A Castle In The Air [Completed]

30. But Things Change

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Her mother attended the reception with her because it wasn’t as loud as the wedding was, since there was no concert and was instead quiet and serene, with only the buzz of people talking in the air.

That very night after the function, Zoha bid her goodbyes to everyone, hugged Maya for long, and then they got on the train and were back home in the countryside by noon, leaving all the glamour and the hubbub of the wedding week behind.

×××

He'd meant it in a good way, while also wanting to scare her off with it. But he hadn't meant anything wrong … or he hoped it wasn't wrong. He really wanted to do what he said he did, but not force her into it. He wanted her to enjoy, take pleasure, and want him back. He wanted—

Surely it wasn't merely physical attraction, was it? No. It couldn't be. You don't pine after people you're only physically attracted to, you don't think about them all the time. You don't ache for them.

And Zoha…

Well, the very echo of her name painted his heart with red. There was already so much of what he couldn't have. Every minute spent in the same premises as her urged him to pull his hair out. But all he was left to do was to catch glimpses from afar.
But of course, he was a despicable man, and deserved to rot in hell. He deserved to die alone.

If only there was a way back. If only the haze could ever part.

He had never wanted to turn back before. He didn't know someone would ever make him want to.  But there he was now, getting drunk in the darkness of his room, trying to wash the images away from his mind, trying to resist the urge to drop the act, leave everything and go home. And for once, live a little.

There was no way he could do that though. So much was at risk. One wrong step and he'd bring the senator down, he'd land himself dead in a corner where nobody could ever find him, he'd let the dogs of the elite roam around free, more dominant than before.

The traffickers had his trust. He was one of them and he had to be very vigilant, very alert. He shouldn’t let emotions take over his senses. And maybe he should just settle with a one-night stand, maybe that’s why he was so frustrated. He just needed to get laid.

Had it not been for the very unusual and astonishing disclosure of illegal events carried out through a wide network, that too by one of its prominent members, Hisham would still have been working his days in the police station. But as fate had it, the senator's arch rival - a former minister - blurted out his misery under the spell of the alcohol one fine evening, although he said later he'd been very aware of what he was doing. Coming to the senator was the safest option he had, despite the two of them having an antagonistic relationship.

A couple of years ago, the minister's son had died in a terrific accident, causing immense grief to the family he'd left behind. Except, it wasn't just an accident. According to the minister, his son, who was a district commissioner, had gotten a whiff on his father's corrupt affairs. It was a very brief confrontation and the minister had believed he'd convinced him of his clean hands. Only he hadn't. His son had apparently been going around collecting evidence, but not as discreetly as he'd thought. The other members of the circle soon found out that they were being tailed and the moment they did, they immediately had him killed.

The minister was grief stricken and livid when he discovered the truth of his son's death. Though acting shrewdly, he didn't let on that he knew of his partners' betrayal and began plotting against them in his head.

Once he'd spilled his guts to the senator after careful consideration on who to open up to, a plan was formed by the two  in mutual consensus.
Hisham was the replaced heir of another family-loving member of the circle, whose actual son was taken hostage and threatened to be executed if the member didn't co-operate.