KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

Usayma unconsciously move behind Imad as they continue to trudge into the huge living room. She didn't even have it in her to look around the beautiful place when her nerves are at their end. It's not like she loves Imad or something, but he is her husband no matter what people might think. She needs his family's approval though it wouldn't mean too much to her, she just can't live in their home knowing she is not welcomed or always there to make the atmosphere tensed, she won't like that.

As if they were told that staring is rude, they immediately yaw their attention away from them making her sigh in relief. She don't like how they are judging her but also knew they have every right to do so. No one knew about her getting married to Imad in Nigeria or even the whole world. Only her best friend, Wafa knew about their marriage then them two with their Lord. It was a secret affair back there in Chicago so he won't stop getting any woman he wants, same as her.

They reached the velvet scarlet and golden chairs in few minutes. Imad didn't even draw the chair back for her to sit, well, she also didn't expect him to do so just for his family so she drew one and sat down slowly beside him. The smell of food filled her nose making her stomach grumble in hunger even though she had some food before they left. She is a foodie, always have and always will be. Anywhere there is food, she is always there and so is the Royal dining room she is sitting in.

No one talked for sometime, all looking at the empty cutleries in front of them while she try her best not to stare at them one after the other. She heard that some people notice when you are staring at them so she didn't want to be rude, Imad will hopefully introduce them when he feels like. She can't even memorise their names when she is seeing so many varieties of food in front of her. She needs to devour everything there before her sanity comes back.

Moreover, they are too many.

The atmosphere is tensed and thick with maladroit which she hates. They were all chattering and the kids were laughing heartily before they came in but it suddenly stopped when they arrived or is it her? She wish she knew the way to the bathroom so she can excuse herself for a moment and compose herself. She has never been in too many family before and being an only child didn't help the matter, not to forget stupid Imad that is not talking at all but also stared.

She heard someone cleared their throat so she abruptly rose her head to see who is finally going to break the silence. Her eyes landed on a man, he looks to be in his early thirties, beside him is a woman in her mid twenties looking every inch Royal and beautiful. It makes her feel conscious of her own jallabiya compared to the expensive laces they are wearing and accessories adorning their necks, ears and wrists. She feels sleazy in their presence, she didn't like it.

She is never so vigilant and on alert of her appearance!

"Well, since no one is willing to talk, I will." He gave a cheeky grin that oddly calm Usayma down, he looks like the best brother amongst all of them and bet the funniest too. "I am Asad, and you are?" He threw the question at Usayma making all eyes turn to her, she squirmed in discomfort of the attention given to her by those powerful people.

Yep, even their stares ooze royalty, aristocracy, dominance and potency, just like the walls of the castle. Why does she feel intimidated in front of all those people, not even the smile from that kind Prince could help her. Her stomach churned, tumble and mix in an unpleasant way, the appetite she had minutes ago became invisible, nowhere to be found. She gulped thick gob of saliva then paste a forced smile to her lips before stuttering out.

"I'm Usayma." She stammered, her hands are shaking underneath the table and she wish Imad isn't so selfish and help her out in moments like this.

"Nice name. I see you are not Nigerian and I don't know why you are here. Care to explain?" He is still smiling which ease quarter of her concern but not even half. Her hands didn't stop shaking nor did her intestines, they constricted further to the point of pain.

"No, I don't. I'm Afghanistan and I'm here because I'm married to Imad." She babbled, hearing the gasps coming straight from almost all the women in the room, the mature ones and even the little kids that get what marriage means. She feels trapped in a wolves den where she is the rogue trespassing their pack.

"You are married, Imad?" Asad asked after few minutes of silence in the dining room. He is letting everyone digest the big news their younger brother is hiding from them.

The King and the Queen blurt nothing out nor did they let their emotions come in the way of their stoic, impassive and expressionless faces. That face that they keep to get where they are, to stand their ground in the state and gain respect from everyone. No one could be comfortable with that look and they won't let them get through with it. They don't want their son to think what he did didn't anger them to the point of no forgiveness, they are still pissed.

Seeing their son shrugging and opening his mouth only makes them more mad. They get it, he separated with his wife because of something she did that he is not willing to tell them. But the way he changed, the way he stopped picking their own calls, blocked their numbers and anywhere they can get access to him broke their hearts. They couldn't talk to their son for two years and suddenly, he called that he is coming back.

If they'd wanted, they could have him traced but they were too hurt to even bother about contacting someone who doesn't want to be found so they try to keep their distance but not their prayers, they do that day and night for their son's safety and well being. Hoping he hasn't met up with bad friends that will introduce him to bad things. It was too late though.

They hated Amirah for doing that to him, she changed him into who he is. No matter how much they want to blame her, they can't do that fully. Because he didn't tell them what happened and it might be his fault for all they know. So until he tells them why he divorced her, they won't put any blame on anyone of them. They both might be at fault, no one wants to take every blame though they know Imad wouldn't have divorced her if it was his fault. Everyone knows that he loves her like his own life, it isn't debatable.

And then he has the audacity to come back home with a wife they don't know about. How can they even be sure that they are married not just what nowadays men do? They can't trust the girl nor can they trust the new Imad that just came back, they don't know him. They are going to leave him with his brothers, they always know what to do to him ever since he was younger, they won't hesitate to do it now too. They are just going to stay in the shadows, no interruption.

"Yeah, we got married some months ago." Imad declared, his hands playing with the table knife placed in front of him. The food still hasn't been served yet.

"Wow, and you didn't bother telling anyone? Who stood by your side and agreed to this marriage of yours?" It was Harith whose voice is filled with fury, making Imad flinch and clench his hands into fists.

Harith is Imad's older step brother and the second born to the King. He is a great Oncologist that works in their family well renowned hospital. He got married just a year or less ago to his long lost lover and now lives happily with her expecting their baby. Always the one to scold Imad which annoys him all the time but can't dare reply back, he wouldn't even with his changed self.

This is what he has been trying to avoid.

When he didn't reply, the Queen twist her wrist at the maids and they were quick to start serving the food to everyone. The pin drop silence is back again enveloping the dining room making the maids haste their work to quickly leave. They know that tension might not end up well and they are not supposed to stand back there and watch as personal matters unfold, they don't have the right. Quickly, they finished and flew away from the room in hasty steps.

"And why did you marry him knowing his family don't know about it? Is that how you get married in your culture?" Falak threw the question at Usayma with nonchalance, taking a huge bite from her chicken breast.

"N-no." Usayma stuttered, staring at the food in front of her like it is some zombie ready to pounce on her any minute. The woman's voice was more intimidated than she tried to act.

And Imad told her she is nice, nice her foot.

"Then why did you do it? Marrying someone who clearly doesn't care about anyone but himself? Who abandoned his family because he is going through some rough patch? I don't think you know what you are doing." Falak continue to square the girl who squirmed in her sit, like she was shitting right there. She hates Imad for not talking back and defending her. He is letting her fend to herself.

"Uh..." She trailed, honestly not knowing how to answer that or even what to say. She is not supposed to be the one answering those questions but Imad, he kept quite like he wasn't even there.

The silence took over the dining room again for a long time, everyone having some personal time with the food in front of them. Usayma could only play around with the food even though it is the best food she's ever tasted, she still can't bring herself to eat heartily like the others are doing. It seems like she's committed a grave sin, she can't even think correctly nor sit like everyone else in the room. Well, she is not sweating at least, that is enough.

There are lots of air conditioners there.

Imad ate his food silently, not wanting to think too much into his parents silence. He saw the look they hauled at him when he walked in, it is enough to know just how disappointed they are in what he did. He badly wants to take away that guilt eating up on him but he can't, not when they are too quite for his own liking. They are just observing the whole scenario with their calculative eyes, he doesn't like it.

He'd rather them shout at him, kick him or even punish him than staying silent even after hearing about his marriage. And the truth is, he doesn't want to feel guilty at all, he doesn't want to feel anything. And by Allah he hopes no one will bring up his ex wife in that dining table or everything will be ruined. This is why he didn't want to come back, he doesn't want to, if only...

"And what happened between you and you ex wife?" It was his cousin brother, Huzaif and the oldest one too. His voice is more sharper now, like he is in the court room with his enemies.

He is a lawyer, with hundred percent guarantee of winning all the time as his reputation. A father of two and married to a wife he was arranged to marry, Junainah.

"I don't want to talk about it." He gritted out, his teeth hurting his tongue all due to anger. He could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth but he doesn't care. He wants to send his message across, loud and clear.

"No one here is younger than you, Imad. We demand knowing what happened between you and your ex wife before we accept the new one you brought. How would we know whose fault it is that you fell apart?" Huzaif didn't give up, and just like any other lawyer, he is not going to back out without a huge fight from the looks of it.

Usayma fidget in discomfort from beside him, also wanting to hear what had happened between him and his ex wife. He never talked about what happened and also demand that no one close to him back there in Chicago brought her up. It was only her and Wafa that knew about the girl he came to Chicago with after their marriage. She never pester him into telling her, it was not her business to poke into so she stayed in her lane.

But that doesn't mean she is not curious.

He brought the girl named Amirah to them the very day he came, they looked so much in love with each other to just separate like that. They just found out the next day that she has left the country and never to return. They didn't ask no more, letting him tend to his wounded heart the way he wants before he got introduced to those set of friends.

They found him drunk in his room after coming back from school. The girls wanted to go hang out with Amirah but then heard the bad news from his intoxicated mouth. They knew he was a Muslim just like them, but a more practicing one so seeing him with a bottle of liquor rose their concern an octave. The guy never goes to a club the whole year he was there in his first year so why liquor?

"What are you doing like this? And where is Amirah?" Wafa asked, squatting down a little to look at the drunk man sitting by the dining room he has scattered.

Chairs are everywhere, glasses and vases all around the walls. There is even a dent on the wall that night be because of his fist or something, it was bad. His knuckles where badly bruised and his forehead is also bloody along with his head. Another colossal wound stripe from his forehead to his eyebrow making him look scary. He was in a really bad shape when they met him sitting there, heartbroken and dejected.

"Nop, she is not going to come back here for forever. She's left me here to tend to myself like always, and I will. I can live without her right? Yes, I know I can live perfectly without her." He had whispered to them when they asked of Amirah and when she is coming back. He was clutching onto the bottle of liquor like his life depended on it.

"No, I can't live without her. I love her so much, she is my life. Who does she have to do this all the time? Why I'm I always the one broken in the end? I love her! I love her more than my own life! I love her!" He cried, clutching the bottle before slipping out of consciousness.

And that is all they know until today. He refused to open up after the week. They never saw him again, he closed his apartment and wallowed alone till after a week. He came back to school looking fresh and like he was never heartbroken, they were surprised except for the scar that ran from his head to inches before his left brow. Then they started to see him changing all of a sudden, it really didn't sit well with them then. They couldn't blame anyone but his so called wife who looks too innocent to do anything bad.

He started going to the club with them, drinking around and partying all day and night. He then stopped drinking after sometime and stopped going to the club then eventually stopped chasing after everything wearing skirt. He focused on finishing his masters then left the country without any trace, a year later, he came back with another habit. That is bedding girls around his new penthouse.

He bedded her too once, that is when she got pregnant.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, drop it." He pushed his chair back, it fell with a loud thud before he left the room. His strides were powerful, wrathful and fast. His fists are clenched beside him in anger, shaking his knuckles in tight grip.

"Excuse me." Usayma was quick to leave the dining room with her husband, she can't stay there for a minute talk less of sitting without Imad.

Well, that was interesting!

Sup?!
Thank you so much for your endless support and comments, I really appreciate that you comment even though I don't get to reply them, thank you. So what are you thinking right now? What is going to happen next? Any guessssss?
RQ: If the world is ending next week and you have to do one thing before it ends, what would that be? Hehehehe, a lot of things o💀😹 You?

Aishatu.
Xoxo