Thank you everyone for all the support you have given me on this. This chapter was another tough one to write and made me cry a lot.
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5. You Can Never Escape Me
It wasn't easy but somehow Wali and Zarmine managed to bring Arjumand out to the breakfast table considering she was still crying. Both of them sat on either side of her, while Gulkhan brought some breakfast for them.
"Farah bibi aur Aghajaan jaag gaye Gulkhan?" Wali asked, as he poured some omelet for his mother.
"Ji saab, woh ek dusre ko naashta kara rahein hain," Gulkhan said softly. "Farah bibi kaafi mutmain lag rahin hain saab."
Wali smiled. "Acha hai. Aghajaan bhi usko dekh ke behtar ho jayein ge, aur Farah unke saat waqt guzaare gi toh woh bhi theek ho jayegi."
At the moment, Behram came in with the phone.
"Khan, aap ke liye phone hai," Behram said handing the phone to Wali who frowned.
"Kaun hai?" Wali said, surprised someone would call this early.
"Woh Moeez saab aap se baat karna chah rahe the," Behram admitted.
Wali's fist clenched at the moment and all he could see was red. He wanted to rush out right now and brutally strangle the bas***d who had hurt his wife and cousin in a horrible way. And then the nerve...why was he calling now? To rub salt into their wounds? "Tumne uske moo pe phone kyun nahi baand kiya Behram. Mujhe us kaminay se koi baat nahi karni."
"Woh baut israar kar raha hai, Khan," Behram said and Wali sighed, unable to believe he was doing this but he took the phone from Behram.
"Kyun kiya hai phone tumne?" Wali said, voice quivering with rage.
"Arey yaar sach jaane bina itna ghusa?" Moeez said sounding very confident. "Yeh toh achi baat nahi hai na. Maine koi tumhari biwi ko rape wape nahi kiya. Woh apna gunna chupane ke liye mujh pe ilzaam laga rahi hai. Zinna kiya hai usne."
Wali scoffed. "Chor kab maanta hai ke usne chori ki hai. Aur agar tumne aisa kuch kiya nahi hai toh kis baat ki safaiyan de rahe ho. Farah ne toh aisi koi baat nahi ki, sirf Tayee-Ammi ko suboot dekhaya tha."
"Oh," Moeez scoffed. "Aur tumne uss jhooti recording pe yakeen kar liya? Tum khud saucho Wali jo larki mere haatoon ki anghooti pehn sakti hai, woh kya mere saath raat nahi guzaar sakti?"
"Baand karo apni bakwas!" Wali snapped. He had been upset with Farah when she was about to accept Moeez's ring and his point was valid but Wali still remembered Farah's face when he saw her straight after the incident. The blankness in her eyes, the seeing Moeez everywhere and if there's one thing Farah could not do well, it was lying about something. You could read her thoughts from her face and the trauma, pain and disgust she felt in herself was so clear. He wasn't blind. He could see how much pain she was in.
"Tumne jo Farah ke saath kiya uska hisaab mein tumse khud loon ga," Wali said firmly.
Moeez laughed. "Kaise loge? Farah kabhi bhi mere khilaaf bol nahi payegi aur woh bhi ab. Uski anna, akkar aur ghuroor sab ko maine mita diya hai. Sach? Ajeeb kashish hai usme Wali, tum mera saath do toh mein tumhe guarantee deta hoon tumhe uska maza zaroor chakhne doon ga."
"Maza toh ab mein tumhe chakahoon ga, Moeez Tajjamul," Wali said coldly. "Apni khehayr manao." He hung up, trying not to break the phone to pieces.
"Wali beta khud ko sambhalo," Arjumand said placing a gentle hand on her son's shoulder. "Farah tumhe iss tara dekhe gi toh usse shak na ho jaye."
"Mein theek hoon Ammi," Wali said, although his voice was slightly rough around the edges but he was trying to calm down. He needed to stay calm or else nothing would ever get done. "Ammi, I swear aapki aur Baba Jaan ki tarbiyat na hoti na toh yeh Moeez mere haatoon zaya ho jana tha. Lekin maza toh isse mein zaroor chakaoon ga. Aghar woh yeh samaj ta hai na Ammi ke Farah kamzour aur akeli hai toh yeh uski baut bari bhool hai. Mein usse bataoon ga ke na toh Farah akeli hai aur nahi kamzour."
Arjumand could see the passion in her son's eyes and wondered if there was something they could do to help out but other than being there for Farah, she couldn't think of anything. Later that day, Arjumand caught Farah sitting on her own in the balcony and went to join her.
"Ab kaisi tabiyat hai Farah beti?" Arjumand said gently.
Farah looked up and Arjumand felt at that moment that someone had reached out and grabbed her heart. It felt as if someone was squeezing her heart and she couldn't stop them. The blankness in Farah's expression cut through her like sharp knives. As selfish as it was to think, she thanked god that Zarmine had never gone through anything like this. At a moment like this, Ruhi had chosen her nephew over her daughter and Arjumand could not even imagine how much that hurt. No wonder Behroz was worried about her.
"Chachi?" Farah's voice distracted Arjumand from her thoughts and she looked at her niece and daughter-in-law. "Aap Wali ki doosri shaadi ka ra dein."
Arjumand's heart caught in her mouth. "Yeh tum kya keh rahi ho Farah?"
"Haan, chachi," Farah said tonelessly. "Yeh toh sach hai ke mein ab Wali ke kabil nahi hai. Naapak ho chukhi hoon. Lekhin phir bhi aap se ek request karna chahti hoon."
Arjumand's eyes watered. Farah wasn't crying, nor did she seem sad or weeping but she had no expression, no emotion, be it pain, sadness or shock. It was like life had stopped for her and she hated that. She opened her mouth to speak but Farah continued talking before she had a chance.
"Mere upar please talaaq ka dhaba mat lagwain," Farah said. "Mama ne mere upar bewafai aur zinna ka ilzaam toh laga diya, inn ilzamoon ke saath toh mein kisi tara jee loon gi, lekhin aghar mere naam ke saath se Wali ka naam hat gaya, toh mein shayed jeete ji mar jaoongi. Iss liye chachi, bas ek yeh request thi. Mein aapko khud ijaazat deti hoon ke aap Wali ki doosri shaadi kara dein."
"Tumhe kisne kaha ke mein doosri shaadi karna chahta hoon?" Wali's voice took both Farah and Arjumand by surprise and they turned to see him standing there. Farah's eyes met with Wali's and she was taken aback at the amount of emotion in his eyes. What did that mean? Did he want to spend his life with a girl who was no longer worthy of him? A girl who had been at the receiving end of someone else's intimacy? She didn't understand, what was Wali thinking?
Wali Suhaib Khan seemed to be a lot deeper than she had ever thought of him and right now, she had no idea how to comprehend that.
--
Moeez threw his phone across the room. The nerve of Wali to talk to him that way, no one would ever talk down to him again once the business deal was finalized. Farah would see the person he really was, especially when he had Phuppo in his palm. How dare Farah run away from him? She was his prize, the reason that he felt he could conquer everything, be it business proposals or human beings.
"Moeez," Ruhi came into the room. "Kya hua beta?"
"Kuch nahi Phuppo," Moeez said, tone turning sweet once more. "Mein zara bahir ja raha hoon, Emraan bhai se kuch baat jeet karni hai, aap please relax rahein, Farah apne dada ke ghar hai, wahan woh bilkul mehfooz hai."
"Mein kya karoon Moeez?" Ruhi said sighing. "Joh Farah ne gunna kiya hai uske baad kya woh wakehi mein wahan pe mehfooz hai? Jaisa bhi ho Wali, hai toh woh uska shauhar na, kahin woh uspe tashadud na kare."
"Aap tasali rakhiye Phuppo," Moeez placed a hand on Ruhi's shoulder. "Meri Farah ko mere ilawa koi bhi nahi choo sakta."
"Kya matlab?" Ruhi looked a little confused at his statement and he inwardly cringed at having said the wrong thing.
"Mera matlab mein ab bhi Farah se pyaar karta hoon," Moeez said. "Aur Farah ne koi gunna nahi kiya Phuppo. Wali ke saath uska rishta zabardasti ka tha, aghar woh yeh chahti thi ke mein usko uss tara pyar karoon toh isme kuch ghalat nahi hai. Koi gunna nahi hai. Farah mera pyaar hai Phuppo, aur mein uss se nikah karoon ga."
Aur nikah ke saath uske jayidat ka sara hissa apni business mein lagaoon ga.
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