Chapter 213. The Letter

The memories crashed into her like a tidal wave, merciless and cruel, dragging her back into the darkness she had tried so hard to escape.

She sucked in a sharp breath as the horror of that night replayed in her mind—the suffocating fear, the helplessness, the disgusting touch of the man who had stolen her sense of safety.

A sob clawed at her throat, but she swallowed it down, trying to force the words out.

“Mama,” she hiccupped, her entire body trembling. She wanted to tell her. She had been carrying this burden alone for so long, burying it deep within herself, pretending that she had survived it.

But she hadn’t.

She had never survived it.

And now, it was all coming back.

Tears blurred her vision as she recalled the worst night of her life.

“One day, when you dropped me at Khala’s house, there was no one but Shoaib there,” Zahra began, her voice breaking with each word. “I went straight into Nayab’s room and locked the door so he cou