“Why didn’t you call me when you were going through so much?” “I don’t know, Mehwish. I honestly don’t know what was happening to me back then. I thought I could handle it. I thought that girl would reject the marriage, and I didn’t have to break Ma’s heart. I just…” he trailed off, rubbing his face with his palms.“Amaan, you have always been kind and caring out of all. You didn’t want to disrespect Ma, and I can bet you didn’t want our parents to worry about you anymore. But how can you trust a strange woman or underestimate her?” Mehwish feigned concern.Granted, she loved Amaan dearly, but his mindset always irked her. While she wanted him to have the best of the world, he chose not to discriminate against people based on their benefits. When she wanted him to have a beautiful and sophisticated wife, he fell for a commoner. He even raised his voice at her to defend Raina when she advised him not to marry her.From then onwards, she decided never to interfere in his life again and
“Where is Ma?” Mehwish enquired at the dinner table.“She had urgent work at her NGO?” Salar announced, looking around.He didn’t miss Amaan and Asmaira’s absence at the table.“What happened?” When Mehwish asked, Hania replied, “One of our employees had been physically assaulted by her husband. Ma went to take care of her and also to file a case against her husband.”“Low-class people. What can you expect from them,” Mehwish scoffed.“Where are Amaan and Asmaira?” Salar asked instead of dignifying his daughter with a reply.“I saw his car leaving the mansion some time ago,” Mehwish replied.She smirked inwardly, recollecting how Amaan dragged Asmaira and locked the room’s door before leaving. But that was something she would rather keep to herself and let things unfold. She has done her task of igniting the spark and gradually would fan it into a fire. She always played her card in hiding and let someone else do the dirty deed for her, and that someone was Amaan.“Hania, Ishaal, did
“This is great. The presentation you prepared is exceptional. With this strategy, the Singhania’s will agree to the contract at our terms,” Salar said, ecstatic. Feriha narrowed her eyes, sensing a change in Amaan’s demeanor and also at Asmaira’s absence at breakfast. “We have a rule not to discuss business at the table,” she reminded them. “Let’s discuss this in the office,” he said, apologetically smiling at his wife. While Amaan was closing the laptop, she asked him, “Where is Asmaira?” Before he could answer, Salar said, “She didn’t bother to come for dinner last night.” Feriha, surprised at Salar’s tone for Asmaira, looked at Amaan only to find him give her a smug look. “She isn’t well and slept early last night. I had asked Maya to send her breakfast to her room,” the moment Amaan said, Hania’s fork dropped on the plate. Finding his father stunned at the information, Amaan glances around to see the rest mirroring the same expression before looking at Feriha again, “Didn
When Asmaira woke the following day, she sat up startled, finding herself on the couch rather than outside. Her mind flashed with Amaan’s words, and her head instinctively moved toward the bed. Finding the bed neatly set, she thought he had already left for the office like every day. With her mind occupied with the intention of meeting Feriha and asking for her help, she grabbed her clothes and absentmindedly opened the bathroom without glancing. Her chain of thought broke, and she skidded to a halt finding Amaan wrapped only in a towel. The abrupt halt only made her feet slip, and before her ass could touch the floor, a hand shot out, grabbing her waist and pulling her up. A gasp left her mouth, feeling a strange rush in her body and finding herself in Amaan’s arms. With his hair dripping wet and freshly shaved jaw, he stared at her in confusion. The faint scent of Jasmine enveloped him before his eyes were drawn to the softest browns staring at him. The heat from her palms went st
The last thing Asmaira wanted to do was to work with Amaan. Granted, he caught her off guard, but she will buy some time and eventually cook up some story with the help of Feriha. If things worsened, she could always say she would work with Feriha rather. “Get ready! We’ll go together,” when Amaan said, Asmaira couldn’t help but blurt out, “Where?”“Office,” he shrugged.Her attempt to escape the mess and plan something later was easily caught by him. He would have laughed at the naive woman whose face was an open book if he hadn’t hated her to the core. With Feriha supporting her, he had to break the connection between them and what could be the best way to kill two birds with one stone. With Asmaira rotting in office, she would be away from Feriha and Kabir. “I don’t have appropriate clothes,” she made whatever excuse that came to her mind. She expected Salar or Feriha to intervene, but the silence around told her she was on her own. Amaan stared at Ishaal and asked in mock anger
“Good morning Amaan!” Talia smiled, forwarding his schedule, “what can I do for you today?“The girl in the blue dress,” he mumbled, looking at his schedule.“What about her?” she asked, locking her hands before her.“Make her busy. Do whatever you want with her but make her useful,” he said, giving back the schedule to baffled Talia.“What?” she blinked.Talia was his secretary since he started his career and, apart from Raina, was the only one to understand his temperaments. She was in her early thirties with a sharp eye for detailing, which was what Amaan liked her for. She was an efficient, fierce woman famous for her no-nonsense att
“Can I leave too?” Asmaira asked, seeing Talia packing her stuff.“Amaan is still working. He asked you to stay back,” the latter didn’t raise her head and continued with her packing. Asmaira’s stomach grumbled on cue, making Talia halt in her action. Embarrassed, Asmaira was about to walk away when the latter offered her a box.“It’s a homemade sandwich. I had a lunch meeting so I couldn’t eat it. It should be good since I kept it in the fridge. Or if you not o—”Asmaira interrupted her, “No. I don’t mind eating.”With another low growl from her stomach, Asmaira sat on the chair and opened the box. With Amaan’s morning stunt, she lost her appetite and couldn’t eat her breakfast. And during lunch, she could hardly swallow food with time constraints. Being an introvert with zero social skills, she hid on the fire staircase. By the time she could muster up the courage to go to the cafeteria amidst the curious stare, order the food and sit, it was past her lunchtime. Thinking she would
With last night’s incident still fresh in her mind, Asmaira was on her toes the next day. No matter how often she was forced to make the coffee, she made it with full attention. She remained silent when Talia finally let out her frustration on her. She remained silent when Amaan mocked her about her phobia. She kept her gaze lowered even when Talia threw the file she had drafted in the dustbin.Swallowing the hurt, she worked like a mule under the tyranny of Amaan. Not able to sleep a wink with last night’s terror or eat a morsel because of the bothering throat, Asmaira was lethargic. Yet she didn’t leave any stone unturned whenever Amaan ordered her.With her breathing turning heavy and her body unusually hot, she closed her eyes and leaned over the wall.“I hav
It was not Asmaira trying to take Raina’s place. It was you who were looking for Raina in her.Feriha’s words reverberated in his mind. It was as if someone had thrown cold water and brought him back to reality. Being his mother, she read him like an open book when he himself didn’t realize what actually troubled him about Asmaira.The room echoed with the slamming of the door against the wall. Amaan marched to the center only to halt at the condition of it. Everything was kept in its place and looked thoroughly cleaned. He walked backward when the scene of how he manhandled her on the Gala night flashed before his eyes. He stumbled on the vanity when her scream of that night echoed in his ear, and he covered his ears, dropping the phone he was holding in the action.
“Y-Yes,” Mehwish’s stutter confirms Feriha’s suspicion.Rodriguez subtly disappeared from the scene and instructed his team to clear the premises. As a loyal subordinate, he read the room and gave privacy to the family.“And what did Asmaira reply?” Feriha took a few steps towards her, emanating her intense aura. The last fiasco in the Gala hasn’t been sorted, and she found her daughter at the center of another.“S-She….” Mehwish glanced at Amaan only to see realization drawing up on him.“If you
“We have a charity dinner invite from Mr. Shah. I want you to come along with Kabir,” Feriha said.Asmaira’s head snapped in her direction in surprise, “Me?”After getting discharged the next day, Asmaira was relieved that Amaan had left for a business trip. But what had suffice between them that night kept haunting her. That night, he not only unlocked the new fear for himself but also opened Pandora’s box. She couldn’t muster up the courage to meet Kabir in his absence. The guilt she was responsible for his miserable childhood overshadowed her love for him.Noticing her avoiding Kabir, Feriha planned to bring her and Kabir together on the pretext of evening tea. With Hania taking care of the NGO in her mother-in-law’s absence and Ishaal busy designing her new exclusive collection, this was the only way for her to break whatever wall Asmaira had created around her.“Now that people have seen you during the Ga
“Fuck!”Amaan slumped on the bed with his elbows on his knees and clasped hands before his lips. Locking Asmaira away was the only way for him to calm himself down and think through.The fire of hatred that started seeing Asmaira in Raina’s look made him take the drastic step. He had been verbal to her with his warning, but seeing her nonchalant, he had to threaten her in a different way. However, what he didn’t expect was finding her squirm beneath him half-naked would only lead him to lose himself.The anger should have been extinguished after seeing her broken form. If anything, it intensified and irked at his emotions going haywire for a woman who brought agony to Raina in her dying moment. He swatted the night lamp on the ground. With his chest heaving with untamed fury, he clutched the duvet and ripped it. The bedsheet and the pillows met the same ending. He doesn’t know what was making him feral, but the thought he was about to force Asmaira made him feel like a sexual predator
“No, you didn’t.”Asmaira screamed when Amaan pushed her onto the bed, but not before grabbing the end of her saree and yanking it off her. Clutching her loosened blouse from falling off, Asmaira dropped on the bed. She had to hold on to the piece like her life depended on it. Amaan glared at her naked back, and his fury intensified, realizing he froze at the sight of it momentarily. Angered at his slip of emotion, he threw the saree on the floor and leaned on the bed. Asmaira, attempting to scoot to the other side, shrieked when he caught her ankle and pulled her towards him. “No!” she used her free leg to kick his hold on the other. Unfortunately for her, he grabbed both her ankles while saying, “You wanted to take Raina’s place. I will give it to you tonight.”Turning her around on her back and spreading her legs, he placed himself between them to put a stop to her attempt. “And every night. You will understand marriage is not a game, and every night I will be happy to make sur
Triggering scene. If not comfortable, please skip the two chapters.As soon as Asmaira entered the room, she ran to the couch and slumped on it, her body quivering with her sobs.“I… I’m not jealous,” her murmurs escape in between her wails. Fisting the couch’s surface, she let out a heart wrecking cry. She lay there, crying her heart out, when a whoosh of cold wind made her halt. She raised her head, and soon another wave brushed her as if it was soothing her. She was about to stand when her steps were interrupted by the high heels. She removed them without caring for the blisters popping with her rough action. Her hair swayed with the wind that had her close her eyes, whispering, “Raina.”“I n-never envy you.”Her eyes opened to the view of the curtain swinging aside with the wind and the sliding door to their balcony appearing. She sniffled and walked out to where the breeze maneuvering her. Overwhelmed with her helplessness, regret, remorse, pain, and self-loath, she stopped at
“I gave her,” When Feriha said, Amaan’s retort was quick, “Don’t lie to me, Ma.”“Raina wanted it to be auctioned.”Raina’s name stilled him, “what?”“What you heard. It is the last piece in the auction, and I gave it to Asmaira to wear for the final act,” when Feriha confessed, Asmaira couldn’t help glancing at it again.“Amaan, I know how it looks, but this is not the dress Asmaira was to wear. Th—” Hania was interrupted by Amaan, “Of course. She wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place, but here she is. Isn’t she?”Seeing her son snarling like an agitated beast, Feriha i
“Here you are, Asmaira. I have been looking for you,” Hania uttered as soon as she entered Kabir’s room.It had been more than ten days since Asmaira stopped going to the office. Ten days of radio silence from Amaan as if he never came to the room in her presence. By the time she slept, he didn’t return, and by morning, the vague smell of his cologne told her he had already dressed and left for the office.What surprised her was the lack of questions raised about his absence during the meals. Apparently, he informed them beforehand that spared her the ordeal of falling under Salar’s scrutiny.“Do you need help with something?” Asmaira asked.With Hania and Ishaal swamped with Gala’s arrangement, A
Amaan was brought out of the painful memory when his phone buzzed. His face was marred with a stoic shadow with the blast from the past, making him realize Asmaira doesn’t deserve his sympathy or any kind of emotions. She treated Raina worse than an enemy instead of listening to her. She hurt Raina at the moment of her death, and for that, he would never forgive her, no matter if she had strong morality. “Ross,” he answered the call when his friend’s name flashed.“What’s up, Captain? Do you still remember your friends?”He squashed the cigarette under his shoes and asked, “When will you stop calling me that? We are not in school anymore.”“I’m glad you finally decided to answer my call.” Ross was surprised when Amaan answered the call instead of disconnecting, which he had been doing since Raina’s death. Amaan knew what he meant. “where are you?”With the background buzzing with noise, Ross replied, “Our usual. Boys are here for our monthly meetup.”Ross was Amaan’s school friend,