Chapter 39: Chapter 39

She had awaken up. He wasn't there when her eyes had opened and she deduced he might have left long ago. She sat up. A feeling of a lingering kiss on her forehead got to her, making her rub her forehead frantically when her eyes fixed on the ring in her finger. She had never dared taking it off after that trauma of being thrown down from a building.

"I hate you," she said to herself, "I hate you so much, Shehryaar," And rubbed her forehead again, until it turned red. "Change my name if I married you," Her jaw clenched, "I swear change my name. I will kill myself before being your wife, Shehryaar," She uttered to herself.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened and he entered. Her eyes broadened in realization. Her voice was loud enough to reach the ears of anyone standing at that side of door.

"You?" She cleared her throat, "are you s-still here?"

"Your plans are very dangerous, Sheharzaad," he told quietly.

And then she knew, he had heard it. Moving her chin up in defiance she was about to say something to set him off but her eyes noticed the grey in his orbs darkening. So she just hissed slightly to stand her ground, atleast, "I don't want to-" she stopped in the middle of her sentence.

The last time, she uttered the similar statement she had got disabled, "marry you," Still, she said but in a whisper.

He stepped forward towards her. He kept on inching closer and closer until he stood next to where she sat. Holding her chin, he angled her face up. Bored his eyes and looked straight, "we will see, Sheharzaad," To her hiss, he replied in a snicker.

"And you never learn, now do you? You're one stubborn piece and I would love to fuck this stubbornness out of you on our wedding night,"

Her stomach clenched with worry. He sounded so confident and sure that for a moment, her hope diminished.

She instantly pried his chin from his hold and looked at the dressing table instead. The mirror of which mirrored her worried face. She could already see the anxiety rolling off her eyes. The anxiety of her future. But she instantly swayed these thoughts as the idea of handing that file to Khaleda ran in her mind.

It revived her diminished hope as again, her eyes turned towards him and looked straight into his.

One file. And she would be free.

Apart from that, she had also sent a letter to Khaleda about the women which Shehryaar had encaged in his basement. In that letter, she had told Khaleda everything from A to Z which Sheharzaad knew regarding that woman and her condition in the basement. She fervently hoped that would support her case.

Noticing her glare at him, he arched a brow before moving his thump up and traced her brow, gently. "I wonder where this courage is coming from,"

The statement alone tightened her throat but she didn't show it. She didn't want to be too obvious so she looked down at the floor, implicating his words had affected her.

Though they did.

Next, he picked the car keys from her bed's side table and walked out of the room, banging the door shut on his way. Her body had jolted but she was at peace that he had gone.

...

Amna came back home with Ahmed. They had started shifting their belonging already to their Multan house. Amna was insisting her to run away now but Sheharzaad told her that she was waiting for the right time.

And the right time would come when she would get her hands on that file. She just had two days in her hands and out of which one had already elapsed. Sheharzad thought it would arise suspicion if she would got to the office on the exact day when she had told him that she hated him.

Also she needed a solid reason to devise that could support her presence at the office. She would not go just like that. As she knew that Shehryaar was aware how much his presence was abhorring for her. Apart from that, Hannan had told her that the doubts of the customer were cleared and he would come soon. Sheharzaad had told Hannan about the engagement and everything so he tried to make the process of the sale faster.

"Sheharzaad, what do you think? Would we be able to escape?" Amna asked in her worried voice.

"Hope for the best, Amna. I hope the things will turn out the way we want,"

"What if we failed? What if you have to marry him in the end?"

A silence loomed over them which was broken by Sheharzaad's heavy sigh.

"I don't know what I would do. Well, don't worry. Before my marriage, I will make sure that you two marry. Now tell me how Ahmed Bhai convinced his mother?" She nudged her elbow at Amna whose cheeks began to turn red.

"You know when you left, I had to stay with him. And then his mother got to analyse me from close. She came to like me. She told me I'm a good daughter. As Ahmed is the only child you know. I looked after his mother when she got a little sick. Soon she realized her mistake too. I forgot to tell you as the things were rushed. She also gave me this ring. So kind of Ahmed and I are engaged now,"

"What?!!! You both got engaged and you didn't tell me?!!"

"I was about to tell you but when did we got a chance to sit together and talk since you came back from Dubai,"

"Hmm you're right. My life.... my life does not seem like the life I lived the day I came across him, Amna,"

"I'm sorry," Amna placed her hand on Sheharzaad's, "I'm really sorry,"

"You don't need to be sorry, Amna. And I apologize for selling your house like this,"

"Don't say that. Don't apologize. It must be m-me," Amna's vice cracked, "who sh-ould apologize to you. I'm so sorry that you've to be with him,"

"Shhh Amna. Keep quiet. You know, there was no other way out for me. Just a blind alley was what I got left with and I had no path just to follow that blind alley to the end. It had to happen one way or another. If I wanted you alive then there was no option left for me but just that. In the end, I knew I would have to opt it. Time was short. You were at the death bed. You know how your treatment is still going on, Amna? Because of that money. Otherwise you too would have left me just like everyone in my life did.  You are not the one at fault for this, Amna. This was suppose to happen. It was my fate," Sheharzaad tried to console her, "There was no other way I could get money in such a short time. And even if we would have got that debt, it would take us a lifetime to return it. So don't cry. I accepted this as my fate. I wasn't forced. It was my choice. But what i didn't expect was his interest growing for me,"

Amna's cheeks had gotten wet with tears by now, "I wish I could have died instead,"

"Then what about me? What about me, Amna?" Sheharzaad turned Amna's face towards her, "I know you're guilty. I know you don't feel good. But I prefer that pain instead of going through the same pain of losing a loved one. What about me, if you've died? What about me if I've left you on that death bed? Where would I have gone? My life would have been nothing but striking my head against these four walls. The only family I have is you,"

"You don't understand, Sheharzaad. It kills me to know this that you've to spend a night with someone just to save my life. I feel like I'm nothing but a useless weight placed on everybody's shoulder. I feel as if my existence is so useless. I feel so useless. I know you are my friend. Rather a sister. But every breath I take reminds of what you did. It feels heavy on my heart. I do owe you. It increases the burden on my heart. I wish I can return you the favor because with this such great favor I can't live. My life is becoming a burden on me since the moment of truth,"

"Amna? Amna, please. Everything would get alright once we move away from here. You don't need to think of me like that. Do you remember the moment we came friends? When you saved my life from that psychopath in our university. Don't think that way. I just returned your favor,"

Amna rubbed her hand at her chest, "Thank you," Was all she could say yet the burden in her heart didn't lessen, "you're very strong, zaad,"

Zaad

His grey eyes flashed in her mind.

....

As if the luck was on her side, the next day she had received his call to come to the office as he wanted details of certain files. She agreed and tried to show her hesitance yet from inside the case was different. This was the first time when she was looking forward meeting him. Not him, particularly she wanted to be in his office and that too without him.

After getting ready, she called a taxi reached the company and then reached the door to his office. The hesitance in her steps was still there. She fixed herself, cleared her throat, and then stared at the door. Forming a fist, she at last knocked it and heard his permission.

"Assalam alaikum," She muttered, upon entering. Her hands held each other as she fidgeted with her fingers.

He sat there in all his glory. His elbow fixed on the arm-rest of the chair and with the same hand he had formed a fist, supporting his face.

"Wsalam," He replied to her.

Her chest constricted in that moment. Her face began to turn pale. Her limbs, they were shaking as realization hit her. Hard.

The ring

She wasn't wearing her ring.

Her throat bobbed as she quickly tucked her hand behind her back.

"What happened?" He asked, noticing her changed demeanor.

"Nothing. I-I just feel nauseatic," It was the truth. Upon not noticing the ring around her finger, the first thing that hit her was nausea.

His eyes narrowed at him as he leaned forward on the table by lacing both his elbows. She could feel her breath getting struck in her throat.

"Sit," he said before taking the pen from the table and swirling it between his fingers. His grey eyes was on the pen so it calmed her a little as she jolted her feet and propelled forward towards the chair and sat infront him. She sincerely hoped he could not see her hands.

The last time she was without his ring, she was thrown off from a building. She didn't want him to test with that. Sweat began to accumulate around her upper lips and she instinctively moved her hand and cleared it with the tissue that she had fisted in her palm.

"Sheharzaad," He said, and she lifted her lashes up to look at him.

"Yes?"

"You seem off," This time around, his eyes that were prior on the pen moved from it towards her and striked with hers.

Sheharzaad could feel her eyes getting slightly widened, "no," the word came out as a whimper. His eyes were doing their job perfectly. Despite she was seated, her knees began to buckle.

"No," She said, clearly.

"Okay. Bring me the files that I had asked for," He told and then leaned against the back of his chair. The tick tick sound was produced in the silent atmosphere as he pushed in and out the thrusting device of the pen, making the nib appear and then gone.

"Okay," she said and stood up from the chair, looking at him, moved to her left and was about to turn around when her ears caught his voice.

"Where is your ring?" He questioned.