As the palace began filling up with every single ambassador and business partner, including royalty, Salman gazed over from the stairs and watched every single guest walk in. Hakim, of course, was right beside him, ready to do any orders Salman brought upon him but all Salman did was smile down at all the people arriving.

"Your Highness, you seem very excited for this event" Hakim smiled.

"Well, you know I love a good company. I love seeing all this unity, Hakim." Salman's eyes glistened at the sight of everyone gathering.

As the two stood there, waiting for the right moment to head downstairs, Yasin approached them and greeted his father.

"Salam Alaykum, Baba." Yasin slightly bowed his head upon seeing his father.

Salman turned around and grinned after seeing his son whom he felt so proud of.

"Wa Alaykum Assalam, my son. How was your business trip?"

"Alhamdulillah, it was good. I see you've packed the whole palace while I was gone." Yasin smiled down with Salman

"Ah yes, I did." Salman sighed

"Mama must be so happy," Yasin replied

Salman nodded and Yasin said, "If you'll excuse me."

After getting his father's approval, Yasin made his way to Anisa's room. If it's one person he missed, it was her. She'd always give him some sort of entertainment whether it was scolding him or speaking her thoughts.

Right when he stood in front of her door, he lightly knocked on it, waiting for a response from her.

"Come in!"

He heard her yell and chuckled lightly before turning the handle of the door and entering. Right in front of him, he saw her, fixing her hijab in front of the mirror at her dresser and told her,

"You make me feel like I'm a palace worker."

"That's because you are one," Anisa smirked, watching him from the mirror as she saw him shaking his head and scoffing.

Yasin sat down on one of the chairs right across from the coffee table that stood in her room.

"How was a whole year without me?" he asked, looking up at Anisa.

"Well...it was just like any other year you can say." Anisa was purposefully trying to get a reaction out of him but Hamza already figured out and decided to play along in this game of hers.

"That hurts!" he exclaimed

"You can't blame me for speaking the truth," Anisa told him

That's when Yasin started to act like he was angry with her and stood up from the chair to make his way out of her room and as he headed towards the door, Anisa turned around.

"Wait!" She got ahold of his wrist, "I was joking, silly!"

Yasin turned to face her and laughed, "You're the silly one. I was only playing along."

Anisa's expression then turned cold and she aggressively let go of his wrist and turned back around.

Yasin sat back down and watched Anisa resume getting ready. In the past, she'd kick him out of her room when he watched her get ready like this but seeing as how she was comfortable around him made Yasin feel special because it wasn't easy suiting her taste.

"I heard you fired 15 servants in the last month while I was gone." Hamza started

"Who did you hear that from?" Anisa turned around, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.

"Mr. Amin told me. You think I'm not going to check up on you while I'm away?"

"I'm not a child for you to check up on me. Baba doesn't even do that..." She turned back.

"That's why I do it." Yasin said, "It's because I think he doesn't treat you the way you deserve to be treated."

"Thank you for thinking like that but I've got Mr. Amin for that. Worry about your sister." Anisa warned him.

"Oh come on now, are you getting mad already."

Before Anisa could answer him, there was a maid who knocked at the door and opened it, revealing Reem. Both of them turned their heads to the door where she stood and told Anisa,

"Your father told me to have you ready in ten minutes, that's when the whole family is going to present themselves."

Anisa nodded, "Alright, thank you, Reem."

Reem smiled and turned towards Yasin who was already looking at her and gave her a small smile in which she returned as well. Then, she turned around and left the room, leaving Yasin and Anisa alone again.

"Well, I'm gonna leave you to continue getting ready. I know this event doesn't mean much to you, but at least keep Baba in mind and how he'll be crushed if something happens out of you tonight." Yasin tried his best not to sound like a mother but in the end, he felt like he already did by the way Anisa reacted.

Once he was finally out of Anisa's room, he saw Reem across the hallways, about to go downstairs. So he walked at a faster pace, reaching up to her and surprising her with a tap on the shoulder.

She gasped and turned around to see Yasin in front of her and instantly looked around to see if anyone else was here.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

"Come." Yasin took her arm and Reem was being dragged to a place she still had no clue of. But most of all, she was scared that someone might see them.

After Yasin and Reem went through a door, Reem looked around to notice that this was his room of which he had not been in for a whole year. Then, she looked back at Yasin to see him smiling at her. But, Reem frowned at him.

"You don't come for a whole year and the first thing you do is kidnap me?"

Yasin chuckled and said, "What if it is?"

Reem was speechless at how he had the guts to speak like that to her.

"Don't ever take another business trip for that long!" Reem hit his chest as he chuckled and wrapped her around in his arms.

Reem felt relaxed than she could ever be while in his embrace, taking in the aroma of his scent of which she had missed for too long.

"Good evening to you as well."

Anisa was greeting guests left and right. She had lost count of how many people already and hadn't even gotten close to where the rest of the family stood on the podium. Where was Mr. Amin when you needed him?

As she struggled to get through the tsunami of people that approached her each time she made a step, she began to feel uncomfortable and looked around for Mr. Amin. Luckily, he was on his way and he was struggling to pass by people as well.

Eventually, he reached her and blocked off every person approaching her.

"I apologize, Anisa. I was getting the other guards prepared."

"It's alright, Mr. Amin. Just make sure you come right before I die."

Mr. Amin chuckled at her response and continued to lead her to the podium where she safely made it after walking up a couple of steps. Anisa watched Mr. Amin walk to the corner of the podium where there was Hakim and, Humeyra and Layla's bodyguard.

"Thank you for those of you who were able to make it to this event tonight. None of this would've been possible without you all. As you know, this event occurs every year on this same day as the whole family tries to keep their schedules open especially for this day because it is our anniversary."

Salman chuckled and received a couple of laughs from the audience.

"On this day was when the family had started and got all the support from you guys and continues to do its job today to fit the needs of the citizens. Therefore, I will keep this speech short and ask you to enjoy yourselves tonight for everything prepared today was to give back to the people of tomorrow."

Everybody clapped, congratulating King Salman on his speech and watched every single member of the royal family step down and join them for tonight's festivities. While Salman and Humeyra walked around with linked hands, Anisa separated herself with Yasin following her. Layla, on the other hand, was up to other things.

Once Anisa had made it up to one of the tall tables that had a bouquet in the middle, Mr. Amin made sure he stood just behind her, assuring her that he was there while also making sure he didn't make his presence too obvious.

"You know, I'm surprised you've said no to almost half the men in here. I mean, they don't look bad." Yasin started to annoy her already and Anisa rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides stick to me?" Anisa asked.

"I do have a potential business I can form with all these people but I just got back from a trip and that trip is enough to last me a year. I'm not trying to make another one."

Yasin picked up a dessert from the tray that was being passed around by the waiters. Anisa also was offered one but declined. The whole vent seemed so peaceful and everyone was enjoying it, having conversations and enjoying each other's presence. Soon enough, Reem found her opportunity to check up on Anisa and her face instantly brightened up.

"What's with the long face, princess?" Reem chuckled knowing she was annoying her with the word princess.

"Nice one, Reem." Anisa sarcastically replied, "You seem to be enjoying this a bit too much."

"I love these kinds of events. It's nice to see new faces in the palace every one in a while."

Reem looked at Yasin discreetly to notice he had a suspicious look on his face from what she just said. But, she ignored it and looked back at Anisa, knowing too well that some form of jealousy was formed in Yasin.

But then, a man approached them and that was Reem's queue to go back to doing her task.

Anise looked up and greeted the man as he did the same. But, he wasn't just any man. He was one of the big stakeholders of her hotel.

"Salam," she said.

"Salam, Anisa. How are you this evening?"

"Alhamdulillah," she nodded, "I'm doing just fine. How are you, Abbas?"

"Wonderful. I got a recent update from your research and development team. I heard you're adding a new system to the hotel?" he said, taking a sip from his glass bottle.

"Yes, it's a new system that's going to ensure more efficiency in terms of reservations, check-ins, and transactions. " Anisa replied.

As the night went on, it grew close to an end. But, there were still many people lingering the grand hall of the palace. In the midst of it all, one of the guards rushed towards King Salman and bowed in urgency.

"Your highness, there's a problem!"

"Speak, what is it?"

King Salman didn't like the tone and urgency that came from the guard and his wife was beside him so if the news was to turn out worse than he'd imagined, she would know of it and worry.

"The palace surveillance detected a bomb in the building. We don't know how long it's been here but we're assuming that it's been active since the beginning of the event. It could blow any moment!"

King Salman's eyes widened and Humeyra covered her mouth from shock and instantly started looking for Leyla and Yasin from the crowd.

"Call the royal emergency, set the alarm, and evacuate everyone out of the palace, now!"

King Salman ordered. The guard nodded and rushed towards the hallway.

Mr. Amin had received news of the emergency through his earpiece he used to communicate with his security team and walked towards Anisa who was currently speaking with an old woman.

"Anisa, we must leave."

"Huh?" Anisa was confused as to why Mr. Amin suddenly said that but whatever the reason, she knew better than to question him if it was a serious situation.

"Come, this way."

An alarm was set off the moment Mr. Amin started getting her towards safety. Everyone was confused and didn't know what was going on until the security team announced through the speakers, "Everyone must evacuate the building immediately. This is a life or death situation. Leave the building now!"

Panic filled the room and everyone scrambled to reach the outer gates. Thankfully, there was more than one exit to the palace and the grand hall started to become empty.

Everyone ran in panic and Anisa was lucky to have gotten outside to safety, all due to Mr. Amin's quick decision.

But after dropping her off, Mr. Amin started heading back and she stopped him.

"Mr. Amin, where are you going?!"

"There are more people inside, the whole security team is in there and your brother isn't out yet. I've got to go!"

Mr. Amin removed his hand that was once in Anisa's grip and rushed to go back into the palace.

A/N:

Hi guys! Ramadan Kareem!

Don't forget to show this book some love by commenting wherever you'd like and hit that star button!

Thank you ~