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CONTINUED FROM PART 2...PLEASE FORGIVE MISTAKES.
HOPE YOU ENJOY!
Even amidst all the chaos and drama happening at home, Rashid could never stop thinking about his first family. The only thing he could be proud of was giving Asad and Najma the best mother possible.
He could never help comparing Dilshad to Shireen. Dilshad had had the best version of Rashid. Shireen had the shell. He had nothing to give Shireen except the most perfunctory of gestures. He treated her with polite kindness and affection, but it was a shadow of what he felt - still felt - for Dilshad. He hated himself for what he did, what he had had to do.
He spent most of the night tossing and turning. Finally, towards dawn he fell asleep only to be awoken by a distraught Nikhat.
"Ab rona bandh karo aur niche chalo, beta." Nikhat nodded weakly and obeyed. Nikhat grasped Rashid's hand as they walked down the stairs, just like she used to so trustingly when she was a little girl.
"Please Uthiye...Please! Ammi aur Bhaijaan bina batae chale gaye, Abbu!"
"Chale gaye? Kaha?"
"Pata nei. Mujhe bohot daar lagta hai, Abbu."
"Darne ki koi baat nei hai beta. Please, tum shaant ho jao. Kuch nei hoga. Mere paas ao," said Rashid gently. He embraced her. She was trembling with unspoken grief and terror.
Rashid sat his daughter next to him, affectionately caressing her head and wiping away her tears.
"Imraan...mein Imraan se bohut mohabbat karti hoon, Abbu!"
He had to get through to her! Rashid kept telling Nikhat that it wasn't enough for her to love Imraan.
Imraan had to show that he loved her back by standing up to his mother and aunt's cruelty, avarice and wrongdoing. Imraan had to prove his worth by being at Nikhat's side when she needed him the most.
"Hypocrite!" chided a voice in his mind. "You talk of worth and standing by loved ones and what have you done? You did not betray Dilshaad once. You prolonged your betrayal for seventeen years and then proved how much of a coward you are by standing there in silence at that disastrous walima. Now your daughter is in love with a man equally as spineless and weak as you!"
Rashid hoped Nikhat understood what he was saying. The lost, broken look on her face was very painful for Rashid to see. It hurt him to hear her say with utter conviction that Imraan loved her unconditionally and deeply.
As he looked into his daughter's reddened eyes, he thought of Najma, the innocent, lovely daughter he abandoned. At least Asad had some good memories of him, even though he hated Rashid now. Najma never had a chance to know her father. She was only a year old when Rashid left home.
This was the second time in less than twelve hours that Rashid had to console two devastated girls. He imagined all the times Najma cried for him and he could not be there to wipe away her tears. As undeserving as he was, Rashid hoped one day that Allah would forgive him. The only way Rashid felt he could make up for what he did to one daughter was by being a present, loving, supportive and attentive father to his other two girls.
"Ab rona bandh karo aur niche chalo, beta." Nikhat nodded weakly and obeyed. Nikhat grasped Rashid's hand as they walked down the stairs, just like she used to so trustingly when she was a little girl.
Nikhat was so innocent and sweet. Rashid was again swept away by feelings of self-loathing and helplessness.
"I should have protected her more. I should have told her every single day how beautiful, special and worthy she is. Instead, I was so absorbed in my own problems I let Razia beat down her spirit and confidence. Now all she sees is Imraan, who is anything but good enough for Nikhat."
A few minutes after they reached the first floor they saw Shireen come in. She ignored their greetings, rushed up the stairs and locked herself in.
Everyone was alarmed. Rashid couldn't see Razia's face but he detected a note of triumph in her when she voiced her worry about Shireen harming herself because of Ayaan's foolishness.
Ayaan and Rashid finally broke down the door and stopped Shireen from slitting her wrist.
She had not calmed down at all since last night - in fact, she was worse. Ayaan begged her for forgiveness and promised to restore Nikhat's happiness. Rashid closed his eyes. It pained him to see Ayaan pacifying Shireen's unreasonable demands.
And then Rashid's phone rang with the horrifying news of Imraan's accident.
The police were questioning them and asking if either Shireen or Ayaan saw anything suspicious. Rashid thought it was preposterous that anyone in his family could be involved in anything so dastardly as setting a car on fire with someone inside.
And then a condemning voice in his head said, "who are you to judge? Are you not guilty of the same thing? Did you not set that Gudiya factory on fire?"
The police left and Rashid decided to leave the house. He didn't notice the deathly pallor on Ayaan's face.
Rashid was suffocating and needed fresh air. He decided to give Zoya a call. Talking to his favorite friend soothed him.
He dialed Zoya's number several times but it kept going to voice mail. Rashid did not leave a message and finally gave up calling. He sent a text, asking her to contact him when she had some free time.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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