Mukammal

Chapter 1: Nikkah

Ayat

"Qubool hai" I stammered as I signed away my fate, tears streaming down my face.

"Haider Khan wald Hamza Khan, aapko nikkah Ayat Qureshi bin te Abdullah Qureshi haq e meher 50 lakhs qubool hai" Qazi sahab asks.

"Qubool hai" he said coldly and with that my fate was sealed. Five minutes ago he was a just a stranger, now he is still a stranger but with a title, Husband. Just five minutes ago, I have found out his name, his face is still unknown. Through my veil and his sehra, I can only make out he has a broad body structure. I guess his height is somewhere around 6ft, compared to my 5ft 3 structure.

In just three days, my whole world has changed. Three days ago, I was free-spirited girl, and now I am bounded to this stranger for eternity. Just three days ago, my father informed me of his decision regarding my fate. Unable to reason with him, I had no choice to accept this façade of marriage as my destiny. He tried to convince me that his decision was solely for the betterment of my life, but I knew better than to believe that.

As a father and my only parent, he believes that only he knows what is right for me, and to make me agree to his beliefs, he will go to any extent. He told me that his childhood friend has asked my hand in marriage for his son and that they are good people, though I know this is not the whole truth. I still don't understand why this marriage has happened in such haste, where I was not allowed by my father to converse in any sort of conversation with my so-called to be husband.

All I knew about my husband is that he supposedly runs a company and is 26 years old. Even my father did not know the name of the man he was marrying me off to. He left me with no option but to agree. I have already lost my mother at a young age, I wasn't prepared to lose my father too.

"Mubarak ho bete" my father said patting my head, bringing me out of my thoughts. My father went to congratulate my husband on our marriage. He touched my father's feet to take his blessings. Witnessing this incidence, this gave me a little bit of hope.

"Nikkah Mubarak ho, khush raho bachchi" my father-in-law said with a smile across his face.

The nikkah took place at Khan house, it was a simple nikkah with only close family members. From my side, only my father and my cousin were present. From his side, his father & sister were present along with a few more of their relatives. His house was lit with fairy lights, but this couldn't outshine the darkness I was feeling.

After the nikkah ceremony was complete, a girl, who I assume to be his sister takes me inside the house towards a room. As she opens the room, a bed adorned red rose petals comes into view. I glanced around the room and it was only adding to my misery. The walls were a dark shade of grey and the interior was black.

"Bhabi, come in. This is now yours and bhai's room" the girl said with a smile. "Aao, I'll help you sit on this bed" she said taking my hand helping me sit on the bed.

"Abhi main jaati hoon, bhai aate hi honge, mein aur papa ghar wapas chale jayengi. Agar apko kuch chahiye hoga, bhai se kehna hichichana mat" she smiled and left after I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Does that mean he lives here alone" I questioned dreading my reality.

I was now sitting on his bed waiting for my husband, who I have not even said a word to yet. 15 minutes pass, there is still no sign of him coming, so I lift the veil off my face and glance around. His room has a dark aura that screams dominance and power. Even the curtains were black, not a single trace of an external light source in the room. The room was dimly lighted by the candles scattered around the room. The golden figure of lion was sitting the on the cupboard as if this was its jungle, and he is the king. The wall behind the bed had a painting, finally something that could make this room less daunting, but much to my dismay, it was a black rose.

While I was 'admiring' his room, I heard the creak door open. My husband walks in, he is looking at me yet I am still to see him. He still had a sehra covering his face. As a reflex, I quickly covered my face with the veil and looked down. Although I wasn't able to see his face, I was able to deduct that my earlier guess about his height stands correct. Without even seeing his face, I could tell that he was a handsome man. Seeing him up close, the beige sherwani complemented his muscular toned body. His aura was oozing confidence.

"Assalammualaikum" he spoke breaking the silence in the room.

"Waallaikum-assalam" I said, although it came out almost as a whisper. I felt very intimidated as I was unaware of his expectations from this marriage.

He slowly walks towards me and prompts me stand up giving his hand for assistance. I reluctantly hold his hand to stand up as it's quite hard to balance in this heavy lengha. Once I am stoop up, I realise how small I am compared to him. He leads us out of his room and enters another room. He lets go of my hand once we get into the room.

"This will be your room, I do not accept you as my wife. However, you are now my responsibility so I will look after your needs. There are workers here, so feel free to tell them if you need anything. You can do as you please but make sure you do no harm to my image or disclose that you are my wife. I expect no interference from you in my life" he stated and left the room.

I was shocked, I didn't know if I should be heartbroken that my husband refuses to accept our marriage on our wedding day or if I should be relieved that he doesn't accept me as his wife. The latter suits my current situation. I am glad he doesn't have any expectations of me, this takes away much of my worries.

"I expect no interference from you in my life" I mocked. As if I had wanted anything to do with his life. I looked around this room, and overall it was giving a much better vibe. The walls were dark grey again, however the room was furnished with white furniture. It had felt a lot brighter and more welcoming than his room. I saw my suitcase was in the corner of the room and decided to shower and get ready for bed. Afterall, this unwanted Nikkah was exhausting.

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