Shaiq's POV

When is she going to come? Why does she even bring me with her on a date with that guy? I lift my wrist in front of my eyes and a sigh leaves my mouth seeing the time on the watch. It's been nearly two hours and she is nowhere to be seen.

I push back the driver seat and lean back on it as I put my both legs on the car's dashboard. What if she is in trouble? But she is Zainab; she can take care of herself. With that thought, I close my eyes. Suddenly, a rough, tapping sound prompts me to open my eyes. I get up and look at the front through the car's glassy window.

It's raining. And the sound is due to the plunging of raindrops on the front screen. Where is this girl? The rain is so heavy that soon it replaces a storm. I abruptly look at my right side and my eyes get wide glimpsing a full drenched Zainab standing lull in the middle of the road. She isn't even looking normal. It's like she is lost somewhere. I quickly get out of the car and run towards her.

Before I can reach, a car approaches near her and instead of doing anything, she shuts her eyes. I rapidly rush in her direction and pull her towards me. We both land on the footpath with a jerk.

"Zainab, have you gone insane?" I yell as I clutch her arms hard.

She sobs and tries to come out of my grip. Is she crying? Or is it because her face is wet due to rain? I cup her face with my both hands.

"Leave me alone, " she tries to push my hands away from her face.

She isn't even looking at me. There is just one thing she is striving for; to shove me aside. Why is she crying?

"Zainab, what's wrong?"

"I say leave me. I don't want to see you." She punches my chest with her hands but I clasp her both hands with my bigger one.

Why is she acting like this? What has happened to her? Does she even know who I am?

"Stay away from me, you jerk," she yells in between her sobs but I pull her towards me and she lands on my chest. Seeing her condition, I put my arm around her waist.

"Let me go. I hate you, " she yells.

I pat her back to calm her down but she hits my chest again with her small hands. I pull away from her and lift her chin with my thumb and index finger so that she can look at my face.

"Zainab, look, it's me; Shaiq."

She twitches her eyes due to the rain striking her eyes. All of a sudden, her body relaxes and she stops hitting me. I put my both hands on the sides of her face.

"Y...you...Shaiq!" She stutters and again starts crying.

Her hiccups are so loud that I can feel my heart breaking in pieces. What makes her cry so badly? She puts her head on my chest.

"Stop crying, Zainab," I whisper and slowly caress her hair.

I don't even realize we are still drenching in rain. I softly separate her from me, take off my jacket, and lay it on her shoulders. I grab her wrist gently, cautious of not to use force this time, and bring her to a protected place, far from the road. This area is safe from the rain as the huge trees with their massive branches are encroaching and providing shelter from above.

I glance at Zainab who has her head lower down and she is fidgeting with her fingers. Although she has stopped crying, I can still listen to her soft sobs. I bend down to her level and tug the wandering strands of her hair which has got sticky due to wetness from rain or probably from her crying, behind her ears.

"What happened? Why were you crying?" I ask her.

She lifts her eyelids above and directly looks into my eyes. Her eyes are swollen and red. Her milky white cheeks have a tint of pink in them and her nose is red just like her eyes.

"Shaiq, you will also leave me like everyone. Won't you?"

My feet remain dig to the ground listening to what she has just said. How can she think like this?

"Never, Zainab. You are the most precious one in my life. How can you even think of this?"

She scrunches her nose and a tear escapes her eyes. Who has made her think like that?

"You will, Shaiq. Like everyone else, you will use me and then dump me because I am...I am useless. No one loves me. Not even my own parents and brother." Her voice is more like a whisper.

I try to take her hands in mine but before I can do that, my hand movement comes to a halt seeing her right hand fill with blood. There is still blood coming out of the scrape.

"What happened to your hand?" I grab her hand in mine in haste.

She doesn't reply, just stare at me with blank blubbering eyes.

"Leave me." She jerks her hand away from my grip.

Her eyeballs collapse to the back as her legs refuse to hold the weight of her body. Before she can lose control and fall right on her knees, I grab her by her waist.

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"She is fine now. She has gone through some trauma I guess and due to the bleeding from her hand and the subsequent low blood pressure, she lost consciousness; because she is suffering from anemia," the doctor explains.

"When she will wake up again?" I ask him.

"Anytime soon. Her BP has got back to normal. She will be fine but don't stress her once she will wake up, " he says with a professional smile.

I nod as I show him a lazy smile. He pats my shoulder and goes out.

When he leaves the room, I divert my attention back to Zainab. Her face is so pale and her lips are devoid of any moisture. As soon as she lost consciousness, I take her to a hospital. Her words are still lingering in my memory. Why is she saying that I will use her and dump her? First of all, what is the reason for her crying so badly? She has anemia and she never let that condition take her over but today she has got defeated by it.

She has met Armaan today. What if he has said something to her? If he has done any bad to her, I won't let that guy stay in one piece. I fold my fingers in a tight fist as soon as his face comes in my mind.

"Don't leave me..."

My train of thoughts comes to a halt when I hear her weak, whisper-like voice. I carefully sit beside her on the bed and carefully take her bandaged hand in mine. She is mumbling with her eyes shut tightly. Thank God she is awake now.

"Shhh, Zainab. No one is leaving you, " I assert. I rub her forehead with my other hand.

"Shaiq, don't leave me like him, like everyone else.."

Like him? Is she talking about Armaan?

"I will never leave you, Zainab. Take some rest now. I am here with you."

Abruptly, she jerks off my hand and gets up.

"He left me, Shaiq. He says he never loved me and the only one he loves is his wife. He dumped me," she lets out everything in a loud voice.

So I am right. She is devastated because of that guy.

"Okay, okay. We'll discuss this later. For now, just sleep." I whisper in her ear as I caress her hair in a gentle manner.

She slaps away my hand and quickly puts her feet down, in an attempt to get out of the bed.

"Where are you going? You are not in good condition. You need sleep, Zainab," I grab her arm to pull her back.

"I won't sleep. I will make his life hell for playing with my feelings," she yells and runs out of the room.

Her eyes are as red as they are overflowing with blood. I let out a stymied sigh before rushing after her.

"Zainab, stop right there," I hold her arm and stand in front of her, a way to prevent her from going further.

"You are wasting your precious tears and time on a loser like him. He doesn't deserve you. He is an unfortunate person who has lost a gem like you. Stop detoriating your mind and health for a third-class guy like him," I almost yell.

I wipe her tears with the pulps of my thumbs, "you know right, I can't see you crying."

"Shaiq I..."

"Shh. No more words. I know my Zainab is strong. And like you always said; to the hell with that guy. Why should you waste your time crying for him, Zaini?" I deliberately chuckle just to enlighten her mood.

I know how much she hates being called Zaini. And that's the perfect method to get her back to normal.

And to my surprise, she smiles at my statement.

"I have told you many times not to call me by this name. It reminds me of that Shakir, "she playfully hits my chest with her tiny fists.

"Fine, I'll call you sweetheart then." I wink at her.

"I'll kill you Shaiq," she shouts.

At first, I think that she is getting angry on me for real which makes my lower jaw drop in apprehension but soon she lets out a laugh and I thank Allah for this. I show her an assuring smile.

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Zara's POV

How can Dad do this to me? He could have told me even just for once and I would have done every arrangement of his marriage with pleasure. After all, I had been telling him to get married as his loneliness had become unbearable for me. Why he had to hide it from me? Maybe he had to do this nikkah in an emergency situation.

But four months are not scarce if he really wanted to tell me. How can he think of me this low that I won't be happy in his happiness? I slowly head towards the bridge leading to the river. My mind is still occupied by Dad's case. If he really needed to support her by giving his property to her than why he had to disguise it from me. I would have never argued over it. It's not like I have the right to own his property and I would have accepted what he owns. I have got what should be mine; which has come from my real father. Even I haven't received full shares but I have no complaints. Regardless he could have discussed it with me. Why does all this happen to me? Should I meet that Rabia? Perhaps she knows the real thing. But I forget to get any information about her from Mr. Wajahat.

My phone starts ringing breaking my chain of thoughts. I take it out of my bag as I stand next to the railing separating the river from the road. My breath hitches noticing Armaan's name on the screen. Why is he calling me now? Perhaps to know why I have left without telling him. Should I attend his call? But what will I say to him?

I am in the middle of deciding that should I talk to him or not when someone bumps against my right side and with a jerk, the phone gets slid out of my hand and within the blink of an eye, it falls right into the river. A usual sound of splashing of water echos in the surrounding as soon as the phone lands in it. I leave a sigh seeing my phone rushing away with the huge tides of water.

Who is that idiot, stupid, punk who colloids with me?

"I am so sorry. It wasn't intent...Zara, you?"

I turn back quickly when a familiar voice comes in my ears. My eyes pop out in surprise beholding the person standing in front of me.

"You?"

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Salam guys!

I am again here with a new chapter. And I have good news for all my readers!

I will be updating this book on a regular basis. This means a chapter a day. I will try my best to stick with this schedule.

Who do you think has bumped with Zara?

And how is the Zainab and Shaiq's scene? This is by far the first time, I have shown some different interaction of them; means something other than the usual funny and short scenes. I was so afraid to not overdo their scene but I don't if it turns out to be good or not. So tell me your views on it.

Till next chapter, Allah Hafiz.