Sara had texted him this morning asking if they could meet for lunch in the cafe . He had accepted immediately . She knew he wanted to spend the night last night , but she was grateful the girls stepped in and let him know that it was best he go to Amna's .

She could no longer be intimate with him now . They still had a physical relationship even after she had found out about Amna . It was still her duty as a wife . She was strangely detached when they were together intimately . He kept telling her that he loved her and that he was sorry . She did believe him . Once in her anger she had asked if there were others . She had asked that he submit a blood test to her and she had one done as well . She told him she would not jeopardize her health to accommodate his philandering ways . He had cried that day . But frankly she did not care .

He probably was sorry , but that did not change anything . His reasoning for marrying Amna she had tried to accept , and to a large part she had . She had months and months to think about it and to try to convince herself that he did not belong to her , that he was his own person and that the religion allowed it . She had gone to London knowing that she was falling out of love with him . She wanted to see if she could live without him , and to see if absence made the heart grow fonder . She had missed her girls terribly , but she had not missed him . Not really . She had missed her house , her garden , her friends , but not Ibrahim .

Being away from him felt like stark relief , she was happier, more content without him . She knew then she needed to divorce him . She would go to the masjid daily in London , it was walking distance from her flat . She had started speaking to the Imam regularly . It was something the Imam had said to her that had struck a cord . He told her that just as Ibrahim did not belong to her , she did not belong to him . Sara had always been taught that divorce was an abomination , that it was something that Allah disliked immensely . The Imam told her that yes , Allah disliked divorce but that anything that robbed a person of their peace and well being was not good . Marriage was supposed to bring happiness , security and peace . Her marriage did not bring any of those things any longer .

She also knew that she simply could not fulfill her obligations of being a good wife to Ibrahim . Those feelings had died . She had prayed to Allah constantly to bring peace to her heart to accept the situation or to show her another path . Allah had chosen the latter for her and the Oxford opportunity had presents itself on a silver platter .

Now she just had to tell Ibrahim her decision and start the process of separating permanently . She hoped they could part amicably , as they still shared 2 daughters .