Schizophrenia
A Novel by Asmaa Nada
chapter 10 The End
She had won half the fortune and the divorce through blackmail—but Niroz wasn’t done yet.
She wanted more than wealth. She wanted justice.
Her voice cut through the silence, sharp and steady:
“Half the fortune was just a down payment, Daniel. The real price… is freedom—Maggie’s freedom, who is me, Niroz. And justice will send you exactly where you belong.”
She stepped out of the abandoned house, her eyes glinting in the dark. The map in her hand shimmered faintly beneath the streetlight—it was her compass, her guide to his end.
With dawn’s first light, Niroz left behind the noise of the city, the illusion of Daniel’s mansion, and the ghosts of the past. Her sleek black car glided down a narrow rural road flanked by pine trees, toward the coordinates marked on the map her mother had once hidden away. Before leaving, she had sent the location to the only person she trusted—her friend and partner in everything, Eric.
The map and letter resting in her purse were no longer symbols of revenge—they were the keys to redemption. This was no longer about punishing Daniel; it was about freeing the child buried beneath years of fear.
The road led to an old countryside cabin—just a small stone house surrounded by wild grass. It looked peaceful, deceptively so. But Niroz knew peace was a disguise. This place, quiet as it seemed, carried the weight of secrets that could drown entire lives.
She stopped the car, inhaled the cold, earthy air, and smiled faintly when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Think this is it, Niro? The place where it all ends—and begins again?”
She turned toward Eric, a real smile—her first in years—breaking through.
“You know, Eric, I actually missed hearing my real name. Anyway… not much left now.”
From her bag, she pulled out a rusted key—the same one she’d found in the old box. The lock resisted, creaked, then gave way. The door swung open to a house frozen in time. Dust covered the furniture draped in white sheets. Every step stirred ghosts from her past—weekends spent here with her parents before her father’s downfall, before he became the blade that destroyed their family.
Following the map’s markings, Niroz moved into the kitchen. The final mark pointed behind an old cast-iron stove. With Eric’s help, she shoved it aside, revealing a section of the wooden floor where one plank looked newer than the rest. Eric crouched, slid a knife beneath it, and pried it open. Beneath was a narrow cavity—and inside it, a single brown leather bag.
Her breath caught.
That bag.
The same one her father had told her to hide in her closet, claiming it was a gift. The same bag Daniel had once used to threaten her mother.
Her hands trembled as she lifted it out.
Inside were packets of heroin, documents, and something even darker—evidence.
A purchase ledger in Daniel’s handwriting. Foreign transactions. Dates matching the time the bag had been planted. And then—a death certificate. A forged one. Her father’s. Dated months before his supposed accident.
At the bottom, an old video tape. Eric found an old player under the dusty TV and pushed it in. The static cleared—and there it was. Her father’s car tumbling off the cliff. No Niroz. No Eric. No sign of her guilt.
Only Daniel’s.
It wasn’t just drug trafficking. It was murder. Fraud. Manipulation. A lifetime of crimes stitched together under his name.
Eric let out a shaky laugh. “That’s it, Niro. The end of his story—and the start of yours.”
She smiled—feral, victorious. “He’ll rot in prison, and I’ll take everything. Not half. Everything.”
For the first time, she felt Maggie—the fragile mask she’d worn—fade away completely.
Then, the low hum of an engine broke the quiet. Niroz froze. She pulled Eric toward the back door and peeked through the window.
Daniel.
He had escaped the hospital, driven here—half-mad, bruised, desperate. He kicked the front door open, stumbling inside like a wounded animal.
“I know you, Niroz!” he shouted, his voice cracking with rage. “You couldn’t stop! You had to dig deeper! You just couldn’t be satisfied with half, could you?”
He searched the cabin frantically, unaware she stood right behind him.
“Looking for this?” Her voice was cold as steel. She stepped into the doorway, holding the brown bag like a trophy, Eric behind her.
Daniel spun, eyes wide.
“Give me that! Give me the damn bag, or I swear I’ll— I’ll end you like I ended—”
“Like you ended my father?” Niroz interrupted with a mocking laugh. “Oh, Daniel… you really shouldn’t make threats you can’t keep. You’ve already lost your empire. Your money. Your reputation. And soon—you’ll lose your freedom.”
A shadow moved in the corner—Elias, the same man Daniel once hired to silence her mother. Now, he stood beside Niroz, flanked by two men.
“You remember Elias?” she asked sweetly. “He recorded every one of your confessions. Every word about the drugs, the lies, the murder. You signed your own sentence, Daniel.”
Daniel’s eyes darted wildly. “No… no, that’s impossible!”
“Oh, it’s very possible,” she said, raising the bag. “This is the evidence that will bury you. Drug trafficking, coercion, forgery, murder—you name it. And the pictures I blackmailed you with? They’ll be just a footnote in your scandal.”
He screamed, “You’ve destroyed everything!”
“No, Daniel. You did. I just survived it.”
Elias and his men grabbed Daniel as he fought weakly, coughing, gasping. The police sirens echoed outside—the call Eric had made earlier.
Niroz stepped aside, watching silently as Daniel was dragged out in handcuffs. The cabin, once heavy with ghosts, felt suddenly weightless.
She handed the brown bag to the officers, but quietly slipped her mother’s letter back into her coat pocket. As she watched the flashing lights fade into the distance, a voice whispered in her mind—the voice of the little girl she used to be.
Thank you, Maggie. Your weakness hid the truth. You saved our children. And now… I’m free.
Days later, in her new home, Niroz sat by the fireplace. Her mother was beside her. Eric read quietly while their children played on the rug. She tossed her mother’s letter into the flames, watching it curl and vanish into smoke. Then she picked up her phone and called her lawyer.
“Let’s finish it,” she said. “The rest of Daniel’s fortune belongs to my children now. I’m their guardian. It’s time to close this chapter.”
She had gained half the wealth and her freedom through blackmail, but now—she had won justice.
That night, the firelight danced across her face.
For the first time, Niroz felt at peace.
Maggie was gone. Niroz was free.
And somewhere, far away, Daniel’s heart finally gave out in a cold prison cell—ending the war between the past and the woman who refused to die in it.
—The End.
September 17th, 2025