Chapter 2 will come once we will hit 10 votes on this chapter. Lol, never mind. I was just in teasing mode lol. 😂
Dedicated to all those precious people who had come here after reading Book 1 and Book 2 of this series. ❤
There was so much noise in the surroundings. Such an annoying and monotonous that I felt my ears had gone numb. There was the smell of smoke and blood everywhere. I stood at the corner of the mess, looking at everything in shock. My eyes started burning due to smoke and the horrendous sight of my beloved in front. My gaze became stone as it wasn't leaving the scenery. I didn't even know how to react. I was maybe just four back then.
I came out of my shock when an old man crouched down before me. "Baby girl, are you fine?"
I couldn't even reply because I didn't know whether I was fine or not. His stare flung over me as if maybe he was ascertaining the absence of any external injury on me. But who could tell him that even if I was safe and sound, but I had got wounds on my insides which would never mend?
"Beta, are you hurt somewhere?" He again inquired.
I shook my head. After a while, police entered the scene and one of the inspectors carried me toward their mobile. As I glanced through the glass of the car, my heart clenched at the sight.
The Edhi workers were collecting the dead bodies of my parents and then wrapped them in a white cloth before putting them on the stretchers. As we took a turn, I caught a glimpse of workers transferring their bodies inside their vehicles. A tear unknowingly fell on my cheek.
Did I lose my parents? Could I never meet them again?
So the thing was I and my parents were traveling in my Baba's car that night after a cozy dinner at a costly restaurant. But on the way, our car got hit by a heavy truck. The truck had attacked the front of the car. As I was sitting in the back seat, I got saved by this wreck while both of my parents died on the spot.
My Ammi was Baba's second wife. He had a love marriage with her against both of their families' approval. Baba belonged to a conservative family where marriages only occurred within the family circle. He had a wife before Ammi who was older than him by a few years but he was unhappy with her. Ammi was Baba's class fellow and they instantly fell in love. However, Baba's family didn't agree with his wish of his that he wanted to get married again. Ammi's side of the family too didn't want to marry their daughter to a man who was already married and had two kids already.
Hence Ammi eloped with Baba one day and had a secret nikkah. As Baba was the only heir of his father, my grandfather conceded after a few years that they should live together. And then I was born. My stepmother, step-siblings, and grandmother hated me because Baba's first wife was her niece. My grandfather was quite nice to me though.
We were living a good life but one day, an accident struck us which caused me to become an orphan. My grandfather died from the impact of this news while the women in the house turned more against me. They didn't let me live peacefully. They made me do many hard tasks which was too harsh for a four years old kid.
My Ammi had a university friend. After her marriage, Ammi continued her studies, and hence, Aunt Aqia; her friend knew all the circumstances. She supported me throughout this disaster. She wanted to send me back to my maternal grandparents as she knew how the relatives from my father's side were against me but my stepmother didn't let her do so.
One day when she came to meet me, she was dumbfounded seeing me mopping the entire floor. Maybe that was shocking for her but I had been doing this since I was lost my parents. Other than that, I was born with beatings as well. My whole body was covered with bruises and wounds. Seeing this, she quickly condemned this act of my stepmother.
Aunt Aqia rapidly contacted the police and showed them the oppression that was happening to me by taking a picture of my bruises. Police were quick to react and hence they decided to send me to my maternal grandparents' house. But as they were already outrageous at my Ammi, they disowned me and said they had no relation to me. Maybe Baba's first wife wanted me to get lost as she became satisfied with her revenge against my mother in these two months, as she also threw me out of my house.
And then Aunt Aqia had brought me to her house. She adopted me legally and now it had been years, I had been living with her. The love, affection, and support she gave me was so beautiful that I started respecting her on the same level as a mother had the right to.
This was the reason I called her Aqia Mama. A distinct way of calling a figure you would consider your mother.
Aqia Mama had.....
A knock on her door interrupted her. She lifted the curtain of her long eyelashes from her deep and big brown eyes from her diary and turned around on her rocking chair. A maid was there, looking at her respectfully.
"AssalamoAlaikum, Unaiza Baji." Seeing her attention on her, the maid greeted her.
(A/N: Baji: Sister)
She smiled. "Walaikum Assalam. What is it?"
"Begum Sahiba is calling you," she told her the reason for her arrival.
Unaiza nodded. "Okay. I'll come in a while. You can leave."
As the maid was gone, Unaiza closed her diary and stood. Her small, cute diary had a light yellow cover which was like a best friend for her for a lot of years. She referred to it as her 'Dear Diary'. A safe place where she let her every thought to be saved, every happiness to make an inkling for the future and every hardship to next time realize that once she had a difficult time than the present. And of course, another thing. How could she forget it? This diary had become a secret keeper of her. A secret which she had been hiding from everyone else. Something that she had harbored for decades and cherished like a beloved deposit.
Unaiza put the diary in the drawer before coming out of her room. In the lounge, she found Aqia and Tashfeen. Their faces had an expression that she couldn't decipher.
"Aqia Mama, you called me?" She raised a brow after greeting both of them one by one.
"Hmm. Sit here, Iza." Aqia gestured towards the sofa in front.
Unaiza did as she asked and gave her a questionable look.
"Just a while ago, Haider called your Papa. He said that he will come tomorrow with Ishmal and Jannat," she informed her with excitement.
Unaiza's jaw dropped in surprise. "Really?"
Aqia nodded. "I am so grateful to Allah SWT for letting me see this day. My son is coming back."
"Just to meet us for limited hours, Aqia. Rephrase your words," Tashfeen said, giving her a pointed look.
Aqia brooded. "I will appease him that stops the resentment now. Jannat is the baby of this house. I will even ask for forgiveness from Ishmal now."
"She had already forgiven you, Aqia. Your son does not want to come back to this house where his wife was disrespected," Tashfeen enlightened her.
Aqia sighed. "I admit I was totally wrong back then. I admit my mistake, Tashfeen. I wanted the betterment of this house. I had nothing against Ishmal. When she came here for the first time as Haider's bride, I accepted her with open arms. It's just that I was very wary of Haider that he wouldn't get hurt again. I agree I was unreasonable and said many bad things to Ishmal. But believe me, I had no bad intentions."
Tashfeen bobbed his head in acceptance. "I know Aqia. I was just giving you a mind check that please now don't let anger and impulsiveness drive your actions. If Haider has agreed to meet us by coming to this house after one and a half years, consider this good news and maybe an approval from him that he might start living with us in a few months. So don't make any mistake again or else we will lose our son forever this time. Be happy that Ishmal is a good girl and she didn't use this opportunity to trigger Haider against us more. "
"I will take care of it. He is my son. I just want him to be happy. And I want my granddaughter to grow in front of us. She is the first grandchild of this family and I want to pamper her," Aqia murmured, truthfully.
Unaiza held her knee. "It will happen Aqia Mama. You don't worry. Haider Bhai will soon come back to us."
"Unaiza, beta you should supervise all the arrangements. Jannat is coming here for the first time. Just get the whole house decorated for this occasion. Go to the market with Huzaifa in the evening and bring presents for Ishmal, Jannat, and Haider," Tashfeen told her.
"Fine, Tashfeen Papa. I'll see everything. I am so excited to meet Jannat. She was so cute," Unaiza chortled in happiness.
The last time she saw Jannat in person was when she was three months old when they had gone to Haider's house to again appease him to come back. But he had declined respectfully. Though Ishmal did video calls with her but seeing face to face was a different thing.
As she came back into her room, her mind was already overflowing with different ideas for tomorrow.
________________
Huzaifa gave an annoyed look to the girl sitting on the chair across from him before pushing the straw of a double chocolate milkshake into his mouth. The girl was beautiful. She had a petite figure, wheaty skin, and raven black hair. She was wearing a pink loose top reaching her thighs with black jeans. But had kept a dark pink muffler around her neck because of Huzaifa's demand. She was way more bolder and modern than this. Wearing revealing outfits and showing her perfect hourglass figure was something she never shied away from. But since Huzaifa started dating her, he had asked her to maintain a modest dress.
She came over to him and sat on the chair beside him. Placing a hand over his taut shoulder, she clung near to his arm. Huzaifa stopped sipping the milkshake and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Baby please." When she spoke, she had a sweet and melodious voice.
"Inaya, back off. How many times have I told you to not be this clingy and don't touch me like that," he firmly said and pushed away from her.
Inaya pouted. "Why? We are dating so what's bad in this?"
"I dislike people who whine, Inaya. Got it?" Huzaifa asked with a slight tilt of his head.
She exhaled and stared at him. He was so gorgeous. Perhaps the most handsome guy in this university. Having a tall, fit, athletic figure was something that made her swoon for him. Other than that, he had features to die for. Everything about him was attractive. No doubt she was so smitten by him.
"Okay but please, come with me to the party. I want to introduce you to my friends as my boyfriend," she muttered, impatiently.
Huzaifa shook his head. "Told you, Inaya. I am not free at the time of the party. Why the same thing again and again?"
"So you can't leave what is making you busy that day for me?" Inaya asked.
"No," he simply replied and took another generous sip of the milkshake.
She glared at him. "What's that thing, by the way?"
"An audition. I can't miss it, Inaya. Try to understand. Just last month, I went with you to one of your parties. Now it's really important for me. So can we just close this topic?" He explained and looked at his wristwatch. "It's the class time. Come on."
Huzaifa got up from the chair and placed his bag over his right shoulder. But when Inaya didn't join him, he looked back at her. "What now?"
"I am bunking the class. Don't have the patience to listen to lectures now." She put her legs having expensive high heels over her feet on the table. "You should bunk as well, Huzaifa."
"Exams are coming, Inaya. If you want to waste your time, best of luck from me for you." He shrugged his shoulders and then moved away.
Inaya's eyes widened as she too stood up like she got hit by a current. She threw her bag over her shoulder and ran after him. "Huzaifa, wait for me."
As they were walking side by side through the hallway, a scene made Huzaifa stop in his tracks. Soon his confused expression changed into anger as he took long, swift steps towards there.
__________________
AssalamoAlaikum/ Hi guys!
The first chapter of Her Step Husband is here.
I hope you like it.
So Haider and Ishmal are coming to meet them. What do you think will happen next?
For those who are new to Her Step Husband and haven't read Book 1 and Book 2, don't worry. Everything will make sense for you in the next chapter.
What do you think Huzaifa had seen in the end which made him stop?
Please vote and comment. ❤❤