Chapter 18: Everything I Ever Prayed For

 Zina settled into her new home with Stan, a quiet house that held warmth and stability, the kind of peace she didn't know she needed until she experienced it. The days felt strange at first, peace was foreign, almost suspicious. She kept waiting for something to go wrong, for a shadow from her past to sneak in through the cracks, but none came.

 Still, deep down, she carried a silent fear not of heartbreak this time, but of what her body might have endured, after everything, the repeated D&Cs, the emotional trauma, the physical stress she couldn't help but wonder if her womb still held life, Every time she touched her stomach, she questioned its future, would it ever swell with the joy of motherhood again? Was she too broken to bloom?

 But alongside the fear was hope, the hope that love heals, and maybe just maybe peace could plant what pain tried to destroy.

Then came the call.

Her phone rang late in the afternoon, Zina was folding her clothes, humming lightly to herself when she saw the name flash across her screen , Richard.... Her chest tightened, but not out of longing, It was something else. Disbelief? Disgust? Amusement?

She picked it up.

"Zina," his voice cracked with familiarity, the tone he used to use when he wanted to manipulate her heart, "I know I should have called sooner. I've been dealing with a lot…"

She said nothing.

"…I came back for you. I've always known you're the one. I was just trying to fix a few things. It's you, Zina. It's always been you."

Zina let him speak, let him string together his words like he used to, hoping it would spark something in her.. but there was nothing.

Then she dropped it, gently and clearly.

"I'm married now."

Silence..Thick.. Deadly...

He laughed a little, that dismissive, shaky laugh of disbelief. "You're joking, right? You? Married? Come on, Zina." but she wasn't laughing. She was standing tall, spine straight, voice firm, "I married a man who didn't have to wound me to prove he loved me. A man who didn't leave me broken and bleeding every year, A man who saw me as worthy not wounded."

He stuttered, Denied, Deflected... He said he needed proof.

Zina, without another word, sent him a photo from her traditional wedding, her hand in Stan's, her eyes calm, her smile unshaken, She imagined the moment he opened it, how his world must have paused. The silence after was golden, but then came the pleas.

 He claimed his "wife" had agreed to sign the divorce papers, that by Easter he'd have everything sorted, that he was planning to marry her ( Zina) all along. His voice trembled now, desperate and unhinged.

Zina sighed, "You said you were planning to marry me every year for four years, you bought time with my blood, Richard. But time's up."

And still, he called.

 When she wouldn't answer, he sent Ada , his loyal echo, Ada called, pretending to be shocked, asking why Zina didn't tell her about the marriage, Zina chuckled softly and replied: "Because I didn't want to be stopped. I didn't want to be talked out of my joy, again. I kept it to myself because I needed to protect my peace."

 But Ada didn't stop, She asked if it was true, She begged to know more, she even had the nerve to remind Zina of the past, the time she swore no man would love her the way her husband did, Zina remembered. Oh, she remembered it so well.

 She remembered crying herself to sleep, she remembered believing Ada, clinging to her words like gospel, she remembered thinking she'd never be loved without pain, never be worthy of kindness, never be seen beyond her past, but now?

 Now she lived with a man who saw her scars and still called her beautiful, who looked into her eyes and saw strength, not shame.

 Zina also remembered the day she found those audio files on Richard's laptop, recordings of him denying her existence, calling her names, laughing with the same girl he claimed was an "ex." Ada knew, She had been there, in the middle of all that deceit, she'd played both sides. And Zina? She was left in the crossfire, now, standing on the other side of that pain, Zina didn't flinch anymore, she let go of the blame, she let go of the need for explanations, all she wanted now was air clean, fresh, honest air. And she had it.

She smiled to herself.

"This chapter of my life," she whispered, "is called Everything I Ever Prayed For."

 Then she walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let the warm water trace the curves of her new life. It wasn't just cleansing her skin, it was washing away years of regret, wrapped in a towel, she sat on her bed and picked up her phone. With steady hands, she opened her music app and searched for Bird Set Free by Sia. As the lyrics filled the room, she closed her eyes.

"I don't care if I sing off key

I find myself in my melodies…"

The words hit her like truth..

Yes, she was free.. Finally, and this freedom wasn't borrowed, begged for, or conditional, it was hers.

Zina smiled.

She had loved wrong, she had trusted blindly, she had given her all to a man who fed on her weakness, but now? Now she was held by a man who loved her boldly, without bloodshed, without apology.

She wasn't lost anymore, she was rising, and this time, she wasn't going to look back...