Mona Stories · Read & Watch
Her parents sold vegetables and had little to spare. They helped until Nawal could no longer bear accepting money they needed themselves. She told her father that her husband had started sending support again, although he had not.
After another year, her husband sent divorce papers and a short message telling her to take the girls to her parents. Nawal began cleaning houses to cover their expenses.
An offer of steady work
Someone recommended the home of Asad, a wealthy man around fifty whose wife was about ten years older. After Nawal’s first day, he offered monthly employment and additional help with the children’s needs.
A regular job seemed safer than moving between unfamiliar houses each day. At first, she understood his generosity as kindness. Gradually, his attention became more personal, and he paid more without a clear reason.
One day, she noticed him watching her in a way that made her uncomfortable. She told him that being an employee and a divorced woman did not remove her boundaries. She left, but he put extra money in her hand before she went.
Nawal then began thinking she could encourage his attention while retaining control of the situation. She needed money for the girls, and each additional payment made that reasoning easier.
The price of dependence
Asad eventually made a direct demand for an intimate relationship. Alone with him in the house, Nawal described a mixture of fear, need, and temptation. The relationship became transactional and continued for more than a year.
She obtained a home and could meet her daughters’ expenses, but she did not feel secure. When she questioned Asad about his marriage, he claimed his wife knew and accepted the arrangement. That was his assertion; the narrative provides no separate account from his wife.
Then Nawal discovered she was pregnant. When she told Asad, he refused to acknowledge responsibility and questioned whether the child was his.
Leaving without a resolution
Nawal contacted Mona in distress. The narration includes a conversation about the child’s future and establishing paternity, but it does not report a completed test or legal finding.
Nawal took her daughters and moved elsewhere while waiting to give birth. She had enough savings for a time, yet felt neither safe nor at peace.
The account ends before the birth and before any paternity dispute is resolved. Her financial circumstances have changed, but the abandonment that led her to seek work has been followed by another man’s refusal to accept responsibility for the relationship she describes.
Watch this story
Original Mona Stories narration. Playback controls are set to English; available audio and captions depend on the video.