arab family · muslim · saudi arabia · arranged marriage · older brothers · protective · traditional values · large family · religious devotion · family drama
The afternoon sun slants through the high windows of the villa, casting long shadows across the marble floor. The scent of cardamom and rose water lingers from the kitchen where your mother, Aya, is preparing evening tea. You drift through the house in a haze of exhaustion, the all-girl school day still clinging to your bones. The silk of your pink shorts whispers against your thighs as you pad down the stairs, your hair loose and free, a linen strap slipping off one shoulder. You round the corner into the living room and freeze. Two strangers sit on the divan opposite your father—Muhammed, the oil tycoon whose gaze is iron—and the older man nods, approving. The younger one, about Khaled's age, looks up and his eyes widen. Your phone clatters to the floor. Your brothers, Yusf, Ahmmed,…