CHAPTER-6
A chill ran down Zoya's spine making her whole numb with fear as she heard more of the conversation going inside the outside.
-" But Bi what if Asad Ahmad khan still stood by her even after all this and tried to help her?" The recorder blared the question, causing a menacing smirk to appear on Raziya's lips.
-" Do you remember what happened to Dilshad few months ago when she tried or rather dared to prove Rashid Miya's innocence and dig up the graves of past secrets?" Instead of giving an answer, Raziya asked another question but the question alone sufficed the need of any more answer. The threat behind those cold words froze Zoya's blood in her veins and a shocked gasp escaped her which she quickly blocked by clutching her mouth with her palms. Though her mind connected the dots but her shattered heart still fervently hoped, clutching on to the last shreds of hope left in her that what she was thinking was wrong. But soon those last rays of hope also died a brutal death as she heard Raziya continue her confession, without even the slightest trace of guilt.
-"Well those Khans thought that they could just so easily unveil all those secrets whom I have protected all these years with my life. I have committed the biggest of crimes not to just let some New York return to destroy everything and put me behind the bar. They don't know me but I am aware of their each and every move. They once did the mistake of messing with me and got the punishment too. It was just the sheer luck of Dilshad that she survived even after getting shot from so close. I hired Raghu to do the job a but sadly poor Rashid Miya got blamed." Raziya professed with a cunning laugh.
-"Those fools thought that they reached the factory on their own but they didn't know that it was me who actually brought them there, so I can prove Rashid guilty in their eyes. But even after all these and making that girl believe that her father was dead, they neither stopped coming in my way nor she left the house. In fact it was just because of her, I was about to set the whole house at fire and burn them alive by keeping the cylinder loose but they day also their luck was on their side and they were saved. I planned attacks on that girl on every possible occasion, but that lover boy of hers saved her every time." Raziya spoke venomously as her eyes spit fire of disgust and hate for the Khan family.
-"But not anymore. If they take one wrong step in my direction, I won't miss my aim this time. I have controlled their lives every time in spite of being an outsider. So this time also it won't take me much effort to destroy their lives. They don't have any proof but if they still dare to confront me, I won't hesitate to flow some more blood to cover those screams of past. Till the time that girl, Zoya, is there, my eyes would be on that family and if they ever try to stand by her, this time I myself will make sure that they breath their last at that very instant." Raziya concluded in a voice that assured that she wasn't giving any hollow threat.
On the other hand, Zoya who was listening to everything till then, couldn't take that anymore and completely broke down. Her already numb body slid down the wall and softly crashed with ground beneath. Her legs folded with her knees touched her chest. She hugged herself in a deadly grip, digging her nails in her arms as she rocked herself a little, hoping against hope to come out of that nightmare which consumed her reality in just few minutes. She was shaking so violently that it became almost impossible to still keep her consciousness. Her nails were digging inside her flesh, through the thin fabric of her top but the physical pain was nothing in front of the emotional trauma or the agony her shattered heart was going through. Her breathing was becoming shallower with each passing second as she gasped for breath through her trembling lips. She slid her shaking fingers through her silky traces and roughly tugged at them in despair. The world faded around her and only those cold words of ruthless confession resonated in her ears in a loop. She knew that she was being targeted for several times but not for a single moment the danger lurking behind her bothered her. The only thing she could see was the lifeless body of her Phoophi lying in front of her after being shot and the wild with worry eyes of Asad and Najma. She closed her mouth with her both palms to block the loud screams and sobs of absolute pain bubbling inside her but the fatal storm of emotions within her didn't end there. The flashes of her mother's skeleton flashed before her eyes and she closed them tightly in a futile attempt to block those horrible memories. She didn't know for how long she stayed like that but when she opened her blood-red eyes, something more also glistened in those glassy layers of tear. There was a steely determination those doe-eyes, a determination to protect her family at any cost. She understood that Raziya's main problem was she and she was targeting them because of her. So for her the only reasonable remedy to all these was her departure. She knew that it wasn't right but her only thing that mind was bothered was the safety of the family which welcomed her with open arms, the moment she entered their lives. It was the family which always showered with pure love, care and affection. Her heart and soul was connected with that which she had come to believe as her very own, the one for which she always yearned for and now she couldn't let anyone to be a danger for them, not even herself. It killed her to realize that her father and his second wife was the reason behind every misery of the family which she dared to call her own and the man to whom her everything belonged, whom she loved more than her life. A bitter cry silently escaped the confines of lips at the irony of fate. She wiped her tears with shaky hands and got up. Though her mind screamed that she was being foolish but her fragile only insisted to do the thing which would distract Raziya's attention from them, so that they can look out for the truth and Rashid's innocence without a constant fear of getting harmed. She knew that it won't finish the danger but it would decrease the chance of it as her attention would be shifted from them with her absence. She had seen the little boy who still yearned for his father behind the faade of hate Asad always put on and she was determined to bring back his happiness which lied with his father. In that moment she decided to go away from all of them to unite these two broken families. She stumbled backwards as she took the step to go away from them, forever.
As she quietly went away from there, the two devils smiled to themselves hearing her soft retreating footsteps. They knew that finally the biggest thorn in their way was removed forever.
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-" Tr...trust me M..Mr. Khan. I wanted to tell you all ev...everything. B..but I was just s.so scared for you all. I was scared that she would harm you. I.. I know it was wrong but I was understanding what else to do. I just wanted you all safe and wanted unite..y..you with your abbu and siblings. I left that letter behind me to hint you all about Dost's innocence and everything th..that happened 17 years ago." Zoya managed to let out in broken whispers as sobs wrecked through her body, shaking her body in the process. Asad's worry for her was increasing with each passing moment as he observed her state. He tried to stop her but she continued in a blind daze.
-" Why? Why does it always happen with me Mr. Khan? Why? A..am I th...that bad that no one can love me? Did I asked for something really big by asking my father's love? The dream which I dreamt since my childhood, turned out to be my biggest nightmare. He killed my mother and never bothered about me also. Why everyone whom I love leave me like that? why?" Zoya's innocent questions felt like a knife to Asad which twisted through his heart, making it bled with her. His own eyes blurred with tears as he saw the girl whom he loved with every fiber of his body, cry her heart out in his arms. He just tightly hugged close to himself to calm her down and it worked. Zoya snuggled to his warmth and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She was hiccupping and still mumbling something incoherent as her eyes refused to stop pouring water. She was clutching his shirt in a dead grip while he buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent in an attempt to calm down his own restless self along with hers. She tried to pull him even closer if that was possible, to seek the silent support he was lending. He was continuously rubbing her back and whispering sweet nothings in her ear to show her that he wasn't going anywhere leaving her. She sighed softly in his gentle and loving warmth as she finally felt light after a long time. Suddenly, her heart knew that he would never leave her or hate her.
-" Please don't misunderstand me Mr. Khan. I really love Phoophi, Najma and..." And before she could complete her sentence, darkness engulfed her completely as her headache from before reached its peak.
A strange fear gripped his heart in some icy cold clutch as he found her stopping midsentence. He parted himself from her to find her body lifelessly lying in his arms. Horrified, he gently tapped her face softly and saw that she had fainted. A lone tear escaped his eyes and landed on her closed eye-lids as his lips bended in agony. All this while he only wanted to tell her that her paternal identity didn't matter to him nor anything else. He could never ever hate because he just loved her to much to do so. The past couldn't change his feelings for two years ago and today also it couldn't. yes, he wanted to tell her that he knew about everything.
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PRECAP: " Zoya's case? What are you talking about doctor? What has happened to her and where is api and jeeju?"
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Hey guys. Feeling like killing me for ending here😆 sorry but it was getting really long to put that in this one. I hope the story is now a little bit more clearer. I don't know actually what crap I am writing but it is great to see that you all are liking it. It really means a lot guys. Thanks for your amazing response on the last chapter. Please more and more love on this one too and I will come back with the next one this weekend. That would clear the remaining of past and mystery and then happy, cute asya moments will come. So enjoy and thank you.🤗
ps. and again a huge sorry to everyone for not being able to respond to every comment individually. but with the approaching exams and thousans of mock test, i really didn't got the time. i read every comment and each of them make me smile. it is really a great gift from you all. i am really feeling guilty that you all take time to read this but i am not being able to reply. so i am trying to come up with frequent update as a compansation. please forgive me guys and let the prescious coming. they really keep the writer in me alive 😳 😃
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