ABOUT THIS BOOK
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"Listen to me, Hanisah! By Allah, I can't do it, he too will end up dead. I am just going to run away from this accursed marriage! I absolutely cannot marry Ikrama!"
Hanisah's eyes widened in sheer shock, and she said in distress, "But haven't you thought about how Babi will feel? To hear that you fled your own wedding."
I hissed, turned my back to her, and sent a text message to Ansah:
You idiot, I'm ready! I am waiting for you!
She snatched the phone from my hand and said anxiously, "What kind of mistake are you making? What kind of harm are you planning to cause?! There are only forty-five minutes left before your wedding is solemnized."
I looked at her, knowing she could ruin my plans, and told her, "Fine! I've given up, are you happy now?"
The way I said it made her feel sorry for me. She held my hand and said, "Addah Aanih, please forgive me! If you do anything reckless, Babi's relatives might turn their backs on him! Plus, this marriage is an incredible opportunity for you; the boy's father is the governor of this state. For God's sake, don't tarnish our parents' honor."
I smiled and said, "It's fine! I've called it off!" I told her that, but my true intention remained firmly in my heart.
She walked out, telling me she would be right back. I locked the room door and stood there in silence, analyzing what was about to unfold in thirty-something minutes. Then, a text message came in. I checked it and saw he asked:
Are you ready?!
I quickly replied:
I'm ready.
I stood in silence, feeling a wave of pity for Baabi!
Suddenly, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I approached it to open it and asked, "Who is it?"
"It's the plumber. Wasn't it said that the tap is broken?!"
I kept quiet because I didn't know who had sent him. I just went ahead and opened the door for him. His face was masked, and as we looked at each other, I felt like I recognized the gaze in his eyes.
I stepped aside for him to enter the room, and he asked me, "My lady, where is the bathroom located?"
Silently, I pointed toward a door facing my bed. He walked in, and after a moment, he called out, "My lady! I say!"
Annoyed by his demeanor, I snapped, "What is it?!"
"For God's sake, please come in and pack these personal items of yours!"
A wave of embarrassment washed over me. A woman is expected to keep her private things hidden, not left out in the open. The moment I stepped inside and turned around to gather my undergarments, he abruptly shoved something against my face. I collapsed backward against him and passed out!
He smiled and murmured, "Hmm! So soon!"
He laid her down in the bathroom, removed her earrings and necklace, then carried her back into the bedroom. He unzipped a large sack, wrapped her in a thick blanket, tucked her securely inside the large L-sized sack, and hoisted it onto his shoulder. He walked out of the room, and nobody paid him any mind because they all knew he had gone in to fix the tap in her room.
The Escape
As he emerged into the compound with her on his shoulder, he reached his car—a Bugatti. He opened it, then turned around to look at the crowd of people streaming into the house.
From a distance, King Jaamal of Daura was watching him closely, right at the moment the man pulled down his face mask. The man then closed the back of the vehicle and got into the car with pure arrogance and poise. From the confident way he carried himself and turned around, you would swear he owned the place.
The moment he got into the car, he revved the engine. He took off with such a violent screech of tires that people quickly scrambled out of the way to give him room. King Jamal’s eyes remained locked on him the entire time. Even as the man was about to exit the premises, the King tried to catch another glimpse of his face, but the driver rolled up the heavily tinted security windows, turning the interior pitch black.
He accelerated onto the main road at a terrifying speed, looking as though the car was about to take flight into the sky.
The Discovery and Pandemonium
Back inside the house, nobody checked on me at first, because it never crossed their minds that I could be kidnapped. Only Hanisah had lingering doubts. She quickly went back to the room under the pretext of checking something in my luggage, but upon entering, she froze. I was nowhere to be found. A deep terror gripped her. She ran straight to her mother's room and cried, "Ammih! For God's sake, come quickly!"
"Look, Nisah, leave me alone, I'm coming!" Seeing that her mother wasn't paying attention, she turned to her father's senior wife, Ummih Rahil. Upon entering her quarters, she found it packed with guests as well.
Grabbing her hand, she pulled her out of the living room. They headed toward my room, where Hanisah explained everything to her! Rahil went completely numb, her body trembling with shock. She checked the room clock; there were only ten minutes left before the wedding solemnization. Hurrying out barefoot, she headed straight to the quarters of His Royal Highness, King Aryan, which was crowded with people. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house.
They headed all the way down to the garden. Bursting into tears, she broke the news to him that Aanih Fatimah Khatoon had run away! He stared at her in utter shock. She placed her hands on his face, shook her head, and said:
"Allah has blessed you with two daughters! You can use this opportunity. Do not worry; as for Aanih, a search party will be launched immediately because she couldn't have gone far. In fact, I strongly suspect she was kidnapped, because by Allah, she would never do such a thing willingly!"
He fell into a state of severe distress. Dragging his feet with great difficulty, he finally reached the entrance of the grand mosque where the wedding was to take place and picked up the microphone.
He lowered it for a moment, then took the Honorable Governor of Sokoto by the hand. They stepped outside, and he began explaining the situation to him. However, the Governor flatly refused to accept it. In the end, he forced Aryan to tell everyone what had happened. With a heavy heart, King Aryan walked up to the front of the mosque and picked up the microphone once more.
He began his announcement:
"Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah. I ask for your understanding regarding what I am about to tell you. I also deeply apologize to His Excellency, Governor Ziyad Almustapha, for what has occurred."
He bowed his head in profound distress. With his voice trembling from heartbreak, he opened his mouth to speak again when King Jaamal intervened and said:
"The marriage of Princess Fatimah has been transferred to Princess Hanisah due to an unexpected emergency that has arisen. Furthermore, I appeal to the Honorable Governor of Sokoto State to graciously accept this offer and maintain our honor. We are all royalty here; no one would wish to see themselves in the position this King finds himself in today. If I remember correctly, it has been twenty years today since I lost my son, Prince Jalal, and I know the agonizing pain of such a loss. For God's sake, let us not add to the pain he is already feeling."
Hearing this, Ikrama stepped forward aggressively and said, "Uncle, I love Aanih, so I am willing to wait until she returns! Father, just order the security agencies to be deployed everywhere, because by Allah, I cannot live with any woman other than her."
Thus, the scheduled wedding was halted, and security forces were deployed far and wide to begin searching for her.
The extreme speed at which he was driving would make anyone think he was rushing for an urgent matter. In reality, his sole desire today was to reach the Sahara Desert, where he could humiliate the girl who had tarnished his dignity in front of thousands of people by doing something to him that no one had ever dared to do before.
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