AsYa SS ~ Vaada ~ Updated on PG 116 ~ 04/08

December 24, 2013

"Zoya?" A hesitant Ayaan called her. It was finally the day the two brothers had been waiting for anxiously. The day the nikaah, the mistake, the sham, would finally end. If we're being honest, Humeira had also been waiting for it impatiently. Although she had been distraught when she first heard about the nikaah, Ayaan had had a chance to speak to her, to explain the situation to her. Despite her feeling for Zoya, and understanding her pain, she was not able to keep herself from wishing this nikaah be over, as soon as possible.

Ayaan looked left and right, in Zoya's room. She had refused to stay in Ayaan's room. Given how they had treated her, how they had forced her into this, sham, Ayaan had no choice but to agree and convince the rest of the family to comply.

He noticed the room seemed bare. It was a pretty simple room to begin with, and Zoya didn't really make it her own while she was there. No one could really blame her. But something was off. It was more bare than it had been in the last three months. In fact, if looked exactly as it did, three months ago. Before Zoya ever came to the Siddiqui Mansion.

That could only mean one thing.

Zoya was gone.

Zoya was gone!?

Ayaan began to panic. How could she leave? She had to sign the talaknama! He had to take her back to his Bhaijaan! He looked around the room, hoping, praying, she had left behind a clue to where she had gone.

He walked over to the wardrobe, opening the doors, only to find it completely empty. He searched each shelf, every nook and cranny. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing in there. Sighing in defeat, Ayaan turned around, and made his way to the bed. He pulled the covers off, hoping to find something there, something she might have missed. But was once again disappointed.

He was about to give up, when he spotted an envelope on the arm chair next to her bed. The crisp white envelope was devoid of emotion.

Ayaan, it read. Nothing more. Nothing elaborate. Nothing affectionate. Just his name. Plain and simple. He felt a stab at this heart, as it dawned on him, yet again, how much they had hurt her. How they had treated her.

He opened the envelope quickly, hoping she'd mentioned where she'd gone, or a clue as to when she'd left. If it was recently, or if it was too late to find her. He hoped against hope, that it was the former.

Ayaan,

I know you came to tell me that today was the day. The day when this sham would finally be over. But the saddest part of all this, was that it was just that. A sham.

You and I, and Mr. Khan and Humeira, we've all been cheated. We've all been fools. Fate played a cruel joke on us indeed. But not in the way that we all thought.

You and I thought of this nikaah as a mistake. Yes, indeed there was a mistake. But it was not the fact that we got married. But that fact that it was considered legitimate.

Flashback:

November 24, 2013:

She turned her head left, then right, her hands raised in front of her, palms facing her. Zoya finished praying, as she did every day, and put away her prayer mat. As she was closing the door to the wardrobe, she heard a bell. Zoya looked up, and sighed. Slowly, she walked to the door of the Siddiqui Mansion.

It had been almost two months since she'd been living there. If you could call that living. Every day she would pray for Mr. Khan to take her away, and every day her hopes would be shattered. She'd close her eyes every night, and dream that he had come for her. That she was back in the Khan's Villa, with her Phoopi, talking about Najma's married life, and stealing glances at him. That she was back in her room, with the colorful stool, and cloudy sky wallpaper, holding hands with him, and looking up at the starry night he had concocted, just for her.

But every morning reality would hit her like a ton of bricks, and she would go back to her monotonous routine. A part of her had given up hope that he would come. But a smaller, more hopeful part of her, still kept believing, that he would come. One day, he would come.

Her days passed in a blur. The weeks she spent in that orphanage seemed like heaven to her, compared to her days at the Siddiqui's. Ayaan did his best to make her comfortable. And although she was grateful, she couldn't get past her anger, and the hurt he'd caused her. They barely spoke, but she still fulfilled all her duties as his wife. Despite not considering a valid Nikaah, and more of a mistake, she still intended to fulfill her duties as a daughter-in-law. That was the reason for Mr. Khan bringing her here in the first place, wasn't it?

A second ring of the door bell brought Zoya out of her thoughts. She blinked, and sighed sadly again. It seemed like a long time ago, her old life. She took a few more steps and finally reached the door. The person greeting her on the other side of the grand double doored entrance, brought with him, nothing more than a surge of bad memories.

To be continued...

A/N:

😆

Who could it be at the door? 😳

Please please please comment and let me know what you think 😃

-Monica <3