I watched Khalid.
He was no longer looking at his father. He was looking at the exits.
Then the doors at the back of the hall opened.
A woman entered with a female lawyer beside her.
She wore a simple black abaya and carried a small envelope.
I had never seen her before.
Yet the moment Khalid saw her, all the color drained from his face.
“Why is she here?” he whispered.
His father turned toward the woman.
“Because she deserves to be heard.”
She approached the stage.
“My name is Noura,” she said. “I was married to Khalid before Amal.”
A murmur spread through the room.
Khalid had told me that he had never been married before. When I asked why he had never spoken about a previous relationship, he said there had been nothing worth mentioning.
I had believed him.
Noura looked directly at him.
“You told your family that I was unstable. You told people that I had left because I was incapable of being a good wife. You made sure nobody asked why I disappeared from your life.”
