CHAPTER-10 An eerie silence prevailed the whole room as Asad nodded in response to Zoya's question. No sooner the meaning of it dawned upon Zoya, the breath she was unknowingly holding till then, released in a silent gasp. It seemed like, along with the breath, her remaining strength also left her body as her shoulders hunched and her body felt weaker than ever before. Her numb eyes even forgot to shed tears. On the other hand, the worried anticipation about her reaction was making Asad more and more panicky with each passing moment. The man who once loved the company of silence, was now scared of the deadly silence that surrounded them, more than the loudest screams of thunder. Unanswered questions sought answers and unsaid emotions sought freedom but everything around them seemed to stop, enveloping them in a cocoon of stilled time where only the sound of their heavy breathings and frantic heartbeats played a harsh melody to their ears. Two pairs of intense brown orbs kept each other captivated, one wild with thousand questions and the other helpless with dreaded answers.
Asad finally broke their eye-lock, not being able to take that anymore. He knew that Zoya wasn't in a state to take the stress which would obviously come with those revelations but he also knew that those fears and insecurities regarding their reaction was far more injurious to her health than this. And the only way to fight those was to let her know the entire truth and why he was there. Asad had the fair idea about the fact that this can completely result in a negative way but he knew that he would not let that happen. Zoya would come to know about it sooner or later but delaying it would only worsen the matter. He fervently hoped that after knowing that her past don't bother anyone of them even to the slightest, this would lessen a huge amount of stress regarding the fear of hurting her near ones and would impact her health in a positive way. He was well aware of the risk he was taking but he had to dare. She deserved to know the truth and she needed to know the truth.
With this determination, he closed his eyes, inhaling a long breath and opened them few seconds later to open the truths with it as well.
-" We came to know about everything a week after you left. I caught Tanveer talking with Raziya regarding the attacks they did on you and also some mystery of Gudiya factory. Through her we made Raziya confess all her crimes, every wrong thing she did all those years ago." Asad finished slowly, fearing her reaction but Zoya just sat motionless with only a confused stare. Asad understood the reason behind them and exhaling loudly, he mustered the courage to not only tell her, but also to face that brutal truth again.
-" Tanveer was that other woman with Raziya that day. She was with Raziya since the beginning. In fact she was sent in our house only to keep the truth away from us and also to make you go back. All those attacks on you were done by her, only to keep you away. She was being paid by Raziya. She was living with us, in our home, pretending to be that childhood best friend of mine, only to deceive us behind our back. She informed her about all our activities. She was in front my eyes, trying to harm my whole family, trying to harm you but I never realized, until it was too late." Asad said through gritted teeth, his eyes were getting blurred with the tears of absolute anger as the feelings of betrayal and guilt ran through his veins.
Zoya was way too shocked to say anything. Though she didn't like Tanveer much, she always had a nagging feeling regarding her, but she had no idea that her reality could be this horrible. She was astonished thinking why did she hate her so much to try killing her but she felt bad for Asad more. He got cheated in return of trust and Zoya could very well understand the feeling of betrayal. At a moment she actually felt like laughing at the sick joke life had made her but instead more and more tears left her unblinking eyes.
Asad's eyes were tightly closed with tightened jaw to control the uncontrollable rage and guilt that returned with those memories. His eyes opened when he felt a soft hand gently squeezing his tightly fisted palms on bed and looked up to see Zoya looking down at him with a faint smile on her lips and unbelieving happiness glistening in her unshed tears.
-"You knew everything... still you are here... with me?" Zoya's voice was barely a whisper but it was all that was needed to break Asad's self-control. He cupped the back of her neck through her hair while his thumb brushed the stubborn tears away from her cheek. Zoya's eyelids closed at their own accord and she leaned to his touch instinctively. He brought her face close in a swift movement as their foreheads touched each other.
-" I am here with you and I will be here with you... always... no matter what. Your paternal identity has nothing to do with our feelings for you Zoya, nothing at all. We can never hate you Zoya for what Raziya or your father did years ago. It wasn't your fault. In fact you are the one who has always faced the worst part, then how can you even think about us being angry at you. Zoya, you are the one who taught us to live again, completed our broken family with your silly antics and laughs, made those four walls a home with your selflessness, love and care. The girl who put everyone before herself, even risking her own life , can never be the reason behind anyone's misery. The girl, who spread a smile on the faces of every people she meets, can never cause anyone tears. Zoya , you are everything we have always wished for and needed. When you are the girl who always protected us, how can your presence be dangerous for us? We love you for your pure soul and who you as a real person are and nothing can change that truth. It is not your fault that he is your father. After knowing the truth, not even for a single heartbeat we felt anything even remotely negative for you, all we felt was the immense respect and pride for the girl who bravely fought through so much, still not forgetting to smile, to live. You are way too special Zoya and we love you too much to ever even think about thinking it damnit." Asad finished softly in a voice hardly audible. Their breaths were mingling as their noses brushed it ghostly touch. Both of their eyes were closed and tears continued to stream down their faces.
Zoya's eyes continued to pour down rain. His soothing words were like the kiss of true love which brought out of the ages of death-like sleep, making her feel alive again. His soothing words seemed to heal her wounded soul like a touch of rain on the thirsty desert. She knew that though he was saying all these on everyone's behalf but she knew that those were the words of his own feelings. She was feeling over-whelmed and not knowing what to say or do, she just flung her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly that it looked like her life was dependent on it. She buried her face deep in the crock of his neck as sobs wrecked through her body. Her walls came crashing down and all the pains from past and the relief and happiness of present moment washed down her eyes in form of tears.
Asad just held her silently sobbing and crying frame close to himself, tightly hugging her back. His one hand was encircling her waist and other was cupping the back of her head, stroking it gently. He didn't stop her from crying and just held her, letting her know that he was there with and she wasn't alone, silently providing her the strength and assurance she needed. In other times he might have gone hysterical thinking about her stressing herself but at that moment he didn't stop her because he knew that she needed to release the emotions bottled up inside her and he knew that this was the only way which could actually make her feel better and less stressed.
-" Why did you went away Zoya? You only said na that whenever you get into a trouble or face a problem, you believe that I would be there to save you, to make everything alright? You relay on my strength right? Then why didn't you didn't you believed in me this time Zoya? Why didn't you let me help you when you needed me the most?" Asad murmured softly in her hair, the pain inside his chest was becoming unbearable.
Asad's words seemed to brought Zoya out of her trance and she pulled away from him so suddenly that it looked like she had touched fire. The burning agony of the realization that her life was now way more messed up than that, stabbed her insides like nothing else. Though everything that Asad said, finished her insecurities born from her past but in present, her was stuck among even more bigger complications than that, the biggest being her own self who had forgotten the real meaning of life and there was very little he could do about it.
Asad looked at her with confusion written all over his face at her sudden withdrawal but as he met her eyes for a brief moment, he painfully realized that she had again managed to hide her heart behind those walls of fear.
-" Aunty has told you everything, hasn't she?" Zoya asked after a pause of few moments. She casted a quick glance in his direction to find him nodding a yes who didn't quite trusted his voice at that moment. Zoya sighed loudly, closing her eyes and after a few minute's pause, asked him in a whisper gulping the lump formed in her throat.
-" What happened to them after that?" Though Asad didn't really wanted to share this piece of information so soon with her because this he was really scared that this much shock at such a short time, could cause very serious amount of stress to her. He was debating with himself about what to do when he noticed the look in her eyes and he knew that she won't let him dodge the topic until she got her answer, making him sigh. May be it was the time for another truth.
-" Tanveer, Raziya Siddiqui and Mr. Gaffur Ahmad Siddiqui were sent to jail. Raziya Siddiquie died some months ago and... Mr. Siddiqui... died a year ago." Asad finished softly.
As soon as those words escaped his lips, a soft gasp left Zoya. He was dead. Her father, the man who abandoned her, the man who helped in her mother's murder, was dead. She didn't know why her heart screamed in pain at the news and felt like it was getting torn apart when all she wanted to do was hate that that man who was behind the destruction of so many lives. But the stubborn pain in her aching heart reminded her that there was still that little 3 year old girl locked in a hidden, dark room who loved her father, no matter what. It wasn't until she felt two warm palms cupping her face and brushing their thumbs on her cheeks, she realized that she was crying. She looked in his way to find nothing other than warm love and care gleaming in his eyes while a faint compassionate smile was on his lips.
-" It's okay to cry Zoya. No need to hold it back. He was your father." Asad whispered softly to make her understand, sensing her inner turmoil.
-" He is not my father. He is the man who helped in my mother's murder, destroyed...a..fa..family...abandoned..m..me...I..I..." Zoya had snapped at him angrily at first but soon that anger wore off and it made way for the excoriating pain that was surging through her heart. Tears were now falling freely from her eyes and she couldn't complete her words as continuous efforts to muffle the sobs created havoc in her body, making her shiver violently and hiccup.
Seeing Zoya break down so badly and struggle for breath, Asad was by her side on her bed in a blink of an eye. He pulled her and hugged her close to himself. Though Zoya was trying to resist first but her tired body and heart gave up and she leaned onto the warmth and comfort he was offering. In his hold, it looked like even the last remaining of her self-control also broke down. Burying her face in his chest and grabbing the hold of collars in a death grip in her hands, she just cried and cried for every cruel game fate had played with her and Asad just sat there, holding her tightly, caressing her hair trying to soothe her and just being there, silently providing her all the love and support she needed. He always wondered how his and Zoya's lifes had been so alike, full of pains but he always took pride in the fact that she was stronger than him and never let those miseries snatch away her smile. But today when he looked into her eyes and saw in own, bitter self from the past staring right back at him, it broke his heart like nothing else. This wasn't the real Zoya and he knew how much hiding behind this mask of hatred hurts as he himself had experienced it way too well. That time Zoya was the one who brought back the real him and now this was his turn to do the same.
-" Zoya, I can understand how are you feeling right now and I am not forcing you to forgive him for all those things he did. But just know one more thing Zoya, I don't know about Gaffur Ahmad Siddiqui but surely know that your father really did have a very special place for his eldest daughter, in his heart. He was very guilty for his misdeeds and your forgiveness was his last wish." Asad tenderly murmured in her hair and Zoya pressed her eyes, making more tears to fall. Now Asad was getting very worried for her and trying to stop her crying and she did stop to cry after some time with a few silent tear-drops now and then. His loving embrace calmed her down like always. Both were afraid to move, lest the dream they were in broke, but at last Zoya broke the silence, along with breaking the hug.
-" Go away Mr. Khan. Please just go away." Zoya said in a broken whisper. Looking at Asad's shocked and confused face which just managed to utter her name in disbelief, she continued.
-" You wanted to know everything and now you know everything. In fact now even I also know about the other parts of this story. There is nothing to say or do more Mr. Khan. So I would just request you to go back Mr. Khan. Please." Zoya finished dejectedly.
-" Zoya, you know it very well that I am not leaving you, ever." Asad who had now come out of his surprised state, said with utmost determination and at this, Zoya lost her control and shouted.
-" Why don't you just understand Mr. Khan?! It's just because of me that my ammi came to India and lost her life... Dost got trapped...your.. your happy family was destroyed...Phuppi...phuppi got shooted because I was in her life...aapi..and jiju also...di..died because they came to pick me, was worried about me and met with that accident. Why don't you just see that I am a jinx..a bad luck who is like those flames which swallows everyone around her. I am broken beyond repair Mr. Khan, trying to mend me will only make you bleed and your pain hurts me even hundred times more badly Mr. Khan. I am not left with the strength to bear anymore pain. I just want to die in pea..." Before she could finish, a loud roar of her name cut her midsentence and a large palm enclosed her lips. She lifted her teary eyes to meet Asad's blood-shot ones. He was trying to stop since a long time but when she talked about her death, he lost it. How could she say so.
-" Not a single more word Zoya. Neither I am going to leave you nor I am going to let anything happen to you. You better accept this. And don't you dare say that thing ever again, understand?" There was some strange intensity in his eyes and words that sent a shiver run down her spine and compelled her to nod a yes. Exhaling loudly with closed eyes, released her mouth and Zoya took in shattering breath. Asad got up to leave the room for a few moments. The air was too thick for him to breath and he needed a little fresh air. As he was about to exit the room, he heard Zoya call him from behind. He stopped but didn't turn completely, though Zoya got her cue to continue.
-" Please don't tell anyone that you have found me." She said in a meek and he just nodded in response before exiting the room, much to Zoya's relief. As soon as Asad disappeared from there, her exhausted self hit her head on the pillow as some more tears made their way out of her closed eyes.
-" I am sorry Mr. Khan. I really am. But I don't have any other option. The Zoya you knew had died two years ago only when she left you. Now this girl here just is a dying shadow of her." she thought painfully.
While on the other hand, Asad just stood behind the door, looking at her crying silently through the glass hole. He knew that she was hurting even more than him.
-" I know Zoya how you feel but I also know that my Zoya is still here, just a lost in all these cruelties of fate. I know despite your words that you need me to find you and bring you back. And I will do that, no matter what." He thought while determination shone in his eyes.
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PRECAP: " Look Salman Khan!" Asad spoke out suddenly.
-" Where?" Zoya's head snapped in his direction in reflex. Asad took this opportunity and put the spoon-full of soup in her mouth. While Zoya glared at him in shock, he smiled victoriously.
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Hey guys. Sorry for not including the precap but it was getting way too long and this conversation was ver needed to move forward the story.Hope you all like it. Please leave your likes and comments behind. Sorry again for not being able to reply... again. I guess by now you all know my rant by heart😆 but still i am very sorry. please keep them coming. i can't explain how much happy and inspired they make me. always remember i read all and love all😃 thank you and enjoy🤗
Edited by asya7 - 9 years ago
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