Chapter 25 · Untitled Chapter

Fahad did not rise. The refusal had not unsettled him; it had merely brought him to the instrument he had carried in his leather portfolio across the stone threshold. From beneath the crisp fold of his bisht, he drew an embossed blue folder bearing the gold seal of the Ministry of Justice and laid it squarely upon the low walnut table between our cushioned seats.

He opened it with two fingers, turning the heavy parchment so the deed faced me.

"The plot in Diriyah," Fahad said, his voice dropping into the quiet cadence of men dividing an estate before the judge.

"Six thousand square meters along the western ridge. Your late grandfather’s name was never stripped from the registry, Maha. It was held in trust, awaiting the day you returned to sit among your own women. Your cousins have surrendered their shares in writing. The deed is clear of debt, clear of dispute, and drawn solely in your name.