chapter 64

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Athar's POV

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An irritating alarm tone disturbed my sleep. I switched it off. I turned to Ayesha's side and put my arm over her, but the empty space made my eyes snap open.

Where is she?

I picked up my phone and checked the time, it was 7am, where has she gone so early! I was about to get up to look for her, but just then I remembered she is not here.

I sighed heavily, it has not been even twenty four hours since she has gone, and I miss her so much already.

I pulled her pillow in my arms and inhaled it deeply, it felt like she was here only. I closed my eyes and didn't realise when I fell asleep again.

It felt like I have been sleeping for too long, I opened my eyes, and checked the time it was 8am. I immediately sat up straight

"My god!" I muttered and got off the bed, I went straight to washroom, took a shower, and got dressed. I messaged Rose that I will be late for the office today.

I went out of the room, I headed straight to Izhaan. I knocked on the door but he didn't answer. I knocked again and waited patiently

"Wait a minute. Reem is not here, then why the hell am I knocking on the door" I shook my head and pushed the door open.

"Buddy" I called, "Izzu" I checked the closet, but he was nowhere, I came out of the room.

I looked around the house, but he wasn't anywhere. I came back to his room, I called him, but his phone was in his room only.

"Where are you buddy?"

I went out of his room, and found dadi coming towards me

"Assalamualaikum" I greeted

"Walekumassalam beta! Is Izhaan asleep?" She asked

I don't even know where he is, then why should I worry her, so I lied

"Yes dadi" I nodded

"Let me go check on him" she was heading in the room, but I stopped her

"Dadi! Let him rest. You come with me, I want to talk to you" I took her to the living room.

"Is everything ok? What do you want to talk about? Is Reem ok?" Fear was evident on her face, I felt so bad for her.

"Yes everything is well!" I said, she sighed in relief.

"Take me to Reem, I am so worried about her. I will apologize to her, I will bring her back. I don't even know how she is? I should be with her" she looked so stressed, I put my hand on hers

"Dadi please try to understand, Reem needs some time, and don't worry about her, Ayesha is there with her, she will take care of her"

"Ayesha is there that is why I could sleep last night, I know she will handle everything."

"She will" I smiled feeling proud of my baby.

"Yeh sab kya ho gaya beta, mere ghar ki khushi kahan kho gayi (what has happened! Where is the happiness from my house has gone?)" The corner of her eyes moistened, I put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Allah will make everything better" I said

"In sha Allah" she sniffed, "I'm so worried about Izhaan also" she said and I sat straight

Izhaan!!!! I must find him.

"He will be ok. You go in your room now and take rest for a while"

"How can I rest? I could not even talk to your dada ji, I called him, but his phone was not reachable"

What should I tell her now, she is already so worried. Luckily Hayat came and I found a way to save myself from her questions.

"Assalamualaikum" Hayat said

"Walekumassalam" dadi let out a forced smile

"Hayat! Take dadi to her room, be with her, let her rest" I ordered her

"Yes Bhai" she nodded and took dadi with her.

I'm sure Izhaan has gone to meet Reem. I went to check his car and it was not there, it confirmed my doubt. I called a guard and asked about Izhaan, I was told he left the house at 4 o'clock.

What is he up to!

I took out my phone and called Ayesha

"Haan aye the apke bhai yahan subah subah 6:15 baje (your brother came in the morning at 6:15 am)" Ayesha said as she answered the call.

Izhaan went there at 6:15am, then where did he go before that. He is not being himself these days, I really hope he is fine. What if Reem said something rude to him? It would have hurt him immensely

"Athar! Are you there?" Ayesha's voice broke the chain of my thoughts.

"Hmm! I am. Izhaan was ok?" I asked

"How does it matter to me! He got what he deserved" she scoffed, her cold tone made me even more worried than I already was

"What do you mean? What happened there? Did Reem say something to him?"

"Huh! I didn't let him meet Reem, he doesn't deserve to even see her after what he has done to her. How dare he to cheat on her?" She said angrily

"Huh?"

"He tried using dad to see Reem, but you know what I did, I told everything to dad, and now after what dad did to him, he would not dare to step in this house, if he has even a little bit of self respect left in him" her words made my heart stop beating

"Wh..what did uncle do to him?" I could not even speak

"Well! Not much! He just slapped him and threw him out of the house" she said so coolly that my blood boiled in anger

"What?" I shouted

"Why are you shouting? He deser..." She was saying but I cut her off

"Stop it! You have spoken enough against Izhaan, but now I will not take even a word more against him" I yelled

"Athar! I was sayi.."

"Why are you even speaking, do you even know what the truth is?" I was so mad at her

"Do you know the truth?" She asked

"Yes! I know. I have known the truth for the past three months" I answered, she gasped, she was silent for a moment then she spoke

"Awesome! Should I clap for you now? You are equally responsible for Reem's condition. How dare you to hide it that your brother was cheating on my Reem? I will never forgive you and him. I can't believe you knew and you still hid it, how did you put your conscience to sleep?"

"When did Izhaan leave from there?" I had no patience left to hear her crap so I asked

"To hell with him, I curse him to...."

"Shut up! Just shut up" I roared, "you are not aware of the truth and you are telling it to people? I am telling you for the last time, I will not tolerate anything against Izhaan. And one more thing Ayesha, if something happens to my brother, I will never forgive you" I screamed at the top of my lungs, I didn't care who was around me at the moment.

I quickly got in my car, and left.

Abdullah uncle slapped him! He also thinks that Izhaan cheated on Reem. I clenched my fists around the steering wheel.

You have not done good Ayesha!!

There was so much water logging on the roads because of the continuous rain, even right now it was raining, making it so difficult to drive.

I headed straight to Abdullah uncle's house, I was sure Izhaan must be there only.

I reached the house, my heart ached when I looked at Izhaan, he was sitting on the bonnet of his car totally oblivious of the rain. I got outside the car and marched towards him.

"Buddy" I called, he didn't look at me, "Izhaan" I shook him, he looked up at me

"Buddy!" He jumped down, "thank god you are here. Let's go in the house and bring Reem" he said while dragging me towards the house.

"We will bring her later, let's go home for now" I said, he shook his head.

"I can't go to home without her, please Athar, tell her to come with me, it's too difficult to be without her. I could not even sleep last night. Dad had told me not to come in the house, otherwise I would have gone inside and begged her to come with me, but you can go. Please bring her" he was pleading and it felt like my heart is being squeezed, it was painful to see him like this.

"Buddy" I hugged him.

Dadi used to tell us to make prayers when it's raining, so I prayed to almighty for Izhaan. Oh Allah! Please soften Reem's heart for him.

"Are you going to bring her?" He asked pulling back.

"I will, but you have to come home with me for now. Please" I requested, he sighed. I held his hand and brought him to my car and left for home, he was too lost to protest.

***

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Ayesha's pov

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The way Athar shouted at me, a chill ran down my spine, we have been through so much, but he has never spoke to me this way.

Have I really acted impulsive?

Is there really more in this story?

After talking with Athar I have become so restless, what is the whole truth? I need to find it out.

I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a voice.

"Ayesha Bibi" a maid called me, I turned around.

"Yes?" I asked

"Reem Bibi is refusing to eat, what should I do?" She asked looking worried.

I heaved a sigh.

I wish Rukhsana Aunty was still here, I miss her so much. She would have taken care of Reem so well, I wish she hadn't left the job.

"Take her breakfast in her room, I will feed her" I said and went to Reem, shiza (the maid) was walking ahead of me.

She opened the door and entered the room.

"Maine kaha na nahi khana mujhe phir kyun layi ho, le jao ise yahan se (I told you that I don't want to eat, then why have you brought food, take it away from here)" I heard Reem's scream. I rolled my eyes

"Bibi woh mai.. (I umm..)" the poor girl shook in fear. I entered the room.

"Keep the tray on the table and go" I said, she nodded and left the room in a heartbeat.

"Tumhe nahi khana to kya, par mera bhanja, slash, bhanji ko to khana hoga na (so what if you don't want to eat, my nephew or niece wants to eat)" I said

I picked up the fruit bowl and sat in front of her. I took a blueberry in a fork and put it near her mouth. She shook her head.

"Reem! Open your mouth" I said angrily, she turned her head away from me.

"Baby! Please" I gave her my best puppy eyes. She looked at me, "please" I requested, she sighed and opened her mouth, I grinned and started feeding her

"That's enough" she said after eating a little

"Little more" I insisted, she ate two more bites then she put her hand on her mouth

"I'm done" she said, and I put the bowl aside.

Reem and I have not spoken much since the incidence. I just ask about her health, about food and medicine, and she just answers it.

She was bottling up everything inside and I knew that she had to let it out, otherwise it will just keep affecting her health.

I took her hand in mine and asked her softly.

"What happened that day?" I asked. I had to take a risk of asking her. "Reem! Seeing you in rain that day shook me, I can't express in words how I felt, it was definitely the scariest experience of my life" I said

"Scariest?" She scoffed, "you want to know what is scary? I saw Izhaan with a girl in a cafe, and he was calling her his wife" she said, and my eyes enlarged in disbelief

"What the hell!! Wife???? No way" I was so shocked

"I was begging him to call me his wife and you know what he said, he told me to get lost" a tear fell from her eyes. I was in tears myself

It was so hurtful to think what she must have gone through, but I don't believe that girl was jeeju's wife.

"When the girl was trying to talk to me he put his hand on her mouth, then he held her hand and left with her, leaving me alone to cry." she sobbed

"If she was really just his client then why did he touch her, how dare he touch her. I badly wanted to break his hands for putting on someone else" she sniffed.

I put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her to me.

"He turned my fear into a reality, nobody can always be there for me, my own father left me alone then why would he stay with me" she cried

I wanted to tell her she is wrong, I wanted to tell her that dad never left her, I wanted to tell her I'm always there for her, but I stayed quiet, she needed to empty her heart.

"The day I was getting discharged, he talked with me, he told me that he was helpless that day that he couldn't recognise me, he also said that girl was just his client and it was a part of an act to call her his wife." She wiped her tears

Oh! Is this the truth Athar was talking about?

"He was promising me to spend more time with me and my baby, but you know what I don't need him anymore. The day he walked out of that cafe door, I was done with him. I don't want to be with Izhaan now, because I know he doesn't love me, if he did, he would have dropped the act the moment I walked in on him, but he let me down" her lips were trembling because of her intensive crying

She is not wrong, what jeeju did that day is unforgivable, but now when I look at it after keeping my love for Reem aside, I see a lot more in this story.

I came out of my trance when Reem began coughing, I quickly gave her water.

"What happened to her?" Dad came, "don't cry beta" he hugged Reem. She did not push him away.

"Take your medicine" I quickly handed her medicine, she popped the pill in her mouth then dad made her drink water, she laid down.

Dad was beside her, he was stroking her hair. She was just quietly watching him, then her eyes started getting heavier and she fell asleep.

The doctor has prescribed some medicine to her, which will relax her mind, if she keeps taking stress it will not be good for her health.

"I will not forgive Izhaan, he will have to pay for every single tear of my daughter" dad said, there was so much hatred in his tone for jeeju.

I have to find out the whole truth.

"Dad! I have to go out for a while. Do you mind staying with Reem for a while?" I asked

"What are you saying, why would I mind! You can take your time and don't worry, I'm here with her" he patted my cheek, I smiled and immediately left the room.

I came running to my car and settled in. I sighed deeply and headed to Khan villa.

Why would jeeju call a client his wife? What could be the reason for him to turn his back on Reem?

Reem was wrong to think that dad left her, So is she wrong about jeeju also?

I stopped the car and got outside. I looked at the open door of the house and heaved a sigh.

I entered the house and looked around thankfully no one was there, I was not in the correct mental state to talk to anyone. I went straight to Reem's room, I had to talk to jeeju

The door was already open, I was about to knock, but my hand stopped mid way when I heard Athar and jeeju talking.

"You should have told the truth to uncle, he thinks you are a cheater. You should have cleared his misunderstanding there and then" Athar was shouting in anger

"I just want Reem to come back, and for that not just one, I'm ready to receive even ten slaps" jeeju said, I could hear the honesty in his voice. I felt bad.

"Reem is not going to return like this. She has to know that whatever you did was only because of your case" Athar huffed, jeeju sighed

"I will do whatever it takes to bring her back, she is my life. I can't live without her" his broken voice made my heart pain.

Oh no! I actually overreacted and made a big deal out of nothing, what will I do now! I was feeling ashamed to face jeeju.

I was so busy thinking how to go in front of him, that I didn't see a vase next to me and knocked it down accidentally, it made a loud noise and that brought jeeju's and Athar's attention on me.

Athar's jaw tightened when he looked at me standing in the doorway, I inhaled deeply and entered the room

"Assalamualaikum" I said

"Ayesha, please. It's not a correct time, go from here" Athar said rudely to me, my mouth hung open at his rudeness

"Athar! How are you talking with her? Have you forgotten about manners?" Jeeju scolded him, he glared at me, then looked away. Jeeju looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Why?" I asked jeeju, he raised his eyebrows at me. "why did you refuse to recognise Reem? Do you know how badly it has affected her? Why did you do it?"

"The cafe was littered with criminals that day, they were after me and Maizah, I was so shocked to see Reem there, if I had called her my wife, they would have come after her, I can die a thousand deaths for her, but I can never put her life in danger" he clarified, and I got so angry at him

"There were so many criminals and still you left her alone? What if they harmed her?" I asked

"I stayed around till Vivek didn't come" he said

"You trusted a driver?" I scoffed

"Vivek is not a driver, he is an inspector. Izhaan kept him near Reem so that he can protect her if any danger comes to her" Athar said, and my eyes widened in disbelief

Vivek is an inspector! Oh God! A policeman disguised as a driver for months and I could never guess ut

"Even though Reem's life was never in danger, but Izhaan always made sure that she is well protected when she is leaving the house. He did not go out with her for months so that she cannot be seen with him. He left no stone unturned to keep her safe. If it is not love, then what is?" Athar said and I was feeling so guilty for always being so quick to jump to conclusions.

"I wanted to stay with Reem, I would have told her the entire truth, but I couldn't take any risk with her security" jeeju said. I felt my eyes watering, I remembered about my bad behaviour with jeeju, how could I think that he can betray Reem.

"I'm sorry jeeju! I am terribly sorry for how I behaved with you, and I am so so sorry about what happened with dad" I cried, "I thought you cheated on Reem, and now when I think about it, I look like a fool to me, but seeing Reem that day, totally numbed my mind, I just saw you as her culprit"

"It's ok Ayesha! I'm not upset with you at all. In fact I feel so happy that you love Reem blindly" jeeju said

"But I should have trusted you also" I looked down feeling ashamed of myself.

"I would have reacted the same if I had seen Reem in that condition" sadness clouded on jeeju's face.

"Who is this Maizah?" I asked

Athar told me the whole story about her, and how dada ji had asked jeeju to fake being her husband. The more I was finding out the more guilty I was feeling.

I looked at jeeju, he looked so upset.

"Don't worry jeeju, I will talk to Reem, I will tell her to come back here. She needs to know what happened that day" I said, and jeeju's eyes twinkled.

"Really? You will bring her back" he asked looking so hopeful

"Jeeju, you know that she always feared that you will also leave her like everyone else did and now that fear has engulfed her completely. She firmly thinks that you have also left her, that you also don't love her" I said

"It isn't true" Athar said

"I know it isn't, but Reem is too stubborn, when her mind gets stuck somewhere, she doesn't see beyond that" I sighed

"What should I do now?" Jeeju asked, I let out a small smile

"Let me try to talk to her first, we'll see how she will react" I said

"I hope she understands Izhaan's situation." Athar said

"Ameen" I muttered under my breath

"It's a relief to know that you are on my side now, I see some positivity finally" jeeju said, I smiled

"By the way jeeju, she was so jealous that you put your hand on Maizah's mouth and you held her hand" I said

"You put your hand on her mouth?" Athar's eyes widened, jeeju rolled his eyes

"She was about to call Reem by her name, I panicked and couldn't think of anything else to shut her up" he gave an explanation

"Still buddy. I would have never done that, come what may" Athar said and I rolled my eyes

"Yeah! He would rather just hug" I taunted, jeeju chuckled, and it was now Athar's turn to roll his eyes

"I did not hug her" he said

"Of course" I gave him a sarcastic smile. He narrowed his eyes at me, "I should go now"

"Who is with Reem?" Jeeju asked

"Dad" I replied, his face turned sad, I remembered what I did this morning, and again shame lowered my head. "I will tell everything to dad also, and once again, sorry jeeju" I said and left immediately

I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from insulting jeeju.

"Ayesha" I was walking towards dadi's room, when a voice stopped me, I turned around and looked at Athar.

"It means a lot what you said to Izhaan. I was so mad at you, but when you apologized to Izhaan, even I forgiven you, I spoke to you badly because I was m..." He was saying but I cut her off.

"It was all your fault" I said, and his mouth dropped open

"Excuse me!" He said

"You should have told me the whole story when I was telling you that I overheard you and jeeju. If you had told me everything then only, I wouldn't have hurt jeeju so much, you just let me believe that he is Reem's culprit" I said looking down

"I was just waiting for the case to close" he said

"That's irrelevant. I wish you had told me, at least I would have been saved from this embarassment" I said and turned around to go to dadi.

Dadi and maa are calling me constantly to ask about Reem's health, so I thought now when I am here I will talk to them also.

*****

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Reem's POV

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I was sleeping peacefully, but a voice broke my slumber, I opened my eyes and looked around, I was shocked when I saw dad sitting on a chair near me, he was reciting the Qur'an.

He looked at me, and gave a smile then got back to the recitation. I was looking at him in awe, it felt like after years I was looking at my father, the one who loved me the most. He used to sit next to me and recite the Qur'an whenever I fell sick in my childhood.

After a few more minutes of recitation he closed the Qur'an and kept it carefully in the drawer. He came closer to blow on me, then he sat back on his chair. He put his hand forward and prayed to Allah.

I was just quietly watching his activities, he hid his face in his palms, the way his shoulders were moving I could guess he was crying, my heart ached seeing him, I wanted to extend my hand and wipe his tear, but something was stopping me.

"Ameen" he said loudly.

He brought his chair closer to me.

"How is dad's daughter?" He asked and I looked at him with wide eyes, why is he behaving like he used to behave with me years ago!

"Are you ok?" He asked, I just nodded.

He took my hand in his.

"Reem! My baby! My doll! I am sorry." He said with teary eyes. "I know you think that I have abandoned you, but I have not. I made a mistake by marrying Avira, but believe me beta, I only got married because of you. I thought you needed a mother. I stepped aside and let Avira handle you, I thought I was correct, but now I realised how wrong I was" he put his forehead on my hand which he was holding and sobbed, tears were falling from my eyes.

"I always believed that she was taking care of you, she was being the mother you needed. I distanced myself from you so that she can come closer to you, but now I can see I was so unfair to you" his words felt like breeze on my burning heart. I pulled my hand from his grip, he looked up at me.

I tried sitting straight, he got up and helped me in sitting, he put pillow behind my back and then sat back on his chair.

"Please forgive me beta, I only did what I thought was best for you" he said

"I never said I needed a mother, my mom is gone, everyone left me, I only had you. I needed you, I wanted you to be with me" the complain came on my lips finally.

"I am sorry" he cried.

"How could you leave me alone? You never bothered about me" I sobbed

"Believe me when I say it, I love you the most, you are the most important person of my life. Avira used to tell me about how much she loved you, and I believed her."

"I have nothing against her in my heart, she is no one to me, but you are my father, I am upset with you for leaving me alone. Even after I went to khan villa, you never called me to find out how was I doing"

"This is my misfortune that such a big wall has been built between us. After you left, all I cared about was you. I knew if I called you, you would never talk to me, so I used to call uncle or Izhaan to ask about you"

The mention of Izhaan's name ripped off the band aid and my wound was open again. I broke into tears.

"Dad" I cried, he scooted his chair closer and put an arm over my shoulders, I put my head on his shoulder and cried my eyes out.

"Don't cry my child" he patted my back, "it is all my mistake, I always trust the wrong person when it comes to you. It was unfair to you that you had to marry Izhaan, he doesn't deserve you." He pulled back and wiped my tears, I tried to stop myself from crying.

"I am still alive, I am not going to leave you now, I will not let any third person come between us. We'll always be there for each other. I promise you I will not force you for anything now, I will only do what you want." He said holding my hands

"Really?" I asked

"You have my words beta. I will be forever grateful to you, if you will forgive me" he said looking embarrassed, my heart hurt.

I cleared all the negativity from my heart for my father and accepted him whole heartedly.

"I love you dad" I smiled, he looked at me in disbelief

"What? What did you say?" He asked

"I love you so much" I repeated myself.

"I love you too beta. I love you the most" he smiled

"Awww" a voice caught our attention, we both looked at the owner of the voice and found Ayesha, she walked towards us.

"What did I miss?" She had a huge grin on her face, we both chuckled.

"I just found my daughter back" dad smiled looking at me, his eyes were shining, it made me feel so happy.

"Alhamdulillah" Ayesha said dramatically. I shook my head at her drama.

"I am so lucky to have such good daughters" he put his hands on mine and Ayesha's heads.

"Woh to hai (that is true)" Ayesha giggled

"I will leave you both to talk now." He got up, "Reem beta! Do you want to eat anything?" He asked, I was about to shake my head in no, but Ayesha spoke before that.

"I already told shiza what Reem has to eat, she'll be bringing it shortly" she said, I glared at her. She gave me a toothy grin.

"God bless you" dad patted Ayesha's head and left.

"I am so happy to see you and dad like this" Ayesha hugged me, I smiled

"When I woke up from my sleep and saw dad next to me, it felt like I found my dad again. I'm relieved to have him back" I felt genuinely happy.

"Everything is becoming good again" she said and something broke in my heart.

"Not everything" I said hinting about Izhaan's incidence

"Yes everything." She smiled and I frowned in confusion.

"I went to khan villa to meet jeeju, you kn..."

"How can you still call him jeeju, after what he has done" I said getting angry, I felt throbbing in my head.

"This is what I am trying to tell you, it is all just a big misunderstanding" she said and I clenched my fists

"Shut up Ayesha! He told you a lie and you believed him. Why do you always have to defend him? I don't want to talk about Izhaan" I shouted

"Reem! It is very important, you should listen to me"

"I don't want to listen to you." I pressed my palms against my ears

"Ok ok relax" she put my hands down.

"If you want to talk about him, I don't want to talk to you" I warned her.

"Baby I was ju...."

"I will go from here" I got off the bed, my head was spinning, I held the bed crown to save myself from falling. Ayesha was trying to hold me, but I pushed her hands away.

"Stay away from me." I pointed a finger at her

"Baby please calm down! I will not even say a word" she said

"Why do you always favour him? You always think he is correct and I am wrong" I screamed

"No! I'm not saying it. I am sorry. I will not talk about him"

"Go from here, leave me alone" I shouted, it felt like my mind was going to explode, it was hurting badly.

"Aaahhh" I screamed holding my pounding head, I dropped on the chair.

"Reeeeem" Ayesha held me. I was screaming in pain. "Dad" Ayesha shouted.

"What happened?" Dad asked holding me, his voice was shaking

"Dad my head" I yelped in pain.

"Let's take her to the hospital" dad said.

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