It's my favorite niece's birthday, my love. I love you so much, Baby❤️ This chapter is for you, the whole book itself. I wish you all the best in your life, Baby. Be a good girl, be happy always because you deserve nothing but happiness and love in your life. Ummi loves you, and also; you're my best bad influence. Have the best birthday possible, we all got your back❤️

Majida looked at Ammi, utterly confused. She placed her hand on her palms and by now even Fadwa and Sabeehah were in the courtyard. Fadwa looked at them, confused. The hands she saw on Majida's cheek made it clear that one of their parents had slapped her, but who? Because if it was Baffah, he would have had his belt all over her body by now. Could it be Ammi? How possible could that be? What had Majida uttered to make Ammi this aggressive unless something about Faadil? Then she dotted the lines, she knew Majida had picked a vein.

"You can't talk to your father like that, Majida. How many times do I have to warn you?" Ammi uttered, and it was evident she had regretted ever laying her hands on the girl, but the deed couldn't be undone.

"Ammi, you slapped me." The words rolled out of Majida's lips as though she was uncertain and she couldn't believe what she just felt. Was it Ammi's palm that landed on her cheek? That too because of Baffah and because she made mention of a fact so unshakable in their lives? The lost of Faadil, something she would take forever to forget.

Ammi straightened herself, and they saw how she winced before she looked straight into Majida's eyes. "I did, and one more bad word towards your father, I couldn't hold myself from what I'd do to you next, Majida. Take Sabeehah in," She said with her lower lip in her mouth. They could see it, she was trying to stop her tears from running down her cheeks, and Fadwa held Majida in her hands and they walked back into the room.

As soon as they were out of sight, Ammi looked at Baffah with hatred brewing from her eyes. A frown appeared on her forehead as she spoke, "You see what you've caused? I don't need to tell you that what was in Majida's eyes as she spoke to you was nothing but sheer hatred. She hates you, Mamman. They all do." And she limped back into the room without waiting for a reply from him, face wet with her tears that overpowered her strength.

She met Fadwa holding Majida together as her body shook with tears, and Ammi felt a pang of guilt. She had never laid her hands on her daughters and today was the first because she felt and know that Majida had crossed the line. She might have done what she did because of her, but it was unacceptable.

Ammi moved to the bed and Majida looked at her, "Ammi, please forgive me for wronging you. I'll never do that again," She said, with an outbreak of sob, and Ammi held her to her bosom. She cried. It was rare for Ammi to cry in front of them, but there was nothing she could do to stop her tears today. It was just too painful.

Majida had brought back to her a pain she wished to keep buried for the rest of her life, but it seemed that was only her thought. It happened while they watched, she watched Faadil cradled in her arm, while they circled her and cried together with her. They had seen the different shades of their monstrous father and there was nothing she could do about it. She just had to pray, but she had no palette of color nor the brush that could change the paint Baffah did on the canvas of his daughter's hearts of himself. She just had to watch.

"Ammi, you should stop crying please, I hate it when you cry," Sabeehah said with a voice that broke Ammi's heart even more, and Fadwa watched them from where she stood as they hugged each other and cried, and she wished she could do the same.

It was after some time that Fadwa walked over to them, her heart aching with each step she took. She took Sabeehah in her hands and ruefully smiled as she cleared away her tears. "Sabeehah, Ammi can't stop crying if you don't. We should go and sleep, right?" The little girl nodded her head innocently and Fadwa carefully placed her on the bed. She hushed the sleeping supplications over her and watched as she slept before she looked at both Ammi and Majida.

"Ammi, I know it hurts, but keep being your strong self. All this will be history someday, we just have to endure the pain a little longer, but it won't take forever." She said, and she held Majida's hand in hers and they watched as Ammi walked out of the room. The moment Ammi was out, Fadwa looked at Majida and smiled ruefully.

"Majida, please stop making it hard on Ammi, okay? She's had enough, please you should quit fighting Baffah back, okay?" Her eyes glistened with tears, but she held them back with so much aplomb.

Majida nodded her head innocently before she hugged Fadwa. And when they broke apart she smiled at her before she held her hand, "You haven't told me what happened in your boss's house, you left in such a hurry I thought you'd say he has fired you." Majida teased and Fadwa nudged her shoulder playfully. She loved this about Majida above anything, there was never a dull moment with her and when an ambiance went sour, she made sure she cut it through.

"Fortunately, he left for school himself. And before he was back, well, he bought a kitten, and you know how scared of that thing I am." She made a face, and Majida gasped.

"Don't tell me you did something utterly embarrassing, Addah Fadwa?"

Fadwa threw her head back and laughed at the shocked expression on Majida's face and she eased her heart off the tension that happened some minutes ago. "Not entirely, but I did. You know the kind of character he has, he only told me not to appear in his house in my uniform again. And by Allah Majida, It was embarrassing, I wore your trouser and you know how it tightens me. The pina as well. I had no veil, let's just say he saw me."

Majida gasped and giggled at the blush that crept out of Fadwa's cheeks. "Addah Fadwa, why do I feel that you weren't embarrassed? It feels like you have something..." A smack on her shoulder made her shut off and Fadwa laid on their mattress, Majida following behind her. Ammi walked into the room.

"I don't have anything for him, Majida. It was embarrassing and he looks at me as if I was some sort of shit. Urgh, that hurt a bit." Fadwa hushed her answer, careful because she didn't want Ammi to hear them.

"Maybe some time, don't fall in love with him, yet."

"Fall in wha-"

"Fadwa, you had a long day, sleep." And their lips were sealed up with Ammi's order, they did as she said. Even though Fadwa's heart was full of chaos that she didn't know the one to begin unraveling, what struck more was Majida's word at her. And she found herself drifting into a slumber with the thought of being in love with Maheer Aliyu Shagari. That would be eccentric. For a moment, his eyes flashed through her mind, and she knew even the clear blue sky of the moment would be put to shame when his eyes were insight.

❀

Fadwa opened the door of the house and she entered with tentative steps. She knew the kitten would be anywhere, and hence her calculative steps. Somewhere in her mind, she wished and prayed he had gotten rid of that cat, but she knew he had no regard for her to do just what she requested of him. She gulped down a lump in her throat before she walked into the kitchen and found a cup he took his morning coffee in. She grimaced and rinsed the cup before she set the work, at the same time cooking the lunch.

Days had passed by, and with each day, she got more used to living in Maheer's house. What she did in her home only slept, she lived her life now in his house. She had never got attached to anything in her life like she got so attached to her drawing pads. Whenever she wasn't in school, she drew in his house. She saw less and less of him every day that her only worry now was his cat. Which seemed to love her not knowing she was afraid of her. The cat always ran to her and snuggle beneath her legs whenever she saw her and Fadwa would spend the rest of the day feeling as though the cat was all over her body.

She had avoided that cat at all means more than she avoided Maheer, and it was all fine. She was cleaning his bookshelf, her face scrunched up in utmost disgust. She wondered what he felt by reading these pages that had ink on them, joy? Or perhaps he felt as though he was the most knowledgeable person on earth. From their covers, she knew they were not educational books, they were novel. And that made her scoff. He just sat there for hours reading fictional stories by his fellow humans? How hilarious.

"What does he feel if he reads these books? He always has one in his hand." She tilted a book by Adrienne Basso, titled 'A little bit sinful' and Fadwa groaned at the title. She looked at the cover and she saw it was a historical romance. Did he read romance? "Who reads historical romance for Allah's sake? To feel what? This man.."

She wasn't able to complete her sentence when she felt his presence behind her back and he snatched the book away from her hands. "If someday I wake up to fin my bookshelf gone, you'll be my number one suspect. I feel happy reading these books and yes, I read historical romance. Do you have any more questions again?" His eyes bored into hers and Fadwa shivered under his gaze. He wasn't very close to her, yet she felt as though she was engulfed into his arms. She felt his breath, his scent and the way his heartbeat. She took a step backward.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She wasn't able to complete her sentence when the cat walked over to them, happy that she saw Maheer.

"Innalillahi!!!" Fadwa screamed at the pitch of her voice and Maheer cradled Lily into his hands before he thundered at her.

"For the first and last time, Fadwa, you should stop threatening to damage my eardrums with your screams whenever you see her. She's harmless, how many times do I have to tell you this?!" The way his voice sounded with such a thunder, shook Fadwa's heart and she shuddered. She looked at him and her lips naturally went into a pout. Instantly, Maheer scratched his left eyebrow.

For heaven's sake, would she ever do without pouting? He hated the fact that he loved and hated that about her. She pouted at almost everything around her. He often found her pouting as she cooked, and he wondered what kind of thing crossed her mind. He watched as her eyes got misty and she took more steps away from him.

"It will be Ramadan in only a week, will you please, for the sake of the month get her away?" She knew there was no way Maheer would pay heed to her plea, but trying won't hurt. She knew she could never get the chance to work properly with hunger eating away her grace and also the fear of being screwed by his cat. Lily, he had always corrected.

"What if it's Ramadan? Then she can't live with me just because it's Ramadan. Your name is Fadwa, right?" He wasn't able to complete his sentence because of the pout that curved her lips and with the tears in her eyes, the gold in them shone even more. "Do you freaking pout at everything like a chil-" Once again, his words got hooked up in his throat because she pouted even more girlish and innocent that he had to close his eyes just when tears fell on her cheeks. Does she have to pout? Damn it!