His words stabbed her heart like daggers. Rage lit her face. “Are you finished?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Then hear me clearly. Even if you kill Aunty Maijiddah and her children, even if you kill me too, I will never return to your house. Ever.”

He inhaled sharply, his voice dark. “Zainab, be careful with your tongue. The day you push me too far, I will do something that will haunt you forever. Even if you hide in your aunt’s house, I can come and drag you back by force. You are still my wife.”

“Then be prepared,” he continued. “Next week, my bodyguards will come with a car to take you home. That is final.”

“You’re mad,” she spat. “Completely insane.”

Her insult struck him like a spear. His eyes blazed red. “You called me insane, Angel? Me, your Laweezi, who loves you more than life itself?”

“Love?” she laughed bitterly. “You’re nothing. Not even worth the dust beneath Doctor Nazeer’s feet.”

The moment she mentioned the doctor’s name, Laweezi snapped upright, his roar shaking the entire house. “WHAT!?”

“Yes,” she sneered. “Doctor Nazeer is my love. He’s the man I’ll marry. He has every quality of a true man. And when the time comes, I’ll deliver the invitation card to your doorstep.”

His phone flew from his hand, shattering on the floor. He clutched his head, screaming, until his mother, Hajiya Halima, rushed in with his guards.

But he was beyond reason, his eyes bloodshot. “Impossible! Angel, you will never marry another man while I breathe. If you try, Doctor Nazeer will pay the price!”

Tears streaked down his face. He collapsed into his mother’s arms, shaking. “Mama Zee said she hates me… she doesn’t want me. What will I do with my life?”

Hajiya Halima gasped, fury blazing. “She rejected you? For who? She’s nothing but a commoner! How dare she?”

Laweezi’s voice was broken, trembling. “Leave her to me, Mama. I’ll teach her she is nothing but a spoiled child. I tied the last two knots between us—she must return.”

His mother smiled softly, stroking his face. “Then take it slowly, my son. Win her back with patience.”

He pouted like a boy. “But Mama, you don’t know Zainab. She’s fire—pure fire.”

“Then handle fire with care, son,” she said soothingly. “Take it slowly.”