Ines was never a great fan of Nana.
Unlike her grandparents from her mother's side who both fell terminally ill and died during Ines's childhood, Nana was pretty much the only elderly figure in her life, and not the best one in her opinion to say the least.
Not only Nana lived hours away and never visited D city for long years, which made them grow very distant, Ines barely even considered her a part of their family to begin with, she wasn't her father's real parent afterall.
So when Nana moved to live with them when Eliyas and Noursine married, it was only natural that Ines thought of the old woman as someone solely linked to Noursine, and not as her own grandmother as well.
truth be told, Nana didn't give her three grandchildren an equal amount of love and cherishing, if examples should be given to prove how she clearly played favourites. then it is worth to mention that Nana hates taking the stairs to the extremes, not only it pains and exhausts her old and rusted joints, she has a really bad eyesight so she always fears falling on the stairs by accident because she can't see well and getting her old neck broken as she falls, nevertheless, she still takes the stairs almost on a daily basis just to go see Noursine and spend time with her.
Whereas Ines's room is on the same floor merely few meters away from Nana's room, so why does she never visit?
On the dining table she would always sit beside Noursine, although the seat beside Ines is always empty. She would pay attention to Noursine's appetite and fill her dish with food and force her to eat more, and may Allah forbid if Noursine dared to say she was full when eating one spoonful less than the day before Nana would treat this situation as if it is a catastrophe for the whole mankind.
On the other forgotten hand, even when Ines ate nothing at all, Nana wouldn't even notice.. no one in the whole family would notice in all honesty.
and this is only the tip of an iceberg.
how is Ines supposed to give Nana love when she never received any? how is she supposed to see her as a grandmother when the later always only treated Noursine as her sole grandchild?
So, When Nana acts fair and doting towards her other two neglected grandchildren on rare occasions, Ines gets the shock of her life.
The very first time when Nana surprised Ines, was when she chose to stay with the Filladis after Noursine left Eliyas.
Ines remembers that period very clearly, After Noursine's miscarriage and near death experience everyone started acting more cautious around her, they never spoke with her and acted like thin air around her in order not to worsen the already very bad relationship between the young married couple by doing or saying the wrong thing, everyone wanted them to mend their differences and try to fix their marriage in the way they find suitable, the situation seemed slowly getting better until Nousine shocked everyone with her sudden eloping during a hospital visit.
In fact, following her disappearance from the hospital, no one knew she actually run away on her own free will, they thought something bad happened to her.
Nothing was known of her whereabout for more than a day, no one knew whether she was involved in a deadly accident or if she was kidnapped, or if she was taken out of the country.. finding her seemed almost impossible..
There wasn't a hospital left that they didn't check to see whether she was admitted, they checked the airports, bus stations, taxis.. checked the cameras on the streets.. they literally did everything to find her.
Eliyas didn't even come back to the villa in the first day of Noursine's disappearance, he probably spent it flipping D city upside down in search of his wife, but he did come back the following day.. the villa stuff were all so alarmed that they quickly announced his coming back to the Filladi household members, by the time his car parked outside the interior gate the whole family was already standing in the entrance hall waiting for him, nevertheless, when he finally showed up no one dared to even speak to him, as he walked from the villa entrance towards his bureau all eyes followed him, he looked on the brink of losing his sanity..
then, to everyone's confusion, he just locked himself inside his bureau for long torturing minutes and no creature on earth dared to go see how he was, or at least that's what Ines thought.
As the whole family, exept for Eliyas of course, gathered at the same hall, they all silently stared at one another until Nana suddenly said:
_"I'll go talk to Eliyas."
_"Mother, please let him get his act together first, we'll talk to him later." Souad, Eliyas's mother, immediately objected.
However Nana, being Nana, insisted:
_" Do you wish to send me to the afterlife so soon?? how can I bear to wait! you saw how bad Eliyas looked just now when he came back! may Allah forbid maybe something awful happened to my dearest Noursine! I'm going to ask him what happened now and lets see who will dare to stop me."
Nana's reaction wasn't surprising to Ines at all, has she ever cared about anyone except for her precious granddaughter to begin with?
She quickly went to Eliyas's bureau, and spent a long time inside.
The rest of them stood outside the closed door and waited patiently for the old woman to come out, since they had no idea what type of tragic news that made Eliyas look so awful Buelguassem made sure to ask for a medical professionnel to come just in case his old mother fell ill after receiving the news.
When his wife saw him giving this order to the butler, namely having a medical professionnel ready to examine his mother, Souad scoffed feeling extreemly irritated, her husband only cherished one person in his whole life, his dear mother, and couldn't care less about anyone else!
Wasn't his son Eliyas skipping his meals and not sleeping? why didn't he remember to bring a doctor to see him too?!
As if Buelguassem didn't do enough to irritate his wife already, when Nana finally walked out of the bureau with a gloomy face he quickly went to support her as she silently walked towards her room, and all the way long he only remembered to ask her how she was and whether she needed to see a doctor.
Not once he cared enough to ask about his son, or his gone daughter in-law..
Souad always tried to convince herself that her husband is just cold by nature so she shouldn't expect him to shower their little family with love and care, but still, when she witnesses how much he dotes upon his adoptive mother in contrast, She pities herself.. and her children.
When Nana reached her room and sat down on the edge of her bed, Everyone followed her inside and looked at her expectantly, including Ines, then she finally spoke:
_" Eliyas found Noursine.. She's at S city."
they all had yet to digest this news when to everyone's shock she continued:
_" Noursine is asking for a divorce, she sent him divorce papers, he received them today."
As she was speaking, the butler knocked on the door and walked inside, then informed them:
_" The young master has just left the villa."
_" What!! we've just left him at his bureau! he can't leave.. he still didn't eat anything yet!" Souad yelled in frustration.
_" He probably went to find Noursine and bring her back." Nana sighed.
Hearing this, Souad lost every drop of sanity she had and started shouting:
_" Does your granddaugther want to see my son dead to feel relieved?? does she have no mercy? if she wanted a divorce why didn't she just ask for it like a sane person would? did she have to disappear and make him worry that much for nothing?! what did my son do to deserve all this!! did he not lose his child too! .. etc."
they soon engaged in heated argue, which Ines watched with a torn heart.
She felt so sorry for her brother to have such ill fate, and such useless elders who did nothing of significance to help him.
hours later, he finally called and informed the family that he found Noursine safe and sound, and that he will spend the few next days with her.
it wasn't just few days in the end, the couple never returned to the villa for more than a month, since they spent this much time together away, everyone believed that they were finally making some progress and their relationship is improving. Even Ines's mother, Souad, who always objected on the couple still happily announced on the dinner table:
_" When I called Eliyas today, he said they were ok, My guess is that they are doing much better now! I told him he should try to convince his wife to come back live with us, it's hard for Eliyas to keep working from a distance, he needs to come back soon."
_" Noursine is plotting something." Nana suddenly intervened.
She looked at Belguassem, her son, then continued:
_" Noursine is just like her late father, may allah forgive him, you remember how your brother was, don't you?"
he nodded as he swallowed his food, then explained:
_" Of course I do, his head was made of stone, once he decides on something he never changes his mind, when he lets matters go against his wishes it only means he's deceiving others while patiently waiting to counterattack."
Nana sighed feeling concerned, then added:
_" This stubborn girl, last time she made us believe everything was fine then suddenly eloped when we least expected it, I'm afraid this time round she'll do something bigger."
_"You don't have to worry Yumma (mother), Eliyas and the protection team are keeping a tight watch on her." Buelguassem tried to reassure her seeing how worried his old mother was.
but her guess was right, only few days later, Eliyas suddenly came back to the villa alone one morning.
Not only he lost much weight compared to the last time they saw him, he looked so fragile, as if a little breeze would blow him away.
Ines was the first person to reach the entrance hall to receive him, he looked so bad that the first reaction she had once she saw him, was to cover her mouth and gasp in surprise.
She quickly ran the little distance that separated them and blocked his way frantically asking:
_"Are you Ok?? what happened to you??"
He didn't reply though, in fact Eliyas has always been someone of so little words, even so, Ines somehow knew it wasn't his general lack of verbal expression that made him ignore her words and walk pass her as if she wasn't there, rather something more malice seemed to trouble the water under his calm surface.
_" Go call mother and Nana to come!" Ines immediately ordered the servant standing closest to her.
_" Eliyas why is there blood in your pants! did you have an accident!?" Ines then shouted to Eliyas's back noticing the clear red spots near his ankle and the way he walked with a slight limp.
again, he just continued walking towards his office, Eliyas's office has always been his escape and safe heaven, not only he works there but for whatever private problem he encounters he would always go there to calm down.
But unlike his usual self, where he'd lock the door not to be bothered, he left the door wide open as he made his way towards the sofa.
Ines couldn't understand at first for what reason would he forget to lock the door as she followed him inside, but she soon received her answer.
_" Where's Nana?"
He wanted to talk to Nana after all.
The old lady soon came, along with Mrs Filladi who shriked the moment her eyes fell on Eliyas, she literally did..
Actually her scream wasn't due to the fact Eliyas had blood on his clothes, she didn't even notice that, she shriked because her son was half the size of the man she saw the last time, not only he lost much weight and looked so pale as if he didn't meet the sunlight for a decade, his beard grew messily, his appearance was unkempt, and he seemed so weakened as if he's been through hell and back.
_" What did that snake of a woman do to you?!!" the worried mother soon yelled.
Her beloved son, her pride and joy who every woman desired, turned into this awful state because he chose to be with the only exception who never really wanted him!!
_" Nana.. can you call Noursine and see how she is? I left in a hurry without checking on her and now I'm worried" Eliyas calmly said to the old woman who was standing still watching him silently.
hearing this, Ines almost lost her wits and gave her stupid brother a piece of her mind, like seriously how could he still be thinking about Noursine when he looks this awful!! She didn't even need to connect two brain cells to know that his dearest wife must have done something hugely wrong to drive him into this pitiful state.
Surprisingly, as Ines was thinking about this, someone had the guts to loudly ask Eliyas:
_" What did she do?"
Even more surprising, it was Nana who asked!
Eliyas didn't answer, Ines thought this was exactly like the typically cold him, seriously Noursine could plug his eyes out and he wouldn't even complain or tell about it, that's the type of spineless husband he is.
_" Noursine called me about an hour ago and asked whether you reached home safely.." Nana soon admitted to everyone's surprise, she continued:
_" She never voluntarily called me first before, that shameless girl, so I know she must have done something big and feeling sorry about it, if she's worried about her husband then__"
_" Worried about me? Is she?" Eliyas interrupted Nana with a scoff.
_" That damned woman." He cursed..
What?
Did Eliyas Filladi's tightly strict mouth just let out this word?? No, more importantly, did Noursine's Eliyas just call her a damned woman??!
Needless to say it, Ines had to see the shocked expression on her mother's and Nana's face first before she became certain her ears were still working fine.
But she had yet to accept hearing such words coming out of Eliyas when he suddenly clenched his chest above his heart and repeated:
_" That damned woman can't be worried about me, Does she even care about me?" he said these words.. as his tears started to fall silently.
There was something heart wrenching about the way Eliyas cried, it wasn't the fact Ines never saw him cry before except for the days Noursine was on the verge of dying, but the way even as his tears fell and he kept clenching his chest he kept scoffing and talking coldly.
Ines had to admit that her brother is really made of cold clay, his pain was literally seeping through every pore for everyone to see, as their hearts ached for him he still acted like a cold stone.
He was advised mulitiple times during the days that followed to just divorce Noursine as she wished and let the whole family have peace of mind, obviously he ignored them all.
He was asked as well about what exactly Noursine did to him, naturally he gave no answer.
As he continued to whither in front of everyone to see he stubbornly locked himself in work and acted like a shell of a mountain that has already fell to dust.
He suddenly started having frequent asthma attacks, he who haven't had any in a very long time, and he was even taken from the company to the hospital because he suddenly collapsed during a meeting.
No one knew exactly why Eliyas came back alone and showed no intention of wanting to bring back Noursine, all they could tell was the fact Eliyas was literally falling apart in front of their eyes and they could do nothing about it.
It was unbearably painful to watch that cold bustard.
One day, Nana suddenly stormed inside his office and yelled:
_" Noursine told me what happened! She threatened to take her own life in front of you? and you believed her??? That shameless girl is a weed! a vengeful weed!! Have you not known this has always been her way to threaten others? even when she was too young to even speak without a lisp she refused to eat her meals and refused to speak when she felt vexed with her parents and wanted something from them, How could you not tell it was an act?"
_" ... "
Eliyas in fact knew it was just an act, Noursine isn't the best actress with all honesty, from the moment she held a blade to her neck he know his awful yet awfully beloved wife chose such cruel method only to let him know she literally rather die than be with him..
It was painful indeed to know the woman he loved more than love would rather die than spend another day with him, it was painful as the definition of pain.
But in Eliyas's opinion, what was even more cruel than rejecting him this way, was the fact she made the man who saw her lying lifeless in a pool of her own blood only few months ago and who still shivers at the thought of such memory, she made him face the same fear and torture.
Noursine gave him a Phobia, one that he never imagined having, ironically he who never understood her unreasonable fear of being in pain is now phobic to her pain as well, the thought of her being hurt not only makes him worried now.. but miserably panicked.
And just like how a phobia is.. though he knew Noursine wouldn't hurt herself with the blade she was holding, it still terrified him to the limit of torture.
it was unnecessarily more painful than his tolerance, she successfully made him see he really was nothing more than a rug to step on in the eyes of the woman he cherished like a treasure.
As he sank his head under the running water in Noursine's bathroom that day he kept thinking:
" Had she loved me just a speck of how much I did her would she have still chosen to stoop this low and hurt me this way? Had she known how torturing it was to almost lose her would she still so mercilessly threaten to take her life in front of my watchful eyes?"
He asked such questions although he already knew the answer was "Yes, even if she really loved him and knew how hurtful such threat was she would still resort to the same course of action."
She is literally, without a doubt, wickedly and helplessly rotten to the core, and he helplessly loved even that wickedness of hers.. That damned woman.
She's awful, genuinely awful to him no matter how he objectively thought about it, as he was awful to her..
Being separated was objectively the best decision he could take.. it was clearly impossible for them to be together, that's what he objectively believed, but away from this shallow coldness and objectivity, this separation still hurt him like a raging fire burning his insides.
It really hurt like hell without her, that damned woman..
So when Nana confronted him about that incident, he honestly had nothing to say, so he just let her speak to her heart's content then watched her as she left the office and slammed the door shut in anger.
It was that evening that Nana said to everyone's surprise that she will choose to take Eliyas's side this time round and stay at the Filladi's indefinitely, and that she won't go live with Noursine even if the latter begged her, of course no one understood how her thinking process ended up with such result, neither Eliyas asked her to take his side nor Noursine begged her to come with her, the only person who received her decision with a smile on his face was her son Belguassem, other than him no one honestly cared where Nana chose to stay.
But it was surprising to Ines nevertheless to see Nana really stick to this decision, although in the coming three years of Noursine's absence the old lady often complained of how much she missed her cherished granddaughter.
As for the second time Ines felt that Nana was sort of a grandmother to her as well, it came years later, On the day the old lady suddenly said on the dining table in front of the whole family:
_" Say Eliyas, that good man always walking by your side, is he married or engaged?"
Noursine, who was playing with Ayoub who was joyfully laughing on her lap, quickly added:
_" Nana are you talking about mr.Houdil? But of course he's single! Don't you agree that it's a waste for such a good man to stay single?"
It has been months since Ines last heard anything about Akrem, the last time she met him he was still with Marwa, she was shocked to know that he is single now.
Well, if Noursine was good at anything, it sure was her ability to get true and straight to the point news, she was a journalist to the bones, so Ines had no doubt in the fact Akrem was really single.
She thought she has already moved on from him.. so how come her heart started to palpitate at his mention?
Ines's mother soon intervened:
_" this is the first time we have a meal together as a family in a week, why would you ruin my apetite by talking about that despicable person all at sudden?"
Nana, whose life's joy is to redicule her prideful daughter in-law quickly added:
_"How is he despicable? he's good mannered and knows how to respect his elders! everytime he meets me he treats me with nothing but praise worthy goodness! of course I don't expect you to know anything about proper manners, the examples you frequent never once greeted me as they should!"
The couple of them soon engaged in a heated argue, until Noursine suddenly said:
_" Anyways Nana you suggested something to me earlier, wouldn't it be better to share your good thoughts with the rest of the family?"
_" Ah yes! I was thinking we shouldn't let such good man slip through our hand, where would there be a better husband to Ines other than him?"
Hearing this, Ines choked on her food and started coughing incessantly.
As she coughed, and before her mother had time to wake up from the shock of what she has just heard, Eliyas looked at Noursine and smiled knowingly.
There was no way Nana would notice Akrem and suggest such a crazy thought if it wasn't Noursine who has been carefully and meticulously injecting such ideas.
In fact, about three weeks ago, Noursine asked him out of the blue whether Akrem annuled his engagement yet, she literally asked him while she was kneading Ayoub's cheeks with her kisses:
_"Eliyas, is Akrem still planning to marry Marwa or his engagement is annuled?"
_" You speak as if he will certainly not end up marrying her."
_" Is he?"
_" As far as I know, they broke up a little time ago, It was scheduled he takes a leave around that period most certainly for his engagement party, but then his planned leave was canceled."
_" Well I guess you and him speak the same language, if a canceled planned leave means a break up in your language then I have to trust that."
She continued to play with the giggling Ayoub afterwards, while Eliyas watched them both endearingly, in the past she would have given that attention to him (her husband), and showered his cheeks with her kisses instead, she has always been physical in expressing her emotions, be it love.. joy or mischief, in her dictionary they would translate to hugs and kisses.
She has never been the sort of person to say "I love you" or "I miss you" in words, she rarely did so, most of the time Eliyas had to know how much she yearned for him based on how passionately she kissed him, he definitely never hated the idea..
But lately Eliyas has been totally ignored, the new little man is now dominating all her hugs and kisses, Although Eliyas has been secretly very "not Ok" about it he still found the sight of them being happily together joyfully overwhelming.
While she was still happily engaged with their baby son she suddenly snapped out of it, she carried Ayoub then said:
_"Now that I think about it, I've been neglecting my poor Nana lately, raising a child takes so much of a mother's time, I'll go down check on her now."
Excuse me?? Isn't your poor husband clearly the biggest victim of your neglect?
Eliyas had so much to complain about, regretfully he could only remain silent and continue working on his papers on the sofa, because right before Noursine left she happily jumped on him and planted a deep kiss.
Eliyas who could read his wife like an open book could tell that kiss was the result of her mischievous mood, that was the type of kiss she would give him before sneakily spreading cumin on his mother's food or hiding his laptop so as he doesn't work and end up spending time with her.
He immediately knew that she was cooking something that involved Nana, she kept repeatedly visiting her in the last three weeks.
And now on the dining table, Nana is suggesting out of the blue to have Ines and Akrem married.
Eliyas couldn't but hide his laughter as he said:
_" I agree with you Nana, if Ines and Akrem agree I can't think of someone better suited with Ines than Akrem."
Noursine with a clearly fake gloomed expression quickly objected:
_" What do you mean "better suited"?let's not deny the obvious, Mr.Houdil is clearly over qualified for the position! with all honesty I think he can and should be with someone better suited who matches his qualifications."
_"Over qualified??? That Akrem would be the luckiest if my daughter stooped down and accepted him!" Eliyas's mother immediately intervened.
To which Noursine, unlike her usually unbothered self, quickly retorted and a second war between in-laws soon launched.
Eliyas watched his wife playing the perfect villain with enjoyment, he indeed married a lovingly wicked woman, he always loved that playful side of her, it sure brought him a lot of pain in the past, but it made his life equally eventful and full of genuine laughter.
At the end of the heated debate, Nana, who was motivated a bit too much, suddenly announced in a familiar fashion:
_"Ines shall marry Akrem!"
It was the same way she announced Eliyas and Noursine's proposal years before.
Buelguassem, who at some point snatched Ayoub from Noursine's lap and was happily playing with him despite the heated war happening around him, only chose to speak at this point, he calmly smiled at his old mother and said with great poise:
_"I see, I shall arrange a meeting with Mr.Houdil and suggest our proposal, I'll do everything in my might to let him have a favorable opinion of it, rest reassured mother.. "
Ines, who had no idea this whole thing was her sister in-law's plan, genuinely thought Nana came out with this idea alone.
Ines didn't reject this proposal at all, in fact since the moment Nana suggested this marriage she was overwhelmed with emotions, and as she struggled not to cry she desperately prayed no one would intervene so as this proposal would at least reach Akrem, she desperately prayed Akrem would at least have this final chance to either accept or reject her.
In the end, in Ines's point of view, Nana clearly stood against Noursine who objected on this proposal, much unlike her usual self, and took her side instead.
Suddenly, Nana became Ines's favorite person.