Chapter 6 6

Mazen Gamal.

Is this girl crazy or what? That's the first thought that popped into my head when Malika came up to me and asked me to marry her. Honestly, when I was chasing after her, trying to force her to marry me, I was just annoyed that she kept refusing. But the moment she actually said it, I suddenly didn't even know what I wanted anymore.

The problem was, I just stood there, frozen, unable to answer.

She really could've run away right then-the whole street was on her side.

When she saw me taking too long to reply, she looked down at the ground, clearly embarrassed. "If you don't want to, it's fine. I'm not even eighteen yet. I still have a year before I can legally get married."

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that, but it made me feel a bit better, knowing we had a year to decide-and plenty of time to test her.

She turned to leave, but I stopped her with my words. "Where are you going? Of course I'll marry you!"

She let out a strange sigh of relief that made me stare at her innocent, childlike face for a moment. Then she said something that made my heart ache for her. "But... who are you going to ask for my hand? My mom and dad are gone." Tears welled up in her eyes.

I quickly walked over and took her hand. "I'll ask my dad. He's your guardian now."

I intertwined my fingers with her small, soft ones and smiled gently. "Come on, let's go home."

She looked up at me, and I couldn't take my eyes off her blue, ocean-like eyes. "To our house. To your house."

Those words didn't come from my heart. As innocent and angelic as she seemed, my mind still refused to believe there was such a thing as a good girl. But I had to do it because I'd promised my dad-at least for now.

Still, my mind was spinning with plans to catch her slipping up. Even though, deep down, my heart told me she was clueless, with no past relationships.

I was lost, honestly. It was like I was at war with myself. But one thing I was sure of on the inside-I would never love again, even if I married her and she turned out to be decent. My heart just couldn't beat for anyone anymore. My heart was dead.

"Let's go." I opened the car door, got in the driver's seat, and drove slowly, lost in thought. I had no idea how things would go from here. I was silent the whole way until she made a request I couldn't refuse. "Can we go to the cemetery to visit my mom and dad, please?"

I nodded. "Yeah, of course. Now?"

"Please." She was so calm, her voice so soft that I actually felt for her. Maybe my heart had turned to stone over the years, but something about her softened me-not because my uncle, her dad, died. Not at all. It was just... she felt like my daughter or my little sister-I felt protective of her.

I didn't say anything. I just nodded in agreement and took her to the cemetery. After all, her family was gone, and she had every right.

The whole drive, she was staring out the window, almost like she was memorizing the road. I didn't think much of it, and I didn't ask. When we arrived, I parked the car to the side and signaled for her to get out.

She just kept staring at me, not even opening the door. That annoyed me-I thought she was like every other girl, waiting for me to open the door for her or some dumb stuff like that. So I did open the door, but I snapped at her, "What are you waiting for? Want me to open the door for you? You think I'm your driver or-"

I didn't get to finish before she cut me off. "I... I can't... I can't move my legs." I looked at her and saw she was stiff with fear.

I felt so ashamed of myself. I was always so hard on her, projecting all my issues onto her-she literally just agreed to marry me, and this is how I act? How am I going to treat her once she lives with us?

I put my hand on her knee. She flinched nervously. "What are you doing?"

I narrowed my eyes. "We're not on a minibus! I'm not hitting on you! Stop being ridiculous."

She kept looking at me anxiously as I took her calf and tried to gently stretch her legs. She started to moan, "Stop! Stop it! Do you think you're in bed or something?"

She raised her hands to my face, and I looked at them. "What, are you going to hit me again?"

She went totally silent-like a cat had got her tongue.

She pulled her hands away and pushed my hand off her leg. "Let's just go," she said, exasperated, turning away from me.

"I thought you said you wanted to see them?" I was confused by her behavior.

Honestly, it annoyed me that she dragged me out here for nothing.

She shrugged. "Not with you."

"You're so annoying!" I shoved her legs back into the car and slammed the door. I got into my seat and shouted at her, "Not with me, not with anyone! What were you even planning to see?"

She put her hand on top of mine, which was on the ignition, and said in a gentle voice, "I just wanted to tell them we're getting married."

I swallowed hard and paused for a moment. But of course, that arrogant, annoying side of me came out. "We'll do that when we get married-in a year."

I started the car and drove off, feeling suffocated and bored.

Suddenly, she asked me to pull over. "Can you stop here?"

I didn't even look at her-she was just air to me.

She started nagging, "Please, stop here!"

"Just stop already!"

I hate being ordered around, and her nagging was getting to me.

I pulled over in the middle of the street and yelled, "Just shut up! Don't order me around!"

"I need to use the bathroom. Now!"

"What? Are you a little kid? Can't you wait till we get home?" I mocked her, and immediately regretted it. I started to feel smaller in my own eyes.

She tried to open the car door anxiously. I yelled, "Ten more minutes and we'll be there! Are you crazy or what?"

"Please, just stop right now!" Her tone was weird, and I was being a total jerk, still yelling, "I said no!"

She lunged past me, opened the door, and ran toward the restaurant across from us.

My curiosity got the best of me, especially since she ran inside so fast. I parked in front of the restaurant and waited for her to come out. When she did, she came up to me, catching her breath. "Can you lend me two hundred pounds? I need to get something from the pharmacy."

"You got your period or something?" I asked her, shamelessly.

But her reaction and her face weren't embarrassed at all. She just looked scared. I figured I'd give her the money and see what she was up to.

I pulled out my wallet, handed her the cash, and waited outside the pharmacy. All I could see was her buying an injection. My mind went to the worst place-she must be an addict! Seriously, what a garbage way of thinking.

My hatred for women had blinded me.

I let her do her thing, following her as she went back to the restaurant bathroom. Without respect, I barged in to see what she was doing. I caught her giving herself a shot. The poor girl was startled when she saw me. "Addict! Pretending to be all innocent!"

I snatched the syringe out of her hand and looked at it. My tongue felt tied. "What's this?"

She looked down at the floor. "It's insulin. Can you let me take it, please, or I'll go into a coma."

My hand froze. I put the syringe back in her hand and walked out without even apologizing.

Because I'm selfish and an asshole, I stood by the car and called my dad, my back to the restaurant door, not realizing she had finished and was standing behind me. "Yeah, Dad, listen-I'm not marrying Malika. She has diabetes! You want me to marry a sick girl? Not happening."

I hung up-that was my final decision. I turned around and found her standing there, looking at me like I'd broken her heart. And in the same cold, careless tone, I said, "Get in."

She refused. "Sorry! I'm not some girl off the street. I'm not going to marry you, and I won't let you or your family take care of me."

"What do you mean?" I raised my eyebrow. She flagged down a taxi, got in, and vanished-like she'd just disappeared.