Chapter 50
Fear is not a feeling I welcome, but from the moment I heard Madeline’s voice until the moment we arrived at the Bedouin camp, following the instructions of the people who rescued her, I felt suffocated.
I’ve dealt with terrorist attacks, various political and religious crises in our country. I’ve survived my father’s death. And yet, as I step into the tent, I pray with all the faith I have that my wife and child are safe.
On the way, I spoke to Odin and asked him to help me locate Adil.
Meanwhile, Zarif asked Raez to issue a warrant for my advisor’s arrest.
It’s as if the life I knew exploded in my face. Everything I was sure of dissolved in a matter of seconds.
The betrayal of a man I believed to be my best friend. The discovery that my brother, whom I once hated, has always been loyal to me.
And most crucially: the realization that no matter how much power I have, today I could have lost everything if something had happened to Madeline.
I reach the entrance of the tent, and I know that the ambulance will come for her in a couple of minutes, as I asked one of my security personnel to arrange it.
However, before that, I need to see for myself that she is okay, since Madeline didn’t provide any details on the phone about what happened, only stating that she needed assistance.
She didn’t want to keep talking while I drove to her either.
“Your Excellency, it’s an honor to have you in my humble home,” an elderly woman says when I arrive. “The future princess is resting.”
I don’t want to waste time, but I need to know at least one thing. “What happened?”
“She was running away from someone. A man who, according to what she told us, tried to kidnap her. She passed out shortly after, so we had to wait for her to regain consciousness to be able to call you.”
“Take me to where my wife is.”
The place is relatively small, and I don’t take long to find her, but when I finally see her, I’m horrified by the scratches on her face and arms. There’s also a small cut on her chin.
Kidnapping.
They tried to kidnap her.
I’m so confused I can’t fully grasp the details, but what matters now is that Madeline is alive.
She allows me to hug her, but she doesn’t return the embrace. I sit beside her and hold her face, but she doesn’t look at me.
She’s probably in shock.
“He tried to take me,” she says, but it’s like she’s talking about someone else. Her voice doesn’t reveal any emotion.
“Who, Madeline?”
“I don’t know. A man. He was going to kidnap me. He told me that my life as a princess was over. I don’t know his name, but he knew mine.”
“How did he manage to reach you?”
“I fled from the palace.”
“What?”
“I overheard your conversation with Adil. You were monitoring me,” she says, not giving me time to explain.
“I know you were planning to wait for our child to be born and then give me the option to leave alone. You thought I was a gold-digger and that I would use my baby as leverage, so I ran away.”
The strangest thing is that I don’t focus on the gravity of what she’s saying—that because of me, she could have been kidnapped or even killed. Instead, I wonder why Madeline doesn’t try to free herself from my arms.
I look at her, and I don’t see the vibrant girl who professed her love for me.
Instead, there’s someone who’s built a wall around herself.
“What you heard . . . It was a misunderstanding.”
“Yes, it was. You thought I was one of your exes. I never wanted your money; I just wanted you. I’ve always only wanted you.”
“Madeline, I—”
We hear the commotion of the paramedics before they come into the tent, followed by Zarif. This is the only moment she shows any emotion: surprise at seeing my brother.
“Your Excellency, we need your authorization to transfer Her Excellency, the future princess, to the palace’s hospital.”
For security reasons, there’s a hospital for the Royal Family within the palace walls.
“They need to examine you, okay? I will go with you in the ambulance.”
“It goes against your security protocols.”
“Nothing is more important than the two of you.”
She nods, looking exhausted, and then lies down on the stretcher as instructed. I follow behind with my brother, who, like me, gets into the ambulance right after Madeline.
She seems asleep, and then Zarif says in a low voice, “They got him. Odin took less than fifteen minutes to locate Adil’s second phone. He was at the border, trying to escape.”
Madeline opens her eyes. “Got who?” she asks.
“Adil. We believe he was behind all of this,” I explain, not going into the details of what ‘all of this’ means. We’ll have time to talk later.
“If it was him, then maybe he has an accomplice. The man who tried to kidnap me said he would take me to someone.”
“Can you describe him?” I ask, but then Adil’s phone, still in my pocket, vibrates.
“Just a moment,” I say and pick up the phone to see who it is.
There’s a text with a single sentence that confirms our suspicions.
“She escaped.”
It’s from an unknown number, and I show it to Zarif. “Yes, Adil has an accomplice.”
“Odin will find out who sent this text in the blink of an eye. Keep this phone. It probably has evidence we’ll need for the bastard’s conviction.”
“Kamal,” Madeline calls.
“Yes, habibti[22]?”
“I broke my phone, but I’d like you to do me a favor,” she asks formally, as if we are mere strangers. “Call Zoe or Christos. I want my family with me.”
My family.
Those words feel like a dagger twisting in my heart, but I attribute them to the pain she must be feeling. “I’ll ask my mother and sisters to come to the hospital as well,” I say carefully.
“As you wish,” she replies, turning her face to the side, pretending to sleep.
An hour later, she’s been examined, and the doctor reassures me that there are no broken bones, but he wants to talk to both of us about the baby.
I stand next to the hospital bed, holding Madeline’s hand, and she can’t hide her fear.
“I don’t understand. You said everything was fine with me, doctor, but you are not sure about my child?” She mixes up three words in a relatively short sentence, and witnessing her anxiety feels like a glove squeezing my heart. I would give anything to spare her this pain.
But it was you who caused her pain in the first place, a voice reminds me.
I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for putting her at risk. My conversation with Adil was what made her run away.
“What I’m trying to say, Your Exce—” he begins, but she interrupts him:
“Miss Turner.”
“What I’m trying to say is that we’ve confirmed there was no bleeding, which is a good sign.
But since you’re still in the very early stages of your pregnancy, we’ll only be sure there was no miscarriage with a blood test, checking the beta hcg levels.
And even then, I advise repeating it at least three times, every two days. ”
Madeline covers her face with both hands. “Oh my God, what have I done?”
“Can you leave us, doctor?”
“Of course, Your Excellency.”
He leaves, and I hug her. “It’s not your fault. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“It is my fault. Right after leaving the palace, I realized I had made a mistake. I was dizzy, I felt sick, and that’s the only reason I accepted a ride from a stranger.”
“He was waiting for you, or more likely, someone informed him that you had left; otherwise, he wouldn’t have found you so quickly. But I promise he will pay, Madeline. They will all pay,” I swear because that is one of the few things I’m sure of in my life right now.
“And what difference will that make if I lose my baby, Kamal? I know we didn’t plan for it, but I want my child.” She cries, hugging me, and I let her vent, not allowing my own pain to show. Madeline needs my support, even though right now I feel as torn inside as my woman.
“I called Christos,” I tell her. “He told me the doctor advised against Zoe traveling, as her pregnancy is advanced. But when the obstetrician confirms that everything is fine with our baby—”
“When?”
“Yes, when. I’ve been praying, and I know our child will be okay.”
“Once, you told me you were a realist.”
“And I am, but not when it comes to you and our baby. In that case, I’m a man of faith.”
“Alright. Go on.”
“Zoe’s obstetrician thinks she shouldn’t travel, but as soon as you do the third blood test and confirm our baby is fine, I will take you to Boston on our plane.”
“But . . .”
“What’s wrong? Did you think I’d keep you trapped in Sintarah, Madeline?”
“Yes, I did.”
I step back a little to look at her. “What you heard was my jealousy talking right after I found you with Zarif. Add that to Adil bringing me the recording of the call to your mother.”
“You ordered them to watch me?”
“No. There’s an internal security system because of the attacks we’ve suffered.
Whenever a certain keyword is mentioned, the conversation is automatically recorded and reported to my government’s intelligence agency.
At some point during the call, your mother said ‘bomb.’ Now, however, knowing what I do about Adil, I’m not sure whether he wasn’t watching you for his own purposes. ”
“Tell me about him.”
I quickly tell her what Zarif reported to me: that it was Adil who was Hiba’s lover. Then I explain the misunderstandings between me and my brother over the years.
“I would never have imagined your counselor would be capable of betraying you. Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I will find out. I’m waiting for my mother and sisters to come and be with you, then I’ll go straight to the prison.”
“At least something good came out of this: you and Zarif cleared things up.”
“And us?”
“I don’t know anything anymore, Kamal, and I can’t make a decision right now. Please don’t pressure me.”
“We’ll go away. Start over, do things as we should have from the beginning.”
“No. I gave up everything I could for you. Now, I’ll follow my heart. I want to see my family. Zoe is the only person I’m sure loves me unconditionally.”
I know I deserve to hear that, but even so, I’m not prepared for the pain that spreads through my chest. I don’t know how to deal with it or with the rejection from the woman who, now I’m sure, will be the only one I’ll love until my last breath on this planet.
So I decide to do what I’ve been trained to do: be the ruthless leader.
Minutes later, my mother and sisters arrive, and I say goodbye to Madeline, promising to come back later. Then I go to confront the man who played with my fiancée’s and my child’s lives.
Adil tried to destroy my life. I’ll find out why, and then I’ll make him pay.