His Substitute Wife

Sister-in-law

The next morning, Aleena woke up with a terrible migraine. The previous night, after she had stabbed her new husband, he simply told her to go to bed and closed the door on her. To be honest, she was glad that it had ended at that but it left her very confused and scared. She had just stabbed the biggest tribe leader in the country, after all. He was one of the most powerful and most dangerous men in the country. 

So instead of sleeping, she had just tossed and turned the entire night out of fear. She only stopped moving once Zayd had left the bathroom. She stopped moving altogether and instead acted as still as a log, refusing to even breathe. Fortunately for her however, her new husband did not share the room with her that night. Instead, he left their room and didn't return until the early hours of the morning, right when Aleena had just managed to fall asleep. 

Zayd look down upon his sleeping bride before he walked to the bathroom and picked up his blood and water mixture. He then let it drip on the bed sheets, careful not to wake up the sleeping girl. Once he was done, he quickly went to remove all the evidence. 

If it was one thing Zayd knew about life in the tribe, it was that the mother-in-laws did not rest until their new brides were perfect in their eyes and it usually lead to the brides becoming miserable. They claimed to do it for their son's happiness, but all it did in the end was make their life harder and resulted in them being unhappy as well. He had already experienced it with Nihal and it was one of the main contributors to their divorce. Although his marriage with Aleena was only temporary, she seemed to be much more naive than Nihal was, so he felt as if he had to work harder to protect her from his family. She was also still too young and she seemed so ignorant in all aspects of marriage. He was not sure how she would manage to live with the Arslan family for the next few months, but he felt as if she was entrusted to him for the time being so he would at least try to make it easier for her. As a man, he felt as if he owed it to her father to respect her, even if he had never met the man before. He just wished she would cooperate and make it easier for the two of them. 

The sound of the maids shuffling out of their rooms and into the kitchen made Aleena turn in her sleep. Although the maids tried their hardest to stay quiet, their noises did not go unheard by Aleena who was used to complete and utter silence back in her own home. Her father's room downstairs closer to the kitchen whereas Aleena's was upstairs secluded from everything. As a result, even the quietest of sounds woke her up from her slumber. 

She turned once again before she threw the covers off of her with a groan. The sun was barely out yet so it was still hours too early for her to be awake. However, she was not one who could sleep once she had been awoken so she couldn't help but feel completely awakened. 

She sat up from her sleeping position and wiped her eyes before she opened them only to gasp upon seeing her shirtless husband getting dressed right in front of her. 

"I'm so sorry!" she apologised for no reason at all before she covered her eyes and ran towards the bathroom. 

Zayd watched her through the mirror as he buttoned up his shirt and left the room. He assumed she would be more comfortable without his presence and he was correct, Aleena felt her heart calm down the moment she heard the door to their bedroom open and close. 

She peeked through the door of the bathroom to ensure he was really gone, and when she saw that she was alone, she stepped back out and looked for a change of clothes. Before she could do anything though, the door of her bedroom opened again and in walked Rezan sultan with Zeynep in tow. 

Rezan sultan looked Aleena up and down with a distasteful look before she stepped further into the room and towards the bed. She didn't say a word to Aleena as she began to inspect the bed. 

"W-What are you doing?" Aleena asked with a look of pure shock on her face. She couldn't believe nor understand what was happening in that moment. 

Zeynep turned to the new bride apologetically before she removed the blanked to show more of the bedsheets. 

Rezan sultan inspected for a few seconds before a proud look grew on her face. She then turned to Aleena with a smug look before she walked away whilst muttering words of praise for her grandson. 

"Zayd is a man through and through."

Aleena did not understand what she meant until they left and she saw the red blood stain on the bedsheets. Her mouth dropped in shock as she started piecing the puzzle together. 

The previous night, although his actions were quite psychotic, the reason Zayd had asked her to stab him was for show so that it would seem as if they had consummated their marriage despite the fact that he hadn't even laid a finger on her. And clearly it had worked since Rezan sultan seemed to have fallen for it. Whereas Aleena had believed that it was some sort of sick fetish of his that he was carrying out. It made her wonder why he hadn't been more straightforward? Instead, he let her misunderstand him and think of him as a psychopath.

She looked back down at the stain and once she had overcome the initial shock, she felt the humiliation seep in. They really came to check whether or not she had consummated her marriage with Zayd? She couldn't believe the audacity. 

And it seemed someone else in the house also couldn't. 

"Do you not have any shame?" the voice of a young girl shouted throughout the house upon hearing what her grandmother was talking about. She already had a hard time coming to terms with the oppressive living ways that were forced upon her, but now she was finding out that not only had her grandmother forced her brother to get married again, but she was also butting into their private affairs. As a woman, she could not understand how Rezan sultan was able to do such things without caring about the feelings of another woman. 

Aleena quickly moved out of her room and looked down the balcony to see what the commotion was all about. 

"How dare you scream at me," Rezan sultan scolded the girl. And although she did not raise her voice, anyone could hear the angry warning in her tone. 

"Do you not feel ashamed as another woman?" the young girl growled, her face red in anger. "How would you like it if someone did that to me?" 

"Enough!" Rezan sultan finally lost her composure. "Zeynep, take her to her room and lock her in there for the rest of the week." 

Aleena's eyes widened in shock upon hearing that. They were really going to lock her in a room just because she raised her voice at Rezan sultan? And by what she could guess, the young girl was a relative too. If that was how they treated their own relative, Aleena really had no hope for her future. 

Zeynep silently cursed as she apologetically moved to grab the girl's hand. However, the girl moved her hand away before Zeynep could touch it and moved closer to Rezan sultan. 

"Do you think torturing me makes you less of a shameless woman?" she spat. Rezan sultan lifted her hand as if to slap her but to Aleena's surprise, she held back. She must have really love the girl before her. The girl smirked before she shook her head and turned to Zeynep, "I'll go myself." 

With that said, she turned away started walking up the stairs. She only stopped when her eyes landed on Aleena. 

"You must be Aleena," she smiled at her. "I am Miray, Zayd's younger sister."

Aleena didn't know Zayd had another sibling. She was surprised to find out that she had a younger sister. And judging by the way she spoke, she would definitely be someone she could get along with. 

"I apologise for not making your wedding," Miray scoffed, before she added in an exaggerated loud noise so that her grandmother could hear, "I was sent away to another town because they knew I wouldn't let something this humiliating occur." 

Although Aleena didn't look down the balcony to see Rezan sultan's angry face, she could feel it radiating off her body and around the entire house. She was like a fuse bomb that was ready to explode. 

Miray then stepped forward and spoke in a low voice, "If anyone bullies you again, just let me know and I'll deal with them." 

With that said, Miray turned around and walked in the opposite direction of Aleena's room with a sorry Zeynep right behind her. 

Aleena did not know what was up with Miray, but she definitely felt glad that there was someone outspoken and kind in the family that she could get along with. 

Suddenly her bleak future was not sounding as sad as it once did.