CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 46 : The past

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"Fine" Fawad replied .

It surprised Seth , that he had agreed to such a thing but he was unaware that Fawad had been himself thinking of that for long.

"But , for that too , I need to know if  Zeheb is nice or not . I don't want Augustus to be hurt" Fawad sighed. He remembered his uncle's words about them supporting Zeheb from the side , yet he couldn't be so sure about how she was .

Seth smiled a little at the evident worry about his friends in Fawad's heart.

"She is pretty awesome, I dived deeper in her background and with a little information from her father's side , I got to know she has been through a lot" Seth said , and Fawad was ready for a storytime .

F L A S H B A C K

"Abbu! Abbu! Do you think this colour will suit me when I go to get my degree?" Zeheb asked with a huge smile .

"Suit ? You will look like , uh what is that girl called?" Her father asked while looking at her uncle who was sitting on the wooden palang and fanning himself with the wooden fan.

"Deepika Padukone?" Her uncle asked trying to recall the name and Zeheb's father smiled in content , "Yes exactly her ! Even more prettier"her father complimented.

"Well , our Zeheb is already way prettier than any heroine! She is smart and talented" her aunty came from inside with a plate of food in her hand and passed it to Zeheb who blushed at all the compliments.

She was the youngest and only daughter of the household . She had 12 cousin brothers in total who adored and cherished her .

All her brothers were engaged in agriculture or managing the local industries so they didn't gain any formal knowledge . But despite that,  they supported her dream of wanting to study .

Tomorrow was the day when she will be awarded by the village head for excelling in her studies . Everything was planned.

Zeheb was eating the pakoras which were served to her .

"Wait , I just remembered something." Zeheb gasped.

"What happened?" Her dadi asked .

"My cow !! I forgot to give chiku food today" Zeheb quickly jumped up from the chair and ran towards the kitchen making her mother shout , "Atleast go after finishing the pakoras!!"

"I am full, abbu and chachu will eat the rest" She said and gave a pleading look to them making them laugh and agree .

"Yes , we will finish it"

Zeheb grabbed the rotis from the pot which her mother had prepared one hour ago and from the side grabbed some vegetables and shoved them all in a polyethylene running outside .

Zeheb ran and started to look around for chicku .

"Ismail , do you know where chicku is?" Zeheb asked with worry after not being able to find her cow .

"Yes , I was going to help her myself . She is stuck in the mud with her kid" and that's when Zeheb knew that she won't be able to reach home quickly , but she was aware that she can make her family understand as to why she was late.

After hours of helping and cleaning the cow and her calf , and feeding them food . Zeheb finally came towards her own house . She was stunned to see people surrounding the house and whispering things to each other sadly . Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and she pushed them slowly making her way towards her house worriedly .

But she wasn't ready to see the scene which was in front of her .

The floor was covered in blood of her family who was slaughtered like animals .

"AHHHHHHH!!" She screamed and grabbed her face . She ran towards her dadi's body which was the closest. She cried as her hands trembled.

She was sobbing hesterically looking around the house until her vision started to fade and she fell unconscious by the sudden grief.

P R E S E N T

"Your father killed her entire family in one day because her uncle wrote an article against his company which was polluting the village's land. After the incident , the only person who was left but he was in critical condition too. Seeing all her dreams vanish in front of her eyes , she became vengeful and wanted to seek revenge. That's how , this normal village girl became a criminal Mrs Z" Seth's words made Fawad feel sick in his core .

The image he had of his father kept getting more tainted and dirtier with every passing day somehow . He felt nauseus to even think that he was the son of such a man .

If earlier he had any doubts , he didn't had them now . He just wanted to get over with the business between him and his father .

As the talk proceeded about them deciding the hall where they will meet and discuss, Fawad suddenly remembered something. He reached out in his pocket , and frowned when he didn't found it . He quickly removed the backcover of his phone where the card lied .

"What is it?" Seth asked as Fawad passed him the little black card with white letters on top of it .

"It is our uncle's number. Contact him and tell him to come to Cloudile Hall" Fawad's words made Seth's eyebrows frown . "Which uncle?" He asked slightly curious about the origin of somehow new in this .

"Uncle Zayan"

"Oh-okay," Seth didn't pushed further in the topic . He was pondering about the reason of Fawad gaining this much courage in such a short span.

Seth's phone rang and he picked it up . It was his mother . He gave an apologetic look to Fawad and picked up the phone .

"Yes...right...oh I am sorry....yes I completely forgot...okay...yeah bye" He kept saying things from one side and then got up from the seat.

"Fawad , I am sorry , I have to go . My mother is in the town and I promised to show her the whole city . It's been pretty long time since she has been in India" Seth told him and picked up his phone laying on the table.

He turned around to go and Fawad started at his almost disappearing figure , trying to calm himself down to say what he was about to speak.

"Seth!" He finally called out,  trying to swallow his hesitantion.

"Yeah ?" Seth turned around staring at Fawad's face .

"Take Safia with you . She would like to meet your mother too" Fawad told him trying to control the jealously he felt inside his heart .

"You are fine with it?" Seth asked in surprise and Fawad gave a slight nod clenching his jaw not ready to trust his own voice.

"Okay ,"Seth smiled slightly and walked outside.

His mother had been asking to see Safia , it was him who kept denying her but if Fawad is okay , he found no reason to not let his mother meet her .

Fawad just sat on the table clenching the side of his head . He clenched his first and closed his eyes . Even with his eyes closed , Safia's face was coming in his vision smiling and laughing with Seth.

He was aware that her heart belonged to him, but even the thought of her sharing her pretty laughters with another man was enough to make his blood boil . But it was necessary for Safia's own survival .

~

Safia was jumping across the street to reach the grocery store to grab a can of soda for her friends and herself . She opened the door of the store , and it was the one where she used to work once . She smiled lightly as she remembered her past days which were spent in hardships .

A lady passed her a smile as she entered and she gladly returned it .

She started to look around the area for a good soda at a low price .

"I really love how the street rodents always look for something cheap despite them getting rich . Doesn't it show that no matter how many money a rat is showered with , it still remains a rodent" Safia looked at the voice , and it was Rubab.

She wanted to take the revenge of getting insulted in college. She was now with her friends group , and Safia was alone , which obviously meant she was stronger today and could easily win any fight or argument with Safia .

It made Safia sigh , as Rubab was with her friends group. Safia decided to ignore her words and keep looking for soda.

Rubab scrunched her nose in displeasure.

"Where is your bold nature gone ? Did Mr Siddiqui threw you out on the streets to cry?" Rubab continued , but seeing no answer come from the other side.

Seeing her friends laugh slightly at Rubab's condition, she got more furious .

"I should have known that earlier itself , a man like Mr Siddiqui won't last on one girl . Not like I complain, he's extremely hot and attractiv—AHHH" Rubab screamed in pain as she held her forehead. Her head was bleeding as in a friction of moment Safia had smashed a glass bottle of amul over her head.

"Say things to me as much as you want,  but dare you speak about my man like that!" Safia angrily said .

Rubab's friends rushed to her refuse and one immediately dialled to the police .

"Let's see if you can be this brave once the police come!!" One girl said .

Safia's eyes widened as she just came out of her anger and stared at the thing she did . But it was too late to apologize anyways , so she decided to just let it be the way it was.

Instead of saying anything , she just opened her phone's location and texted Fawad "Help 🥺" . She remembered to include an emoji showcasing her emotion, although it made the text look unserious .

She just bit her lower lip waiting for the fate to take it's turn . She tried to hide her fear of getting caught by the police .

The door's opening sound came and then police entered the store .

"So where is the criminal?" A man's voice asked and Safia gulped staring at the side with fear.

To be continued....

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