Chapter 32 · Chapter 32

The hours had stretched the silence thin, bleeding from the late chill of night into the fierce, unsparing glare of the Riyadh sun. Neither of us had yielded to sleep, yet the stone walls had held our truce intact, carrying every unspoken sentence until the midday heat pressed hard against the glass.

Through the arched windows of the vestibule, the courtyard shimmered under the pale white sky. The car waited beside the fountain, idling quietly in the heat. Abu Fahad stood beside it, his gaze lowered with customary restraint. With a slow, deliberate movement, he held open the passenger door, leaving the shadowed interior waiting.

Beyond the gate, the avenue stretched wide into the city. The path was entirely clear. No locks barred the courtyard, no kinsman stood to turn me back, and no stain remained to shadow my family’s name.

Saad stood several paces behind me in the cool shade of the majlis entryway, his white thobe sharp against the polished stone. He did not speak. He did not move to bar my way or offer easy words to soften the ground between us.