CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 41 : First Step Towards Betrayal (read last note pls)

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Fawad reached the place where the man pointed towards in the morning . The street was now bustling with life and lights as tourists surrounded the shops , haggling for the prices . Couples walked around eating corns and cotton candies . He stared at the hotel , and was about to walk inside when he heard the sound of people hooting and cheering , while others were gasping . He turned his head , to find a tall broad man , with a slight tan skin and hairs gelled back , standing straight in a black pathani , fighting with single handedly with a group of people.

His face was turned around , and Fawad couldn't see his face properly , and a man was about to attack him from behind with a dagger in his hand . Unable to control himself , Fawad jumped in the fight , holding the attacker's wrist twisting it , and in pain he let go of the dagger . Fawad kicked his stomach and the man turned around , facing Fawad .

The dark brown eyes stared into the light brown eyes of Fawad , making a contact,and his lips curled upwards in a smirk.

'Do I know him?' Fawad thought for a second .

The unknown man just stared at a metal street light , which showcased the reflection of another attacker who was coming from behind . He turned around in a split of second and started fighting . Fawad launched towards the others too .

Sounds of grunts, punches and people falling down was suppressed by the cheers of the people, who were staring at this scene in front of them as if they were cheering for two heroes who were straight out of a film.

The attackers gave up , as few of them were on the floor with twisted and broken limbs , while the others ran away .

*Clap*

*Clap*

Two strong sounds of the clapping came . Fawad looked at the direction, as the sweat dropped from his forehead, and his clean hairstyle was now messy . It was from the man who visited in the morning. He was wearing a grey trouser and a black shirt hugging his broad body.

"Liam , you are late" The man beside him said , who Fawad was accompanying in fighting.

"Sorry , had work to handle" Liam replied while shrugging , "But I don't think you had much problem without me" he said while staring at the bodies of the men laying around in pain.

"Seriously? It's good they came without guns, otherwise I would have been as good as a dead bee" The man rolled his eyes .

"C'mon , drop it . Because of me , atleast you and your nephew could fight together" Liam said .

'Nephew ? Is he my uncle Zayan? He doesn't look like an uncle ' Fawad thought for a second.

"Yeah , perhaps it was for the good only , but not from your side , atleast not intentionally" Zayan told Liam.

Fawad just stared at the conversation taking place feeling out of the place .

"Now, let's go inside the hotel and order some food . I am hungry" Zayan said , while noticing how Fawad was looking out of the place .

~~~

Fawad was sitting silently in the restaurant, with the other two .

"So, you are my uncle?" He decided to speak breaking the awkward silence. He still couldn't bring himself to believe that his uncle was such a young man.

"Assalamualaikum" Zayan greeted.

"Right , walekum assalam" Fawad was weirded out, he realised how he shouldn't have jumped straight to the point . The man's eyes seemed dull , yet his face was calm . It wasn't like his father's face , which was full of hatred and wrinkles which just appeared out because of him being angry about little things.

"I am super bad at convos , so just start any of you , in any case you both are older—maybe" Fawad told them and took a sip of juice which they ordered a few minutes ago.

"Okay , so let's start with the basics. I am Labib , but—I go by Liam, and he is Zayan"

"Nice to meet you both" Fawad took another sip in distress trying to calm himself down . He wasn't in habit of refusing his father's order , let alone the thought of meeting with his father's enemies . In all these years his father said nothing good about Zayan.

"Likewise" Zayan told him .

"Who were the people attacking you?" Fawad inquired .

"Your dad's men . They try to just track me down and kill me . But have failed" Zayan chuckled dryly and took another sip.

"Soo, how did I never saw you growing up?" Fawad asked another question. He had way too many which he couldn't count on his fingertips.

"I was in hostel for most of my life , and your dad was way older that me , so he was married . Even after I returned from hostel , then also he used to stay at home with his wife and rarely visited us . I , for a matter of fact didn't knew that he had a son for the longest period of time , because he never mentioned a word about you" Zayan cleared .

"And why will he hide me? Why will my own father hide me?" Fawad asked , the feelings of betrayer were deep engraved in his heart .

"Because he was raising both of us as the next heir of the throne.  He just wanted us to feel that we are the only one , so that we can focus on the throne . You and I were just plan A and B for him , I wasn't his brother , you weren't his son.  Let's get clear with it" Zayan hated to just say everything so clearly but there was no other way.  He didn't wanted to twist or sugar coat the words.

"You are lying! If this is true then why didn't you told me ? Why did my father told me about you 3 years ago?" Fawad knew his father wasn't the most perfect man , but he always clinged to the thread of hope that just maybe, that wasn't the case.

"I am sorry for saying this , but your father accidentally told you , because he was angry on me . If he actually wanted to tell you , then he must have told this in your childhood itself" Zayan cleared out.  He understood what Fawad felt about his brother . Infact , he was in Fawad's place too .

For him, Khalid was an elder brother , who was like a father figure for him ..

"How can I believe you?" Fawad asked.

"Because I just gave you reasons, and if that wasn't enough " Zayan passed down a file with the prooves and pictures which could support his claims .

Fawad stared at them and took a deep breath . There were pictures of the Khalid and Zayan together , pictures of two other ladies beside them and an old man , who appeared to be their father .

'Who are they?' Fawad thought , and as if Zayan read his thoughts .

"It's our family . The man is our father , the ladies are our mothers"

"You both had different mothers?"

"Yes , I am the son of none of them though , I was the adopted because in older age . Khalid saw me on the street fighting with two kids , and he apparently saw the spark-somehow and took me in . He wanted to have the future of the family secured . His father adopted me , becoming our father , and—that's why I was pretty blind in my brother's love too" Zayan informed .

'Our family is twisted' Fawad could swear .

"Okay so what made you change your mind? Like you rebelled and ran off" Fawad asked , and the waiter put the food on the table with a smile.

The kababs , chicken fry , biryani and rumali roti with daal looked appetizing .

"It was my wife . Inara" Zayan replied and a gentle smile formed upon his face remembering her .

"Okay—" Fawad thought that was enough of a reason to change, afterall he was changing for Safia too .

"Why are you contacting me though?" Fawad asked.

"Because Khalid is nowhere near stopping , instead he just keep stooping low.  I don't have much power , as I left everything behind . To get to him, I need your help" Zayan said.

"Why don't you take his help? I have heard he's some mafia too" Fawad asked pointing towards Liam who was munching on the kababs.

"I am not mafia , I am a buisness man . I just have connections in that dark world , but Khalid belongs to both worlds . It's difficult for me to take him down on my own . We tried to get Z track him down , but it failed " Liam told him.

"Z ? You guys sent her?" Fawad asked in utter disbelief . She was their greatest enemy and to know that his own uncle was supporting her just made it worse.

"No, she wanted it . She was seeking revenge , we just showed her the direction and backed her off along with those other girls " Zayan told Fawad.

"It doesn't make it any better . I think I am done with the meeting thanks for calling me and wasting my time up , but I don't want to deal with people who were destroying my business" Fawad told them angrily and got up .

"You can go , but just ask yourself , were we destroying your business, or your father's one ? Your business is your company , we never touched it . We were destroying drugs and weapons, which are a part of Khalid's business. If a person puts a dog for guarding the mansion , the mansion doesn't automatically starts to belong to the dog . It was your father's business, you got no single penny from it" Liam said with an unbothered tone as if it was the simplest thing on this plannet earth which Fawad was failing to understand.

"Whatever it is" Fawad scoffed . His heart was beating against his chest . It wasn't totally due to him thinking that Liam and Zayan were against him , but rather due to the fear of him going against his father .

"Okay , in case you are going take my card . Contact me if you change your mind ever , because Khalid is a master of destroying lives" Zayan gave the card in Fawad's hand who silently took it and walked away .

"It was a waste to even contact him" Liam sighed .

"It wasn't. I knew he won't agree in the start . It's a new thing for him , he will take time . Him accepting my card , was the start of him turning against Khalid.  We must now wait and watch what will happen" Zayan told him and sat on the chair again .

"Let's eat food till then , it's getting cold" Zayan started eating the food and Liam followed , staring for the last time in the direction Fawad went.

~~~

Fawad was sitting silently in a cafe , thinking deeply about the men's words . He closed his eyes and focused on the word 'revenge'. What wrong has his father done to Mrs Z.

He picked up his phone and closed his eyes for a second , trying to muster up the courage to investigate against his father .

Sabrie quickly picked up the call.

"Trojan"

"Yes sir? How can I help you this time?"

"Find about Z , and dive into my father's past . I want to know each and everything" He said and gulped the soda .

"On it " Sabrie cut the call . She didn't cared who she wanted to has to find about , weather it be Khalid , or anyone else . Her loyalty lied with Fawad , and she started typing about the other half of the info , which she didn't searched about earlier .

Fawad put the phone in his pocket again and put his head on the table which was aching .

'But before you die , you better give me a grandchild , otherwise , after you die , I will kill your wife . I let you marry a commoner , just for the sake of having a heir , not because I wanted to witness some ugly love story'

Khalid's words were echoing in his mind.

'Father if I must die , I will take you to the grave with me ' Fawad thought as his eyes sharpened even annoyed at the thought of letting anything happen to Safia .

Thinking about what will happen to Safia after him , scared him . How will she deal with his death . He needed to make sure that she was with a better man—a man like Seth.

His hand trembled at the thought , but he picked up his phone , texting Seth.

"I don't care what work you have , come to India again after 1 week"

He would spend the whole one week with Safia. The one week which will be the best moments of his life , he knew it . And after that , he will set her up with Seth. Knowing that he will be able to take better care of her , and in case his plan to kill his father failed , he knew Seth will protect her .

To be continued....

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I seriously don't like to ask for votes or comments , but I am witnessing a drastic decrease . Like just 2 or 4 comments per chapter . Look it's fine , okay ? But it just makes me think if the story is getting boring or having some drawback which is making people lose interest .

I don't care much about reads , because I know most people drop the book when it's still in process , but with votes and comments it's not the same case . I just want to know , if in case I need to improve something.

Because I am trying my best to make every chapter long and interesting, which I don't know, I am failing or not. Please do give your opinion , as it's really demotivating . In case it's just that people forget , that's fine too,  I just don't want the course of the story , that's why I am asking.

Much love ♥️

Batta <3