chapter one : _The Betrayal _

Her phone buzzed in vibration, displaying "Subhanallah." She woke up frightened from the nap she took on her prayer mat. Oh, it's already 7 AM, and since it's Saturday, she could rest at home. She uttered her morning prayers and took her phone, but the screen was blurry. She wiped her eyes. Halima's fingers trembled as she held the phone, the screen glowing with a tear-jerking text message that shattered her world. Her heart raced like a puma in the jungle, and a wave of nausea washed over her. She felt like she'd been punched in the gut, her breath knocked out of her. The words seared into her brain like a branding iron, leaving a scar that would never fully heal: "'I'm sorry, Halimatu. I was weak. I love you.'" The message was from Nabeel, her boyfriend of five years – the guy she thought she knew from top to bottom, the man she loved. Halimatu's mind reeled as she tried to process the words, sent like a coded message. What did he mean? What had he done? What? She felt like she was drowning in a sea of questions with no lifeline in sight. Her eyes stung as tears welled up, but she refused to let them fall. Not yet. With shaking hands, she typed out a response, her thumbs hovering over the keyboard: "What do you mean? What have you done? What's wrong?" She hesitated, then hit send. The wait for his response felt like an eternity.

A few hours later, Halimatu stood transfixed in front of her mirror, her mind racing with questions. What could his response be? Was he in trouble? Then, his reply arrived: "I'm sorry, let's bring an end to this. My parents have already arranged a match for me, unbeknownst to me. Goodbye!" The familiar tale of men using lies to dump their girlfriends cut deep. Her eyes fixed on the mirror, she shouted, "Innalillahi!" (To God we belong), as tears streamed down her face. In a fit of anger, she swept away her cosmetics and body lotions from the mirror desk, shattering the mirror and sending shards splattering across the tiles. Each fragment seemed to reflect the depth of her pain. As she stood there, frozen in time, the weight of his deception settled upon her like a shroud. Memories of their laughter, giggles, and tender moments now seemed like lies. His eyes, once bright with love, now dimmed with guilt. The truth sliced through her like a knife, leaving her breathless and shattered. And in that moment, something inside her died. The room fell silent, except for the soft whisper of her heart breaking, a sound only she could hear. The shattered mirror seemed to echo her fragmented soul, a haunting reminder of the love that had been reduced to mere shards of memories.

Halimatu felt the fragments of her heart piercing her soul. She couldn't comprehend how the man she loved, the one she had entrusted her heart to, could so callously discard their long term relationship so easily.

The memories they had created, the promises they had made, all seemed like a distant dream now. She remembered the way he used to look at her with blazing passion in his eyes. But now, those eyes seemed to belong to a stranger.

With a heavy heart, Halimatu turned away from the broken mirror and walked towards the window. She gazed out at the world outside, wondering how it could continue to spin normally when her own world had been turned upside down. The sun still shone bright, the birds still sang their sweet melodies, but for Halimatu, everything had lost its beauty.