Inferno-A FF by Arabflower. Chapter 19 page 36 - Page 16

CHAPTER 17
Razia stared at her step daughter' and laughed evilly, her plan had succeeded. Zoya had kept her eyes fixed on the charred remains of her mother, her brain processing the mystery that plagued her existence, everything became clear now, she was not cursed... she was a victim...a victim of Razia Siddiqui's evil plans. She struggled against the ropes keeping her immobile and her blood boiled with rage as this woman laughed evilly at her plight. She watched Razia from the corner of her eye, the woman was now holding a cigarette lighter flicking it open and closing it continuously, the smell of gasoline was heavy in the air and judging by the dark oil patches on the floor, Razia had poured the flammable liquid throughout the building prior to Zoya's arrival. Now as Razia sat playing with the flame, Zoya knew that this woman will leave no stone unturned in her attempts to kill her. 'Well I'm going down in flames...literally' Zoya chuckled softly at her attempted joke causing Razia to give her a look which clearly said that she was questioning Zoya's sanity.
Zoya: "Do it..."
Razia stared at her for a few seconds, shocked at what this girl was asking her to do
Zoya: "end it already, You've already made my life hell and If I survive this you'll leave no stone unturned to finish the job so how about you save us both the time and heartache and kill me already..."
What Razia could see in Zoya as weakness and defeat was really a ploy of Zoya's to play for time, she knew that whenever she was in danger her beloved, her Asad will save her so all she had to do was stall until her hero arrived.
Razia: "don't you know that timing is everything? I need to have the all clear before I end you life once and for all..."
Zoya: "Or maybe you are hesitating because I'm finally starting to grow on you..."
Razia: "don't be ridiculous...I hate you with every fibre of my being..."
Zoya: "then why is your hand trembling?"
Razia looked down to the hand clasped around the flaming lighter and surprised to find it shaking lightly and for Zoya to see her at a weak point was unacceptable to Razia
Razia: "it's excitement, excitement because I'm finally going to get rid of you! And My daughter can have the rights she's being deprived of..."
Zoya: "You are doing this for your daughter...but what about my family If I die you destroy all their lives and I'm pretty sure that they won't spare you..."
Razia: "If you're worried about you precious nephew and your so called 'husband' I'm sure Billo Rani will care for them nicely..."
Zoya: "Billo Rani?"
Razia: "Oh... You know her as Tanveer."
Razia had begun walking to the exit and stopped just as she opened the door.
Razia: "Give your mother my Salaams Zoya..."
And with that she dropped the lighter, causing the oil to catch light.
*********************
At the Nikaah venue, Asad stood staring at his childhood friend in anger and disbelief, His brother had called the police while his father and father in law had engaged the help of his remaining siblings and set out turning the venue upside down looking for his wife. Maahir was in his arms, his tiny hands wiping his tears as they ran down his cheek while his mother stood next to him, her arms around his shoulders, preventing him from collapsing to the ground. In the frenzy he realised that Humaira was missing as well and his gut told him that something was wrong...
Tanveer's smug smirk was starting to unnerve Asad, causing a fear to rise within him, her smug look had kept up while the police were dragging her away and Asad felt that if Tanveer went all the answers would go with her.
Asad: "Where is she?"
Asad spoke directly to Tanveer so Tanveer looked at the officer who nodded his head, permitting her to talk to Asad.
Asad: "Where is she?"
Tanveer: "Who are you talking about?"
Asad: "My wife...where is Zoya?"
Tanveer: "I can honestly say that I do not know..."
And for the first time Tanveer was actually telling the truth since Razia never disclosed where exactly she was going to kill Zoya. So she looked at the officer and began to walk towards the awaiting police van.
**********************
Humaira had just hung up on Dilshad when she smelt something burning, she had turned around and an orange glow had covered her gaze, bright orange-red flames licked the walls of the factory, consuming it in a pile of smoke and ash, the inferno rising, destroying everything it touched. But the only thought running through her mind was 'Zoya is in there...my sister is in there...' So without thinking of her own safety, Humaira grabbed her phone, dialled her father and began trying to find a way inside the burning building.
Her father picked up instantly and Humaira yelled four words into the Phone before she hung up. She rushed to the first opening she found and tried to get inside but before she could enter the inferno, a pair of arms, wrapped around her waist, pulled her back. She did not turn back and struggled against this person, yelling and crying. The arms pulled her away from the entrance, to safety.

Razia had the oddest sense of Dj Vu... Nearly 20 years ago she had pulled her husband away from the same burning building and now today she was doing the same with her daughter...all because that wretched Zoya was trapped inside. She finally taken her arms off Humaira's waist and turned her around. Humaira's eyes widened when she locked eyes with her mother.
**********************
Their search of the Nikaah venue had yielded no results, so Siddiqui, Rashid and the Ahmed Khan siblings returned to the main hall, dejected but just in time to watch Tanveer being dragged away. Silence had enveloped the hall, everyone pondering where exactly to look for Zoya. The silence was interrupted by the ringing of Siddiqui's phone and the moment he saw Humaira's name flash across the screen he placed the call on loud speaker, everyone in the hall eager to know what was going on.
Siddiqui: "Humaira beta where are you?"
The line was bad and Humaira seemed to be busy trying to break into something so she only said three words, four words which caused his entire world to stop spinning.
Humaira: "Zoya...Doll Factory...Fire..."
The call had ended and the rush to save Zoya began with Asad and Ayaan running out of the venue to the first available car, Rashid calling the emergency services of the fire brigade and ambulance, Dilshad talking to the police while Nikhat, Nuzat and Najma were busy apologising to guests and bidding them farewell, The Upper East Siders however wanted payback, one of their own was hurt and therefore somebody needed to be punished, they walked up to the police van that Tanveer had just stepped into, paid the officer an obscene amount of cash to keep this under wraps and watched as the cops dragged Tanveer out, inflicting any sort of threat to elicit a confession from her or to uncover the identity of her partner.
Rashid, Siddiqui and Dilshad had seen cops drag Tanveer out of the police van. With the Upper East Siders watching but couldn't care less, so with the remainder of the Ahmed Khan siblings, they piled into the nearest car and rushed to the doll factory.
*****************
The flames escalated at a rapid pace, and when Asad arrived at the scene he was greeted with a sobbing Humaira and an Inferno claiming the life of his wife. Each moment apart from Zoya was torture and with sheer determination to hold his wife again, Asad ran in.
It takes him sometime but he finds her, unconscious, surrounded by flames, even in immense danger she still looked stunning, he cradled her head near his chest, kissed the top of her head gently, whispered reassurances in her ear, which he knew fell on deaf ears, but his reassurances were more for him than for her. He was on the brink of losing her, to many time that he lost count but in that moment all he could think about was her safety, so he pulled her closer to his body acting as her shield and walked to the outside saving himself by saving the love of his life.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fire Fighters, Paramedics and good Samaritans gather around the blazing building attempting to rescue the poor soul trapped inside. The Inferno spread rapidly making it too dangerous for the rescue team to get inside and do their job.

Siddiqui and Rashid arrive at the scene to a mass of smoke, flame and charred debris. They stood, mouths agape at the sweltering flames before them unsure of how to feel, their loved ones were inside but they could do nothing to help them. Out of the corner of his eye, Siddiqui had spotted Humaira, the poor girl was shaking, head down; teary eyed and severely traumatised. Her mother was hovering around her, trying to comfort her but kept being brushed off by her daughter. Humaira's head snapped up only when Dilshad arrived, she ignored her mother completely and ran into Dilshad's arms. Ayaan had gone to update his sisters on the situation while the parents were talking to the rescue team looking for any alternative way into the building. Humaira was sobbing into Dilshad's shoulder, her sentences incoherent, mixed with tears and despair all Dilshad could make out was 'Zoya...Asad ...Inside' and the mother in Dilshad awakened. Both her children were trapped inside and she knew that the Lord was not cruel enough to take them away from her. Over her shoulder she locked eyes with Razia Siddiqui, the woman looked terrified but at the same time royally pissed off. Obviously she was hurt by her daughter's snub so the anger on her face was justified but the slight terror on her face told Dilshad that they had found Tanveer's accomplice but sadly there was no proof against Razia at this point.

Dilshad was busy lamenting the lack of proof when a silhouette began appearing in the smoke. A figure began walking out... a man carrying a woman, bridal style, out of the building. Asad was clutching onto Zoya as though she was his life line and once he emerged with his wife in his arms all breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Knowing that Zoya needed emergency medical attention for both herself and the baby, Asad had sprinted towards his car, cradling his life in his arms, placed her in the car and sped off to the nearest hospital while the emergency personnel resumed their attempts to douse the fire. Once she had seen her sister and brother in law safely emerge from the building, Humaira's sobbing and tears had slowly decreased, being replaced with anger and disgust. At this point the Upper East Siders arrived on the scene, police in tow, their faces covered in anger and pure determination to get justice. They all glared at Razia and from behind them Tanveer meekly emerged.
Upper East Sider 1: "Who is your partner? Who planned this"
Tanveer refused to say anything, her silence adding to her predicament by incriminating her further but she would rather spend her entire life in jail in a solitary cell then Rat out Razia and face her wrath because Tanveer was certain about one thing which was that if Razia was caught both of them will be thrown into the same jail cell, forcing each one to tolerate the other as punishment

Tanveer could see the wheels turning in Razia's head and she knew that if Razia had planned an escape route then she knew Razia would want to her to keep her mouth shut. So in order to keep her mouth Shut Razia will pay her handsomely and will do anything possible to get her out of jail.

Tanveer inwardly smiled at the 'get-out-of-jail-free' card that she was about to be handed but her smile was wiped off as quickly as it was plastered on. Her accomplice had turned the tables on her.
Razia: "I see that your culprit is caught...Is she going to be punished severely? I can't believe that she could do such a despicable thing to Zoya..."
Humaira's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with fury. She moved herself off Dilshad and moved through the crowd of police officers and fire fighters and faced her mother.
Humaira: "and what about what you have done to Zoya?"
Razia stared at her daughter gobsmacked. Her own daughter was ratting her out but she was safe, 'as long as Billo Rani keeps her mouth shut there will be NO proof of my involvement.. .' Razia inwardly smiled, her cunning eyes gleaming, she knew that even if Humaira knew anything, she would never send her own mother to jail, so according to her, she was out of the 'danger zone' but sadly, she had once again made a fatal mistake... She had underestimated the determination of Humaira Siddiqui.

Her mother was too busy being caught up in her mental victory dance to notice that Humaira had pulled out her cell phone and hit play on a recording. Razia's earlier conversation with Zoya plays out of the small device for all to hear.

"I should have known then that sparing your life was trouble."

"...I began dreaming of killing you. So in a way Zoya...I'm doing you a favour. I'm reuniting you with your mother so you should be thanking me. I even paid Tanveer to kill you, but you are one tough person to bump off... I tried, Tanveer tried and even though we didn't kill you we managed to send you back across the Atlantic."

"...it was easy to slip away and pay somebody to collide with your car, although I wasn't expecting that husband of yours to die instead of you...oh well, at least now I have the satisfaction of killing you with my own hands...you know what they say...if you want something done right, do it yourself."

Listening to the confession had caused shock amongst some of those present that a person could stoop as low as Razia, while others were glad that there was finally some sort of proof against Razia.

Once the recording had ended, the nearest police officer had extracted a pair of handcuffs and began the process of arresting Razia. She struggled against them while she spoke
Razia: "Humaira! How could you??? I carried you for nine months and this is how you repay me??? How could you turn on your own mother!?"
Humaira: "That's what saddens me... That my own mother could be so evil, when a mother is like this there is no paradise beneath her feet and even the Almighty would want me to destroy such injustice, I'd rather see you punished now then by HIM for your sins..."
Razia stares at her daughter, while the cops drag her away, she is lead to the spot where Tanveer was standing, both looked at each other, disbelief marred their expressions each could not believe that they were finally caught. The police officers loaded them into the police van while everyone else rushed to go to Zoya's side not bothering to cast a second glance at those who plotted against their happiness.
++++++++++++++++++++

The Emergency room was filled with in-laws, Siblings, friends and Asad, all pacing anxiously waiting for the doctors to give them an update on Zoya's condition. Asad's eyes had not moved from the door. It had been an hour since Asad had rushed through the doors, his lifeless wife in his arms, his eyes pleading, his cries desperate and his actions frantic. The orderlies and doctors had to pry Zoya's body away from Asad because of his reluctance to be separated from her, now...an hour later, those very orderlies watched Asad and even though it was necessary to get Zoya medical attention they felt bad for the part they had played in separating the lovers. So they too waited with the patient's friends and family, praying that such lovers be united.

After some time the doctors emerge from Zoya's private room, their exit caused everyone to spring to their feet, all eager for news.
Doctor: "The patient is stable, because of some smoke inhalation she's having slight difficulty breathing but it's nothing too serious, she is on a respirator and she's in shock but both mum and baby will be just fine..."

As soon as the words left the doctors mouth, Siddiqui and Asad rush to Zoya's side. Siddiqui takes his daughter in his arms, calls out to his daughter lovingly in an attempt to wake her and when she doesn't respond, he holds his angel against his chest for the first time and weeps bitterly. His tears fall freely upon Zoya's face awakening her. At first she is stunned to be in the arms of Asad's worst enemy and that this man was calling her his daughter. She knew that she was being hugged by her father for the first time but the fact that her father was her husband's worst enemy and she was about to move away when Siddiqui turned around and spoke to the other person in the room
Siddiqui: "Asad.. Beta come here..."
Asad had walked over and took Siddiqui's extended arm and joined the embrace, the trio hugged each other and cried. At this point Siddiqui turned his face skyward and spoke to the Almighty.
Siddiqui: "Thank you! For most of my life I had asked you to return my daughter to me but today...today my daughter is in my arms... You gave me my daughter back, along with a wonderful son..." He looked down at Asad and smiled. Suddenly a voice, originating from the door, spoke up
Humaira: "and another daughter..."
Humaira rushed into the room and joined the group hug the very first time she had shared a hug with her sibling and she couldn't help but cry. Her crying and caused Zoya to cry which in turn caused her father and Asad to tear up, all wrapped up in an emotional embrace.
Their tender moment was interrupted when the ring leader of the Zingo Hotties had spoken on behalf of his group members (Nikhat and Nuzat) and Najma
Ayaan: "Is there room for a few more?"

Siddiqui jus nodded through his tears and the Zingo Hotties and Najma made their way over and joined the hug, Leaving Badi Bi, Dilshad and Rashid at the door watching the gap disappear between the families...all because of one Zoya Faarouqui.
+++++++++++++
Life has a way of working itself out; the family that was once torn apart was finally uniting while the girl who never had a family was responsible for the whole unification. Shireen Ahmed Khan finally had the wool over her eyes pulled out and without Razia there to poison her mind, she and Dilshad forgave, forgot and became fast friends. Siddiqui and Rashid were engaged in a very fierce and serious chess battle with the Ahmed khan sisters cheering them on along with Humaira (who was obviously rooting for her Abbu) and Ayaan (who was convinced that his father was going to win) Maahir was seated on Badi Bi's lap and the greatgrandmother was completely taken by her first great grandchild, Shireen and Dilshad had also taken sides in the match before them, with both rooting for Rashid, leaving Humaira all alone to cheer for her father. Asad was watching everything before him from the foot of Khan Villa's staircase and was so elated at having his family unite that he overlooked the fact that their reason of unification was missing. His eyes began looking for his wife and he began to panic when he failed to spot her. But when her voice spoke up from behind him, he immediately calmed down
Zoya: "Thank you..."
Asad turned around and faced her, his silence egging her to continue
Zoya:" Thank you Asad...you gave me something that I had always craved... A family"
Asad took her in his arms and she began sobbing against his wall like chest, he let her cry as he knew these tears were nearly twenty years too late.
Zoya: "I have a wonderful husband, a son, a child on the way, amazing in laws and I finally found my father, I have a father Asad! I have a father and a younger sister...please tell me that this is no dream! Please tell me that if I blink everything won't disappear...I want this to be real Asad...please tell me that it is real!"

Asad: "It is real my love...it is all real..."
Her sobbing had started to diminish and as Asad wrapped his arms around her waist, his palms caressing her barely noticeable baby bump her thoughts began to plague her. No matter what happened she was carrying Arbaaz's baby and she needed the world to know that her baby was Arbaaz's. So her head snapped up and she looked deep into Asad's eyes and spoke
Zoya: "Asad... We need to talk..."

Link to Chapter 18

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3745719&TPN=32