Kaddara Zuciya Book 1 Jiddah Barkum

Description

Introduction

Not every betrayal comes from an enemy.
Sometimes, it comes from the people you trust the most.
Sometimes, from the people you call family.
And sometimes…
from the person you love with all your heart.
This is not a story about a poor orphan girl struggling to survive.
No.
This is the story of Inteesar.
The girl who had everything.
Love.
Family.
Wealth.
Respect.
And people who would swear they could die for her.
Yet somehow…
she lost more than a person who had nothing.
Because when life finally decided to test her, it didn’t come for her money.
It came for her heart.
And by the time she realized who was genuine and who was pretending…
the damage had already been done.
Bismiallahirrahman Arrahim

Chapter One: The Princess of Alhaji Kabeeru's House

"Inteeesarrr!"
Khalil’s voice filled the house so loudly that I felt like even the walls of the living room were echoing back.
I pouted while sitting on the couch, watching TV, but my mind wasn’t on it at all.
"I didn't hear you!" I replied softly, trying to act like I didn't care.
Before I could even close my mouth, I heard his hurried footsteps approaching.
"Wallahi, I am going to catch you today, Inteesar!"
I jumped up quickly, laughing, and ran towards the kitchen.
"Mommy Haleema! Tell him to leave me alone!"
I hid behind her instantly, holding onto her wrapper like a little child.
Mommy Haleema turned around slowly, looking at me with eyes filled with questions and laughter at the same time.
"What did you do to him today?"
Before I could answer, Khalil marched into the kitchen, pointing straight at me.
"She took my car keys and drove out!"
I widened my eyes quickly.
"I didn't steal them... I only borrowed them!"
Khalil stopped and stared at me.
"Without permission?"
I pouted.
"I saw you were sleeping... I just said let me run an errand and come back."
Mommy Haleema shook her head, laughing.
"Both of you argue more than toddlers."
Instantly, the kitchen filled with laughter.
Laughter filled with peace and love.
This was our home.
A home where even when there was bickering, laughter always followed.
A home where everything else might be chaotic, but love never broke.
I walked out of the kitchen holding a cup of tea, strolling slowly down the corridor.
Silence.
This is where I find myself.
I am Inteesar Kabeeru.
The girl everyone calls "Princess."
The girl everyone loves.
The girl who has never known neglect.
But deep inside my heart…
something was whispering to me that life wouldn't stay like this forever.
"Inteesar..."
I stopped.
It was his voice.
Daddy.
Alhaji Kabeeru.
I turned around slowly, as if the entire world had stood still, and looked at him.
He was standing in the middle of the living room in calm serenity, dressed in a white kaftan, his eyes looking at me as if I were the only person in the world.
I walked right up to him immediately.
"Daddy..."
He looked at me for a moment.
"Have you eaten?"
I shook my head.
"Because of playing?"
I laughed softly.
"It's Khalil acting up and stressing me."
He raised a hand to gently stop me.
He stroked my head softly.
That gentle stroke...
made me feel like the entire world had paused.
Because he was the foundation of my life.
He was the one who filled the roles of both mother and father.
He was the man I never imagined life without.
But I didn't know that some things we think will last forever...
are never certain in this world.
I didn't know that sometimes, the greatest love...
is the one that hurts the most when it begins to break.
"Inteesar..."
Mommy Haleema called out from the kitchen.
"Breakfast is ready!"
I turned back with a smile.
The house was buzzing with noise.
Faruq was laughing in the living room.
Salim was talking loudly.
Abubakar sat quietly in a corner, watching me with his usual calm demeanor.
Adam stood tall like a father figure.
Jaafar and Alamin were arguing.
And Khalil was still chasing after me.
It was a living home.
A loving home.
A home overflowing with pampering, the kind where I never once had to ask why I had it all so good.
I sat down at the breakfast table.
Abubakar gently pushed a plate toward me.
"Eat."
I looked at him.
He was the quietest of them all, but more caring than anyone.
I smiled.
"Thank you."
I felt a sudden, fleeting silence in my heart for a few seconds.
Something like a heavy gust of wind passed by.
Daddy looked at me for a moment.
His smile changed for a split second.
I didn't understand what changed.
Then he said softly:
"Inteesar... stop going out all by yourself."
I smiled.
"Why, Daddy?"
He remained silent for a moment.
Then he said:
"Because the world isn't always as safe and beautiful as this house."
I smiled.
But I didn't understand.
I didn't know that these words...
would one day return to me with a weight I wouldn't be able to bear.

Kaddarar Zuciya (Destiny of the Heart)

Chapter Two: The Echo of Silence

The phone was pressed tightly against my ear, and I closed my eyes, feeling Ahmad’s sweet voice travel through every nerve in my body. "Angelic, I just left Kano city and I'm on my way to Katsina. I couldn't bear it anymore, that's why I called you before the highway swallows up network coverage. Tell me the truth, are you ready, or are you still there fighting with Khalil?"
I pouted as if he could see me, adjusting my pink veil on my head. "What kind of fight, Heartbeat? My preparations finished long ago; I've been waiting for you forever. But please, drive carefully. You know there's a lot of traffic on that highway right now."
He gave a heart-soothing laugh, the sound of which drifted through the phone speaker. "Don't worry, my love. I am driving very carefully. Just thinking about you is enough to keep me calm and focused. I'll call you when I'm close to entering Katsina, okay?" We said our goodbyes with intense romantic longing, and I stared at the phone screen smiling like a crazy person.
About two and a half hours later, the sound of his car’s sweet engine filled our courtyard. I heard the car before it even pulled into position to park. My heart raced with excitement, and I hurried out of my room, fixing my long gown. When I stepped downstairs, I found him crouching all the way to the ground in front of Daddy, greeting him with absolute respect and humility. He was dressed in a stunning sky-blue shadda outfit that brought out his fair complexion and handsome features.
Daddy was sitting on a prayer mat, his face blooming with a happy and encouraging smile. He looked at me, then back at Ahmad, and said, "Ah, Inteesar, your visitor is here. Ahmad, did you arrive safely? Hope you didn't have a hard journey?"
"Safely, Daddy. The road was fine, except for the usual traffic," Ahmad replied, keeping his head bowed and both hands folded in a sign of respect. After a few minutes of pleasant greetings, Daddy stood up and left us in the large living room so we could spend time together.
Ahmad turned and showered me with intense, affectionate, and cheerful eyes. He stared at me for a long time before letting out a soft sigh. "You look breathtakingly beautiful, Inteesar. You keep getting prettier every day." He pushed a large, shiny, beautifully wrapped box toward me. "Take this, it's just a little something I brought you from Kano."
I accepted the large wrapped box, my face beaming with a happy smile. I looked at Ahmad and asked, "A gift too, Heartbeat? What is inside this huge box?"
He leaned his back against the living room couch, looking at me with calm, loving eyes. "Open it and see, Angelic. Everything inside is yours, and I chose them specifically for you."
I quickly began tearing the shiny wrapping paper off the box. When I opened it, my eyes landed on a gorgeous, expensive super-wax fabric in sky-blue that matched his outfit, along with bottles of luxurious, well-known expensive perfumes, and some sparkling gold bangles. I widened my eyes in sheer surprise and delight. "This is too much, Heartbeat! You really spent a lot. Thank you so much."
"Nothing is too much for my Angelic," he said in a low, warm voice. "My only desire is to see you happy every single moment. And I want you to wear this material on the day I bring my family to meet Daddy."
My heart skipped a beat with a sweet wave of romance, and I lowered my head out of shyness. We sat in the living room for nearly two hours, mapping out how our lives would be after our wedding. Ahmad was my ultimate source of joy, the man I saw as the coolness of my eyes.
The way he looked at me with pure love made me feel like no problem could ever touch us in this world. But I didn't know that all this happiness was merely a setup for a massive cry yet to come.
After admiring the contents of the box with overwhelming joy, I placed it to one side of the couch. I quickly stood up and headed to the kitchen to fetch him some refreshments. I returned with a large tray laden with freshly blended cold fruit juice, fragrant spiced chicken, and other snacks. I found him looking at me warmly.
I placed the tray on the coffee table in front of him, and a house help stepped forward to greet him before stepping back. I poured the juice into a cup and handed it to him. "Bismillah, Heartbeat. Drink up, rest a little, and then you can have some food."
He took the cup, his fingers brushing slightly against mine, sending a sweet chill through me. "Thank you, my Angelic," he said after taking a sip. "The aroma of this chicken alone shows it's from a grand kitchen."
We spent a long time eating and having pleasant conversations. Ahmad talked about his plans to expand his wholesale store in Kano, and how he wanted to bring me close to him after our wedding. Every word escaping his lips showed genuine love and protectiveness. In turn, I told him about our studies at school. Everything flowed in pure joy and clean romance.
Around four in the afternoon, he checked his silver wristwatch. His face shifted to one of reluctance to leave, and he let out a soft sigh. "Angelic, did time fly by this fast? It feels like I just walked into this house. Truly, I need to hit the road now before it gets too late; you know night driving on the Kano highway is dangerous."
Hearing the word "leaving," a heavy chill shot through my body, and my heart dropped flat! 💔 I found myself shaking my head, and my eyes instantly welled up with tears for no reason.
“You’re leaving now?”
He let out a sigh and looked at me. "It's getting dark. I'll be back next week. Until then, take care of yourself. Let's go say goodbye to Daddy."
I walked ahead of him, and he followed me back to Daddy's parlor.
He bid Daddy farewell, and Daddy prayed for his safe journey. I walked him out to his car...
After he got in, he looked at me,
"Angelic."
"Hmm," I replied, a fragile tremor in my voice.
I saw him looking around the courtyard, and suddenly, for the first time since I met him, he caught my hand and kissed the back of it. "Take care of yourself, pray for me, and we'll talk plenty, you hear?"
I couldn't speak. I just nodded my head while tears streamed down my face. I watched as he reversed, honked for the gate to be opened, and drove out...

Chapter Three: The Call

Until Heartbeat's car completely vanished from my sight, I stood at the gate, staring down the road he had taken. My heart was heavy with a profound weight and a creeping dread mixed with lingering warmth. I wiped the tears from my face and whispered softly, "May Allah protect your journey, Heartbeat..." I slowly walked back inside the house, my legs feeling like lead.
In the large living room, I found Daddy sitting on his prayer mat, fingers wrapped around his prayer beads, engaged in silent remembrance of Allah. I walked over quietly and sat on the floor beside him.
He stopped turning his beads and looked at me with his paternal, loving eyes. "Did he leave safely, Inteesar?"
I nodded slowly, "Yes, Daddy, he has gone."
Daddy smiled warmly, his face glowing. "Ahmad is a good man. A well-bred young man with good character. May Allah establish goodness for us through him."
I felt a rush of happiness in my chest, lowering my head shyly once more.
We spent about two hours like that, while I moved around tidying up the living room, though my mind remained entirely fixed on the Kano highway. I couldn't sit still; every five minutes, I glanced at the clock. Around half past six in the evening, just as the sky began to darken with the approaching twilight of Maghrib, my phone resting on the table let out a piercing ring.
I rushed to check the screen, and seeing the caller ID My Heartbeat 💖, I let out a deep breath, assuming he was close to entering Kano as he had promised. I quickly hit answer and pressed it to my ear with a smile. "Hello Heartbeat! Have you arrived..."
Before I could finish, I was cut off by a sharp, panicked male voice speaking in absolute terror:
"Hello, please a cold-blooded accident just happened along the highway. The owner of this phone is involved in a fatal crash. Please, is this his relative?" 📞💥
The words froze dead in my brain. I felt as though I had been struck in the chest. The entire world began to spin, my vision blurred, and right then, I collapsed unconscious to the floor near Daddy's feet, losing all awareness of my surroundings. The phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor, still ringing.
Daddy jumped up immediately in sheer panic, dropping his prayer beads completely. "Inteesar! Inteesar! What happened?" He looked at the phone on the floor, which was still connected, and knelt down with difficulty as his body began to tremble. He picked it up and pressed it to his ear to hear what kind of news had stolen the breath from the apple of his eye...
Alhaji Kabeeru pressed the phone to his ear, his voice trembling intensely as he spoke. "Hello? Who is this? What happened to the owner of this phone?"
The man on the other end repeated in a rush, "Sir, the car had a terrible head-on collision with a heavy truck. It's a fatal accident along the highway. We are trying to move the bodies to the nearest hospital right now."
⚡ Hearing those words caused the blood in Daddy's veins to freeze instantly. The phone nearly slipped from his hand as terror and dread enveloped him. His potential death at that very moment would be a monumental catastrophe for the life of his only daughter, his pride and joy. He looked at Inteesar lying motionless on the floor, breathing faintly, and then clutched his rapidly pounding chest. His hypertension flared up instantly, and he felt his vision going dark.
With veteran resilience and immense willpower, Daddy cut the call and shouted for Mommy Haleema. "Haleema! Haleema!! Come out quickly!"
Mommy Haleema rushed out of the kitchen holding a wooden spoon, her face etched with shock at the altered tone of Daddy's voice. As she stepped into the living room, she spotted Inteesar on the floor and then saw Daddy holding onto a couch, on the verge of collapsing from dizziness. The spoon dropped from her hand instantly, and she ran forward uttering invocations. "Innalillahi wa inna ilaihir raji'un! Alhaji, what happened? Inteesar!!"
"Call... call Adam..." That was the only phrase that barely managed to escape Daddy's lips before he, too, slipped down to sit on the floor due to his violently shaking body. Amidst tears and panic, Mommy Haleema grabbed the phone and frantically dialed Adam, their eldest son, telling him to rush home immediately because everything had fallen apart.

Chapter Four: The Tragic Truth

He drove at breakneck speed down the street without turning, his mind entirely shattered. In under ten minutes, Adam slammed his car brakes in our courtyard. Rushing out alongside Abubakar, they found the living room transformed into a scene of mourning and chaos. Mommy Haleema was crying while trying to lift an unconscious Inteesar, while Daddy sat on the floor clutching his chest, breathing with extreme difficulty.
"Innalillahi wa inna ilaihir raji'un!" Abubakar exclaimed, his voice shaking as he reached Daddy's side. "Adam, help me lift Daddy quickly! His blood pressure has shot way up."
Adam didn't waste a second; he knelt and scooped Inteesar into his arms with a tender yet desperately frightened touch, while Abubakar and Mommy Haleema supported Daddy into the car. Mommy Haleema sat in the back seat, placing Inteesar’s head on her lap while crying and stroking her face, while Abubakar held onto Daddy, who was breathing shallowly.
Adam slammed on the gas, driving straight to the nearest major hospital. Upon arrival, nurses rushed over with a stretcher, taking Daddy and Inteesar away toward the Emergency Ward. 🚑
Adam and Abubakar stood in the hospital corridor, both holding their heads in their hands, their faces etched with despair. Abubakar looked at Adam, his eyes red and bloodshot. "Yaya Adam, what did Mommy tell you on the phone about Ahmad? What kind of call did Inteesar receive?"
Before Adam could answer, Inteesar’s phone in Abubakar's hand rang again. Checking the screen, he saw a different number calling, indicating it was someone from the accident scene...
Abubakar checked the ringing phone in his hand, seeing an unfamiliar, unsaved number. He looked at Adam, then pressed the answer button and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"
The same male voice from earlier echoed through the speaker, but this time sounding exhausted and subdued. "Hello, I want to let you know that the bodies of the victims who died in the accident have already been transported to the General Hospital. The personal items of the owner of this phone are entirely with the security personnel here." 🏥
A heavy wave of sweat broke out across Abubakar's forehead all at once, and he felt his body turn ice-cold. He couldn't speak for two full seconds before finally forcing out a fractured voice, "Please, brother, has the actual name of the driver who died been identified?"
The man paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, his driver's license was checked; his name is Ahmad Mai Tangaran, and his car was a black Camry..." 🚗💥
Abubakar didn't wait for the man to finish. He slowly lowered the phone from his ear, his eyes welling up with tears of sheer grief. He looked at Adam, who was waiting for an answer in mounting dread.
"Yaya Adam..." Abubakar called his name with a cracked, broken voice. "Ahmad is gone."
Adam clutched his chest, sliding down to sit on the long bench in the hospital corridor, unable to utter a single word due to the massive shock that struck his heart. They knew that if Inteesar woke up and heard this news, her life could fall into extreme peril.
A few moments later, a doctor stepped out of the Emergency Ward wiping sweat from his face with a tissue, walking toward where Adam and Abubakar stood...
The doctor emerged from the Emergency Ward looking distressed. Adam and Abubakar hurried toward him, each waiting to hear the condition of their father and sister.
The doctor adjusted his glasses, looked at Adam, and said, "Before anything else, I want you to calm down. Your father's blood pressure spiked severely due to extreme shock, but we have given him medication now, and his condition is stabilizing. He needs special rest for a few hours."
Abubakar let out a breath, "Alhamdulillah. What about my sister Inteesar?"
The doctor paused, gently shaking his head. "She is in a different kind of state. The psychological shock caused her fainting spell. She is beginning to stir now, but she has not returned to full consciousness. She is in a dreamlike state where she keeps calling the name of 'Heartbeat' nonstop. We need to figure out what terrified her so badly before she fully wakes up, because if she snaps out of it in this state of panic, it could affect her brain." 🧠
Adam looked at Abubakar, his eyes filling with tears. How could they possibly hide this bitter truth from her when she woke up, especially when she was lying there calling out her lover's name even in her sleep?
Adam quickly turned back to look at Abubakar, his eyes brimming with tears he was struggling to hold back. "Abubakar, we need to call Ahmad's father or his elder brother right now before the news reaches them through some other channel. Since we were the ones called on his phone, the responsibility of informing them falls on us." 📱
Abubakar nodded, wiping his face. "That's true, Adam. Find his elder brother Yaya Murad's number in Inteesar's phone and let's call him right now."
Adam hastily scrolled through the phone's contact list until he found the number of Ahmad's older brother. He hit call, his heart pounding furiously. After two rings, the phone was picked up.
"Hello, Murad speaking," Yaya Murad’s calm voice came through from the other end.
Adam swallowed a bitter lump, forced himself to steady his voice, and began to speak...