“He’s not who you think he is. He’s hiding something, Zainab, and when you find out, you’ll wish you were never born.”
Those words stayed with Zainab long after she returned to the hut. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Amina knew something she didn’t. That evening, as Yusha sat beside her, describing the colors of the sunset, she felt a pang of doubt creep into her heart.
“Yusha,” she began hesitantly, “my sister said something… something that’s troubling me.”
He paused, his fingers still on the strings of the oud he played so beautifully. “What did she say?”
“She said you’re hiding something from me.”
There was a silence so thick it felt like another presence in the room. Yusha sighed deeply, placing the oud gently on the ground. “Zainab, there are things in my past, things I’m not proud of. I didn’t lie to you—I just didn’t want to burden you with them. But if you want to know, I’ll tell you.”
Zainab nodded, her heart pounding. “I want to know.”
Yusha’s voice was steady, but there was a tremor of emotion beneath it. “Once, I had everything—a family, wealth, status. I was a merchant, respected and admired. But I lost it all in a single night. A fire destroyed everything I owned, and my family… they didn’t survive. I couldn’t save them.”
Zainab reached out, her hand finding his. “I’m so sorry.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “Grief consumed me. I became a beggar not because I had no choice, but because I didn’t want to go on living. I thought I was cursed, meant to wander alone.” He paused, his voice breaking. “Until I met you.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Me?”
“You gave me hope, Zainab. Your strength, your spirit, your laughter—it brought me back to life. I may not be able to give you riches or a grand house, but I can promise you love and respect.”
Tears slipped down Zainab’s cheeks. In that moment, she realized the truth: the past didn’t matter. The present, their shared moments, their unexpected love—that’s what mattered.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said softly. “Your past doesn’t scare me, Yusha. We all have scars.”
He hugged her tightly, and she could feel his relief in the way he held her, as if afraid she might disappear.
As the days turned into months, Zainab and Yusha built a life together. They planted a small garden behind the hut, and Yusha taught her how to tend to it with patience and care. The village began to notice the changes in them both. Yusha stood taller, his shoulders no longer weighed down by guilt. And Zainab, once the blind girl shunned by her own family, became a source of inspiration.
People came to her for advice, for comfort, drawn to her warmth and wisdom. She had become a beacon of hope, a testament to resilience and the power of love.
Her father, hearing of their happiness, never reconciled, but that was okay. Zainab had found her family in Yusha, in the new friends who surrounded them, and most importantly, in herself.
In the end, the blind girl and the beggar defied the odds, proving that love sees beyond physical sight, discovering beauty in the unlikeliest of places, and leaving everyone speechless with the life they created together.
