He saw as she was putting her dresses in a suitcase again. He didn't know that she would decide to leave as soon as he would give her a permit. But that described how screwed up their relationship was that she wanted an independence as quickly as possible.

At times, Haider wanted to stop her. Especially when he found the last suit of hers coming out of the en suite.  However, he knew he couldn't do so. There was nothing in this marriage and union anymore. He was a horrible man and Ishmal didn't deserve someone like him. The only thing he could give her was humiliation, the scars of his own rotten ego, and nothing else. It would be better if she would leave.

Ishmal shut the lid of the suitcase before turning towards him who was already looking at her. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted the dupatta around her head and pulled the suitcase down on the floor.

"I'll drop you to wherever you want to go," he offered her, seeing her going away.

Ishmal stopped in her tracks and pressed her lips together. "I can go by myself. Thanks for your consideration."

Haider walked in her direction and stood in front of her. Today her light brown eyes seemed more attractive. "Don't argue again, Ishmal. I brought you here and it's my duty to get you back to where you belonged as part of the contract safe and sound."

Safe and sound? She laughed inwardly. She wasn't like the way she was before. She was leaving her heart here. She was leaving her feelings here. She was leaving so many special first moments here.

She couldn't say anything now. He had drawn that contract between them. Haider held the handle of the suitcase from her before taking a few steps closer to her. Her usual vanilla scent hovered in his senses. Suddenly he felt a need to hug her and tell her how much she meant for him. The next moment, he took out his phone from his pocket and called someone.

"Show up to me quickly," he ordered.

Ishmal ambled out of the room. It was the early morning and day of Sunday. Everyone was sleeping till yet. Ishmal quickly went down the stairs when she was stopped by a guard. But soon she realized this was the man whom Haider had called.

Standing near the car, she watched that the guard was putting her suitcase inside it. Haider was already standing beside her. When the man was done, he gestured with his hand to get into the car. Ishmal abided by him without saying a word.

Haider started the engine of the car. It roared and broke the silence of the surroundings before he drifted it on the road. Ishmal started looking out of the window. Her eyes focused on the rapidly moving vehicles.

Her situation had not changed from the time she first came across Haider. She was helpless and miserable then and now as well. She had tears in her eyes then and now too. But the difference was that she wasn't letting them flow like the last time. Whatever it was, she would now see her mother. She didn't even care for her stepfather even. She wanted to see her, meet her, hug her, and hide herself in her warm embrace. The shadow she had left and fell into this dangerous yet appealing turn of events. But of course, her heart and feelings would be void because she had certainly given it to Haider altogether and willfully. 

She glanced at him who was driving the car in silence. He had his one arm on the steering wheel while he had his jaw clenched. He never apologized for whatever he had said and done to her. He didn't even care to explain why he had decided to touch her and kiss her when their contract strictly mentioned that they would not indulge in any physical intimacy. It was all a battle of ego, superiority, and possession for him. He wanted to make her realize that he was stronger than her.

"Guide me where do you want to go," Haider murmured, causing the trains of her thoughts to pull a break.

Ishmal told him the way to her mother's house. When they arrived there, Haider meticulously observed it. It was a very underdeveloped area having a few moderately well-built houses. That didn't seem like any shelter home or girls' hostel. It was a house. Perhaps her own house where she used to live. And surely her horrible stepfather must be there.

Haider pulled the break and looked at her. Ishmal was fumbling with the seatbelt as a few strands of her golden hair came out of her dupatta. He suddenly felt possessive. She was his wife. And he was easily leaving her. Mercilessly leaving her in the hands of that awful stepfather again who was the reason why she had to flee before.

Ishmal opened the door of her slide and got out. Haider handed her over the suitcase which she took silently. His case went from her face to her feet. The bandage was peeking from the strap of her sandal. He resisted an urge to ask her how was her wound now but he stopped.

"Thank you," she whispered, meeting his eyes. But all she found was arrogance and indifference. He was the same as the first time came across her.

Ishmal strode ahead towards the blue gate of her house. She didn't know what it would be like for her there in the hearts of the people residing there. Would they even accept her? After all, she had escaped from there in the darkness of the night. And after knowing she married a stranger on paper and he was about to divorce her, perhaps they would lose their control. But she had to do it for her mother.

"Ishmal." Seeing her going away, Haider couldn't withheld.

She didn't look at him but did stop in her path. "Do you live here?"

She turned around and raised a brow. As far as she knew, this man didn't care for even who she was lest of where she resided. She nodded nevertheless.

"You should go now, Mr. Haider," she told him.

She didn't move ahead till he wasn't settled in his car again and drove away. In all this while, he read the nameplate near the gate of her house. Maybe Ishmal didn't want her family to see her coming into someone's car. But in the side mirror, he caught a glimpse of her and it aroused a longing in her. She was permanently gone from his life. He would never see her again. She came into his life dramatically and even went away more dramatically.

But there was something that wasn't letting him rest peacefully. And it was the idea of Ishmal living with that heinous man once again. What if he would again try to do bad things with her? He curled his palm on the gear brutally. Haider ran his hand through his hair anxiously and grabbed his phone from the dashboard. Hurriedly moving his fingers on the screen, he dialed a number.

"Send a few inspectors to a location I am delivering you right away. I have texted texted details. There shouldn't be any waste of time. Arrest this man under the charge of trying to sexually assault and harass his stepdaughter. Quickly!" Haider ordered in a stern tone.

He was losing it. Haider didn't know how to act right now. When everything became out of control, he halted the car near the side of the road. He twisted his fingers in the form of a fist and whacked it harshly on the steering. What was happening and what had already happened? What did he do with his life? He just let Ishmal go? How would he live like this? He wanted to burn the whole world.

Taking out a cigarette from the pack, he placed it in between his lips and flamed it with a lighter. Taking long puffs, he tried to calm his insides down. But nothing happened. Angrily, he shoved it away.

The memory from that night revolved in front of his eyes. He was tense due to his parents forcing him to get married. Then he got bumped into Ishmal when the moonlight was so radiant. She was scared, vulnerable, and on the verge of breaking down. And how their contract occurred. She was anxious similarly as well. He wasn't supposed to like his fake wife. She was there for all the superficial reasons.

He hated the women but how that girl managed to make him see the brighter sides of it again, he couldn't understand. And when they shared those intimate moments together. He liked them but he had no idea behind Ishmal's willingness to let them happen, which was a feeling of having been used.

Haider knew anything could happen, but his heart could never melt in front of her, his tone could never become softer for her, his touch would never become gentle and loving for her and he could never make her feel that she was something special for him. He could never do that. He could never let himself again become an open book for someone.

His phone vibrated which brought him back to the present. Haider accepted the call without any delay.

"Sir, we have arrested Abid Abbas in charge of attempted sexual harassment of his stepdaughter. What's next order?" His inspector notified him.

                     ____________________

AssalamoAlaikum/ Hello guys!

A new chapter is here.

I hope you like it.

So Ishmal finally left Haider. Were you expecting him?

Do you think he will miss her presence?

Do you think he will again try to come back to her?

What will happen next?

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Till the next one, Allah Hafiz/ Bye.  ❤