Chapter 32 · Chapter 32

The quiet of the majlis was broken only by the muffled closing of the estate’s heavy exterior doors as the last of the men departed into the courtyard. Through the tall, arched windows, the twin beams of departing Land Cruisers swept across the limestone perimeter wall, leaving the estate sealed in the cool stillness of the Riyadh night.

Yet before the threshold leading toward the inner residence stood my uncle, his bisht draped over his arm, waiting in the archway that divided the formal hall from the private wing.

In his hands rested the dark, iron-clasped ledger of the estate—the governance registry containing the family trust deeds, the property seals, and the administration of the house that had been placed under stewardship the year I chose to leave. For five years, those ledgers had dictated what remained of my name within these walls.

Nawaf stopped a measured pace behind me, his stature silent and upright. He did not reach for the books, nor did he speak for me.