<p>After mocking me thoroughly, they let me go and drove off.</p><p>I started crying, and my friends kept asking me who those rude women were. I couldn’t answer because I had never seen them before.</p><p>When I got home, I told my mother what had happened. Fear gripped her because she knew that only Alhaji Sadeeq’s wife could have done such a thing. She consoled me.</p><p>“Don’t worry, Niimatullah. One day, you will become the woman they underestimated.”</p><p>Those insults made me want to abandon my marriage. I preferred to remain unmarried rather than endure such humiliation. I cried non-stop as my mother tried to comfort me.</p><p>When he called, I answered in tears. He tried to calm me down, but I refused to stop crying.</p><p>"Tell me what’s wrong, Niimatullah," he pleaded.</p><p>Through my sobs, I said, “I want to end this marriage. Please divorce me so I can be free.”</p><p>He was shocked. “What did you just say, Niimatullah? Are you okay?”</p><p>I heard a woman’s voice shouting at him in the background. “You are a disgrace, you old fool! You could marry anyone, and you chose this filthy child?”</p><p>His voice wavered before he ended the call.</p><p>He didn’t call me back that day or the next. Surprisingly, I began to miss him. I didn’t even go to school, and that’s when I realized how much I cared for him.</p><p>On the second day, he came to our house. His head was bandaged, and he walked slowly as if he was injured.</p><p>Pity filled my heart. I rushed to him. “Dattijona! What happened to you?”</p><p>He looked up and smiled weakly. “I had an accident yesterday.”</p><p>My mother and I consoled him and led him to sit on a mat inside.</p><p>I started whining at him, crying. “You left me! You turned off your phone and ignored me!”</p><p>He apologized. “I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything. Please stop crying—it’s not good for your health.”</p><p>"I was hit by a car yesterday," he explained. “My phone got destroyed in the accident, which is why I couldn’t call you.”</p><p>I wasn’t satisfied with his answer, so I asked, “Then who was that woman insulting you over the phone?”</p><p>He hesitated. “That was just a bad network connection. No one insulted me.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
