Everyone also expected that Sadaf would help Bilal to let go of his past and her love might heal him but that is also certainly not happening now. What was even the point of Bilal's backstory if that plays no part in the story ? Was it so that Humsha can misuse it ?
Bilal's backstory was there so SADAF will have a reason to think Bilal is a bad guy despite his many ahsaan and that Humsha can weaponize to poison SADAF's mind against Bilal. Bilal's backstory, as meagre as it was, was intended to further SADAF's story. It was not there to show Bilal's journey. Bilal does and says nothing if it doesn't revolve around Sadaf - he has no independent tracks of his own.

There are tons of regressive dramas out there...