Fajer kept her gaze fixated on the passing by scenery. The picturesque view which she had grown accustomed to in more than a month of her stay here, was currently obscured by darkness.

Yet, Fajer could see none of that. For she had realised now that all the darkness in the world couldn't extinguish the light of a single candle.

She turned her gaze to the quiet figure sitting beside her in the driving seat. His inscrutable gaze fixated on the road ahead while they drove home in silence after the main wedding event.

Home.

She couldn't believe how easily the word came to her now. It felt unreal that all this happiness really belonged to her now. Gulping down her thoughts, she returned her gaze to the glitters of her dress and her hands clasped on her lap.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a call on Umar's phone.

Only a moment after taking the call, Fajer caught the shadow of muted rage overcoming Umar's features. He hadn't said much but suddenly stiffened on hearing whatever message the voice on the other end conveyed to him.

Fajer noticed even the slightest changes in his expressions—Yet, she was unable to read his thoughts. There was so much she didn't know about him. And he about her—In that moment a painful realisation struck her. A lot had changed in 2 decades. Not just in their individual lives but between them too and a mere marriage contract wasn't enough to bind them—or their hearts.

"I have to go. Something came up." He added briefly after helping Fajer to the inside of the house.

Fajer looked up at him with a mixture of alarm and concern. Her face beseeching him for more, imploring him to confide in her but he did no such thing.

"Let Shabbo or Maa know if you need anything." He continued in the same detached manner and turned on his heel to leave.

Fajer opened her mouth to stop him. Almost reached forward to catch onto his hand but halted midway.

In an instant all the warmth and happiness from before was replaced by apprehension and despair. Watching the door shut on him made her feel extremely foolish for assuming everything could be perfect in her desolate life; when she had spent all of her 26 years in a battle for survival. Happiness was never something she could dream of, let alone afford.

So, how could she have foregone their past so easily even for a moment? He didn't trust her because she had stripped him of every reason to.

———————

"What do you think?" ASP Rashid interjected with a poker face, without turning to see Umar's reaction.

"Not suicide—" He added without a break, causing Rashid to turn and glance at his friend, who was still donning his sherwani fresh from his wedding.

Raising his eyebrows in an expression of appraisal, Rashid turned his gaze back to the dead man sprawled on the floor of his rundown cottage. An uncapped bottle of sleeping pills scattered on the floor next to his lifeless body.

"Well? Do you recognise him?" He asked again and Umar shook his head in denial, without once taking his eyes off of the man lying on the floor next to his feet.

"Can't say for sure yet, until the forensic report comes out but the death looks no less than a week ago." He continued while suppressing a yawn. Umar paid him no heed and went ahead to squat down next to the man for a closer look, who's body was already infested with maggots.

"You won't believe it. His discovery story is hilarious! A burglar was trying to break in and screamed so loudly at the sight that he accidentally alerted the neighbours." Rashid crackled behind him but earned no reaction from Umar.

"He was only a pawn. The real culprit must still be on the run. He killed him before we could get to him—This one could've had no possible motive to go against me, all on his own." Umar concluded after seeing the missing evidence which could've led them to the real culprit. The man they discovered just now was found to be the culprit behind the fiasco of leaked rumours about Fajer and Umar's relationship. But his intentions remained unapparent.

"One of your enemies? Anyone comes to mind?" Rashid exclaimed while stretching his arms to ward off the sleep. Umar stood up without a trace of emotion on his face. As if he had grown up around murders and crime his whole life.

"Not particularly—"

'Someone who's not after me but Fajer too; using her as a bait to lure me in.'

"Have you ever felt that he lacks empathy?" Rashid whispered to his Subedar, who didn't dare make the mistake of answering this query in Umar's presence.

———————

She didn't know how long she kept sitting there in her bridal dress. Shabbo had brought her upto Umar's room but before tonight she had never seen the inside of this room which was adequately decorated with white roses and scented candles.

"I can't say much. But I will promise you this at least. I'll do everything in my power and beyond to never let any hurt come to you; even at the cost of my own life. You're my family now. You can lean on me. I will not disappoint you—I promise."

His words from earlier rang against her ears as she came to bed. But sleep was nowhere near her. The thought that he deserved better than her keeping her awake.

"Fajer, do you like Umar?"

6 year old Fajer's hands kept working on her doll's threads for hair in attempts to braid them; while behind Fajer, her mother kept doing the same to her hair.

A satisfied smile formed on her adorable features as an image of her best friend popped up on the screens of her mind. Without wasting a second, she nodded her head in affirmation.

"Good. That's good. You both have to stay together always. Okay? Be nice to him—" Fajer didn't pay any mind to the gravity of her mother's tone or words at the time. She only wondered for a moment why her mother was mentioning the obvious and then carelessly nodded her head once again.

Fajer didn't realise how long she kept lying in the bed, unconsciously waiting for him. But when he finally returned she didn't dare to stir from her place. Only continued lying on her side with her back turned to him.

After a while, she felt the mattress pressing on the other end and then everything became very still.

————————

He returned from his morning jog and for a moment he forgot to breathe. His breath hitched in his throat as he opened the door to his room only to find Fajer standing near the bed, fixing the duvet covers. Her hair still dripping wet from shower, while she stood there lost in her thoughts.

At the sound of his footstep she turned in her place and looked up at him startled; caught off guard by his unexpected presence.

She gaped at him in a daze momentarily before nodding her head in a greeting.

As if the trance broke, Umar averted his gaze with a sharp jerk. Shaking off his thoughts he waltzed in the room while muttering a greeting in response.

Fajer watched him disappear in the washroom without another word. When she woke up this morning he was already gone from her side. With a sigh, she averted her gaze and resumed with her prior activity.

She was about to go downstairs after getting ready, when he came out dressed in his work clothes.

Fajer looked up at him surprised, while he finished getting ready.

She kept watching him puzzled while he prepared his briefcase. Her eyes searching his face for answers but Umar gave her nothing.

Suddenly he was stopped in his tracks when he felt Fajer clutching at the end of his sleeve. He turned to her with a questioning gaze to watch her eyes glazed with vulnerability and an emotion he wondered if he could label as pain.

"What is it?" He inquired gently and caught Fajer gaping at him with distress etched on her face. It took him another moment to understand what she was trying to ask.

A part of him urged him to take her in his arms and caress away the frown forming between her eyes; but Umar silenced that part.

"I have some work at the Hotel. I'll finish up in time for the reception dinner." He returned briefly as he averted his gaze and walked away from her towards the table to pick up his wallet and keys.

Fajer kept watching between her abandoned hand and his back turned on her.

When he returned his attention to her, she managed to muster a soft smile, gazing up at him in understanding.

"See you tonight." He tipped his head at her and left through the door without another word. Whilst Fajer stood in her place trying to gulp down the lump stuck in the back of her throat.

'I can't be greedy. Even this is more than I deserve—'

She reminded herself over and over again as she kept watching the now closed door.

————————

Fajer sat infront of the dressing table making vain attempts to get the clasp of necklace to lock, when she caught sight of him in the mirror getting off his call and coming to stand behind her.

He spared her only a single glance in the mirror, before turning his gaze to the clasp and gently taking the necklace from her grasp.

It was barely a graze but Fajer felt the place where his hand touched hers searing. Barely able to restrain her emotions, Fajer turned her gaze down to her nails clawing the edges of her cuticles in nervousness. Her heart thumping loudly against her ribs from the proximity. Clenching the muscles of her jaw, she tried to prevent her inner turmoil from betraying her features in front of him, but it was of no avail. Fajer wondered in desperation if she could possibly hide the flush creeping up her cheeks from him, or the way her eyes gave away her innermost thoughts the instant they met his inscrutable gaze.

It took Umar a while to get the clasp to lock in place and everytime his hand touched the bare skin of her neck Fajer felt her heart constricting in pain.

He didn't stop there. Even without Fajer saying it, he took the bracelet and softly grasped at her fingers to gently tug her wrist towards him. Following that Umar came to sit down on the floor on his knees; not giving any mind to ruining his suit either.

Fajer kept watching him bewitched. Her gaze fixated on the nape of his neck in a daze. She kept gawking at the tips of his hair touching his bare neck and the way his long lashes fluttered like a soft sigh—She inhaled in his now gradually turning familiar cologne and realised that his mere presence was enough to reassure her and erase all her worries. But even with him so near her, Fajer knew he was out of her reach—somehow even more than before.

'Why is it that the deeper my feelings grow for you, the lonelier I feel—'

She thought with a stab of pain in her chest and as if he heard her thoughts, Umar suddenly looked up to meet her gaze and didn't look away. He kept watching her unblinking. His gaze holding an intense look of more than just familiarity. Almost like—

Unintentionally Fajer sucked in a sharp breath when his gaze flickered down from her eyes and for the barest hint of a moment she felt the distance between them closing. But then he blinked and averted his gaze. When he looked back at her, the same disapassionate and inscrutable look had overtaken him.

Without saying anything else, he moved away from her as if the moment had never transpired between them.

Fajer couldn't dare look up for the longest time. She just sat in her place trying to even her breaths by gulping down the lump stuck in her chest and put an iron lid over her overwhelming emotions.

Carelessly rubbing at her cheek with the back of her fingers, she made a futile attempt to wipe out the heat radiating from her cheeks but could do nothing to erase the memory of those intense onyx orbs peering at her caressingly—Nor that gentle touch which had seared her existence for eternity.

Assalamualaikum!! Hope you all are well InshaAllah ♥️ and enjoyed the update! Awaiting your thoughts🥰
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