The room was silent, except for the soft sound of pages being turned slowly.
Reihana sat at the edge of her bed, under the dim light leaking from an old lamp resting on a worn-out wooden desk.
In her hands was the diary she had picked up from the hospital. She read each line as if interrogating the words, searching for what lay between the letters.
With every page she closed, her heart opened to even bigger questions.
> "I was alone in the hospital… his farewell whisper was cold… as if his heart no longer belonged to me."
She closed her eyes and imagined a lonely woman, silently hurting.
Then suddenly opened them wide when she heard her mother calling from outside:
— "Reihana, come… dinner is ready."
She quickly closed the diary, placed it inside her wooden box, then sighed and stood up.
But a voice inside her whispered: "These words aren't just sadness… this is a planned death."
---
In the city, where the night hides what the day refuses to reveal, Maria sat on a chair in her balcony, a small notebook in her hands.
She wasn't writing—just staring at a blank page, as if waiting for the past to speak.
She said softly, as though speaking to the wind:
— "It was a love no one dared to admit… she was from outside our world… but he loved her."
She was speaking of her late daughter-in-law.
Her eyes filled with a pale longing before they turned to a picture hanging on the wall inside the house.
The picture wasn't clear, but in it, two shadows were embracing.
— "I know they killed you… but I have no proof."
Leonardo entered the house, his features exhausted, his eyes foggy.
He greeted his mother in a low voice, then said:
— "I'll go to my room."
Maria called after him before he disappeared behind the door:
— "Try to remember your heart, my son… don't be like them."
He didn't reply.
In his room, Leonardo sat in front of the same picture, staring at it for a long time. Then whispered:
— "They took you from me… but Matteo is still here."
---
The next morning, Reihana woke up to the sound of the house phone ringing—a strange tone, heavy and unfamiliar.
Her mother answered, then looked at Reihana with a face that had suddenly changed.
— "Reihana, we need to go to the hospital… his condition got worse."
She knew exactly who her mother meant.
Reihana's heart tightened before the name was even spoken.
Within moments, their bags were ready, and they set off on the long road to the city.
---The novel is available in Arabic on Wattpad.
An English version is coming soon!
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