❞𝖄ou don't have to marry him."

I pulled the phone away from my face and stared at the black screen, half-expecting it to ring, praying for anything to get me out of this conversation, it didn't. "Famous last words."

It was a weekend and a day since the whole marriage debacle. And each minute that passed felt like more little pieces of me were withering away into nothing. Even with the dropping degrees, it did absolutely nothing to cool the fever in my blood from the other night. Like a cassette on repeat, the words repeated over and over again, distorting reality and my mind until all I heard was a distorted version of my future spread out in front of me.

"You could say no."

"Is that why asked me to drop you off?"

"No, I thought about it over the weekend."

"Did you also think about the fact that I have no other option?"

"I know you don't."

"Remember all the fuss Baba made when I decided not to opt for engineering? Remember the whole fiasco where he said I wouldn't amount to anything? That I didn't have anything? That the measly salary wasn't good enough? That he was the one who owned everything. Well, look at him now."

"You've held on to that?" I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze.

"I was a teenager Nazia, I'd be lucky to forget that."

"You can't be doing this to prove them wrong Daania. That's suicide. Ghazanfar would destroy you."

"They never gave us a shot. They never gave me a shot," my hands fidgeted on the steering wheel; I really wished I had something to distract my mind."I wasn't good enough for them to wait. I'm just another asset of theirs that they want to sell to the highest bidder."

"But you can't be married to that boorish, brainless..." ugh. Genuine concern. I had no defense against genuine concern—especially when it came from Nazia.

"I'm aware of what I've said. But if that boorish brainless rich man can help us, why not?"

"Well, there goes the feminist movement."

"Don't be ridiculous. Feminism is about having a choice. I'm choosing to ruin my life," I answered, shooting a glare at her.

"What if you found another bidder?"

"Sure, let me pull up my dance card, oh no, it's empty," I stared at the grey skies, not wanting to look at her and see her pity, trying to find the answer written on it. "Don't Nazia. There's no point arguing about it. What's done is done. Mama will say yes to them when they come to our house on Friday. She's promised to schedule the wedding at the end of December, so I won't have a breach of contract," and then I'd never see Taimoor again, the thought came unbidden to my mind.

When I thought about my time with Ghazanfar, I couldn't stop the wave of nausea from him touching me. I didn't know why. He hadn't ever been super pushy or gross and yet the thought of him touching me made me sick. But with Taimoor, it felt like I was borderline obsessed thinking about him... wanting him. All exacerbated by the shell I'd retreated into—a shell that was solid and fortified with self-loathing and family loyalty. A hot thrill sizzled down my spine thinking about the time in the elevator. With a shake of my head, I quickly quashed that, reminding myself that Taimoor was a man who had the world at his feet, who had been known to have affairs and flings with models and actresses. I didn't fit his standards at all.

For a split second, the cold sting of betrayal pierced my thoughts before I forced it away.

Maybe I was really the unreasonable one here.

She gave me a pained smile. "But..."

"Go," I muttered. Disappointed, she stepped out of the car, her small steps, and hunched shoulders carrying her to her building. Closing my eyes, I buried my head into my arms, wanting to scream. When I opened them again, the clock on the dash indicated that I was late for work.

Again.

I started off hot on the trail of a bank in Latvia where the program had been sent. What had Baba done? Where had he even found these people? And where were these people based? Probably Ukraine, I guessed, where there was no extradition treaty with Pakistan. But I was sidetracked into the British email service, where any sender's IP address was blocked, and after six relentless hours of knocking on server doors and bumping into impenetrable security systems. As I worked, time and place evaporated, the world narrowed to a keyboard and monitor screen, to colours and numbers, my pulse rate running high like an athlete in a marathon.

At lunchtime, Tara strolled into my office, her heels causing a gentle rhythmic tapping on the floor.

"Hey, Tara."

"Hello! You look happy today,"

"The benefits of being complacent."

"What?"

I fell back in the chair and shut my eyes, exhausted, drained, chilled to the bone. "Nothing, what's up?"

"You did it. We have the results from the Baiting program. We don't have a name but a confirmed IP."

A smile cracked over my face at that."That's fantastic! Why wasn't I told earlier?"

"Uh... Asad was in my office and umm-"

Great, the guy who believed that I shouldn't even exist, let alone have a job in this company, was the one who had to be the messenger. "He didn't want me to know."

Her eyes narrowed on me as her hand reached for my arm, turning and spinning me to face her. "Yeah, but I believe in being fair. This was your project."

"This was our project. You're welcome to take it to him."

"No. No, he asked you to do it. None of us are allowed on that floor, you are."

"But-"

"Go. He wanted this ASAP."

I hesitated. I didn't really know him all that well. Should I just barge into his office without calling Jibran first? Could I do that? He did say to let him know immediately. Or I could let Tara handle this. But then, it meant I'd have to go home and answer a thousand questions from my mother about what the wedding should be like as if I actually cared about any of that.

Decision made, I rushed towards the elevator and hit the up button. My finger stayed glued to the lit-up screen and I looked up as the doors opened. Surprise stabbed through me when the statuesque beauty I'd met at Fariha's engagement stared at me with open delight.

"Hey!"

"You! I hoped I'd run into you here," she quirked an eyebrow at me. "Are you going up, red rose?" I nodded, stepping inside, and hitting an already bright button for the top floor.

Interesting.

"It's nice to see you again. I didn't see you at the wedding."

"The baby was a little fussy. She's a demanding little beast, so I decided to stay in."

"Oh," the doors pinged and we stepped out. Jibran wasn't at his seat but she walked towards the office like she owned the place. She had her Prada bag hung on one shoulder and a cup of organic juice in her hand, and she strode down the hall toward his office looking both at ease and in command. She was so perfectly Wall Street it was like she'd just come from a stock photoshoot.

Her confidence was like a little blip on my radar. An alarm to signal how things weren't going to plan.

"Do you work with Jibran?"

"Oh no, I'm in the environmental department."

"Really? That's cool. Are you here to see Taimoor?" I choked on a breath and jerked to a stop. She took that as a yes, her eyes widening with expectation and excitement. "I'm headed to get my husband. We were supposed to go for lunch but-"

Her husband? Shit. Was it Taimoor? Was she married to Taimoor? Oh my God, did I have a moment with a married man? My heart banged in my chest, a side effect of the anger bubbling in my bloodstream. Crap. That would be my luck.

Maybe I was supposed to pretend it didn't happen. Maybe this was a sign from the universe. The universe wanted me to marry Ghazanafar. That would be the smart thing, the right thing—given every single thing in my life. Maybe trying to put distance between us and give me the space to think was the kindest thing I could do for myself.

"What's wrong?"

"I want, I can't-" I struggled to stand on this newly uneven ground.

"You had something to show him right? Come!"

I felt myself flush, sweat breaking out over my forehead this time. Fine hairs began to stand up on my arms. The air had grown thick, frozen, yet I could still feel each breath enter and leave my body. One foot moved before the other, carrying me toward the second battle of the day. She opened the heavy mahogany door without any resistance.

"You have some nerve standing me up."

She banged the door shut, and even though I wasn't the one facing her ire, I winced for the two men who looked like they would rather be anywhere else, but here. When my eyes locked onto the man seated in front of the desk, I pulled to a stop. Affandi, stared, unable to believe what he was seeing as if two separate universes were colliding.

"Zee, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong? This best friend of yours decided to forget about our lunch date."

"Yeah, well-" Taimoor began but stopped as his gaze swung through the room and paused briefly on me, long enough for the embers to spark and flame before his attention was diverted to 'Zee'.

"Daania?" Affandi muttered, his face crumpling into a confused look. "Is everything okay? Why are you here?"

"Daania?" I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until she spoke. I shifted on my feet and made a show out of checking the papers in my hand. "Oh! Right. Remember the girl I told you about? That's her."

"You're the red rose?"

"That's me."

"Explain," I was deflating, a condition that quickly turned into something close to despair as I listened to her explain about meeting me and the engagement—all information that, in any other world, I would've been eager to listen to. I glanced up, and his furious expression made my heart stop. Bitterness balled in my throat and I swallowed it whole, burying it deeper—cramming it into a suitcase, as Zee gave a calm and rational excuse for why I'd barged into the office.

"She works here? Since when?" Affandi asked, his head tipping to one side, giving a hard look to the man-made stone. Taimoor looked like he wanted to shoot me or himself. The way he gritted his teeth, I could bet my life he was leaning towards shooting me.

"And she knows Zeenia," now the stone of his jaw looked like it was about to crack.

"I had no idea that this was a family thing, I was on my way with the IP address. You'd requested that you should be notified immediately," the words came out in a rush and once they were out there, I gasped, feeling like I didn't recognize the person who'd said them.

"Ms. Mansoor, would you please leave the papers and get out of my office?"

I pushed the papers onto the desk and placed my hands on my hips, irritated by his curt dismissal."Have fun deciphering the address."

My answer angered him further, and I enjoyed the unease that simmered in his expression. His eyes squared off with mine. Like two generals on opposing sides of the battlefield, we stared each other down. His jaw hardened with each breath he took and finally cracked when he spoke. "Out."

"Gladly."

༻✺༺

So. Thoughts, feedback, comments? Btw, I know I've mentioned this before, but your comments and feedback motivate me to write a whole lot more! Thank you for your feedback on the previous chapter, it was so heartening to find others who've felt the same way. Here's a whole lotta love for your love and constant support 🖤

Also, the next chapter comes out on Sunday (that's tomorrow) ✨
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