Fractured Vows

NOORA

I was livid. That lying, cheating bastard. My blood boiled every time I thought about him. I hadn't seen Fawaz since that night, and honestly, it made me sick to my stomach. He was probably out with her, doing God knows what. How could he? How could he betray me like that, especially now, with his child growing inside me?

I hadn't told anyone about what I had found—those texts from that girl. It was embarrassing, mortifying even. I knew I hadn't been the best wife, but this? This was next-level cruelty. To cheat on me while I carried his baby? The man had no shame. I gritted my teeth, the anger bubbling up again. Tonight, he wasn't getting away with it. He'd avoided me for far too long, and I had had enough. Tonight, I was going to confront him, and he wasn't going to escape my wrath.

I sat in the foyer, my heart racing with anticipation. The one-seater chair near the spiral staircase was uncomfortable, but I barely noticed. My focus was on the front door, waiting for it to open, for Fawaz to finally walk in. My nails tapped impatiently against the armrest, and I could feel the tension in my shoulders as the minutes ticked by.

When the door finally swung open, and he stepped inside, I shot up to my feet like a bullet. "Oh, look who finally decided to show up!" I clapped dramatically, a mocking smile spreading across my face. His eyes met mine briefly, and I saw the weariness in them, but I didn't care. He sighed, a long, exhausted breath, and tried to walk past me, heading for the stairs like I wasn't even there.

But I wasn't about to let him off that easily. I grabbed onto the sleeve of his kaftan and yanked him back, the fabric bunching in my fist. "Where do you think you're going?" I hissed. "Did you not see me standing here?"

He glanced down at me, his expression blank, before trying to pull away. "I'm not in the mood for your tantrums today, Noora."

"Oh, my tantrums?" I laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. "Well, that's too bad because I've got so much in store for you tonight, Fawaz. You're not walking away from this."

He sighed again, clearly exasperated, and looked at me like I was some petulant child. "Why do you act this way, Noora? You said you'd change, but the moment something goes wrong, you're back to this. All this over one misunderstanding?"

"One misunderstanding?" I spat, mocking his voice. "Oh, is that what we're calling it now? A misunderstanding?" I released his sleeve, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "So you're telling me I didn't see what I saw? You're trying to say those flirty texts weren't real?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "What did you see, Noora? Did you see me reply to any of those messages? Did you even bother to count how many times I actually responded?"

"Shut up!" I snapped. "Don't try to twist this around. Are you going to deny going to see her? Are you?"

His face hardened at that, his jaw clenching. "Watch your mouth, Noora."

"Shut up!" I yelled again, my voice trembling with rage. "You have no right to speak. Not after what you've done."

He didn't say anything, just stared at me, the silence between us thick and suffocating. Then, without a word, he tried to walk away again.

I wasn't finished. I grabbed his phone from his hand, the familiar weight of it cold in my palm. "Oh, is this the new phone you're using to talk to her?" I demanded, waving it in front of his face. When he still refused to respond, just standing there staring at me like I was some irrational monster, something inside me snapped. I hurled the phone against the wall, the sound of it shattering into pieces oddly satisfying.

He closed his eyes for a moment, like he was trying to center himself, and when he opened them again, his voice was eerily calm. "Let go of my sleeve, Noora."