Chapter 1 — A New Beginning
She hadn't expected to find him there — standing at the edge of the garden, his eyes fixed on the horizon as if searching for something only he could see.
The afternoon light fell in golden ribbons through the leaves, and for a moment, time seemed to hold its breath.
"Assalamu alaikum," she said softly, not wanting to shatter the stillness.
He turned, and the quiet in his gaze surprised her. Not the coldness she had braced for, but something more like peace. Like someone who had learned long ago that some battles were not worth fighting.
"Wa alaikum assalam." His voice was low, unhurried.
Amira adjusted the strap of her bag and looked away. She had been told he was difficult. Withdrawn. That the loss of his father two years ago had changed him in ways that couldn't be undone. But standing here, in the dappled shade of her grandmother's garden, she saw none of that.
She saw only a man who looked like he was waiting — not for anything in particular, but in the way that believers wait: with patience, and with faith that what is meant will come.
She didn't know then that he was waiting for her.