His Irreplaceable Love.

Chapter Nine.

Rukiya punishes Aliya by burning her.

Some people say that trust can be mended by saying sorry. But how many times do you have to say the word so that the person will forgive you?

"Aliya, what's the matter? I have been calling you for a while now, and you haven't been answering. Tell Nanny what's wrong." Her nanny, Lea, asks her.

Aliya knew that she couldn't lie to her Nanny because she was practically her mother.

"I am fine; I promise you, Nanny. It's just that I wish I could finish high school, go to college, and maybe even move out of this house. I don't know why we are still here when we aren't even wanted or treated like family members," Aliya says, expressing her concern as she has been facing more than bullying in school by her sister.

It didn't matter that Alina tried to turn every single person who had been her friend against her.

"Habibty, you know why we can't leave...

"Yes, unless they kick us out, right? I am sorry, Nanny, for being such a burden to you..."

"Don't you dare say? You are and will never be a burden to me. You are my granddaughter. Your mother was like my daughter. And I loved you both so much more than myself," Nanny tells her, hugging Aliya.

Aliya couldn't help but feel tears coming out of her eyes. The love she had for Nanny was the love of both a father and a mother.

And that's what she needed and will always have.

"Now, dry your tears and tell me what the matter is. And don't tell me you are fine or you will be fine," Nanny Lea tells her as they both take a seat on her bed.

Aliya started explaining to her what had happened in the past few months at school and how her childhood best friend had changed just because of a rumor that Alina had started.

"She even has a Photoshop picture of us, Nanny. I don't know how someone like that could be so jealous of their sibling. Even though we don't share the same mother or even if I don't have our father's love as she does. I just want to be happy and leave this place and never look back..."

"Allah knows best, Habibty. He knows why we are still here. All I can say is that you should never lose hope and faith, as they are the most important things that you can do in life. As for Hamza, that's his loss and not yours, my dear," Nanny Lea comforted Aliya, who knew that she was telling the truth.

All she needed was a little bit of patience, and everything would be fine.

"Thank you so much, Nanny. I love you".

They were unfortunately interrupted by one of the maids, who was told by Rukiya to call Aliya to her room.

"What could she want, Nanny?" Aliya asks as she looks scared of Rukiya.

Because she remembered when Rukiya 'punished' her for not ironing the clothes properly.

Flashback.

"You go and iron the clothes and make sure that there aren't any creases, or else I would punish you in the worst way possible," Rukiya says, pointing at Aliya, who was beside Nanny.

Aliya quickly rushed to do what she was told to do, and after some time, Alina came in and poured water on top of the clothes that she had just ironed.

"What's the matter with you? Why did you do this?"

Aliya tried to stop her but couldn't because Alina had already poured the entire bottle of water on top of the clothes.