Chapter Four

Layla woke up feeling grumpy the next day. Her eyesight was better now. She could still feel the effect of the slap she got from Mika'il last night.

She couldn't believe that she was going to be forced to marry such a domineering man.

She tried to get up from bed but realised that her body felt so weak for her to get up.

She forced herself up with the wall supporting her. She looked around her room. Her warm little white room. It had Mika'il's cologne all over.

She couldn't but admit that it smelt decent. But she despised him. He was abusive and so prevalent.

She walked to the bathroom to perform wudhu and say her prayers.

She realised that she was not in her yesterday's clothes and her hijab had been taken off.

She began panicking. Was he the one who...

Did he see her??

She suddenly burst into tears.

She cried for so long until her room's door opened, revealing the devil amongst men Mikail.

He wore a worried look when he saw her on the floor crying.

He rushed to her and crouched beside her on the ground.

"What's wrong Muhabun (Dearest in Arabic)? He asked.

She pulled away from him. He sighed and pulled her in for a hug.

She pushed him aggressively on the chest.

He growled at her

" Stop pushing me away Dameyah(doll in Arabic)!!" He aggressively shook her.

She squealed as she tried to wriggle herself out of his grip.

He kept a firm grasp on her arms as he lowered his mouth to her neck

Tears began flowing out of her eyes, she was scared of being violated.

"N-No p-please stop... " she begged.

Her tears touched his heart. He eased his girl on her and pulled her to his chest successfully.

"Just be a good doll okay? Just submit to me " he advised.

She shook her head in disagreement with what he just said.

It made him angry once again.

He grabbed her by the hair and spat at her

"You wouldn't like to defy my authority girl! It may just hurt you and someone too".

She screamed as he continued to pull on her hair, a long line of blood dripped from her forehead.

The pressure of his hand's grasp in her hair had drawn blood from her scalp.

Her skin was too delicate for his rough and aggressive pull.

When he realised what had just happened, he quickly let go of her hair

" Shit! I'm sorry baby. I'm.."

He was short of words.

He quickly carried her back to her bed and rushed to the bathroom to get her first aid kit.

He came back quickly with some painkillers and some antibacterial and cotton gauze.

Layla sat numbly on the ground staring at the space in front of her.

She was so still that you would think that she was unreal. She didn't even blink.

"I'm sorry Alhabiba (sweetie in Arabic)" he whispered as he treated her wound.

She stared at him miserably and closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her eye.

Mika'il wiped it away and sat beside her. She pulled away from him and turned her face away from him.

He sighed and patted her back, which made her flinch. She retreated from him in fear and coiled herself up into a ball, as her eyes searched around for any fabric she could use to cover her hair.

Mika'il got up and walked away from her. He stood abruptly in front of her door and without turning back, he walked out of her room.

She burst into uncontrollable tears.

يا الله، ماذا فعلت أن أستحق كل هذا؟ أنا" مهدد وأجبر على الزواج من هذا الرجل الأشرار. يا الله، لماذا أنا؟ من فضلك انقذني."

"Oh Allah, what have I done to deserve all this? I'm being threatened and forced to marry this wicked man. Oh Allah, why me? Please save me."

She cried to her Lord.

She was depressed, she was sad, lonely, afraid.

But the words her mother told her the night of the welcome party, flashed through her mind.

"Always know that Allah knows best and is always going to be behind you, in times of hardship"

She smiled at that piece of reminiscence. She was going to try to hold it together. She was going to marry that man for just a while, then, she would get her normal life back.

But she would never let him touch her intimately because she knew then and there that, she would never love someone of his calibre.

She got up slowly and paced towards the bathroom once again.

She took a look at herself in the mirror and marvelled at her beauty, even after being mishandled by that psychopath.

She took a long warm bath before, she came out and performed wudhu (ablution) and laid her prayer mat and prayed.

She had missed her prayer time because of that man. She was sad, but she knew perfectly that Allah knew and He understood.

After prayers, she walked out of her room to find the hall full of people. Her mom, her mom's friends and their kids, Munaiya and her brother Manaf, the 4 other beautiful men, she saw Mikail with the other night and his royal Rajah, the domineering Mika'il.

Munaiya was the first person to see her.

"Layla!!" She screamed as she rushed to hug Layla.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Layla just rolled her eyes at her. Munaiya noticed the mark and Layla's red eyes.

"What happened to you, baby girl?" She asked in a worried tone.

Tears began to form inside Layla's eyes as she stared fearfully at Mika'il who was staring back at her with the

'Don't even think about speaking about it ' look.

She gulped and attempted to speak but her voice box failed her.

All that came out was

"M-Mi...M-Mi.." As tears rolled down her eyes.

Mika'il and the rest of the family rushed to her when they saw her in tears.

Mika'il mischievously held her tightly and pretended to be so concerned about her slap mark.

"What happened to you, Layla?! Who did this to you? Speak to me!"

Layla looked at him with astonished eyes. She was impressed yet angry at how perfectly he could act as a caring person in front of everyone.

She pulled her arm away from him, as her voice box failed her.

She could hardly even make a sound.

"I..It..was..s..." She tried to say in a squeaky voice.

"Let's get her to a doctor" Mika'il suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my baby, which devil, did this to you?" Layla's mother; Maryam cried out.

She had to be calmed down by her best friend Memuna and her sisters Bariya and Sauda.

Layla was suddenly carried bridal style by Mika'il.

She was wriggling in his hold. This wasn't right. He couldn't touch her that way.

It was Haram (Forbidden). He smiled at her attempt to get off him

"You've been a bad Kitten. I'm going to have to deal with you later" he whispered sinisterly.

She looked at him with alarmed eyes.

She was very scared. She was going to undergo torture once again.

He placed her inside his Audi car and sped off to the hospital.

She was alone with him in the car, the first thing that came into her head was that he was going to send her to an abandoned place and violate her, then kill her.

She was petrified as to what may happen to her next.

She saw him steal glances at her while smirking.

She began reciting a verse of the Qur'an: notably Ayatul Kursiyi.

"Allahu lailaha ilahuwa hayu qayun. Laa takhuzuhu sinatum wa laa na'um. Lahuu maafis samawati wa maa fil ard. Manzal lazi yashfahu indahu ilaa bi izini ya'alamu. Maa bayna ayidihim wa maa khalfahu wa laa yu hituuna bishay in min ilmihi, ilaa bi maasha a

Wasiya kursiyus samaawati wal ard. Walaa ya udhu hifzuhu maa, wa huwa Aliyuun Azeem "

After she was done, she felt a pang of bravery grow in her.

"You are such a perfect Quranic recitor" she heard the voice of the devil Mika'il say.

Her bravery suddenly flew out through the window, but she caught it before it flew away.

She kept an unperturbed face and didn't even spare him a glance.

She knew that she looked like a miserable kitten in the rain.

"I was a Hafiz ( someone who knew the full Quran offhead) you know?" He said, trying to engage her in a conversation.

She ignored him out of fear and out of lack of vocabulary to speak.

He smiled and drove on. They got to a strange but majestic looking house.

He drove into the house and parked his car in the garage.

He got out of the car and opened the door for her like a gentleman.

She was reluctant to get out. He rolled his eyes at her and forcefully carried her out of the car like she was a weightless doll.

She squealed as he walked with her into a strange room in the house.

It was a very big room. It almost looked like a King's room.

He laid her down on the bed and whispered to her,

"Stay here quietly like a good kitten, and I'll be right back"

She didn't answer, instead, she buried her head into her palms.

He smirked and walked away.

He came back a few minutes later.

He was holding a syringe and some drug in a bottle.

She had a very bad feeling about this.

He paced towards her and smirked at her.

She gulped as she saw what was written on the label of the drug

'Alprazolam'(Xanax

It was a memory loss drug.

Before she could even react he drugged her by injecting her in the neck with the drug.

She began to feel exhausted. The medicine was taking effect.

The last thing she heard was

"Good night my love, Mika'il loves you always" as he nibbled on her neck.

"Yaa Allah save me from this Man" she prayed with her last sleepy breath.

"I had to make you forget that you hate me. Forgive me "