AsYa SS : Forbidden * Last Chap * Page 78 09/04 - Page 39

She was dressed up like a bride but that spark was missing. Her tears were not stopping. They were running down her cheeks. No matter how many times the make-up artist told her not to cry, Zoya seemed to be in a completely different world.

She sat on the chair and leaned on the table, keeping her head over her hand.

"Few more hours" she thought and she will be Mrs. Zoya Rishab whatever...

A tear slipped across her nose bridge towards the other eye and spread across. Initially her eye pained but it was not as painful as she was feeling in her heart.

"He hates me, he hates me to the core" she thought.

"but I don't regret for loving him hopelessly" she mentally noted.

She touched the drawer nob and took out Asad's parents picture.

"Maa, baba, I am sorry for everything" she whispered holding their picture in her hand.

"Today I am the sole reason for you both to not witness your son's wedding. Something which every parent  wishes to experience.

Zoya tucked her lips to hold back few sobs.

"I wish I was the one'.."

~FLASHBACK STARTS~

(these are not Zoya's thoughts. This is what happened that day when Asad's parents came to take Zoya)

"Sister didi! Sister didi! What are you doing with my dresses?"

"Zoya baby! Today your uncle and aunty will take you with them to your house".

"Really sister didi? Untel (uncle) and auntey (auntie) with take me to their house?" Zoya asked with a bright simle clutching her teddy tightly in her arms.

"yes baby, now get ready quickly" sister cupped her face and finally zipped the bag after putting her stuffs inside.

**

"maa, where are we going?" Asad asked munching his favourite chips.

"Ashu, we are going to get a princess for you".

"Princess?" Asad asked annoyed. "ma get me some he-man and stuffs, but a doll?" Asad said while folding the empty packet and keeping it in the cabin box.

His mom and dad laughed out loud on seeing their son's antics and said, "doll nahi pagal, real doll la raha hoon tere liye. Her name is Zoya and she is going to stay with us".

"A. GIRL is going to stay with us? WHY?" Asad furiously asked them. "why can't she stay with her parents? Why does she have to stay with us?".

"Ashu, she is an orphan and she does not have her parents with her like you".

Asad's voice immediately mellowed down and he hugged his mother, "I am sorry ma. I did not know that".

"Beta, not everyone in this world are blessed to have parents. She is really cute. I am sure you both will become friends soon".

Asad leaned back on his seat keeping his head on his dadi's shoulder and started drifting towards his mother's words and he felt sad about the girl whom his mother was talking about. He felt  a sense of bonding spread across his body immediately even without even seeing her.

**

"Zoya! Zoya don't run beta", sister screamed.

"I am going to my house" Zoya ran with her teddy here and there in the huge campus.

While running, no one noticed that she actually went out of the campus and directly on the road.

**

Asad saw an ice-cream cart and said, "Paa I want a chocobar".

"Asad! Let us take Zoya first and then we will buy both of you ice-creams".

"Please dad, I really wanna have right now".

"Ok beta", Asad's dad handed over the cash to Asad and he got down to take his bar accompanied by his dadi, while his dad parked the car blocking Asad from the traffic.

**

suddenly Asad's dad heard a scream and looked straight, he saw a car approaching a little kid who was busy picking up her soft toy. And some people were shouting at the kid to move aside. But the kid was too young to understand anything

It was none other than Zoya.

"what are you looking at, save her damn it" Asad's mother screamed at Asad's father.

Without thinking twice, his dad accelerated his car and zoomed at high speed leaving behind Asad near the ice-cream cart.

"Dad! MOM!" Asad shouted and started running behind the car without understanding what was happening. He tried to stop them but after few seconds, it was unreachable.

Asad continued to run and that's when his eye feel on the little girl, who was busy picking up her soft toy. He also saw another car racing towards the kid.

**

THUD!

"MAA!" Asad screamed and froze at the sight.

The other car smashed their car making his dad and mom fly out of the car.

The girl was picked up instantly by the local people.

Asad picked his pace and ran towards his parents.

"Ma! What happened to you, please open your eyes", he checked her breathing and found her dead.

He ran towards his dad and picked his head up.

"dad! Dad!" he called out.

He saw his dad picking up his hand and pointed towards Zoya. In the meantime, dadi came near them and picked Asad in her arms.

"Ma! Is ladki ka khayal rakha, it was Asad's mother last wish to see this girl in our house".

The sister came near Mr. Khan holding a crying Zoya on her lap and sat beside him.

Mr Khan held Zoya's tiny finger and made Asad hold it. "Asad! She will be your responsibility from now onwards".

Asad fisted her tiny hand in his palm and felt his dad's hand hung lose and then Thud! On the ground.

Since then, Asad held Zoya responsible for his parents's death.

Na woh bahar nikalti

Na uske parents ko gari dusri gari ke samne lana parta to save her

na usko itna sa umar mein anaath hona padta

~FLASHBACK ENDS~

"I am sorry maa, I am sorry baba for touching your photograph without Asad's permission. But I just couldn't control it today. I had to talk to you both and share my sorrows. Just like, I used to share everything about my happiness in front of your picture.

No one. No one other than you both, know how much I love Asad. I really do and I still do. Madly." Few more tears slipped.

"I can never able be able to love someone other than Asad, in my life. My whole body and soul belongs to him only". i have never missed my real mom and dad because it was Asad who took their place in my life.

She lowered her eyes and confessed, "he has made me his, last night maa. But his hate for me is stronger than my love for him", her tears were blotting their picture.

"he even took the ring, which he gave me. It clearly states that he just wants to end my chapter tonight. Maa! Unknowingly, I have given him a lot of pain but not anymore. If closing my chapter makes him happy then, I will do whatever he says. I have never ever backed out from what he wanted me to do. And today also, I will not back out. He has all the rights to write my destiny because I am what I am because of him. If he was not there to take care of my needs, I would have been thrown to death. And you know what maa, after what I have done to him by taking away his parents, I don't deserve to touch your picture".

Her thoughts drifted to that ugly day when she came to know how she was responsible for Asad's past.

~FLASHBACK~

"Asad! Asad! Kahan reh gaya hai yeh ladka?" dadi spoke to herself, while arranging all barsi ka saaman.

Zoya, who was descending, wearing her white churidar saw a concerned dadi and asked her, "kya huya dadi?"

"arrey Zoya dekh na Asad has still not placed his parent's picture here. Dekh to zara kahan reh gaya hai?"

"don't worry dadi, let me see where he is".

Zoya walked towards his room calling out his name, but he was not there.

She checked his bathroom, the poolside, even terrace but he seemed to have vanished.

Zoya took out her cell phone and dialed his number, but it went to his voice-mail.

A Defeated Zoya came to his room and looked at his parents photograph. She climbed up on the desk to grab the picture when she heard, "what the f**k are you doing in my my room?"

She saw and and lost her balance. She closed her eyes in fear but she comfortably landed in his strong pair of arms.

"erm! I was trying to take maa and baba's picture".

He hastily steadied her on the ground and dug his nail grabbing her shoulder, "how many times I have to tell you that they are not your maa and baba. Stop calling them by that name".

"Asad! Why do you always say this? Why don't you feel happy about it, that there is someone who actually respects your parents like you do? And what harm have I caused to get such behavior from you every time? You could have at least spared this on their death anniversary". She said feeling hurt.

Anrav controlled his anger and muttered under his teeth, "just leave now".

"No I wont, I will take their picture and then leave", Zoya crossed her hand and looked other way.

"Don't even dare to touch their picture with you dirty hand, Zoya  Farooqi".

Shocked would be an understatement. "Asad!" she cried.

"how can you be so heartless? How could you say this?"

She angrily went towards the desk to get up again and reach the photograph when Asad held her hand and pulled her down.

"WHY DON'T YOU GET THAT STRAIGHT, ZOYA. DON'T TOUCH MY PARENTS PHOTOGRAPH'I AM WARNING YOU".

Zoya looked straight towards Asad and threw angry glares, they are my parents too, they wanted me to be in this house with them and you have no rights, to tell me to stop calling them, maa and baba.

"YOU HAVE LOST THE RIGHT ON THAT DAY ZOYA FAROOQI. YOU HAVE LOST THE RIGHT WHEN YOU KILLED THEM" Zoya held her breath with that statement.

"I'I killed'.them? what are'.you saying Asad?" she chocked her words

"YES YOU DID. YOU HAVE MADE ME ORPHAN ON TODAY'S DATE. My parents lost their life just because of you, to save you. they did not even think about me. DAM TODA HAI MERE GODH MEIN (they took their last breath on my lap). Do you know how it feels when you burn your parents in front of your eyes? You can never feel that Miss Zoya  Farooqi because you can never had one. You know what? This pain is nothing compared to the pain, which I feel every damn day by seeing my parent's murderer in front of my eyes roaming around and smiling. I HATE YOU MISS FAROOQI I HATE YOU TO THE CORE FOR BEING THE REASON FOR MY PARENT'S DEATH".

Asad narrated the whole story about his parent's death to Zoya.

"I wish it was the other way'.." Asad stopped immediately realizing what he had just said.

He saw Zoya collapse on the ground staring at the black floor, tears flooding her eyes.

"My Ashu wished it was me who should have been there, instead of his parents? He wished my death?"

Asad cursed himself for not having control over his word,s when he was angry. He never meant to say such things to her, no matter how much he hated her.

Zoya hid her face with her palm and sobbed harder and harder. "i never wanted to be the reason for your bitter past. Now,I know the truth and all your hatred is justified. you are the one, who never ever  made me miss my mom and dad. In fact, i got more than what i have got from my real parents. for me, you are my world and you always will be. but, i can never ever forgive myself for taking your parents's life and making you orphan. Asad slowly walked away. His guilt of blurting things out like this took over his mind.

~FLASHBACK ENDS~

Since then, Zoya took an oath to not touch his parents's photo ever in her life and stopped calling them as maa and baba. No matter how much it stabbed her heart to refer them as uncle aunty,  she did that.

Later, she did not raise and objection when Asad planned to send her abroad.

She talked less in the house and felt like a unwanted living being.

She stopped talking to Asad and stopped going to his room.

While she was abroad, she never failed to wish him on his birthday but she did it through dadi.

Later, when she came back she was a transformed woman. Most of the time, she spent her time in her room, either painting or looking blankly at the sky.

She did not protest when Asad gave her marriage proposal. But her only wish was that her Ashu should get married first.

And her heart broke further when she heard his approval from dadi.

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