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Salman Bashir gripped his steering wheel with both hands, clenching them so hard that his knuckles turned white. He glowered at the tiny sliver of the road he could see through the illumination provided by his headlights. The highway was nearly empty, with a few cars here and there sparsely spaced. He kept his foot pressed against the accelerator.
His chest was still violently heaving up and down with rage, his brain still clouded after the heated argument he had with his sister. It had been hours since it happened, but the anger, hurt and betrayal still felt as sore as a new bruise in his heart.
He had felt a lot of emotions in his measly twenty-six years of life - pain, longing, jealousy, love. But anger wasn't a feeling he was as familiar with.
Tonight, he was angry.
His mind reeled back to earlier that night, when he was getting ready to have dinner with his mother and sister. He peaked into Malika's room, to see what she was doing.
"Fari, I'm truly happy for you."
Were the words that reached his ears. Malika had turned around feeling his presence. Seeing him, the blood drained from her face.
She was still talking from the other end, Salman could hear a distorted version of Farrah's voice.
His face hardened.
"Hey, I need to go," Malika briskly said on the phone. "I'll talk to you later."
He had already twirled on his feet and was striding away. He was halfway through their living room when his sister caught up to him again.
"Salman, please," she pleaded. "Where are you going?"
He kept walking. He could hear the padding of her feet accelerating behind him. She clutched his arm and halted him.
"Just listen to me, please," Malika begged again.
"Let go of me, Lia," he ordered in a hardened voice.
"She's my friend too. This hurts me too. This is the first time I have spoken to her, I swear," she tried to explain.
He finally turned around, his jaw clenched. "How could you do this to me?" he hissed fiercely. "How could you betray me like this?"
Neela had rushed out into the room as well, eyes darting between them at a loss. "What's going on, kids?" she asked.
Her words were muted to them. Malika stared at Salman with utter disbelief. She was taken aback by his tone. "Betray you?" she cried. "Have you lost your mind, Salman? I'm the one who's been by your side through thick and thin." she spat. "I have supported you and this family through every claim. I took care of your heart even when it was breaking mine."
"I'm not stupid, Malika," he said through gritted teeth. "I heard what you just said to her. I know you were always secretly on her side."
"You can't do this, I won't let you do it." Malika shook her head aggressively, the corner of her eyes sparkling with tears. "I prioritized your well being over mine - worse - my baby's. I have been living in this house, keeping my newborn daughter separated from her father, just to be close to you. But I'm not tolerating your crap anymore."
