The phone sat on the table like a ghost.
Silent.
Unmoving.
But loud in her chest.
Amira had read David's letter at least ten times. Each line reopened a wound she had stitched shut with silence. She had stared at the photo of the little girl—his daughter—until her eyes blurred with tears.
She wasn't angry anymore.
She wasn't sure what she was.
But she knew she couldn't pretend the past didn't just knock on her door with a five-year-old smile
That evening, Zainab walked in carrying two steaming cups of hibiscus tea and a stare that said, Talk to me or I'll sit on your chest until you do.
"You haven't called him, have you?"
Amira shook her head, lips trembling.
"Then maybe you should," Zainab said quietly. "Because silence doesn't protect you anymore. It just traps you."
Amira's voice cracked. "What if I'm not ready to hear what I don't want to feel?"
Zainab placed the tea down.
"Then let the truth be your weapon, not your prison."
She sat alone in her room, lights off, rain pattering against the window like a slow heartbeat.
Her thumb hovered over David's number.
One tap.
The line rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Hello?"
His voice was like a memory she hadn't meant to keep.
"It's me," she whispered.
Silence. Then his breath caught.
"I didn't think you'd call," he said.
"I didn't think I would either."
They said nothing for a moment.
But in that stillness, something fragile cracked open.
"I saw her picture," Amira said.
David's voice softened. "Safiya."
"She has your eyes," Amira whispered. "And my peace."
David didn't speak.
She continued, "Do you regret it? All of it?"
"No," he said. "Not being her father. But everything I did that made me lose you? Every day."
Amira leaned against the wall, knees drawn up.
"I don't know if I can forgive you."
"I don't know if I deserve it."
That silence again.
This time it didn't hurt.
Crack in the Ice
"I don't hate you," she said suddenly.
David's voice broke. "That's more than I hoped for."
"But I don't trust you either."
"I'll earn it. If you let me."
She exhaled deeply.
"I'm not saying yes… but I'm not closing the door either."
A pause.
"Then that's all I need," David replied. "Just a crack of light."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Just as she was about to hang up, she heard something in the background.
A woman's voice.
Soft. Familiar.
Too familiar.
And then—laughter. A child's voice. Safiya.
But the woman's next words sent a chill down Amira's spine:
"David, she doesn't need to know everything. Not yet."
Amira's hand froze on the phone.
"…David?" she said, voice suddenly sharp.
The line went quiet.
Too quiet.
Who was the woman on the phone?
And what secrets is David still hiding? let's find out in the next chapter