Chapter 1:
A Love That Began Too Early
Love entered Shelfa Ali's life at thirteen and never left. It arrived with certainty, not anticipation
or childish fantasy. Though she did not yet understand adulthood, her heart had already chosen
its home. From that moment, her world centered on one name: Aziz Khan.
At seventeen, Aziz was poised between responsibility and boyhood. He was related to Shelfa by
blood, family get-togethers, and common history. This connection was intended to set
boundaries in a household when traditions dictated every choice. For Shelfa, though, it had the
reverse effect. Her sanctuary, her peaceful hope, and her hidden future were with Aziz.
Shelfa never permitted her attention to stray toward anyone else. Not even once. She felt Aziz
would be enough for her whole life, with a devotion that never faltered. Shelfa's ambition was
relentless and fixed; others her age fantasized without aim. Should marriage ever be in her
future, she swore to herself it would be just with him.
Long before Shelfa did, Aziz grasped the danger. He understood their families would never
approve of such a marriage. His brothers followed their mother without question; her control was
total. They viewed this as defiance rather than love. More than they valued emotion, they
dreaded loss of power, tradition, and gossip.
At first, whispers, warnings, and unfriendly looks slowly fueled opposition. Then it grew into a
solid refusal. Aziz felt the tightening stress around him, which brought to mind his youth and
dependency. He was meant to obey, not to decide.
These early indicators of opposition bolstered Shelfa's emotions rather than diminishing them.
She started to see that love was about perseverance, not only about happiness. Every
dismissive comment and every unacknowledged feeling taught her self-control. By keeping her
emotions deep inside herself, she learned to guard them from anyone who could touch them or
take them away.
Shelfa watched everything happening around her. She heard the arguments, felt the animosity,
and understood how precarious Aziz's circumstances were. Still, she didn't speak. Her silence
was patience, not fear or stupidity. True love, she thought, did not call for noise. It perseverated.
Aziz also shouldered a responsibility too great for his age. He loved Shelfa passionately, but he
could not save either of them. Caught between obligation and desire, he developed
discipline rather than defiance.
Neither of them understood this was only the start. Early love had come into their life, yet it
would not be tested early. Years of separation, judgment, and sacrifice would test it. Shelfa had
accidentally picked a life of waiting at thirteen. Unknowingly started a lifetime fight at seventeen.
And somewhere within that silence, a love was learning how to survive time.
Both of them found it hard to see how profoundly this modest start would influence every
decision, loss, and triumph awaiting them.