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He didn’t even greet because of the anger boiling in his chest. He only paused, wondering: Why did Taj call him at such a time? What was the reason behind the call? And why had Alhaji Ubaid and his family come to the house?

His heart whispered to him that maybe they had learned everything that happened between him and his daughter, and that was why they brought Alhaji Ubaid’s family to mediate.

Grief overwhelmed him. He turned to leave when suddenly he heard a trembling voice, soaked in tears:

> “Baba! Please don’t go. I’m the one who asked him to call you. I wanted to see you. I need you by my side. I want to talk to you…”

The voice of his own blood froze him in his tracks. It had been so long since he last heard his daughter call him “Baba.”

When she saw he wasn’t turning back, she rushed to him, collapsed to her knees, and clung to his legs, her hands shaking.

He was overwhelmed by a feeling he couldn’t describe. Words deserted him.

Aisha’s sobbing shattered his heart, reopening the wound that had never healed. It had been eighteen years since he last held his only daughter—the one he threw out of his house in the middle of the night with a baby in her arms, never caring whose hands she would fall into, for a crime she never committed. Whenever he remembered it, a grief beyond measure consumed him.

Struggling to her feet, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her head on his shoulder. The warmth of her father’s body brought her a strange comfort despite her pain.

His eyes wandered to her hands gripping his chest. His mind drifted back to the day her mother gave birth, when she had entrusted him with her before death took her away. Truly, he had betrayed Malama Batool’s trust.

Tears welled in his eyes and streamed down his cheeks.

> “Baba! Why didn’t you ever look for me? For eighteen years you never cared how I lived—whether I was sick or healthy, alive or dead. You carried on your life in peace while your only daughter lived in suffering. Even though you abandoned me, my heart never stopped thinking of you. Every day I prayed you would come for me. But your silence crushed my hope, until I stopped believing I even had a father in this world. Did you ever regret what you did to me? Do you know the kind of life you condemned me to?”

Her words tore him apart. No strength could hold back his sobs. Shaking, he turned and pulled her into his chest, holding her tightly.

Everyone in the room—Alhaji Ubaid and his family, Abie and his household, Taj standing at the side—witnessed everything. Tears filled their eyes. It was as if they were watching a moving scene unfold on a screen.

Between sobs, he spoke:

> “Forgive me, Aisha. Your right clings to my soul. I betrayed your mother. I wronged you, and I wronged myself… From the very night I drove you out, I regretted it. I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t myself. It was as if hatred was poured into my heart against you. If I didn’t drive you out, I felt I would die. I kept asking myself why I gave you such a cruel punishment, knowing well you were my precious child. I searched for you, but I couldn’t find you. I cried as I had never cried before. I hated myself. Life lost its taste. I nearly went mad. I locked myself away for days, sick with grief. I fell ill until I was hospitalized. Even in delirium, I called only your name. Aisha, even now, I suffer a heart condition because of losing you. Allah spared me from death, that is why I am alive today…”

Everyone was crying—Benazir, Anila, Mami, even Alhaji Ubaid.

He went on, his voice breaking:

> “I never forgot you. I prayed for you in every salah. I hoped one day you would return, but you never came, and I thought perhaps you had died. Many times I called your number, but it never connected. Still, I prayed: if you and your baby were alive, may Allah protect you both; and if not, may He grant you mercy. I went for Hajj many times only to pray for you.”

He lifted her face in his palms, their tear-filled eyes meeting.

> “Because of you, I left my job and cut ties with everyone. When you never returned, I even left the country. But the first day I saw you again in this house, my heart leapt as if given glad tidings of paradise. Though I was shocked at your changed appearance, my blood recognized you. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I spent the night in prayer, thanking Allah for letting me see you again.”

Unable to bear his guilt, he tried to kneel before her, but she clung to him, begging him not to.

> “Baba, there is no need for forgiveness between us. What happened wasn’t from you. It was from fate. Just like what happened between me and Shureim wasn’t his fault either. Today I finally know the truth—that it was all a plot, to hurt you through me.”

The room froze.

Shocked, he whispered a single name:

> “Musa!”

Everyone trembled.

Slowly, with tears, Aisha confirmed:

> “Yes, Baba. Uncle Musa. He plotted everything between us. He broke me. He betrayed us in ways only Allah can judge. He destroyed my life…”

Gasps filled the room. Some couldn’t believe it. Some remembered things that suddenly made sense.

Benazir then revealed her own hidden truth—that Musa had also wronged her gravely, using sorcery to manipulate her. She had kept silent all this time, fearing no one would believe her.

Voices of grief, disbelief, curses, and prayers filled the room. Dr. Shureim nearly collapsed, realizing the depth of Musa’s evil.

Finally, Taj stepped forward. The entire hall grew silent as he began narrating everything—about the Prison of Destiny, the dark secrets, and Musa’s role in the destruction of so many lives. One by one, the truths unfolded, each more painful than the last.

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🔹 Short Recap

Imam finally reunited with his daughter Aisha after 18 years.

Both broke down in tears, each confessing their pain and regrets.

Aisha revealed that Uncle Musa was the mastermind behind all her suffering.

Benazir confirmed his wickedness, revealing how he also used sorcery against her.

The entire family was shaken, some collapsing in grief.

Taj then began to reveal the whole hidden story about Musa and the Prison of Destiny.

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