24-09-2025, 09:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 24-09-2025, 09:48 PM by matiba2025213. Edited 1 time in total. Edited 1 time in total.)
Chapter 38: The return (Act 17)
The silence stretched, thin and brittle, broken only by Lina’s ragged sobs. Rahim’s face, once a mask of shock, hardened into something colder, something angrier. The muscles in his jaw worked, a visible tic beneath his skin. He stood up so suddenly his chair legs screeched against the floor.
Lina flinched at the sound, looking up at him through a curtain of tears. “Rahim… please.”
He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. His gaze was fixed on some distant point, seeing not the living room wall but the grotesque image her words had painted. His wife, trapped. His child, threatened. And two dead men whose blood was now a permanent stain on their lives.
“All this time,” he finally said, his voice low and gravelly, a stark contrast to her weeping. “You carried this. You lied to me. To the security officer.”
“I was terrified,” she whispered, her voice small. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Come to me!” he roared, the volume making her jump. He finally turned his furious gaze on her. “The moment it happened! The moment they first touched you! I am your husband! That is what you were supposed to do!” He ran a hand through his hair, his breath coming in short, angry bursts. “But you didn’t. You hid it. You let me live in ignorance while you… what? Processed your guilt alone?”
“It wasn’t like that...”
“Enough.” The word was a whip crack, silencing her. He paced the length of the room, a caged animal. “I can’t… I can’t look at you right now. I can’t be in this room with these… these pictures in my head.”
Panic surged through Lina, cold and sharp. She scrambled to her knees, reaching a hand out toward him. “Don’t go. Please, don’t leave me alone with this.”
He was already striding toward the door, grabbing his keys from the bowl on the side table. “I need to get out of here. I need to clear my head before I say something… before I do something we’ll both regret.”
“Rahim, I’m begging you!” she cried out, her voice cracking with desperation. She stumbled to her feet, but her legs were still weak. “Don’t shut me out! Punish me, yell at me, anything! Just don’t leave!”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob, his broad shoulders tense. He didn’t turn around. “Go to bed, Lina. Just… sleep. I need to take the edge off this fury before I can even think straight.”
The finality in his tone shattered her. The door opened and then clicked shut with a soft, definitive sound that echoed through the suddenly enormous and empty apartment. She was alone.
Lina sank back to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. The silence was deafening, a heavy weight pressing down on her. She had told the truth, and it had driven him away. The one person she needed most had walked out, leaving her drowning in the consequences of her own terrible choices. She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling not with sobs now, but with a profound, isolating fear. What had she done?
The engine of his motorcycle roared to life below their apartment, the sound fading rapidly as he sped away. Each second that ticked by on the wall clock stretched into an eternity. The room felt tainted, the air thick with the ghost of his anger and the specter of her confession. She replayed the look on his face, the betrayal, the rage, the hurt over and over until it was seared behind her eyelids.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, curled into a tight ball on the cold floor. A part of her hoped he would calm down and return minutes later, ready to hold her and accept the horrible truth. But another, more fearful part knew this rift was deep. The sound of the door opening again made her heart leap into her throat.
She lifted her head, expecting to see Rahim’s contrite face. But the apartment remained dark and still. It was just the old building settling, or her own hope playing tricks on her. The disappointment was a physical ache. She was truly alone.
The silence stretched, thin and brittle, broken only by Lina’s ragged sobs. Rahim’s face, once a mask of shock, hardened into something colder, something angrier. The muscles in his jaw worked, a visible tic beneath his skin. He stood up so suddenly his chair legs screeched against the floor.
Lina flinched at the sound, looking up at him through a curtain of tears. “Rahim… please.”
He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. His gaze was fixed on some distant point, seeing not the living room wall but the grotesque image her words had painted. His wife, trapped. His child, threatened. And two dead men whose blood was now a permanent stain on their lives.
“All this time,” he finally said, his voice low and gravelly, a stark contrast to her weeping. “You carried this. You lied to me. To the security officer.”
“I was terrified,” she whispered, her voice small. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Come to me!” he roared, the volume making her jump. He finally turned his furious gaze on her. “The moment it happened! The moment they first touched you! I am your husband! That is what you were supposed to do!” He ran a hand through his hair, his breath coming in short, angry bursts. “But you didn’t. You hid it. You let me live in ignorance while you… what? Processed your guilt alone?”
“It wasn’t like that...”
“Enough.” The word was a whip crack, silencing her. He paced the length of the room, a caged animal. “I can’t… I can’t look at you right now. I can’t be in this room with these… these pictures in my head.”
Panic surged through Lina, cold and sharp. She scrambled to her knees, reaching a hand out toward him. “Don’t go. Please, don’t leave me alone with this.”
He was already striding toward the door, grabbing his keys from the bowl on the side table. “I need to get out of here. I need to clear my head before I say something… before I do something we’ll both regret.”
“Rahim, I’m begging you!” she cried out, her voice cracking with desperation. She stumbled to her feet, but her legs were still weak. “Don’t shut me out! Punish me, yell at me, anything! Just don’t leave!”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob, his broad shoulders tense. He didn’t turn around. “Go to bed, Lina. Just… sleep. I need to take the edge off this fury before I can even think straight.”
The finality in his tone shattered her. The door opened and then clicked shut with a soft, definitive sound that echoed through the suddenly enormous and empty apartment. She was alone.
Lina sank back to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. The silence was deafening, a heavy weight pressing down on her. She had told the truth, and it had driven him away. The one person she needed most had walked out, leaving her drowning in the consequences of her own terrible choices. She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling not with sobs now, but with a profound, isolating fear. What had she done?
The engine of his motorcycle roared to life below their apartment, the sound fading rapidly as he sped away. Each second that ticked by on the wall clock stretched into an eternity. The room felt tainted, the air thick with the ghost of his anger and the specter of her confession. She replayed the look on his face, the betrayal, the rage, the hurt over and over until it was seared behind her eyelids.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, curled into a tight ball on the cold floor. A part of her hoped he would calm down and return minutes later, ready to hold her and accept the horrible truth. But another, more fearful part knew this rift was deep. The sound of the door opening again made her heart leap into her throat.
She lifted her head, expecting to see Rahim’s contrite face. But the apartment remained dark and still. It was just the old building settling, or her own hope playing tricks on her. The disappointment was a physical ache. She was truly alone.
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