CHAPTER FIVE – Broken Truths
Angel didn't expect to see Zahid again so soon. The morning was gray, quiet, the kind that made her want to pull the curtains and sleep off the weight in her chest. She'd barely had her coffee when the knock came.
Her first instinct was to ignore it. But something made her open the door.
And there he was.
Zahid stood tall in his dark coat, eyes unreadable, a small brown envelope in his hand. He looked like a storm waiting to happen.
"Can we talk?" he asked simply.
Angel crossed her arms. "About what?"
"About your fiancé."
Her stomach tightened. "If you came here to judge me again, Zahid, don't bother. I've had enough of that for one lifetime."
"I didn't come to judge you," he said quietly. "I came to ask. Who is Simeon Forrest, really?"
Her laugh was dry, tired. "You're unbelievable. Why do you care?"
He didn't flinch. "Because you're about to make a mistake that will ruin you."
Angel felt heat rush to her face. "I won't be surprised if you've already investigated him, Zahid. You can't ever stay on your lane, can you?"
"It's not that I can't stay in my lane," he replied, voice hardening. "It's that you're avoiding my question, because you don't even know him, Angel. You only know what he wants you to know."
She stared at him, anger and confusion tangling in her chest. "What do you mean by that? Simeon has been by my side when no one else was. He taught me how to love myself again, gave me a job when no one would hire me, made me feel like a woman again. He...."
"He just didn't want you to embarrass him in public," Zahid cut in, his tone sharp with something she couldn't name. "Moreover…" He threw the brown package onto the table, the soft thud echoing in the small room. "You need to see this. And yes, I investigated him. I needed to know who you were going to marry, and this..." he gestured at the envelope...
"is what I found out about your so-called fiancé."
Her heart pounded as she opened it. Inside were photographs, grainy, but clear enough. Simeon stepping out of a sleek car. Another of a blonde woman standing at the door of a suburban home, her hand resting gently on a round belly. And then the last one, Simeon kissing her, deep and hungry, his hand on her waist.
Angel's breath caught. "No…" Her hands trembled as she flipped through the pictures again. "This… this can't be true."
"He approached you for the house, Angelina," Zahid said quietly. "He's into real estate. He's a fraud."
She shook her head violently. "And so what if he approached me to dupe me? It doesn't concern you!"
"Can you hear yourself, Angelina?" Zahid's voice rose, raw and furious. "You're defending the man who's been lying to you!"
"I can hear myself perfectly fine!" she shot back, her voice cracking. "You coming back into my life has done nothing but ruin it. What do you want me to do now, huh? I just lost my job because Simeon pulled some strings to get me that position—what am I supposed to do now?"
Zahid's chest heaved. "You think I wanted to hurt you?"
"Then why are you here, Zahid?" she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Why now? You left. You walked away when I needed you the most. And now you show up years later, dragging up everything I've tried to bury, why couldn't you just leave me alone?"
His anger deflated instantly, leaving only pain behind. He stepped closer, voice low, almost breaking. "Because I couldn't forget you. Because every time I tried, it felt like losing a part of myself."
Angel looked away, trembling. "Don't say that."
"It's the truth."
"Well, your truth doesn't help me pay my bills or feed my kids," she snapped, wiping her tears roughly. "You don't know what it's like, Zahid. To wake up every day praying you make it through, to fight for a life you didn't choose, to raise children alone and still be told you're not enough."
Zahid said nothing. His throat worked, but no words came out.
She took a shaky breath, her voice softer but full of ache. "You come in here with your expensive coat and your fancy cars and think you can fix everything with a few words and some pictures. But real life doesn't work like that."
He looked at her for a long time, something breaking behind his eyes. "You've changed."
"I had to," she whispered.
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy. The rain outside grew louder, hitting the windows in uneven rhythms.
Finally, Zahid exhaled. "Keep the pictures. Do what you want with them. But, Angelina…" His tone softened, almost tender. "Don't marry a man who sees you as a transaction."
He turned toward the door, his steps heavy. When he reached the threshold, she spoke again.
"Zahid."
He stopped but didn't turn around.
Her voice cracked when she said, "You don't get to come back into my life, tear everything apart, and then just walk away again."
He closed his eyes. "I'm not walking away this time."
And then he left, the door clicking softly behind him.
Angel stood in the silence he left behind, clutching the pictures to her chest, her heart pounding with too many emotions to name. Anger. Confusion. Pain. And something else she didn't want to feel, hope.
Outside, Zahid paused by his car, his reflection staring back at him from the rain-slick hood. He'd thought bringing the truth to her would be enough, but instead, he'd seen how much she'd suffered—how much she'd learned to survive without him.
For the first time since coming back here, he wondered if maybe… he didn't deserve to be part of her story anymore.