_Leah's POV_

The next few days were torture.

I acted like everything was fine. I smiled when I had to. I laughed when he expected me to. I even let him kiss my forehead or hold my hand without pulling away. But inside, I was shaking. My stomach twisted every time I looked at Tariq. Every time he smiled at me, I wanted to run.

I kept thinking about the diary. His words haunted me.

He wanted to marry me and then… kill me. Just to lift a curse he brought on himself.

I didn’t sleep well. ...