Haneef: Baby, please… [he tries to get closer, but she keeps screaming and crying for help]
Nusaybah: [crying bitterly, crawling out of the room while he follows] Stay away from me! Don’t touch me! Please, I’m begging you! [she keeps pleading as she crawls away]
Haneef: Please, you’re hurting yourself. Stop screaming—the neighbors are sleeping. Just hear me out!
[He finally manages to touch her. She screams so loud that she instantly passes out.]
Haneef: NUSAYBAH!!! Please wake up, please! I’m sorry! Please… [tears gush down his face]
---
DAY BREAK
Nusaybah: [slowly opens her eyes, everything around her looks white] Am I… dead? [sharp headache] Auuuuch! My head…
Haneef: [overjoyed, rushing to her side] Oh my God! She’s awake! My wife is awake! Alhamdulillah!
Nusaybah: [her vision clears, but the first person she sees is her husband; she hurriedly sits up, heart pounding heavily]
Haneef: [tries to move closer] Baby… you’re awake! Alhamdulillah.
Nusaybah: Don’t touch me! Don’t come near me! [panicking as she tries to get down from the bed] Please… I’m pleading… just stay away from me.
Haneef: Baby, please… I’m sorry. [he breaks down in tears]
Nusaybah: Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! [yells at him, trembling] I said don’t touch me!
[She jumps off the bed and tries to run away, but he holds her tightly.]
Nusaybah: Leave me alone! Please! Your touch burns my skin… like fire! I’m begging you!
Haneef: [realizes her pleading is deeper than his strength, he lets her go; immediately falls on his knees] Please… forgive me. I have caused you more pain than you could ever imagine. Please… [bows his head]
Nusaybah: [runs off, heading toward the door; he quickly runs after her]
Haneef: Baby! Please wait! Don’t go! Please… [grabs her waist, desperate] I’m sorry. Please don’t run to your parents’ house again. I promise, I will never hurt you again. Please, my love, I’m so sorry…
Nusaybah: [remembers the promise she made to her father—not to run away from her matrimonial home—then she breaks down in tears]
Haneef: I’m sorry… joor! Have mercy on me. Please! This… this was what I was avoiding all these months. I’m so sorry… I’m living in regret every single day.
Nusaybah: [shaking, heads back inside; she rushes into the old guest room and locks the door]
Haneef: [tries to open the door] Nusaybah, please… open the door. Please, don’t hurt yourself… I’m begging you! [keeps knocking, desperate for her response, but none comes]
[Defeated, he slumps by the doorstep, sobbing, pleading for her forgiveness. Suddenly, he hears his children crying from the master bedroom.]
Haneef: Baby… our kids are awake! They need you. Please, come out. We need you more than ever right now—we can’t afford to lose you. Forgive me, please…
[Still no response. The children’s cries grow louder, calling for their mother. Haneef, weeping, rushes to them. He picks them up and carries them to the locked guest-room door.]
Haneef: [voice breaking] Baby, we’re all here… by the door. Waiting for you to come out. Please… forgive me.
[The children cry even harder, screaming their mother’s name. But Nusaybah remains silent. Heartbroken, Haneef carries them to the kitchen. He sobs bitterly while trying to prepare breakfast, struggling to calm them, but nothing stops their cries.]
---
A few hours later. The house is quiet except for muffled sobs behind the locked guest-room door. The children are asleep. Haneef sits on the floor by the door, his face streaked with tears.]
Narrator:
Nusaybah finds it impossible to get over the truth. She cannot believe her husband was behind her pain all these years. She hates herself for giving in to him last night. She regrets every word, every action—freeing him from prison, defending him before her family. She wishes she had known better.
In her grief, she isolates herself, crying endlessly, though she knows her children need her.
[Food trays pile up by the door, untouched. Haneef keeps begging.]
Haneef: [pleading softly] Baby, please eat… please forgive me. Don’t punish yourself this way.
[Hours pass. Night falls. The clock shows 9:32pm. Haneef’s patience breaks. He starts pounding the door.]
Haneef: [shouting, desperate] Nusaybah! Open the door, please! Don’t do this to yourself!
[He rams the door with his shoulder, again and again. Nothing. He tries different tools, sweating, trembling. Finally, with his weak body, he manages to force it open.]
[Inside: Nusaybah lies stiff on the floor, conscious but unmoving, her skin cold.]
Haneef: [panics, rushing to her side] Ya Allah! Nusaybah! [lifts her gently onto the bed, covering her with two blankets] Why must you hurt yourself for my stupidity? Look at you… [crying bitterly] I almost lost you. If you had died because of me… I would have killed myself too. There’s no point living without you.
[He rushes to the kitchen, prepares hot tea, and comes back, forcing the spoon gently to her lips.]
Haneef: Please… drink this. Don’t punish yourself for my sins. Punish me, not you.
[She reluctantly swallows a little, but when he tries to feed her, she pushes the food away and suddenly screams.]
Nusaybah: GET OUT!!! [her voice cracks with pain] Seeing you right now makes me want to kill myself! You—being nice to me? After everything? After all the emotional damage? And I still tried to forgive you… not knowing you’re still the monster who raped me? And then you punished me for not being a virgin?! Haaaaaaa! Haneef! Get out of my sight! It’s OVER between us. OVER!
[Haneef falls on his knees, trembling.]
Haneef: [weeping] Please, baby… I’m sorry. I know what I did deserves life imprisonment. I know! But don’t hurt yourself. Hate me—yes, hate me. But don’t hate yourself. Please… I don’t want to lose you again. You are all I need.
[He reaches out. She slaps him hard across the face.]
Nusaybah: I SAID GET OUT!
[Haneef holds his cheek, nodding slowly.]
Haneef: Then hit me harder. If that’s what will heal you, I’m ready. Hit me as much as you want. I deserve it.
[Nusaybah explodes, hitting him with her fists, slapping, shoving, crying uncontrollably. He doesn’t move, just takes it.]
Haneef: [through tears] More! Hit me more! Let it all out!
Nusaybah: [screaming] I hate you! I hate you so much! [she keeps hitting him, then collapses on the floor, wailing like a child]
Haneef: [kneeling beside her] I love you. I love you more than anything. Please… pass your anger on me. But don’t destroy yourself.
Nusaybah: [screaming bitterly] Haneef! You hurt me! You monster! I hate you! I hate you! Just get out! You disgust me! GET OUT!!!
[She throws a wooden stick at him, hitting his face. He staggers back.]
Haneef: [bleeding slightly, voice breakinganeef: (wipes his tears) If that’s what will make you feel better, then I’ll leave… but know this, I’m not abandoning you, not like this. I’m sorry for everything.
(She angrily picks up a wooden stick and hurls it at him to silence him.)
Haneef: (sighs) Okay fine! I’ll go…
(He stumbles out of the room, tears streaming down his face. Dropping heavily onto the couch, he buries his head in his hands, rubbing roughly at his hair in frustration.)
Haneef: Haneef! What have you done? What have you done to your own wife?!
(He slams his fists against the wall repeatedly, harder each time, until blood drips from his knuckles. The sound of Nusaybah’s muffled cries from the other room only fuels his self-destruction, and he continues until his body weakens and he collapses against the wall, trembling.)
---
The sorrowful days dragged on. For an entire week, Nusaybah locked herself away—refusing to see him or the children, refusing food, until a female doctor had to put her on drips just to keep her alive.
She despised the sight of her husband. Every time she thought of him, her body shook with rage and shame. Yet Haneef didn’t give up. He poured every ounce of love into their children, making sure they didn’t feel the absence of their mother—though their constant cries for her pierced his heart.
Gradually, Nusaybah’s tears slowed, though her heart remained shattered. She avoided Haneef like a plague, but the truth of their pain was carefully hidden from both families.
One cold evening, she finally stepped out of her isolation. Her weak frame paused as she caught sight of her husband and children asleep on the bare tiled floor, their bodies huddled together against the chill. She froze for a few seconds, her heart pounding, before silently retreating to the master bedroom to shower.
Minutes later, freshly bathed, she emerged again—only to see Haneef stretching on the couch.
Nusaybah: (startled, she turns to rush back into her room)
Haneef: (leaps over the couch, blocking her path, hands trembling) Baby! Wait… I… I… are you okay now? Please, don’t hurt yourself anymore. Hurt me instead. I’m so sorry…
(She scans him from head to toe, noticing his dramatic weight loss, the bruises scarring his hands, and the hollow look in his eyes. For a moment, her anger surges, her chest rising heavily as she stares him down. He quickly releases her hand and steps aside. She silently slips back into the room and shuts the door.)
Haneef: (whispers through the door) Should I bring you dinner then? Please… say something.
(Inside, Nusaybah sinks to the floor, burying her head in her knees, tears rolling silently.)
Haneef: (to himself, pacing) What do I prepare for her? How can I bring her appetite back? I have to do something…
(A loud knock interrupts. He freezes, then cautiously opens the door.)
Haneef: Mum?! What are you doing here?
Mrs. Gbenga: (storming in) Do you know how many days I’ve been trying to reach you both? No calls, no answers! What is going on here? Why is the house in this state? Where’s your wife?!
Haneef: (sighs heavily) Mum… please, not now. This isn’t the right time. Just go home, I beg you. We need space.
Mrs. Gbenga: (shocked) Go home? After all this effort to get here? You must be joking! You’re hiding something again, aren’t you? Where’s Nusaybah? Nusaybah, my dear!
(She pushes him aside and storms into the master bedroom, but finds it empty. Her suspicion deepens.)
Mrs. Gbenga: Where is she?!
Haneef: (pleading) Mum, please… for Allah’s sake, leave now.
Mrs. Gbenga: (ignores him, moves further in, notices the children asleep on the cold tiles) What in the world?! Sleeping on bare floor? Are you mad, Haneef? (she scoops them up) Where is their mother?!
(Haneef bows his head, tears rolling silently down his cheeks, hand clutching his waist in torment.)
Mrs. Gbenga: (eyes widening at his tears) Okomi! What did you do again? What did you do to this poor girl?
Haneef: (mutters, broken) Please stop, mum…
Mrs. Gbenga: No! Where is your wife?!
Nusaybah: (suddenly appears from behind, forcing a bright smile) I’m here, ma.
Mrs. Gbenga: (relieved, rushing to her) Alhamdulillah! I thought something terrible had happened. (embraces her tightly) My dear, are you okay? You’re cold… tell me, did he hurt you?
Nusaybah: (nods slowly) Yes, ma. He did.
(Mrs. Gbenga’s face darkens with fury. She storms to Haneef, grabs her slippers, and lashes him across his back and arms repeatedly.)
Mrs. Gbenga: You wicked boy! After all your promises? You dare hurt her again?!
(Haneef stands still, silently enduring the blows, his eyes fixed only on Nusaybah with pain and regret.)
Nusaybah: (clings to her mother-in-law from behind) Please, mum, stop. Just let him be.
Mrs. Gbenga: No, my dear, I won’t stop! He made promises to your parents and now he has broken them!
Nusaybah: (voice breaking) It’s okay, mum. Just let him be… please.
Mrs. Gbenga: (throws her slippers down in frustration, pointing at Haneef) God save you, Haneef! If not for this loving wife of yours who still pities you, you’d know my full wrath today..
Haneef: (moves closer and whispers) Should I bring the food? You look so weak.
Nusaybah: I'm fine…
Mrs. Gbenga: (studying them) I thought you two were fighting?
Haneef: Mum! Please, just stay out of this! We need some quiet alone right now.
Mrs. Gbenga: I'm not leaving… not until you tell me exactly what’s going on here.
Haneef: Okay, fine! She remembered everything, okay? Are you happy now?
Mrs. Gbenga: (shocked) You mean… she… she remembered? Everything? Uh… maybe I should get going then… I guess I came at the wrong time. (picks up her bag and leaves quickly)
Nusaybah: (tries to head back inside)
Haneef: (turns to her sadly and kneels) You are everything I have and everything I need, and I can’t imagine my life without you. Please… spare me and give me a chance to make it up to you… forgive me.
Nusaybah: (heads back into the room thirty minutes later)
Haneef: (gently opening the door, holding a tray) Can I come in, dear?
Nusaybah: (raises her head but stays silent)
Haneef: I’ll take that as a yes. (moves closer, placing a tray with a bowl of noodles, water, and fruit salad) Do you need anything else? You know this is noodles… you need to eat it right now… or should I feed you?
Nusaybah: (notices his shaking hand and stares at him for a moment)
Haneef: Please, dear… eat, or should I feed you? You need to have something… okay, what about the fruit salad? I made it for you… (picks up a forkful and gently stretches it toward her mouth, waiting patiently) Please… eat.
Nusaybah: (stares at him for half a minute, feeling a little sympathy, then opens her mouth) Put it.
Haneef: (surprised)