Kamran's POV:

It really was her. It had been thirteen years. I finally found her after a decade. She really was Anushay. I looked at her closely. How could I not have seen it before? The way she smiled and frowned was exactly the same. The color of her skin, the shape of her eyes, everything about her screamed Anushay. I was probably in denial before. Deep down, I didn't think that I would actually find her after all this time. But I knew she wasn't actually dead. I refused to believe those reports even then.

"Anushay, or should I say Zoya, come here." I liked the sound of Zoya too. It wasn't as comforting as Anushay but it was her. She could rename herself whatever she wanted as long as she was my Anushay. I put my hand towards her. I wanted her to hold my hand like before. I wanted to feel her warmth like before. I could finally feel like my heart was beating again after thirteen years. The time that had stood still had resumed in that moment. She looked at my hand in shock. 

"Listen, you better get lost or we will remove you from here forcefully." I heard the man beside her warn me. Well, I need to get rid of the annoyances first. Nothing could stop me from going to her now. I finally found her. I looked at her and she stared back at me with horror. I took out my pistol and aimed it at one of the younger looking males. What I wasn't expecting was all three of them to take out their pistols and aim at me as well. Well, this was troublesome. I really wish Ibraheem and Fahad were here right now. Things would be easier to handle then. But no matter. This is nothing.

Did they think that this was going to stop me from going to Zoya? A couple of guns weren't going to stop me. Nothing can stop me.

"Oh my God! Put the guns down. All of you. We are in a residential area for crying out loud." Zoya yelled at all of us but none of us budged. I kept my gun trained on the men as I stepped towards Zoya who stood rooted to her spot.

"Hey. Back off. Last warning." The older looking guy warned me as he removed the safety lock. Now then, who do I shoot first? "How does he know this Zoya?" He questioned Zoya while maintaining eye contact with me.

"I don't know. I really don't." She replied, I could hear the sincerity in her voice. She kept looking at each one of us. Did she not remember me or was she lying again?

"Go inside the house. Leave this to us." He ordered Zoya but she didn't move an inch. Good girl. That's my Anushay. Fearless as always.

"No, Saad, guys, just calm down. Let me take care of this." I took a step towards Zoya. I couldn't stay away. She was like a lethal magnet attracting me towards her. I wanted to be close to her. There wasn't much distance between us now. So close. I didn't care about the guns or the losers standing there. I could handle them lat-I felt a piercing pain in my shoulder followed by the sound of gunshot ringing in the air. I looked down at my right shoulder to see blood oozing and staining my shirt. Ah, fuck. Zoya screamed as I staggered back and sat down on the hood of my car to balance myself.

"SAAD, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? Why did you shoot him?!" Zoya shrieked as she rushed to my side and inspected the wound.

"Zoya, stay away from him. We don't know who he is. He could belong to that family for all we know." Saad said as he recoiled his gun. I ought to shoot him in the head for asking her to stay away from me. I was about to raise my gun but Zoya blocked my view. She was finally close to me.

"I don't care whose family he belongs to. You can't just shoot a man." I heard her call out as she looked at my face closely. Damn, I wanted to hug her. I pulled myself up from the hood and put my arms around her. I involuntarily put my upper body weight on her which caused her to sink down. "Kamran, pull yourself together. Shit, that is a lot of blood." All I wanted to do was laugh at how adorable she was being right now. I could feel the warmth of her body melting away the coldness I had felt for years. It was slowly filling the void that had made me hollow inside.

"Zoya! Get the hell away from him! Let him bleed out!" Saad roared again but Zoya turned back to glare at him.

"Don't tell me what to do. I am not talking to you right now. Danish, call an ambulance." When the other guy didn't move at all, she exhaled sharply. She looked back at me and it was harder to focus on her face now. I blinked a couple of times. "Fuck this, I will call it myself. Hey, hey, Kamran, don't fade out." She clicked her fingers in front of me but I just grinned.

"It really is you. You haven't changed at all." I cracked a smile. I was starting to feel light headed. I sat back down on the hood and put my bloody hand on her face. "It has been thirteen years, Anushay. I finally found you. It's me, your sher." I felt her freeze up. Unconsciousness started to take over my senses as I put my head on her chest to rest. Black dots were starting to form.

This was calming. Nostalgia hit me in waves. I savored the feeling as I closed my eyes. It felt like I was finally home.

Zoya's POV:

Random images started to wreak havoc in my head as he said the last words before fainting. Your sher. There were flashes. A road. A boy holding me. He was shaking me by the shoulders and I was giggling. I squeezed my eyes shut because my head started to throb. The hell is this? What was going on? I had no time to reminiscence. He was bleeding out right now. I can't believe Saad shot him. I knew he had a short temper but this could have been resolved in other ways as well. I was about to dial 1122 but Saad stopped me. I grimaced at him, ready to shout but he cut me.

"We will take him to a hospital." He said reluctantly as he put his arm around Kamran who was out of it completely. Danish put an arm around him as well. "We will figure out his identity later. I will get a background check on him done. Just go inside."

"No, I am going as well." I replied stubbornly and Saad sighed as he looked at me. I glared right back. I was daring him to stop me.

"Zoya..." He knew better than to argue with me. He knew all too well that if I decide on something, I follow through with it. "Okay fine but if we find out that he has any relation to that family, he is dead."

"We will see." I replied as I walked beside them. I know I didn't want to take a trip down memory lane, especially that part of my life but something about him, something about Kamran intrigued me. He knew my birth name. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know why he was looking for me for thirteen years. Did he want me dead as well? Was he really part of that family? But I couldn't believe that. He would have killed me ages ago if that was the case. Just how did he know me?

I looked at his unconscious face that was resting against the back seat of the car. Danish and Zain were sitting beside him. I knew Saad wouldn't let me near him so I took the passenger seat while he took the driver's seat. I glanced at him again. I want to ask you so many things now that you have confirmed I am indeed Anushay. What did you know about me, Kamran? How when I had closed that chapter of my life successfully? No one should be able to trace me back. And more importantly, why now of all times?

.....

Kamran's POV:

I blinked multiple times to adjust my eyes to the bright lights. It didn't take me long to realize I was in a hospital bed. An I.V. was attached to my hand. There was the pungent smell of iodine in the air. Bandages on my shoulder. Not my first trip to the hospital of course. I remembered everything. The car ride back. The three men outside her home. Anushay was Zoya. Wait, Anushay was Zoya? ZOYA. Where was she? I got up quickly but a piercing pain in my shoulder brought me back down. Right, he had shot me. Where was he? I am going to put a bullet in his head when I see him. And where was Zoya? Was she okay?

I looked down at myself. I wasn't wearing my shirt either. There was this meddlesome hospital gown instead. Fortunately, the pants were intact. I took out my phone from my back pocket. 12:32 a.m. huh? It had been almost three hours since then. I had to tell Fahad and Ibraheem. I opened my call log and dialed Fahad's number. As the second bell started to ring, someone drew the curtains and an elder man stepped inside looking at me grimly.

I knew that attire all too well.

Author's Note:

Well, did you see this coming? It would have been too predictable if Kamran had dealt with Zoya's cousins in this chapter. Their story would have ended before it even started so yeah. Don't worry, it's only going to get more intriguing from now on.

And guys, I am not going to tell you what happened to Zoya in her childhood right now but stop being so dark. Astagfirullah, she wasn't raped or molested. Y'all need to stop being so friggin' dark.

Also, when I said I am going to write a third book, I meant that it will be a continuation of this book. I am not going to start from zero again. I will just start from where this one ends but that book will focus more on the other four characters than Misha and Ibraheem since they will have their happy ending in this book (InshaAllah). I will try to incorporate Misha and Ibraheem moments in that book as well but there probably won't be a lot of them since the focus will be on the other four. I am just writing parts about Zoya, Kamran, Fahad and Rubab in this book because it will create a smooth flow for the next book. Lastly, I don't know how many chapters this book is going to have or when I am going to start the next one cause I haven't thought that far. For now, just enjoy this book. I hope that clears any confusions you guys might have.

Also, my next semester restarts on Monday so updates won't be as regular as before. I just thought I would let you all know when I suddenly disappear on you all.

Peace out. \\//