about it" Niall replied.

Mr Evans nodded absently, his eyes clouded in thought then he glances over in Harry's direction.

"Harry can tell what they said? I know it's gonna be painful to remember and talk about it but I need to know what they said for me to understand what's going on, cause this doesn't make sense"

Harry and Niall exchanged glances with furrowed brows then stared back at Mr Evans. "What doesn't make sense?" Harry asked, sniffing between words.

"For Rameses Zayn to punish you like this" Mr Evans replied.

Harry's face grimace at Mr Evans's assertion.

"But-but he did the same thing when I ran away with Merenre Louis. He punished me by not coming to see me for two weeks"

Mr Evans let out a breath. "Harry I don't think he was punishing you, I think he needed space and time to sort through whatever he was feeling at that time"

"Whose side are you on?" Harry retorted, his frown deepening.

"No, I'm not.....

"Well, it sounds like it" Niall interrupted Mr Evans, looking annoyed.

Mr Evans emitted another breath.

"Look, I'm saying this because Rameses Zayn a Pharaoh, and this type of revenge sounds petty and vindictive for someone his caliber"

"Then why all the drama, the pretense, and the lies?" Niall asked glaring at Mr Evans with raised eyebrows.

"I don't know, and that's why I want Harry to tell me what he heard and saw. I don't want to make assumptions at this point"

A moment of silence fell over them, then Niall averted his gaze to Harry, questioning him silently to know if he's okay to talk about it. Harry sucked in few deep breaths and nodded, before opening his mouth and proceeding to speak.

"I spotted the Queen amid the guests, heading towards the back of the house when I was looking for Mr Malik. I didn't want to draw attention to myself by shouting out her name so I walked through the guests trying to catch up with her. She kept looking at her phone as if someone was giving her directions to the patio which is weird cause the party is in the house"

"I got curious to know whom she was going meet there, so I kept my distance and kept following her until she arrived at the patio then I noticed Mr Malik and Mr Payne were also there. She joined them and they began talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying so I got closer and stood at the entrance but they didn't notice me, then I heard the Queen said He's is still mad at me for what happened the other night"

"And the General asked her what other night and how come I'm just hearing of it"

Harry paused, exhaling softly before continuing and as he was recounting everything, Mr Evans and Niall's faces flicker on and off with all the expressions of "Oh my God!, You're kidding! and What the fuck!"

After Harry finished talking, he moved his gaze back and forth between Mr Evans and Niall, and there's no doubt that aside from whatever they were thinking, there's one which involves killing Kwame with their bare hands.

Mr Evans cleared his throat.

At that, he hesitated a little, giving a second thought of what he was about to say before speaking out. "Okay so from what I gather, the Queen is trying to get you and Rameses Zayn back together but it seems he's not happy with his mother's interference but he still wants to take you back with him to the ancient world, which is what we were striving for"

"The General well...... Mr Evans paused and glance at Niall before muttering. "Wants to spend more time with you"

Niall snorted then rolled his eyes.

"And that bastard Kwame is truly a double agent" Mr Evans added through gritted teeth.

"This still doesn't give answers to why they pretended and lied to Harry" Niall said, giving Mr Evans a skeptical look.

"It does, and confirms what I was saying all along" Harry commented.

Mr Evans shifted in his seat, leaning forward. "Harry, I don't .....

"Think about it" Harry interjected, cutting him off.

"The General got smitten with Niall so easily, so fast. I thought it was weird but then again I assumed maybe because they had a history together so he might be feeling the pull like Kwame said"

"And remember when I told you guys that the Queen was very understanding that night. She was hugging me, kissing my forehead, soothing me. Everything they did was them being themselves except Rameses Zayn. He's still angry with me, this is his punishment"

"He might have ordered the Queen and the General to put up this pretense but they didn't with their interactions towards Niall or me"

Harry said the last part with a soft tone then a tear trickle down his cheek, closely followed by another. Emitting a noisy breath, he cupped his hands loosely over his face.

For a few seconds, there was silence.

With a frustrated sigh, Mr Evans gazed at them pensively. "Maybe we should confront Kwame to know the whole truth" He suggested.

"I don't want to see him" Harry said, wiping his tears and sniffling between words. "We trusted him, how could he do this, stare right in our faces and lie"

Mr Evans sighed. "Kwame is a lot of things but... He paused and sighed again before continuing. "I think there's more to this than meets the eye, something isn't adding up. Like why would Kwame agree to help Rameses Zayn punish you"

To which Niall replied "Well because...... because, because.... because...

He put on a thinking face becoming more frustrated with each passing second and let out a groan.

Suddenly, they heard noises coming from the door then Thump, Thump, Thump. There's a knock at the door.

They became quiet, flickering their eyes to the door before exchanging glances, wondering who it might be.

"Nefertari, baby. Honey, Please let me in. Please let me explain"

They recognized the voice as the Pharaoh's, then a few seconds later they heard the knocks again.

"Nefertari, I know you're in there. Please open up" He said in a pleading voice.

Mr Evans turned his gaze to Harry.

"What you have been wanting and yearning for is knocking on your door, are you going to open it or not?" He asked.

Harry looked up at him, chewing his lower lip.

Meanwhile.......

"Rameses Zayn don't you think it's too soon to want to talk to him"

The Pharaoh glance at his mother with a frustrated look. "Mother you know what the doctor said. I can't leave him alone"

"He's with Niall and the teacher. I'm sure he's going to be okay" The General commented.

"I don't want him thinking I hurt him" The Pharaoh said, then they heard footsteps approaching them.

They turned their gaze towards the direction of the footsteps and saw Kwame jolting to a halt with wide eyes when he saw them. He scrambled back so fast that he almost fell, and when he turned around to walk away,

"Kwame"

The General's voice stopped him in his tracks.

He whirled, darting his eyes around before shushing him and striding towards them. "What are you doing? We are not supposed to know each other until....

"They know" Rameses Zayn cuts him off, heaving a sigh.

"Who and who knows what?" He asked with a confused look.

"Nefertari, Niall, and your husband. They know everything" The General answered.

A look of disbelief came across Kwame's face. "What the fuck man, Evans just agreed to give me a second chance and you decided to ruin it!"

"Thank my mother for that" Rameses Zayn commented then the Queen glance at him with a steely glare.

"How was I supposed to know he was following me!" She whispered yelled.

At that moment, the door to Harry's room opened with a click and Rameses Zayn stepped back with a hopeful look but it soon diminished into a disappointed look when Mr Evans and Niall stepped outside the room, closing the door behind them.

The General tried to hold Niall's gaze with his eyes but the blonde completely avoided his stare, while Mr Evans walked straight toward Kwame following it up with a swift knee to his groin.

Kwame groaned loudly in pain, grabbing his crotch, and fell to the floor.

Niall's eyes widen then he glance at Mr Evans. "I thought you said you were going to have a talk with him"

"I just did" Mr Evans responded with a self-satisfied grin before averting his gaze to Rameses Zayn.

"He doesn't want to see you"

The Pharaoh nodded without looking at him, his eyes glued to Harry's bedroom door and it was pretty obvious that he was holding back from busting through it.

Suddenly someone cleared his throat huskily from behind them.

They all averted their gaze to find Des staring at them with furrowed brows while darting his eyes to Kwame who's curled up on the floor, writhing in pain.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

**************************************

Sorry if it's boring

Hope you like it though.

Thankfully my Dad is doing okay now, and I want to thank you all so much for your kind words of support, encouragement, and prayer. I'm really grateful for the love you have shown me.🥺 You guys are so amazing. Thank you all so much. I love you all. God bless you all ❤️❤️❤️

Thoughts on the Chapter

Thoughts on Harry

Thoughts on Rameses Zayn

Thoughts on the Queen

Thoughts on the General and Niall

Thoughts on Kwame and Mr Evans

Predictions for the next Chapter

Thanks for reading. Stay safe ❤️