Kidnapped by the Arab

The couple decided to stay in New York until the house was sold. Zafir took charge of the office in Dubai, and if any matter required his presence, he would be notified.

Aisha didn’t feel entirely comfortable having to wear the hijab. When going out to eat, she had to wear the burqa until she could resolve things with Carlo.

People in restaurants stared at her with complete bewilderment, not understanding why she wore a mask over her face. The mask was made of fine metal covered with fabric, which covered the tip of her nose, upper lip, and eyebrows. In Dubai, it was now only used by older women and some desert tribes, from where it was supposed to originate.

“Oh, dear friend!”

“What?”

“People are so annoying; they keep staring over here. It’s like they have no other place to look.”

“I guess they’re just curious to see me eat with the burqa. I probably would have been curious too if I had never seen it before.”

A little girl passing by stopped when she saw Aisha.

“Hello, lady. Can I use your mask?”

The mother arrived, embarrassed, and took her daughter’s hand to lead her away.

“I apologize, ma’am; my daughter is young and doesn’t know she’s being bothersome.”

“Don’t worry, ma’am; it’s not a problem.”

“Excuse us.”

Ahmed smiled as he embraced her.

“I hope you can stop wearing that soon, but even with it, you look beautiful.”

She replied with a smile, and the nanny was still in the house, arranging Lyna’s and the children’s things. Most of it would be donated to some charitable organizations.

At times, he thought about it and couldn’t help but feel sad. He knew he had to let them go; he had to rebuild himself.

In Dubai, Amira met with Mahib Amin, Abdil’s brother, who was upset because she rejected him for marriage. She would sneak out to talk with him for a few minutes on some nights. They met in the palace gardens, never going beyond holding hands. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the scent of Mahib’s soft woody perfume.

“I want us to get married. I know it’s soon, but I can’t stand your mother insisting that you marry my brother.”

“I want to marry you too. I’ll talk to Ahmed; I know he’ll support us.”

“I hope so.”

Unbeknownst to them, Abdil was furiously spying on them. He was sure that Mahib was up to something; he had noticed his brother acting suspiciously, so he decided to follow him.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Later, Mahib bid farewell to Amira; he didn’t want anyone to notice their encounters and have her punished.

He left the garden with a smile on his face, heading to his house, feeling fatigued. His father forced them to work too much in his companies; his children had to set an example of how to work.

Amira watched him leave with a smile. She turned around to return to the palace, and she found herself in the farthest and darkest area of the garden. Suddenly, she felt someone push her.

She lost her balance and hit her head hard on a rock, losing consciousness. When she woke up a while later, she felt a terrible pain between her legs. She was still wearing the hijab, but the rest of her body was completely naked. She saw blood running down her legs, horrified, not knowing what had happened.

The light in that area was dim, and as she was about to scream for help, she felt people approaching with large lamps, it was her mother accompanied by Arkham, Aracha, and some guards.

“So, it’s true. I received a call that I would find you here, you disgraceful daughter. You are a shame to the family.”

“Where the hell is Mahib? Or did he just get tired of you and leave?”

“I don’t know what happened, mother. It’s true, someone pushed me, and when I fell, I hit my head. I don’t remember anything. I just woke up. – She said, crying inconsolably.

“Guards, take my sister to her room in my mother’s palace. We will file a report; we won’t let this behavior go unpunished.”

“Brother, please, they can’t do this to me. Someone abused me, I have to report it.”

Bassima threw the girl’s clothes onto the ground.

“Cover yourself, shameless girl. Do you expect them to take you away like this, naked?”

The girl obeyed, knowing they wouldn’t let her call Ahmed, and the sheikh would take a few weeks to return.

Zafir was informed by his men and hurried to the scene. When he arrived, he saw them taking Amira away.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, they can’t take the princess from here.”

“Address me as Your Majesty, you lowly one. My daughter goes with me.”

“No way.”

“Listen, you are nobody here. I will be the next sheikh. Don’t try to stop us from taking her, or once I take power, you will be whipped.”

Zafir ordered his men to protect Amira, and seeing that they were outnumbered, Arkham’s men decided to let her go.

“I will go to the Tribunal; this won’t go unanswered.”

They turned around to return to their palace. Zafir immediately called Ahmed. It was 3:30 in New York, and in Dubai, it was already 23:30.

“Hello.”

“Sir, I’m sorry to have to give you very bad news about Miss Amira.”

Ahmed, who was sitting, stood up immediately, imagining that something very serious had happened.

“What happened? Is my sister okay?”

“I think it’s better if she explains it to you.”

“Brother…” Amira sobbed as she spoke, “tonight, I went out to meet Mahib. We wanted to talk to you about getting married. When I said goodbye to him, someone pushed me. I lost consciousness when I hit my head after falling. When I woke up…” She couldn’t continue speaking; Ahmed only heard loud sobs.

“When you woke up, what happened? Tell me, you’re scaring me.”

“I think someone abused me. Ahhhh, why? Why did they do this to me?”

“Calm down. You have to tell me exactly what happened to help you.”

“When I woke up, I realized I was naked and bleeding. This is so shameful, I can’t continue.”

“Pass the phone to Zafir.”

“Sir.”

“How could this happen? I trusted you; I left you in charge.”

“The young lady was in her room, and I thought she was asleep. I didn’t think she would leave.”

“Call a doctor to examine her and confirm what happened.”

“Sir, when my men informed me, I came right away. I found her mother, her brother, and Miss Amin there. They were trying to take your sister. Tomorrow, they will go to the Tribunal, seeking punishment for what happened.”

“I’ll sort everything out; I’m coming there immediately.”

Aisha noticed that he was very agitated and approached him to find out what was going on. She saw that he was crying.

“Ahmed, what’s happening?”

“It’s Amira, damn it! I shouldn’t have left her.”

“What happened to her? Tell me, Ahmed.”

“Someone abused her. My mother and Arkham will ask for punishment. I think I know where this is heading; we have to go back immediately.”

“I’ve been feeling a little unwell, and I’d like to stay. I know I should be with Amira in these moments, but the doctor’s appointment is in the morning. Thara can accompany me, and I’ll return with the nanny tomorrow afternoon.”

“I don’t feel confident about it, but fine. I’ll leave right away; the jet has already left to pick her up.”

Something inside him told him they shouldn’t separate, but he thought it might be due to what was happening with his sister. Additionally, when he arrived, he would put Arkham and his mother in their place; he had investigated his brother’s dirty business and knew he had him in his hands.

Ibrahim was happy to see his brother and introduced him to his new partner, an American guy. When Ahmed told him what happened to Amira, he was devastated.

“This shouldn’t have happened to my sister. There are three of us brothers to protect her, and we’ve failed. If this becomes public, she’ll be despised and labeled as immoral. Her social life is over. I want to come back with you, brother.”

“No way. You’d be severely punished.”

Ahmed handed him the phone and showed him a news article discussing his homosexuality. Ibrahim bowed his head deeply, deeply dismayed.

“This is the work of Arkham and our brother.”

“I think the same.”

“Take good care of Amira and keep me informed.”

“Aisha will stay; she’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll go on the plane; the jet already left to pick her up.”

They said their goodbyes, and Ahmed boarded the plane. He mentally prepared himself for the battle that awaited him; those twelve and a half hours of travel would feel endless.

In the morning, Aisha went to the doctor with Thara.

“Good morning, ma’am.”

“Good morning, doctor.”

“Due to the symptoms you’ve been experiencing, I’ve decided to do an ultrasound to be sure before giving you a diagnosis. Please drink all this water, and I’ll be back in a while.” He handed her a large bottle.

“That’s fine, doctor, thank you.”

The doctor left, and Aisha was a bundle of nerves. She hadn’t told Ahmed that she had been feeling unwell for days; she didn’t want to worry him even more, given all that was happening. Thara noticed her concern and tried to lighten the mood, joking around.

“I could tell you that the doctor liked you, and that’s why he kept staring at you, but I think it’s because of that thing you’re wearing; they can barely see your eyes,” she joked, referring to the hijab.

“Very funny, uhmmm hahaha.”

The doctor returned after a few minutes, and they were taken to a small room. There, Aisha lay down and uncovered her stomach. She couldn’t help but flinch when she felt the cold gel on her skin.

“Uhmmm, let me see what we have here.”

She watched everything on a screen in front of her, and Thara was also looking at the images. In reality, neither of them had any idea what they were looking at.

“Just as I suspected.”

“Doctor, don’t scare us; what is that we see there?”

“Sorry if I scared you; nothing is wrong, quite the opposite.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you see that tiny thing there?” he pointed to the screen.

“Yes, I see it.”

“Well, that’s a baby that is just beginning to form. Let me congratulate you; you are approximately five weeks pregnant.”

Aisha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She wished Ahmed were with her.

“Friend, you’re in shock; react.”

“Ahmed will be happy, this is what he wanted so much.”

After getting up from the examination table and wiping off the gel, the friends hugged each other. Aisha asked the doctor to print the images of her child; she found it beautiful, even though the image only showed a small spot.

She left the doctor’s office feeling happy. When she returned to her room, she couldn’t resist the temptation. It was too much to wait until the next day, so she took a photo of the image and, accompanied by a text, sent it to Ahmed.

“I know you will be the best, and you will receive this news with the same happiness and excitement I did. Congratulations, Ahmed Assad, soon you will be a father.”

When Ahmed received the image, he didn’t understand what it was at first; he only saw a small spot that Aisha had circled. After reading the text, his breathing became agitated. He had to hold on because he felt dizzy.

This was the news he had been waiting for, and Zafir asked the lawyer to step out for a moment as he saw tears threatening to fall from the sheikh’s eyes, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to see him in that state.

“Sir, are you alright?”

“I’m going to be a father, Zafir. Allah has rewarded me.”