Description
English Translation
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Slowly, a thin trail of tears began to stream down his face as he stared into her eyes. He tried to speak, but he couldn't. His body felt as though every part supplying him with energy had been drained. The way she spoke confirmed to him that she had a hand in the challenges he had found himself in. There was nothing on his lips except "Inna lillahi" in his heart. No matter how hard he tried to raise his hand, he couldn't.
As he watched helplessly, she stood up and walked out of the room. Within a few short minutes, she returned with her phone. She sat down right beside him and turned on the voice recorder. Every single word of the conversation they had had with Mutallib from beginning to end played out without anything missing—even the phone call he had with Qalam, and how he had wanted to tell him about the evidence he found, was all recorded.
When they finished listening to it completely, she stopped it, looked at him, and said, "Are you surprised? Well, let me tell you, every single movement of yours is under my watch, Jamid, and I know what you are planning. You think this..."
She pointed at the flash drive before catching her breath, a smile touching her face that only she knew the meaning of, and continued: "Do you think this will stop my plans? Do you think this will bring an end to all the preparations I’ve made for years and years? Were you planning on bringing me down? Why? Am I not your wife? Why can't you support me? Why? Do you know the kind of agony I have carried in my heart for years? From the day Taj appeared in our lives, every bit of joy fled from us, and he was the cause of Ummu's death. Right before my eyes, that boy's grief brought an end to her breathing."
Her eyes turned completely red, and her facial expression morphed into a pitiful sight as she finished, tears rolling down her face.
As for Jamid, he did nothing but stare at her. Seeing the way he looked at her made her burst out into laughter.
"Hahahahah!"
She laughed to her heart's content, then suddenly stopped, her eyes very red, and said: "Anyone who crosses into my territory, I will wipe them out, no matter who they are. Why didn't you just stay in your lane and mind your business? Why did you have to interfere? Now, do you see the consequences of that? Let me tell you the most interesting part."
She leaned in close to his ear so that only the two of them could hear what she was saying, and whispered: "In under a minute, with just a little money, I had someone run him over with a car. Deep down, I wanted him dead, but if I left it at that, ending him would have been too easy. That’s why I changed my plan. I’ve never regretted doing that. I want him to suffer. I won't kill him right now, but I am going to cripple his life. I am going to render him completely helpless. Just as I promised, Tajudeen will never experience peace in his life as long as I am alive. I will make sure he suffers; I will make sure even an animal is better cared for than him. In fact, everything I am going to do to him—I don't think it will ever wipe away the stain deeply embedded in my heart until I see his last breath leave him, and I mean it."
With that, her body trembling slightly, she stood up, turned around, and walked away.
Jamid plunged into immense turmoil, especially hearing her admit with her own mouth that she was responsible for Taj's accident. The words she uttered lacked an ounce of mercy, and he knew for certain she would carry out every single thing she had said. Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un—the lives of Taj and Sabeeha were in grave danger, because only God knew what she had planned next.
With great difficulty, he managed to part his twisted lips and began to speak in a fragmented, pitiful manner, tears streaming down his face: "Al...llah... will... ne...ver... give... you... vic...tory..."
He finished by tightly shutting his eyes. She paused in her tracks, listened to him completely, and then stormed out of the room entirely.
Upon walking out, she slipped into her study room and pulled the laptop sitting on the table toward her. She plugged the drive into the laptop until it successfully connected.
She started clicking around until she located where the file was. At first, she was surprised to find no password, because usually, files like this are heavily hidden. Just as she was about to click on it, her phone started ringing. Hurriedly, she picked up the phone, placed it to her ear, and said: "Bring him in."
With that, she put the phone down. Just a few minutes later, the head maid walked into her study, followed by a man wearing a green uniform and casual clothes. Hidaya glanced at the head maid and waved her hand dismissively, signaling her to leave. As soon as the maid walked out, Hidaya gestured toward the chair facing her desk. Without wasting a second, the man followed her instruction, sat down, and placed his bag beside him.
"Good day, madam."
She didn't even bother looking at him; instead, she leaned back relaxedly in her chair and gave him a thorough once-over from head to toe. He was an asylum worker, and you could tell just by looking at him that he was a bit rough around the edges. She had specifically requested someone whose mouth she could easily buy off so she could get what she needed without any trouble. Now, she had decided to handle everything herself since she found out that the doctors she hired to care for Khaal were running a double game behind her back.
She opened her palm and gestured for him to hand over what he came with. Seeing this, he unzipped the bag he had brought, pulled out three bottles of medication along with a bottle of liquid, and placed them before her.
"Madam, here are the things you requested."
As soon as he finished placing them down, he started trying to explain how she should use them. She didn't even bother listening to him; she cut him off, pulled open her desk drawer, scooped out bundles of Riyal banknotes, dropped them on the table, and said: "How I use them is none of your business. You're dismissed."
Trembling, the man stood up, swept up the money and his bag, and hurried out in a panic. He couldn't help thinking about the danger of the drugs he had brought her—they were typically meant for psychiatric patients, and they required a very specific dosage. Exceeding that dosage would severely scramble the brain rather than bring healing. But whatever the case, it wasn't his problem as long as he got paid handsomely!
As soon as he left, Hidaya picked up the medicine bottles, turned them over in her hands, and pondered a few things to herself. Without even glancing back at the laptop, she stood up and walked out of the study room with the medicine bottles in her hand.
Sabeeha was standing near the doorway leading into Hidaya’s wing from the inside when the door opened. She quickly stepped back, completely startled because she thought Hidaya was the one coming out, only to see someone else. Her heart softened instantly. Ever since Jamid had returned from the hospital, she had been desperate to see him, but fear had kept her away because Hidaya had banned everyone from seeing him. Now, she had been looking for a way to sneak into his wing, even if secretly.
While she stood there, the man who had just exited Hidaya’s wing walked past her. Just as she was about to turn around, Fadwa came rushing up the stairs. Sabeeha quickly lowered her head until Fadwa walked right past her standing spot. Fadwa looked her up and down before turning away, placing her hand on the door handle, and stepping inside. Sabeeha turned around, heartbroken, and slinked back to their wing.
When Fadwa entered the wing, she didn't stop anywhere except Hidaya’s study room, because Hidaya usually spent her time there, especially at that hour. Hidaya hadn't been out of the study room for long before she returned, remembering the flash drive she had left plugged into the laptop. Just as she was about to walk in, Fadwa approached the door looking just as frantic and suspicious as a guilty person. They nearly bumped into each other.
When Hidaya looked up and saw Fadwa standing there with wide, nervous eyes like someone hiding something, she didn't suspect anything at first, but the way Fadwa had approached the door and tried to leave made her stare closely.
"What are you doing here?" "Uhm... actually, I came looking for you."
Hidaya shifted her gaze to her laptop sitting on the table before returning her eyes to Fadwa. "Did you touch that laptop?" "Ah-ah, I just walked in now."
Hidaya sneered, walked over to the laptop, and asked, "Are you sure you didn't touch it?"
Hearing this, Fadwa paused, turned back toward Hidaya, and asked, "Is there something I shouldn't have seen in the laptop, Ukty?"
Hidaya ignored her, sat down in the chair, shut down the system after safely ejecting the drive, and said: "Don't you ever step foot in here again without my consent."
With that, she walked out and left Fadwa standing there.
Fadwa’s blood boiled with anger. She stormed out of their wing and went downstairs. Upon entering their wing, she found Tareeq fast asleep. Seeing him alone only added fuel to her boiling anger. Finding him asleep made her storm out of that room, enter another bedroom, and lock the door behind her.
Once inside the room, she paced back and forth, biting her lip. Hidaya was testing her patience. She was aware of everything Hidaya was doing, and her suspicions about her had been confirmed ever since Hidaya started hiding things from her.
Early in the morning around 8 AM, she left the house because of important meetings with partners at Taheel Company. She didn't even eat breakfast. A driver had already been arranged to take Barad to school, so she left alone today.
Sitting in her office, her face smooth and heavily coated with lipstick, she no longer had a trace of worry. Everything she knew could potentially bring her trouble was now under her control.
Before her were the major partners of Taheel who invested in the company—essentially the financial backbone of Taheel, because they provided huge amounts for investment and didn't even reside in the country. Right now, Hidaya needed them desperately because any business operations bringing her money no longer involved him whatsoever.
After they finished discussing business-related matters, reached an agreement, and signed the papers, she stood up.
"Thank you, Mr. Benjamin." She finished by extending her hand to them. "It's my pleasure," the white man replied before walking out of her office.
She looked at the papers with a smile before storing them safely inside her locker safe. It was then that her eyes landed on that flash drive. Remembering it, she pulled it out, turned on the laptop in front of her, and plugged the flash drive in.
She clicked on the file inside, but upon opening it, it was completely empty—nothing was there.
In a panic, her eyes went wide and she jumped to her feet. She quickly ejected the file and plugged it back in, clicking on it a second time. Instantly, she slammed her hand against the table, her head spinning as she started speaking: "What's going on? Wha... wha..."
"An empty drive?!"
She was completely overwhelmed by panic and shock. Was it an empty flash that Khaal's agent had given to Jamid, or had Jamid swapped the flash drive? She kept questioning herself, but no one could give her an answer. With trembling hands, she grabbed her phone and dialed a number. As soon as it was picked up, she began speaking: "I am giving you 24 hours to track down that agent wherever he is alive. I want him alive!"
With that, she hung up the phone and fell into deep thought. Surely, this was the exact flash drive that the agent had given to Jamid. Now she was caught in the middle. Had that agent lied, or had Jamid switched the flash drives before he got paralyzed? Her mind went completely blank, unable to process anything, because she knew for a fact it was the flash drive, and she had personally gone into his car to retrieve it after he was taken to the hospital.
"Jamid!!!!!!" she uttered, staring at the flash drive.
Leaving her work unfinished, she rushed back home in a frantic state. When she arrived upstairs, she headed straight to their wing. At that moment, the nurse caring for Jamid’s health was with him, tidying up his bed. The moment Hidaya entered the room, she ordered the nurse to get out of the wing. As soon as the nurse stepped out, Hidaya marched right up to where Jamid was lying. The way he looked at her was the exact way she looked at him.
"Jamid!" she called his name. "Where did you take that file? Where's the file?"
Confused, he stared at her, not understanding what she was getting at.
Seeing this, she quickly opened her bag, pulled out the flash drive, held it up to his face, and said: "Jamid, you're trying my patience! Tell me where you put the file that was inside this drive? After all this, you're still trying to protect him, huh? What did you do with the file, eh? Answer me!" she barked at him angrily.
If only she knew! The file inside the drive was missing, but how did that happen? Had that agent given him an empty drive from the very beginning? How was that possible? He couldn't verify that because he himself hadn't known whether there was a file inside or not. Mutallib had simply handed him the drive right after getting out of his car, and Jamid hadn't bothered checking its contents; he had just decided that whatever was inside, he would hand it over to his friend Qalam down at the D.S.S. crime office. But that never happened because on that very day, Qalam's wife went into labor, which prevented him from giving it to him. That’s why he had safely hidden it away inside his car, never anticipating that the tragedy of his paralysis would befall him.
"This is your doing, right? Jamid, the more you try to bring about my downfall, the more I feel the urge to see Taj’s end! Tell me where that file is!"
As Jamid looked at her, he could see raw terror written all over her face, because that file alone could bring her down and ruin all her plans. He let out a deep sigh after reading the situation completely. A wave of immense relief washed over him when he realized the file hadn't fallen into her hands. His initial panic had been seeing the flash drive in her possession, knowing she would bury the truth and God only knew what she would do next to keep her secrets safe. He didn't even care where the file was anymore; his only joy was that it hadn't fallen into her hands!
The question he kept asking himself, however, was: Where on earth was the file then? He knew for a fact that Mutallib wouldn't give him something empty after giving him all those details about what she had done and the evidence Khaal had dug up against her.
Seeing that he remained silent, she closed in on the edge of his bed, brought her face right up to his, and said: "You're forcing me to do the worst, Jamid. At this stage, you're still willing to protect him?"
With trembling lips, he looked at her, his eyes deeply reddened, and began to speak: "Do... your... worst... I... will... ne...ver... con...tri...bute... to... op...pres...sion..."
She lowered her head right down to hear what he was saying, looking into his eyes and seeing raw terror and confusion swirling within them. Regardless, leaving him like that, she knew she would never find peace until she found that file. Yet, remembering Mutallib made her panic, knowing she would track him down no matter where he was hiding.
Furious, she stormed out of the room and out of the house entirely.
When the 24 hours elapsed, she still hadn't found any peace. She had exhausted every search method possible, but she couldn't find this Mutallib. Her mind refused to settle, especially knowing there was still one person who held the thing that could tear down her plans and expose her secrets.
There was no form of threat she hadn't subjected Jamid to, but he stubbornly refused to tell her anything.
8:00 PM
Jamid lay flat on the patient bed inside their bedroom, poor soul. Nothing about him had changed—he remained completely helpless, watching her every move as she took a bath, dressed up, changed clothes, and then approached the edge of his bed where he lay.
The moment Jamid saw her coming, he squeezed his eyes shut. Right now, there was nothing he hated seeing more than her face; even her shadow made him recoil from wanting any closeness with her. He felt her movements as she reached him and began lowering his bed—since he now required the bed to be raised and lowered mechanically. Once she adjusted him into a proper reclining position, she spoke, knowing he was keeping his eyes shut despite being fully awake and listening to her:
"Abuh Barad, what's your take on drugs? Do you know Fentanyl? The most highly addictive and dangerous drug."
Hearing this, he hurriedly snapped his eyes open, fear and panic washing over him completely. Seeing his reaction, she smiled and said: "Relax your mind, this is not for you," finishing with a gesture toward a bottle of pills.
As soon as he saw it, his hands began to tremble, and he started struggling, kicking his legs helplessly. All he could attempt to do was try to grab her hand. Seeing this, she stepped back, holding the bottle in her hand. With quivering lips, he began to mutter: "No... no..."
"Save your energy, Jamid, because nothing is going to stop me from giving him this medicine. I want to see who is going to protect him now."
With that, she walked out of the room with the pill bottle in her hand. She didn't stop anywhere until she reached Sabeeha’s wing. She found only Taj inside the room, which gave her the perfect opportunity to carry out what had brought her there. She walked up to where he sat—his face completely devoid of any smile or welcoming expression—and sat down beside him, holding the pill bottle in her hand.
He flashed his usual smile and said, "Hello, first love."
She didn't even bother answering him. She opened the bottle, pulled out as many as four pills, and handed them to him. "Take your medication."
He took the pills from her hand and put them in his mouth. Seeing this, she handed him a bottle of water to wash them down. Once she made sure he had swallowed them completely, she said, "Good boy." She stood up, brushed herself off, and walked out of the room, ignoring him as he called out a "goodnight" to her.
Out in the sitting room, she ran into Sabeeha, who had sliced up some fruit and was heading toward the bedroom. The moment Sabeeha saw Hidaya, she slightly bowed to greet her. Hidaya didn't even acknowledge her; she walked right past her and out of the room.
Hidaya pushed open the door to their bedroom and stepped inside. Jamid was right back where she had left him, thrashing about helplessly. All his struggling was an effort to stop her from carrying out her wicked plot, but he was too late. Seeing her enter, he started trying to roll off the bed. She glanced at him coldly, turned away, walked over to their bed, placed the pill bottle down, lay down, and turned off their bedside lamp.
Listening to him gasping for breath helplessly while refusing to even exert himself anymore, the sound eventually got to her. She sat back up, turned on the lights, looked down at him, and said: "I told you, you should save your energy because nothing will stop me from executing my plans. Stop torturing yourself."
Hearing this, Jamid’s body went limp, tears streaming down his face. She got up herself, walked over to him, and forcefully straightened his sleeping position despite his weak attempts to push her away. Touching her felt to him as though burning coals were being pressed against his skin—that was how agonizing it felt.
Meanwhile, inside Sabeeha’s bedroom, she walked in to find him lying down. She approached the bedside, placed the bowl down on the bedside table, and said, "Didi, here is your fruit."
There was no response. Noticing the silence, she peered closely at his face. His eyes were half-closed, looking like someone completely intoxicated. Seeing this, she pulled the duvet over him, stood up, picked up the bowl, and headed to the kitchen. Upon entering, she stored the bowl in the fridge and retreated to her room.
When dawn broke, she woke up, went into the bathroom, and performed ablution. After completing her morning prayers, she stepped out and found him exactly where she had left him. She began trying to wake him up. With immense difficulty, he managed to pry open his bloodshot eyes before letting them drift closed again. No matter what she tried, he refused to get up. Reluctantly, she gave up, leaving him to sleep while she began her morning prayers.
Two Days Later...
All of Hidaya’s thoughts remained consumed by her hunt for this Mutallib. The reason she was failing to track him down was that she didn't know his identity, and despite using every single connection and resource at her disposal, she had come up empty-handed. At first, she had thought it would be easy, but now she realized that Khaal had thoroughly prepared for any ensuing consequences, which was why he had concealed Mutallib's identity. Even the people who worked closely with Khaal didn't know who Mutallib was. Jamid was the sole person who had laid eyes on him, and no matter how heavily she threatened Jamid, he refused to tell her anything.
As for those pills, she never stopped slipping them to Taj. With pure, unadulterated cruelty, doses meant for psychiatric patients—which were supposed to be just one pill—were being tripled to three pills forced down his throat daily. Within these past two days, Taj’s condition had begun shifting drastically. Sabeeha was the only one who noticed it, since she spent the nights and entire days by his side. She couldn't wrap her head around the reasons behind his sudden transformation. Physically and mentally, it was beginning to terrify her.
He had turned into a completely different person—he barely spoke at all, spending entire days without uttering a single word to her. He was wasting away, losing weight so rapidly it looked as though the moisture was being sucked straight out of his body. Even when she offered him food, he refused to eat a single bite, subsisting entirely on water, which he drank excessively—gulping down nearly ten bottles a day. He would sit blankly like someone whose mind was slipping away. Sometimes, when she spoke to him, he would just stare at her blankly as if he didn't even recognize her; other times he wouldn't. She had never seen him act like this in all the time she had known him, and she had no idea why it was happening. She had completely failed to notice the medication Hidaya was sneaking to him.
As for Hidaya, knowing full well what she was doing, she didn't let up for a second, continuing to ruthlessly pump him full of those drugs out of sheer malice.
Today, he hadn't even bathed. He sat staring blankly at the wall, his lips severely dried out and his eyes bloodshot. No matter how much Sabeeha begged him to get up, he wouldn't budge—not an inch. She tried coaxing him to eat, but he refused that too. Panic finally gripped her heart when she realized he genuinely looked gravely ill, compounded by the fact that he completely refused to speak to her.
Right now, she was sitting right in front of him with a cup of tea, begging him to drink it while he refused.
"Didi, what is wrong with you? For God's sake, please tell me..."
Story Summary
In this intense dramatic excerpt, Hidaya's ruthless quest to protect her dark secrets reaches a boiling point. Having discovered that a flash drive containing incriminating evidence against her slipped through her fingers, she confronts a paralyzed Jamid, who defiantly refuses to reveal where he hid it, earning her fierce hatred. Unbeknownst to her, Jamid’s misplaced trust and subsequent paralysis have hidden the file away.
Driven by paranoia and vengeance, Hidaya initiates a sinister plot: she acquires psychiatric-grade drugs (Fentanyl) and begins ruthlessly poisoning Taj daily with triple doses to incapacitate him, slowly destroying him physically and mentally under Sabeeha's unsuspecting nose. Meanwhile, her frantic search for Mutallib—the agent who possesses the truth—proves fruitless because Khaal thoroughly covered his tracks. The chapter highlights Hidaya's escalating psychological descent, Jamid's silent suffering, and Sabeeha's mounting terror as she watches Taj deteriorate without knowing the poison is being administered right under their roof.
Character Description
- Hidaya: Cold, calculating, manipulative, and utterly devoid of empathy. She is a criminal mastermind consumed by greed and past trauma, willing to poison, threaten, and ruin anyone standing in her way to protect her empire and punish Taj.
- Jamid: Paralysed, morally steadfast, and deeply tormented. Despite his helpless physical state, he remains a pillar of resistance against Hidaya, refusing to betray the truth even under severe psychological abuse.
- Taj (Tajudeen): The primary victim of Hidaya's long-standing vengeance. Once vibrant, he is now being systematically poisoned into a catatonic, rapidly deteriorating state.
- Sabeeha: Devoted, observant, but largely kept in the dark. She cares deeply for Taj and notices his alarming mental and physical decline, growing increasingly terrified as she searches for answers.
- Fadwa: Suspicious and observant, constantly tracking Hidaya’s secretive movements and building her own case against her.
Analytics Table
Analytical CategoryDetails & InsightsGenreContemporary Hausa Psychological Drama / Suspense FictionCore ThemesBetrayal, obsessive vengeance, corporate/personal corruption, systemic cruelty, and psychological manipulation.PacingFast-paced, tense, and multi-threaded, moving swiftly between Hidaya's office crises, Jamid's silent imprisonment, and Sabeeha's domestic distress.Literary DevicesDramatic Irony: The reader and Hidaya know about the missing flash drive, while Sabeeha remains completely unaware of the drugs being fed to Taj. Symbolism: The psychiatric drugs symbolize Hidaya's toxic control and quiet, calculated destruction of lives.Emotional ToneDark, suffocating, suspenseful, and tragic.
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