THANK U @CurlyZ12 for the beautiful cover :)
YOU ARE WELCOME TO SEND ME ANY COVERS OR FANFICS :)
***********
Anissa Ghalib.
A girl born to Ahsan Ghalib and Umera Ghalib.
Sister to three men, Ali, Binyamin and Waseem.
Adopted by her aunt and uncle at the tender age of one. And even though it's seldom done, she only thought of Mr and Mrs. Musa Yaseen as her parents.
Even though she bore her biological parents' surname, she only ever recognised her aunt and uncle as her true family. And why wouldn't she? They were the perfect parents.
Her life was pretty normal.
She had no complaints. Because she was raised with love and affection. She grew up with a strong moral sense. Her parents raised her right, taught her the difference between right and wrong and made her into a string character. And never once did they make her feel unwanted or unloved. They never treated her as if she was only their niece but rather like their own blood. They have her the best of everything. Never deprived her of anything.
They made all of her wishing come true. They even went so far as to dot on her so much to the point of spoiling her rotten when she was a child.
All her memories were full of joy and happiness. And her parents were responsible for it.
They made her into a kind and caring person. Someone who could function so well in society. She chose medicine as her choice in career simply because she it would serve the purpose of putting her good upbringing to good use.
And then there was Shehryaar Ghulari.
A lot wasn't known about him. He was a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
But this was certain about him.
He held no morality, family values or any sense of humanity.
He was a selfish, ruthless, heartless, cruel, unkind and unrelenting man.
He never forgot or forgave.
"It's strange though," Shehryaar spoke from behind her. She flinched. His fingers dug into her temples.
She was pulled out of her thoughts but her eyes remained on the screen that portrayed the live feed of her parents.
"They aren't even your real parents. They're your adoptive relatives yet here you are begging for their lives as if they were your real biological parents." He spoke, she detected a hard edge in his tone.
"They are my parents," she choked out. "They are the ones who raised me. They gave me love. They gave me everything. I am what I am today because of them." She replied through her tears.
"Hmm," Shehryaar mused as he let her head go and stalked in front of her.
Anissa was married to him. Through coerced circumstances.
Anissa looked at him closely. Even in the darkly lit room, he stood out.
Another fact of reality that life was cruel. He was so beautiful that it was surreal.
She remembered how his Amna and her own parents had asked her to be a good wife and fulfil every resposinility of a good wife. They were proud and held so many expectations.
But how could she? Even when she tried she failed.
Simply because they were both so different from each other.
Where Anissa was a kind and caring woman with standards of life meeting at the norm, Shehryaar was a hard and dark man with a mind frame of a criminal.
She was light.
He was the darkness.
She was normal.
He was complicated.
She was simple.
He was complex.
In every sense, they were polar opposites of each other yet they complimented each other.
And now, at present, they were at the crossroads of their destinies.
No one can know what their future holds for them. Anissa had expected things to work out normally when she was married to Shehryaar. But he kept surprising her at every turn. She could've never comprehended about the things that he had done to her. She thought that the least he would do was subject her to abuse.
But his abuse wasn't the domestic type. Rather, it was a sick twisted and sadistic type that targeted her at every level.
Physical.
Emotional.
Spiritual.
And now psychological.
The amount of damage he had done on her and the sins he had committed against her were just too much. She didn't even want to think about them anymore.
They certainly didn't know that they would
She couldn't bring herself to blame anyone least of herself. Nothing was to be pinned with the blame of her suffering.
She fought as best as she could and thus she couldn't blame herself. Her parents were oblivious and deceived after all they only wanted to fulfil their duty towards Anissa so she couldn't blame them either.
Then who could she blame?
Shehryaar?
Yes, he was to be blamed. But now wasn't the time for such sentiments.
Two lives were at stake. Her eyes went back to the screen as she saw the race full environment her parents in their small living room.
She loved them so much.
And she had to sacrifice her womanhood and pride and grovel for them to the likes of a disgusting human being like Shehryaar.
No, he wasn't even human now in her eyes.
Shehryaar crossed her arms on his chest. "So what will it be? A death by slitting their throats? Or death by gun shot straight between their eyes?" Shehryaar inquired, his brow jumping up in sadistic pleasure.
The sick bastard was revelling in the moment and especially in Anissa's pain.
"Please Shehry, don't hurt my parents." She pleaded.
"Please don't. They have nothing to do with this. Hurt me, torture me do whatever you want but please don't hurt them!" She shrieked.
Shehryaar chuckled. "I think I'm being pretty generous as to give you a choice." He mused, cocking his head to the side.
"Please please, I'll do anything!" She cried. "Please," she begged.
"You want me to submit to your every command and whim? I'll do that. Just please don't hurt my parents. They're my family. Please it would destroy me. Please. I'll do anything. I'll be your slave. Anything."
Shehryaar grew amused. He liked the sound of that. He knew how prideful Anissa was and for her to subject herself to such belittling antics was beyond cheerily diverting.
But he schooled a cool and calm expression.
Anissa saw the uneffected look on his face and she knew that whatever she said failed to change his mind.
"Now I'm about to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer me truthfully. And depending on your answer, the fate of your smoky will be decided." He stated, completely disregarding her pleas.
Anissa reigned control on her emotions and nodded. What other choice did she have?
"Why did you run away?" He asked.
If he would've asked in normal circumstances she would scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. He already knew yet he had the audacity to ask. Anissa felt angry and furious at his condescending attitude.
But again, she wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
She needed to think clearly. The lives of her family were at stake.
She held her tongue and assessed the situation
"Because you were too cruel towards me. She answered." She whispered, looking down.
"You do realise that if you were just patient enough, I had planned differently." He said and leaned down to her level. "But you just to fuck this up." He growled and stood erect again. Anissa was confused.
What does he mean by that? She thought.
"Next question, and if you answer truthfully, then I might be a little lenient in deciding your family's verdict." He said icily. Anissa shuddered and pursed her lips tightly to hold in her whimpers.
"Who helped you escape?" He inquired.
Anissa went rigid. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it ring in her ears. Could she give away Zameerbwho was her only ally? Could be that ungrateful and cruel?
The answer was a big no. She was not a snitch. There was no way she was about to give in. He was just as important as her family. Hell, he was like a brother to her. And she never betrayed her family.
"Answer truthfully Anissa." Shehryaar roared, sounding annoyed. She flinched.
"N-no one. I escaped by myself." She responded in a hushed whispered.
He came forward and jerked her chin upward so that her eyes were looked with his. His glare was so intense that
"Don't you fucking lie to me!" He shouted. "One last time, who fucking helped you!" He yelled. She whimpered.
"No one!" She screamed and squeezed her eyes shut.
A chuckle rumbled from Shehryaar's chest. She opened her eyes to see him burst into a fit of humourless laughter.
"Oh God, stubborn to the fucking bone," he chuckled and looked back at Anissa with a cold smile plastered on his face.
"Anissa," he started. Anissa hated how cold her name sounded from his mouth. "You really think that you could lie to me and get away with it? Did you really think that I wouldn't know?" He sneered.
Anissa trembled as she leaned into the steel chair, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
Zameer already confessed to helping you escape." He revealed. Anissa gasped and her face paled.
Now she was really doomed. In an attempt to protect Zameer, she truly risked her family.
If he already knew, why the hell did he ask me then? She thought.
Shehryaar smirked. "I know what you ae think and the answer is simple. I wanted to see how truthful you'd be and apparently, it was the opposite." He claimed. "I mean, how else would you know about the tracker I had installed in your body. You really think I wouldn't know. Only Zameer knew about it and he knew about the Anticodes." Shehryaar clenched his jaw so hard, his grey eyes boring holes in Anissa's face.
"You really fucked up. You caused my second in command to betray me!" His voice boomed and echoed across the four walls of the cell.
He crouched down and leaned close to her face, his eyes levelled with hers. His grey orbs no longer displayed his hurt and pain rather they showed something else.
They showed his possessiveness.
"I just don't fucking get it. Why the fuck Would you protect Zameer?" He hissed.
Anissa's chin wobbled. "He, he's the only one who's been kind to me. Why wouldn't I protect him?" She acclaimed and glared into his eyes.
The muscles in his jaw ticked. He was beyond enraged now as he stood up. Anissa knew immediately that he was misunderstanding because she had recognised the sinister glint in his eyes.
The glint of jealousy burning bright in his grey orbs.
"No, please, don't get the wrong idea. He's like a brother to me." She tried to explain but it was too late.
He didn't listen as he began to choke her.
"You fucking belong to me and you dared!" He screamed and in an instant, the side of her shirt was torn which bore his name on her skin. She shivered and shrieked but was immediately silenced when his choke hold strengthened.
His eyes shone with an evil gleam and Anissa knew he wouldn't listen to any reason.
"So this is the reason why you ran away from me?! Me?! Shehryaar fucking Ghulari!" He roared. His eyes were burning as the cold steel shards melted into molten granite. "So that you could fuck around with Zameer?" All hisbtationale had flown out the window.
He knew that she was a pious and chaste woman yet his anger, jealousy, and possessiveness clouded his logic and muddled his mind.
His fingers dug into the scarred skin of underneath her clavicle and Anissa had to bite her lip hard to hold in her cry to save as much oxygen as she could as fresh tears welled in her eyes.
"N-n-no," she choked, pleading with her eyes. Her lungs were burning and her vision began to conjure black dots.
"You're fucking mine. Mine! I won't let anyone have you!" Shehryaar claimed. Releasing her throat, he stood up while she gasped hungrily at the surrounding air.
Shehryaar began to unlock the cuffs around her arms. With the chains unhooked from the wall, he began to drag her out of the cell by the chains that restrained her wrists and ankles.
It was so demeaning.
So belittling.
She felt like a slave.
And a slave she was.
Her footing was weak and she tumbled many times until Shehryaar caught her waist and pulled her into another large room.
This one was a little brightly lit and Anissa had to squeeze her eyes shut when they came intact with the light.
Once she regained her vision, she heard the clank of the chains in her right direction and saw Shehryaar hook the chains to a loop at the far wall.
Anissa looked around and gasped when she saw a person sitting on a chair. His head was down, his dark hair damp like he'd been sweating profusely. His chest was moving hard.
Anissa had recognised him.
"Haris bhai!" She gasped and tried to run to him but fell on her knees because the chains restrained her.
**********
VOTE AND COMMENT PLZ
PLEASE HELP ME REACH A GOOD RANKING :) PLZ RE-VOTE FOR ALL THE CHAPTERS :) TO THE NEW READERS AS WELL, PLEASE VOTE FOR ALL THE CHAPTERS AND SAME FOR THE SILENT READERS, PLZ SUPPORT MI AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, IT WON'T COST YOU ANYTHING,
INCREASE THE VOTES UPTO 10K AND I'LL POST THE NEXT UPDATE :) I PROMISE :)