Nikkah

22

The morning sundered with a gentle breeze.

Azaan had just woken up when his phone rang. He didn't bother to check the caller when he picked, and it seemed the person gave him some great news because his face not only brightened, but he wore a huge grin.

"Good. At six in the evening, he'll come to make a public speech," he confided.

••••

At Zoya and Aryaan's residence, she woke up, and after saying her morning prayer—thanking God for letting her see another day—she turned and smiled at the sight of his innocent face while sleeping. She couldn't hold herself from giving him a quick peck, and then she left and proceeded to check her phone for any important messages or calls. She received a lot of missed calls, especially from her aunt, after so long of them not keeping in touch. As her eyes lowered to the time—the middle of the night—worry slowly crept into her heart as she wondered whether her uncle was fine.

She immediately dialled back, and within seconds, she answered,

"Where were you, Zoya? I've called you numerous times. Well, don't worry. We're on our way to Delhi. We'll reach you soon." There was an amount of worry in her tone; she couldn't discern the reason, and as she asked her why they were coming, she responded with more anxiety.

"We'll be there soon," the call hung up.

She stood for some moments in tension that generated stress in her head in thought of why she sounded very worried.

"What happened?" Aryaan, who had gotten up and seen her standing idly, inquired.

"I don't know. It was my aunt. She said she's coming here." She informed him and then left to prepare breakfast, though her mind had already been occupied with thoughts that were making her feel uneasy.

When he took his phone and saw many missed calls from all his family members except his father, a thousand thoughts started to cross his mind, and he gained cold feet while waiting for the call to Ahil to get connected. There were negative thoughts in his head because, as it was, he had been sick since his return from jail.

"Brother, come home quickly," came his voice from the end.

"What?" he was interrupted by the three beeps that signalled the end of the phone call.

He tried dialling again while grabbing his car keys and rushing out, but to no avail. He didn't answer it.

"Zoya, come, let's go immediately." He took the broom she was sweeping the living room with, and on their way outside, she asked,

"Where are we going to so early in the morning?"

••••

He arrived at his home and marched in while she trailed behind him. After they entered, she saw the whole family in the living room, all looking gloomy and tired, like none of them had gotten some sleep. There was exhaustion in all their eyes.

"Mum, where is Father?" It was when he asked that she even noticed he wasn't a part of them.

"Ask your wife. She took him."

Her eyes settled with her venomous glare, and she asked her what she meant by that, utterly confused with how his whereabouts were connected to her.

She sprang to her feet with anger and started to approach her, and when she arrived, Zoya lowered her head, daunted by her startling face.

"You," she grabbed her roughly and intended to slap her, but Aryaan stepped in between and she stopped, fuming more with rage.

"Mum.."

"Keep quiet," she yelled at him.

"Tell us what happened. Who took Father, and why do you blame Zoya for it?" He still calmly asked her, though his face shared his disappointment in her for treating his wife like some piece of dirt and wanting to slap her.

She replied furiously. "You're equally responsible for your father's disappearance. You gave her so much freedom." Her eyes moved to Zoya briefly, and she looked at her with more anger before it returned to him. On the other hand, she was still in shock that she wanted to slap her and even had tears in her eyes because she always saw her more than just her Aunt.

"She thought she made an excellent plan that she'd get away with without you ever finding out the truth. Last night, she broke into this house. She came and threatened us all with a knife. Behind her innocent face is a devil, Aryaan. She threatened to kill him if we tell you your father is with her."

The accusation was something she couldn't accept. Through her teary eyes, she shared in a breaky voice as she wanted to cry but was holding it by force, "Just because Uncle and I aren't on good terms doesn't mean you can accuse me of whatever you want. Why are you lying? When did I come here? I was home throughout yesterday."

Sanam intervened while eying her disgustingly. "We all saw you, Zoya. You threatened me with that knife too."

"Why are you all lying? Why will I do that?" Her gaze met Aryaan's, and she conveyed her innocence through them, certain he would believe her.

"I swear I didn't come here yesterday. I'm not the person who abducted Uncle."

"What? Are they blaming you for his disappearance?" An angry scream erupted from the door, and when they all turned, it was Zoya's family. Her aunt threw her bag angrily and proceeded to move in wildly, shoving Zoya behind her to face his mom. Both of them stared at each other with a burning glare, and his mom decided to break the eerie silence.

"I called you here to take your daughter away. Ever since she arrived, she has given us nothing except pain. First, she sent my husband to jail, and then, after he was released, she refused to stay in this house. She took my son and left. We thought after a few days, her heart would melt, but this woman has a heart of stone. She wasn't satisfied with what she had done. Last night, she came and took him with her. She wants to avenge her parent's death no matter what." She spitted venomously, not falling for Zoya, who had at that point allowed her tears to flow because her accusations were just too grave to digest.

"Zoya?" After she heard everything his mom said, she looked at her as she sobbed uncontrollably. "What is the truth?" she asked, because she still trusts her regardless of what someone might say about her.

It was never her intention to share the reason behind her parent's death with her aunt, but since his mother had already blurted it out, she had to complete the rest, and so, in between crying, she confided the remaining truth to them.

"You're kind for keeping him alive. Hand him over to the police and get justice for my beloved sister. Get justice for your late father." She demanded in anger, but she shook her head dismissively.

"No. I swear, I don't know where Uncle is."

"I thought you forgave him, Zoya. After these months that passed by, I really thought you had forgiven him." Aryaan's disappointed and hurtful voice remarked. She stared at him unbelievably as he continued,

"Rather than abducting and threatening my family, you could have done that to me. It won't have hurt as much as it is doing now."

She sighed, moving her eyes away, deeply hurt when he shared that he didn't trust her.

"Do you think I live in two places at the same time? How can they prove I was here? How?" This time, her voice was slightly raised, disappointed in all of them as none of them trusted her.

"Last night, before you came, I was shooting a video. You may have been captured there." Ahil said, and then left to go upstairs.

"Let's find out who the liar is among us." His mother clamoured with hatred for her.

She, too, waited anxiously, even though she was confident in her truth about not leaving her home yesterday, so there was no way she was present in their house.

He came back shortly, along with the camera, and turned it in her direction.

"Here you are, Zoya," he said. She was left utterly speechless as she watched the footage of her approaching the stairs with a knife.

"How is it possible?" She mumbled, and her thought process shut down because even after she tried to understand how, she didn't find the answer.

"Zoya," Aryaan gritted his teeth angrily and thunderously rumbled, "Where is my father?"

Her shoulders jumped with fear, and she whispered, "I don't..."

"Where is my father, Zoya?" He stiffly gazed at her, his tone increasing more thunderously.
"I swear, I don't know."

"Where is my father?"

The next thing he did left her in a state of shock for many moments when he tried to strangle her with his tight grip around her neck. Even if someone else had done that, it wouldn't have hurt as much as it did from him. She didn't try anything because she was too horrified, and sincerely, she had no words left to say to him.

Her aunt and uncle kept hitting his back to try to get him to stop, but he was far too furious to feel the pain of it. Her betrayal hurt him more.

"So you want to be a murderer like your father?" Her aunt, when she saw all their attempts failing and Zoya struggling to gasp for air, spoke. He blinked out and immediately stepped away, but it might have been too late because her head was already spinning even before he let her go, and darkness overpowered her as she fell to the ground.