KHALID'S POV
I'm married.
Been married for three weeks.
And I haven't spent a single night in the same room as my wife.
---
The wedding itself is a blur.
Five hundred people. Traditional ceremony. My father looking satisfied. Amira looking terrified.
And me—standing there saying vows in Arabic while searching the crowd for a woman who wasn't supposed to be there.
But she was there. In a hidden room. Watching.
I could feel her even though I couldn't see her.
Could feel her presence like a physical thing.
And I said the vows. Promised forever to Amira.
While thinking about Roman.
---
I went to her room that night.
Midnight. Still in my wedding clothes. Drove straight from my hotel to hers.
My brother asked where I was going.
"To see her."
"On your wedding night?"
"Yes."
"Khalid—"
"I know. I know how it looks. I don't care."
Because I needed to see her. Needed to know she was still there. Still mine.
Even though I'd just married someone else.
---
She opened the door and I saw it on her face.
Pain. Devastation. But also—she was still there.
Still waiting for me.
"You came," I said.
Like an idiot. Like I didn't know what seeing that wedding did to her.
But she did come. She watched me marry someone else because I asked her to.
That's love. The fucked up, obsessive, unhealthy kind.
But it's love.
---
I've been back in LA for two weeks.
Amira stayed in Dubai. Setting up our house there. Doing wife things with my family.
And I'm here. With Roman.
We're not even hiding anymore. I walk into her building in broad daylight. Stay for hours. Leave at 2 AM.
The tabloids have photos. Everyone knows.
And I don't care.
Because I'm married to Amira in name only. For duty. For family.
But I'm Roman's in every way that matters.
---
Amira called yesterday.
First time we've really talked since the wedding.
"When are you coming back?"
"I don't know. A few weeks."
"Your father is asking."
"Tell him I'm working."
"Are you?"
"Yes."
Lie. I'm not working. I'm spending every available hour with Roman trying to make up for the fact that I married someone else.
"Khalid—" She paused. "Is there someone else?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you left the day after our wedding. Because you haven't called. Because—" She stopped. "Because you don't act like a husband."
"This is an arranged marriage. What did you expect?"
"I don't know. Not love. But—respect, maybe."
I felt something twist in my chest. Guilt. Actual guilt.
"I'm sorry."
"Are you?"
No. I'm not sorry. I'm married to the wrong person and spending every second I can with the right one.
But I can't say that.
So I just said: "I'll come back next month. We'll figure it out."
"Figure what out?"
"How to do this. The marriage. The—arrangement."
She was quiet. "There's someone else, isn't there?"
"Amira—"
"I'm not stupid. I know this wasn't a love match. But I thought at least—" She stopped. "Never mind."
She hung up.
---
I should feel worse about that conversation.
Should feel guilty for lying. For abandoning my wife days after marrying her. For being in love with someone else.
I don't.
All I feel is—relief. That I'm here with Roman instead of there with Amira.
That probably makes me a terrible person.
I don't care.
---
Roman asked me last night if I regret it.
"Regret what?"
"Marrying her. Going through with it."
"No."
"Really?"
"Really. Because if I hadn't married her, I would have lost everything. Position. Money. Access. Everything I need to protect you."
"I don't need you to protect me."
"Yes you do. You always will." I pulled her closer. "Gary is gone because I had the resources to make him disappear. If I lose those resources, I can't do that anymore."
"So you married someone else to maintain your ability to commit crimes for me."
"Essentially. Yes."
She laughed. No humor in it. "That's insane."
"That's love."
---
Here's what I'm realizing:
The marriage to Amira changes nothing.
I'm still obsessed with Roman. Still seeing her constantly. Still choosing her over everything else.
The only difference is now I have a wife I'm ignoring.
Is that fair to Amira? No.
Do I care? Not really.
Because I didn't choose her. My family chose her. And I'm fulfilling my obligation by being married to her.
But I'm not pretending to love her.
I'm not giving her anything except my name and my legal commitment.
Everything else belongs to Roman.
---
My father called this morning.
"When are you bringing Amira to LA?"
"I'm not."
"What?"
"She's staying in Dubai. I'm staying here. We'll see each other when necessary."
"That's not how marriage works."
"That's how this marriage works."
"You're making a mockery of—"
"I'm doing exactly what you asked. I married her. The families are united. The business arrangements are set. What more do you want?"
"I want you to be a husband."
"I am a husband. Just not the kind you expected."
I hung up.
---
Roman keeps asking what Amira knows.
"Does she know about me?"
"She suspects."
"Have you told her?"
"No."
"Are you going to?"
"Eventually. Maybe."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I have."
Because I don't know how to tell my wife that I'm in love with someone else. That I'm seeing her constantly. That she's the reason I married Amira in the first place—to maintain the resources I need to keep Roman safe.
How do you have that conversation?
---
Last night I made a mistake.
I was in bed with Roman and I said her name.
Just—"Roman."
And she said: "You have a wife. You should probably stop saying my name like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm the only woman in the world."
"You are."
"I'm not. You have a wife. An actual legal wife who's sitting in Dubai waiting for you to come home."
"She's not waiting for me. She's setting up a house I'm never going to live in."
"That's not fair to her."
"I know."
"Then why are you doing it?"
"Because I'd rather be unfair to her than lose you."
She didn't have a response to that.
---
Karim called yesterday.
"How's married life?"
"I wouldn't know. I haven't seen my wife since the wedding."
"Khalid—"
"Don't. I know what you're going to say. That I need to try. That I need to give Amira a chance. That I'm being unfair."
"Actually I was going to say I understand."
That stopped me. "You do?"
"Yes. Because I'm doing the same thing. I'm supposed to marry someone appropriate. Someone from a good family. Someone Father approves of." He paused. "But I'm in love with Zuri. And I'm not giving her up. Even if it means lying to everyone."
"Does Father know?"
"Not yet. But he will. Eventually." He's quiet. "We're the same, you and I. We're both choosing love over duty. The only difference is you went through with the arranged marriage first."
"And you?"
"I'm refusing. Completely. Telling Father next week."
"He'll disown you."
"Maybe. But I'd rather lose everything than lose her."
I didn't tell him that's exactly why I married Amira. So I wouldn't have to lose everything to keep Roman.
So I could have both.
---
Here's what scares me:
That Amira will eventually demand I choose. Demand I actually be her husband or divorce her.
That the family will force me to bring her to LA and we'll have to live together.
That Roman will get tired of being the other woman and leave.
That this arrangement I've built so carefully will collapse.
---
But also—
What if it doesn't collapse?
What if I can maintain this forever?
Married to Amira on paper. In love with Roman in reality.
People do it. Karim said so. Arranged marriages and real love coexisting.
It's not moral. It's not fair. It's probably destroying everyone involved.
But it's possible.
And I'm going to make it work.
Because I refuse to lose Roman.
And I refuse to lose the resources I need to protect her.
So this is my life now.
Husband to one woman. Obsessed with another.
Lying to everyone.
Forever.
---
It's 3 AM.
Roman is asleep next to me. In her apartment. In her bed.
My wife is in Dubai. Probably sleeping alone in our house.
And I'm here. With the woman I actually love.
Three weeks married and I've already perfected the art of being unfaithful.
Not physically—Amira and I have never even kissed.
But emotionally. In every way that matters.
I'm cheating on my wife by being faithful to someone else.
---
I should feel guilty.
I don't.
All I feel is—certain.
Certain that I made the right choice. That marrying Amira while keeping Roman was the only option.
That this arrangement, however fucked up, is sustainable.
That I can be a husband in name while being a lover in reality.
Forever.
Or until something breaks.
Whichever comes first.