Life was unpredictable. And to meerab, it was cruel as well. Never in her life, she had imagined that one day, she would be seated all dolled up as a bride, in front of the Man she claimed to hate most and that too willingly.
As Qazi narrated the nikkahnama in front of her, the life-changing events from the past week flashed in front of her eyes, forcing her to close her eyes in pain and heartbreak.
Everything was going smoothly about 10 days back, when a sudden order from Maa Beghum, demanding Meerabs presence in haveli left her agitated as usual.
Upon receiving requests from her parents, she finally agreed to go to haveli. As soon as she stepped into a haveli, she was met with an ever-enthusiastic maa begum, proudly announcing nikkah dates, that were arranged a month later. Everyone was present except that idiot.
She tried to oppose but was met with a slap from Anwar Khan, the same Anwar Khan who had decided to make a guest appearance in the mad zoo.
Never the one to tolerate any kind of abuse, when she yelled at him for he did not have any "Haq" on her, a bomb was dropped on her.
Anwar Khan's voice roared in the haveli, anger flowing through his veins when he yelled at her, " BAAP HOON TUMHARA".
"Baap"- it took her a moment to realise what had he just uttered. This was rubbish. A clear white lie.
Still not processing what was happening, with all her hopes in her eyes and her heart at her sleeves, she turned to her parents, her beloved baba, just like she used to look up at them in her childhood, hoping to receive the similar loving nod from her baba, but to her dread, she was met with silence. Her baba's head hung low, he seemed like he had lost all his fortune. She cried and screamed at them to explain the truth, but to her fear, Maa Beghum closed her case with," Tum is ghar ki beti Ho meerab, Aur is ghar ki bahu bhi banogi".
Was she even a human being? Because Everyone had used her like a doll. A mere doll.
Panic gripped her senses, and before she could compose herself, exhaustion acted up on her and she found her head pounding in pain. The floor beneath her seemed to slip, and the only thing she remembered before falling into deep slumber was, that Murtasim had made an entry and his arms had engulfed her and protected her from collapsing onto the floor beneath.
She woke up late at night, with murtasim sitting by her side, in sleep. And suddenly all the flashbacks reminded her of her hopeless situation.
She still boasted tremendous love for her parents, Anwar khan was just a sperm donor, he did not know what being a father was. Upon waking him up and inquiring about her parents, she came to know about their departure.
She, being the ever-stubborn had requested him to take her to Karachi, in the hope of mending their relations, to clear the haze of Foster and real parenting, but her life consisted of twists and turns, she again was met with yet another heartbreak.
For a girl being born and brought up in such a loving environment, where she was the centre of her parent's world, the sudden upturn of events left her heart broken. Her parents had not opened the door.
Her voice was hoarse from crying continuously, she had begged them to open the door but it seemed as if nobody was listening to her pleas.
Left heartbroken, she asked murtasim who was observing everything silently, "Agar mere ghar ka darwaza mujhpe nahi khulega, toh main kahan jaungi?"
His expressions soften and his words had shocked her, "Tum mere ghar chalo".
It seemed as if her feet had a mind of their own, before she could think, she was already sitting in his car.
Deciding to stop by a nearby dargahto make dua for herself, as soon as she sat back in the car, she ordered him.
"Mujhse nikah karlo murtasim ".
As if her words left him shocked, meerab found him fumbling with words. So she decided to take matter into her own hands. "Kis Haq se lekar jaa rahe Ho mujhe apne ghar tum? Mujhse nikah karo Aur mere mahram ban jao".
