Chapter 21 Twelve

Words : 916 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

*** {Outside The Projection} "No, no, no, he couldn't have died after all of that! HE CAN'T!" Huda's wail of despair was heard by all. Her chest rose and fell so fast it looked like she was on the edge of hyperventilating. She felt his pain—every bit of it, every moment of it—literally. From the very beginning till the end. As a result, she was going mental, just unable to take it anymore. Watching him die, again and again, was like having her heart ripped out repeatedly.@@@@ She was barely holding it together. And the worst part? It wasn't just the dying. It was his eyes—how they looked dimmer every single time, like he was giving up on himself, losing whatever value he had left in his life. If this kept going, he was going to stop caring about himself altogether. He would throw his life away for the most frivolous things. The consequences of that on his mind and soul were unfathomable. That was what hit her harder than anything else. She couldn't handle it. Not this. Not him. Not like this. "Calm down, Lady Huda." Azeem's tone was sharp yet still hollow, his facade long since crumbled. "Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down?!" Huda stood up and spun toward him, her wide, tear-filled eyes boring into his. "That's my brother in there! He keeps dying—over and over and over!" Her breath hitched. "Do you know what that's like? Do you?!" Azeem smiled. 'Oh, so he's your brother again, now is he?' He wanted to say that so incredibly bad but held it in, knowing when not to talk. "I don't. But think for a second... Something's missing, is it not?" Pointing at the projection, where Malik's broken body lay motionless, he added: "The Sultan's not dead yet. Look." All eyes quietly listening to the conversation turned back to the projection. Huda did so as well, her lips trembling as she tried to speak: "He... he looks... dead." Azeem nodded. "True, but the world hasn't blinked... Until it does, Malik's alive. He's holding on." Most of the crowd had their eyes widened, only now realizing that fact. Azeem was right. But even he wasn't dumb enough to try. Not now. Their relationship was already hanging by a thread, and saying one wrong word would snap it completely. And if that happened? Well, there went all his grand plans for building his harem. Noor had already cut ties with him, which left just Huda, Roya, and Safira. Zafar couldn't afford to lose any more. Not a single one. It wasn't exactly a stretch to say he was thinking with his dick rather than his brain. Even in this tense situation, getting laid was most of what he thought about. "The Sultan's still breathing, isn't he?" But Azeem didn't give a damn about any of that—not Huda's relationship with Zafar, and certainly not Zafar's dumbass plan to build his little harem. "And you're here, alive." His words silenced the hall completely. "He did that for you. Don't let his sacrifice go to waste by losing control." Huda sniffled, wiping her face with both hands. "I don't want him to sacrifice himself for me. I just... I just want him to hate me, bully me, betray me... Anything but this. But now, knowing what really happened..." She paused, her breath hitching. "I can only blame myself. If it wasn't for me, my uncle would still be alive." Safira wanted so badly to mutter, "We all do," but had somehow managed to stop herself. Jealousy was ugly—no, jealousy at this level was monstrous, and she didn't want to expose that side of herself to anyone. Layla smiled at Huda and glanced back at the projection where Malik lay motionless. "But my husband... He's not the kind of guy to give up, no matter what." Noor agreed, though not for the same reason: "That's what makes him dangerous. The kind of dangerous that doesn't stop until the job is done." Huda fell silent, staring at the projection as if it held all the answers she was desperate to find. Her hands clasped tightly together, her knuckles white. "He told me once..." Her voice was barely audible. "He told me he'd always protect me, no matter what. I thought it was just his way of rubbing salt in the wound back then, but now... now he's proving it. He did everything he could to save me." Her head dropped, and the sadness on her face cut deeper than her words. "So what... what made him give up? What b-broke his mind?" The hall went utterly still. Somehow, the question hung heavy over everyone, sinking into their thoughts like a stone dropped into a deep well. They were dying to know the answer—but terrified of it at the same time. Sure, it was just the first layer, but they'd already seen something that strayed so far from normal in the first ten or so hours of his memories. What else could be lurking deeper? What if it got worse? No one wanted to face it, to confront whatever or whoever had broken someone they viewed as stronger than themselves. So yes, it wasn't just curiosity. It was fear. Incredible, paralyzing fear.

Chapter 21 Twelve

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