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Showing a lack of seriousness toward my words, he smiled, gently nodding his head. He closed his eyes, then opened them to look directly at me and said, “Only time will tell, Lady B... and by the grace of Allah, I will be a part of that reality, provided you are not the one to say no.”
I turned around, left the spot, and walked straight to our room. I tossed the phone bag onto the mattress and went back to what I was doing.
**Tudun Wada,**
**Zamfara State,**
**Gusau, Nigeria.**
“Look, Ziza! I truly have no intention whatsoever of making life miserable for you...”
Bursting into heavy sobs, she cut him off, saying, “You claim you don't mean to make life miserable for me, yet you are seeking to marry a housemaid, Emraan! What kind of extreme humiliation and utter disrespect is this? Are you not even ashamed of this? What did I do to you? Exactly how many days have we even been married? Are you going to degrade me like this? You literally opened your mouth right in front of me to announce that you've found a woman to marry! It is said that even death feels shame in the presence of a parent... Yet you've treated me as if I have absolutely no dignity or value.”
“No... no... please, Ziza. I swear to Allah that's not what I meant. I didn't say any of this to humiliate or disgrace you. I love you... I love you so much, Ziza, and that will never change. You are the wife who guards my honor, and I am incredibly proud of that because throughout our entire marriage, I haven't seen a single major flaw in you to condemn. Please try to understand me; I have no intention of degrading you. In fact, your household will be completely separate from hers. I will never humiliate either of you, nor will I allow one to disrespect the other. And since you are the senior wife, for Allah's sake, let peace and harmony reign between us...”
Filled with a fresh wave of bitter resentment, she shook her head and cut him off sharply: “Emraan, even if you bury her beneath the earth, it's all in vain, because you cannot change the reality of what she is. The moment you marry her, she officially becomes my co-wife. I swear by Almighty Allah that this will never happen, because you do not have the authority to pull this off, I swear!”
He nodded his head, feeling a surge of deep frustration, and asked, “Is that so? Is that your final stance?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, Emraan!”
He stood up, matching her posture as she stood over him, and they faced each other directly. He declared, “Well, listen to me, Aziza... Since I've approached you with patience and gentleness and you refuse to listen, fine! I am going to get married, and I am marrying Beenafah. For Allah's sake, go ahead and stop it if you can. It is said that a peaceful existence is better than living like royalty. That is why I wanted us to handle everything with maturity and mutual understanding.”
She burst into another intense fit of crying, screaming, “Is that what you say? Is that your final word? I swear by Almighty Allah, you will see! As long as I bear the name Ziza Ashraf, I swear by Allah you will never marry her!”
He sat down calmly, pulled the glass cup she had brought him, and began pouring some juice to drink. In a flash of raw fury, she reached out and aggressively pushed the tray, sending everything crashing to the floor, shattering the glass completely.
Without uttering another word, he simply stood up and walked entirely out of the house.
Her heart pounding in panic, she grabbed her phone and dialed Mummy Raliya. The moment she heard her pick up, she cried out frantically, “Mummy, I am ruined! I am completely undone, Mummy! Emraan is planning to bring a co-wife over me, and to make matters worse, she is a mere maid!”
From the other end of the line, Mummy Raliya replied, “*Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un!* (Surely we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return). Please, calm your mind. Find a place to sit down, take a sip of cold water, and recite this prayer: *Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un! Allahumma ajirni fi musibati wa akhlifni khairan minha* (O Allah, reward me in my affliction and replace it with something better for me). Please do exactly as I've told you right now. Once you are done, call me back so we can talk.”
She hastily executed the instructions to the letter, then picked up the phone to call her back, saying, “Mummy, I've done everything you asked.”
Nodding slowly, Mummy Raliya replied, “Masha Allah. By the grace of Allah, whatever comes your way will be made easy for you.”
“But Mummy, I am telling you Emraan is bringing a co-wife over me, and she is a maid!”
“I heard you! But you must realize that throwing a tantrum or making empty threats will not change a thing. If a man is truly determined, you will only pile misery upon misery upon yourself if you refuse to cool down. Does his mother, Hajiya, know about this?”
With eyes brimming with tears, she replied, “Hajiya doesn't know. I am certain he wouldn't dare tell her about such a disgraceful thing.”
“What about Labiba?”
Feeling a sudden, intense surge of hatred toward Labiba, Ziza snapped, “He told her. Of course he would tell her, because she is the grand hypocrite who brought that girl into their house under the guise of being a maid! I swear to Allah, that hypocritical girl never even looked like a maid. It was all a deceptive plot they orchestrated, which I completely failed to see until now.”
“Even so, Ziza, let everything be handled calmly. Giving in to panic will yield nothing but further complications and heartbreak.”
Shaking her head amidst her tears, she sobbed, “I knew you would say that, Mummy... I just knew you would say that!”
With that, she abruptly cut the call and tossed her phone onto the opposite sofa.
Mummy spent nearly three days in the hospital, repeatedly slipping into unconsciousness and waking up. It took a massive medical effort to stabilize her before they could finally pack up and return home.
She was completely devastated, disoriented, and out of her mind. Never, even in her wildest dreams, did she imagine that Hassana would defy her so thoroughly, to the extent of packing her bags and running away. What an absolute humiliation and public disgrace!
As she sat there while Aysha tried her best to comfort and soothe her, she raised her deeply bloodshot, tear-stained eyes, looked at Aysha, and demanded, “Aysha, has everywhere been thoroughly searched? Why hasn't Hassana been found yet? Or has no one actually gone out to look for her? Where is Alhaji?”
In a gentle tone, Aysha reassured her, “Mummy, please rest your mind. By the grace of Allah, she will be found.”
Acting like someone suffering a mental breakdown, Mummy violently pushed away the cup of tea Husaina was offering her. She stared wildly at them and shouted, “You are telling me to rest my mind, Aysha?! Why do you do things that make me feel like you don't love me? Do you have any idea the magnitude of the promises made between us and Alhaji Mansur's household if this marriage fails to happen? I was personally promised ownership of one of his companies! Hassana and her sisters were slated to inherit massive amounts of prime real estate. Even that massive, brand-new luxury car you see out there was given to Alhaji as a gift alongside the bridal gifts! They said the cars meant for the brides and myself are already on the way! He even promised to transfer a significant portion of his corporate shares to Alhaji and Hafiz once the wedding is finalized, even before Hafiz completes his studies and returns!”
“But Mummy, if I don't tell you to have patience, what else can I say? Daddy sent people to Salman's hometown the very same day, but there is absolutely no trace of her. They even locked Salman up and only released him yesterday, but despite a rigorous investigation, he honestly has no idea where she is. At home, Alhaji Baba, Uncle Isma'il, and everyone else have stated she never showed up at their places.”
Shaking her head frantically like a madwoman, she wailed, “No! I swear to Allah that's a lie! Oh my God! Oh, poor Zaliha! Hassana has exposed my secrets and ruined my reputation. I am completely destroyed!”
“Innalillahi! For Allah's sake, Mummy, please calm down. In sha Allah, her whereabouts will be discovered.”
“Where is Alhaji?!”
“Daddy boarded a morning flight to Australia. He received an emergency summons from Hafiz's university.”
She sank back weakly into the sofa like an abandoned orphan, silently wiping away her tears as the crushing weight of her worldly troubles overwhelmed her.
From the moment Daddy received the urgent email summons from Hafiz's university, his anxiety skyrocketed. He had been completely unable to sleep, endlessly racking his brain over the matter. He spent the night asking himself what on earth Hafiz could have done to warrant an official letter of gross misconduct. What could Hafiz have done that was so severe? A boy known to be good and incredibly intelligent—what could have possibly gone wrong? These were the endless questions circulating in his mind, questions he knew he would only find answers to once he arrived at the university and heard the facts firsthand.
He walked slowly into the main administrative block, moving past the reception desk until he was directed to the office of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dean Michael. There, he met a gathering consisting of the Head of Academics, the Registrar, the Disciplinary Committee, various heads of departments, and several lecturers, among whom was Mr. Collins.
Seated to one side was Hafiz, alongside eight of his fellow students.
Daddy walked over quietly and took a seat in the section reserved for the parents, holding a file that had been handed to him at the reception desk.
The Vice Chancellor spoke first, addressing the room respectfully in English: “Good afternoon, everyone. We welcome you all and extend our deep gratitude for honoring our invitation promptly, traveling from various parts of the world. We hope for your full cooperation so we can conduct this meeting with the utmost respect and dignity.”
Once the introductory protocols and administrative briefs were concluded, Mr. Anderson from the Disciplinary Committee pulled a file toward himself, opened it, and began his presentation: “We have summoned you here regarding severe offenses committed by your children. These violations directly compromise both the academic integrity and moral standards of this institution.”
The room fell dead silent, with both the students and their parents feeling a deep sense of dread—none more so than Hafiz.
Mr. Anderson continued calmly: "These offenses were uncovered following an exhaustive and rigorous investigation. When confronted with the evidence, your children fully confessed without denial. Regarding Hafiz Mudassir Wazeer: his first offense is academic fraud. Hafiz colluded with Mr. Collins, paying him substantial sums of money to manufacture false academic records, creating fake results spanning six semesters. These records indicated high grades, but upon auditing his authentic performance data, we discovered that his actual GPA for every single semester falls below 1.50. His second offense is bribery and corruption; we have concrete financial evidence showing Hafiz transferring large sums of money to Mr. Collins to alter his grades each semester.
The third offense applies to all the students gathered here: repeated gross misconduct. The campus security has frequently apprehended them in highly inappropriate locations, engaging in substance abuse, soliciting, and corrupting the moral character of upstanding students. They have consistently organized unauthorized events that violate university regulations, alongside showing absolute disrespect and insubordination toward faculty members. Fourthly, there is an extreme case of poor academic performance; over the past four semesters, every single one of them has failed their registered courses and missed five official examinations without any valid justification. Finally, there is the forgery of official documents. It has been established that Hafiz was printing fraudulent progress reports and mailing them back home to Nigeria, deceiving his parents into believing he was an outstanding student when the absolute opposite was true."
Chaos erupted in the room as parents began voicing their distress and bitter disappointment over their children's actions, especially after spending immense fortunes on their education. Bitter, painful tears rolled down Daddy's cheeks as he stared blankly at Hafiz.
The Head of Academics walked around the room, distributing an envelope to each parent after offering them a final chance to raise any objections. Once he finished handing them out, he stated somberly, “Inside is the official letter of expulsion. They are hereby expelled from this university. We hope you understand that our regulations left us with no other alternative.”
They moved out into the courtyard, where Daddy still found himself completely unable to utter a single word to his son. Hafiz stood drenched in anxiety, looking completely subdued. He had never anticipated this day would ever come. He had foolishly assumed he would simply coast through his reckless lifestyle, claim his fake degree, and return home. Little did he know that while a thief might have a thousand successful days, the owner of the house needs only one. Now, his greed and short-sightedness had completely derailed his future. What hurt him most was witnessing Mr. Collins weeping bitterly after being summarily fired; despite all of Mr. Collins's attempts to stay under the radar, Hafiz had dragged him down into the very ruin he feared.
As they stood there in a tense, awkward cluster, an immigration enforcement vehicle pulled up. Right before the eyes of their parents, the students were taken into custody and transported to the immigration office to be deported from Australia within three days, with a permanent ban forbidding them from ever re-entering the country.
Meanwhile, back in Zaria, Jafaru received a phone call from his younger brother, Hamza, who gave him a tense update on the situation at home. Hamza warned him that if he didn't return immediately, Beenafah would undoubtedly be married off to Ashiru, as Ashiru and his parents had already arrived to formally propose.
Panicked, Jafaru abandoned his lectures mid-session and rushed back home.
He burst into the house where his mother was sitting with Bahrain and Farisa, sorting through some locally processed tiger-nut chaff (*gugguru*). Frantic, he blurted out, “Mama, is it true they are talking about marrying my Beenafah off to someone else?! Mama, is it because I never explicitly told you all that I love her? I swear to Allah I love her! There is no one else in my heart but her. For Allah's sake, Mama, please speak to Baba. I swear she is the one I want to marry!”
Extending her hand with absolute calm, Mama responded, “Hand over your dowry money, provide the bridal gifts (*lefe*), and show me the house where you plan to accommodate her.”
Jafaru fell completely silent, staring at her blankly as he ran out of words. He had absolutely not expected this cold reality check from her.
“You've gone quiet! I said hand over the dowry and bridal gifts, show me the house you will put her in, and tell me what business you run that can sustain a wife while you simultaneously fund your university education.”
Muttering under his breath, he grumbled, “But Mama, everything in life is achieved gradually, step by step...”
Nodding her head, her expression hardening, she countered, “Is that so? Well, long before you were even born, I already knew that everything in life happens step by step. If you actually possessed the things I just listed, I swear that both Malam and I would move heaven and earth, standing firmly on our feet to ensure you married her. But the honest truth, Jafaru, is that you are just talking empty politics. If she were also pursuing a university degree like you, I know for a fact you two could have aligned your timelines.”
“Then Mama, for Allah's sake, let them enroll her in a school so we can wait for each other!”
“Jafaru! Jafaru! Go back and focus entirely on your studies for the sake of your own future. Make peace with this reality, because you will never have Beenafah.”
Filled with deep anguish and distress, he pleaded, “For Allah's sake, Mama, please make her family understand that they should put her back in school. I swear we are a perfect match.”
Nodding, she replied, “Fine, go ahead and try to convince them yourself, Jafaru.”
He flung his school bag to the ground and stormed out of the compound, heading straight for Ammie's house with his heart burning with resentment.
Ammie was outside hanging Bahrain's laundry on the clothesline when he offered a greeting and walked in. One look at his face was enough for Ammie to read the entire situation; she knew the storm had finally arrived.
Completely blinded by emotion, he began venting aggressively: “Ammie, why is there a plan to give Beenafah away when I am openly in love with her?! This is entirely unfair! No one will ever marry her and care for her better than I would!”
Nodding her head, Ammie spoke in a deeply soothing, gentle voice: “I know, Jafaru... but please, find a place to sit so we can talk.”
He dropped heavily to the ground right where he stood, locking his gaze onto her, waiting to hear what she had to say.
Dragging a chair over to face him directly, she softened her tone even further: “I know you love Beenafah. I know the depth of your feelings better than anyone. And if Allah has decreed that Beenafah is meant to be your wife, absolutely no mortal can prevent it. Conversely, if Allah has decreed that she is not meant for you, no matter how much you wish for it, it will never happen. Circumstances have evolved far beyond what any of us anticipated, Jafaru. Now, I am asking a profound favor of you... Just as you say she holds a special romantic place in your heart, I want you to carve out a different space for her as a younger sister. Treat her exactly like Fakiha—someone whose honor and dignity you will protect as an older brother through thick and thin. If Allah ultimately decrees that you marry her, I have no objections. But if He destines her for someone else, you must forgive her and maintain your family bonds.”
Unable to hold it in any longer, the tears he had been suppressing burst forth violently, and he wept out loud like a woman.
Ammie quietly stood up and resumed her chores, making no attempt to stop his crying. He wept intensely until his heart felt somewhat lighter. Calming down, he stood up, looked at her with a raw, strained voice, and said, “Thank you, Ammie. If Beenafah is destined to be mine, I pray Allah grants her to me. But if she is not my destiny, I wish her nothing but goodness and everlasting happiness for the rest of her life.”
With that, he turned around and walked out without waiting for her response.
Left alone, Ammie stood entirely still against the wall, processing the sheer weight of the situation. I swear to Allah, she felt immense pity for him today, just as she felt for Ashiru. Despite her giving Ashiru a similar firm answer, he had flatly refused to back down. In fact, Ashiru had fiercely insisted that she hand over Daddy's phone number and Abuja address so he could confront him personally. Seeing how stubborn and unyielding Ashiru was, she had eventually relented, telling him to go to their old neighborhood and ask Uncle Isma'il to provide Daddy's contact details and address.
As for Ziza, ever since Emraan walked out of the house, she hadn't laid eyes on him. She had called his phone endlessly, but he consistently refused to answer. Furthermore, she desperately wanted to avoid facing Labiba, making it impossible to go and vent her frustrations to
