Chapter Three – The Dinner
When Zahid called that morning, Angel almost didn't answer.
His name on the screen had frozen her, made her heart race, and for a second, she thought of ignoring it. But curiosity, or maybe the ache she refused to admit, won.
He'd been polite, sounded distant even. Reaffirming he wanted to "formally meet the man she was going to marry."
There was no reason to refuse, not when Simeon was all too happy to accept the invitation.
"He sounds like a serious man," Simeon had said, adjusting his cufflinks. "It'll be good to know him, maybe a business ally."
Angel hadn't corrected him. She didn't have the strength to explain who Zahid really was.
That evening, they arrived at a well-known French restaurant in the city. Le Papillon Bleu.
Even from the outside, it was breathtaking, crystal lights, velvet curtains, valet cars that cost more than her entire house.
"Do you know how hard it is to get a table here?" Simeon whispered as they stepped in. "Three months' waiting list."
Angel smiled faintly, her eyes scanning the room, and then she saw him.
Zahid was already seated near the corner, tall and composed in a tailored black suit that looked made for him. He rose when they approached, his expression unreadable.
For a heartbeat, the world felt small again.
Just her, and him.
And everything she'd buried.
"Zahid," she breathed, her fingers tightening around her purse.
"Angelina." His voice rolled over her name like thunder. Then his gaze flicked to Simeon. "Mr. Forrest."
Simeon smiled easily, extending a hand. "Pleasure to finally meet you, Sheikh Zahid Al-Rashid. I've heard quite a bit."
"Likewise." Zahid's handshake was firm, maybe a little too firm, his eyes never leaving the other man's face. "Please, sit."
The dinner began smoothly enough. Wine was poured. Small talk filled the air. Simeon did most of it, about work, travel, property, investments. Zahid listened, barely touching his food, his mind somewhere else.
Angel tried to keep her eyes on her plate, but she could feel Zahid's gaze every few seconds, studying her, questioning, remembering.
"So," Zahid said finally, breaking the silence. "How long have you two been together?"
Simeon answered easily, "A little over a year. I proposed two nights ago."
Zahid nodded slowly. "And the children?"
Angel froze. Simeon blinked, slightly thrown. "The children?"
"Yes," Zahid said evenly. "Angelina's children. They're yours, I presume?"
There it was, the question that burned behind his calm tone.
Simeon's smile wavered, but he recovered quickly. "I treat them as mine. That's what matters, isn't it?"
Angel's heart twisted. Zahid's eyes darkened, the faint muscle in his jaw tightening.
"I see," he said finally, his voice smooth but sharp enough to cut through steel. "Then I wish you well. A man who raises another's children must have a generous heart."
Simeon chuckled awkwardly, taking it as a compliment. Angel didn't miss the edge in Zahid's tone.
The rest of the meal passed with strained politeness.
Zahid barely ate. Angel barely breathed.
When they finally stood to leave, Simeon excused himself to make a quick call outside.
Zahid waited until he was gone before he spoke again, his voice quieter now.
"So it's really him," he said. "The man you chose."
"He's good to me," Angel whispered. "And to my kids."
He looked away, pain flickering in his eyes. "Good. That's what you wanted, right? A safe life. No risks."
Her throat tightened. "Zahid, please don't start, you wanted to meet Simeon, and you have, what more do you want?"
He turned toward her, his expression unreadable, cold on the outside but something breaking beneath.
"Tell me something," he said softly. "If I'd come back sooner… would it have been me instead of him?"
Her lips parted, but the words never came.
He gave a short, hollow laugh. "Doesn't matter. I'm five years too late."
Simeon reappeared, and just like that, Zahid's face shifted, composed again, unreadable.
"It was good meeting you, Mr. Forrest," Zahid said evenly, shaking his hand. "I wish you both happiness."
But as Angel and Simeon walked away, Zahid's knuckles whitened around his glass.
His calm cracked only when they were gone.
Outside, his bodyguard Kareem waited beside the car.
Zahid's voice was cold when he spoke. "How's the investigation?"
Kareem handed him a folder. "We traced her last five years, Sheikh. She's lived quietly here with the children. Works part-time. No close contact with anyone of interest, until recently."
Zahid's gaze darkened. "Until him."
"Yes, Sheikh."
Zahid took a deep breath, the weight of years pressing down on him. "I couldn't check on her before. If I had, they'd have found her. The same people who tried to destroy my family's name."
Kareem said nothing.
Zahid's jaw tightened. "But now, she's engaged. And I can't let her belong to another man, not when she still has my heart."
He climbed into the car, eyes on the city lights fading ahead, the storm inside him finally beginning to rise.
If fate was trying to take her away, then fate needs to answer to him.