Another long chapter for you guys. Both good and bad stuff happens in this chapter so read it and tell me what you think.

Make sure to vote and comment :)

--

"Alexander, where are you going?" Aaina couldn't help but ask the man who had just arrived home with her. Aaina was sat on the sofa, looking at him as he was just about to leave.

Both Ahad and Zaydaan had instructed them to stay by Aaina's side at all times during the day, even if it meant sitting with her in the living room. Ahad didn't trust any other worker in the house and Aaina knew that Zaydaan wouldn't either.

Ofcourse, some of the people in the house were trust worthy but still, she knew that it was better if Alexander and Sami bhai were by her side right now. They had threatened a supreme court jury, had enemies like Awan, Awan who had been completely invisible ever since the day Aaina gave her interview.

The people were protesting against him, the media was finally waking up and telling the real stories after the government's threat of not giving them any more advertisements if they continued biased reporting that favoured the opposition and their ally Awan Chaudhry, Awan clearly hadn't expected that, Idrees Ziagil had filed another defamation case against Saaniya Chaudhry, he was determined to get her behind bars for falsely accusing both his sons. So both the brother and sister were under hiding right now.

The Ziagil family still knew that Awan would not rest so security was always on alert.

"I have some work." Aaina heard her bodyguard reply and she frowned.

What other work did he have other than protecting her?

"You're supposed to stay with me." Aaina murmured, he nodded looking at Sami Ullah.

"Sami sir will look after you. I have to go, Aaina." He told her yet again, checking his phone with an urgency.

Aaina frowned at him, eyes looking at him with suspicion. Zaydaan trusted him, yes but she had not known Alexander for a long time, neither had he. What if he was not exactly working for them?

Alexander understood the look that the first lady was giving to him.

"Don't suspect me. It's for the Prime Minister." He clarified.

Aaina nodded. Zaydaan had sent a message specifically for Alexander, there must be some reason behind that. She had to trust him as well. He had done nothing but protected her so far.

As Alexander left, Sami bhai who was still eating the sandwich, swallowed his bite and looked at Aaina.

"I am so doubtful of that man." He stated, taking the first Lady's attention.

Aaina put her feet up on the sofa, sitting cross legged as she waited for him to elaborate.

"As in?"

"He is not someone that I feel like I should trust. I don't know why Zaydaan appointed him." Clearly Sami had some suspicions but Aaina was confused when it came to her bodyguard.

Her heart told her to trust him, her mind told her to believe in Zaydaan's trust on this man.

"I trust in Zaydaan's judgement." She said back to him, Sami just shrugged.

He didn't know what to say to that. The Prime Minister could be wrong too. Zaydaan didn't always have the perfect plans. If he did, none of this would have happened.

"You've exhausted yourself today. You should rest." Sami suggested, seeing the way Aaina's eyes were droopy.

The first lady stifled a yawn, shaking her head.

"I feel very tired but I am still so worried. I feel like this is not the end."

She said out loud, Sami bhai also had the same feeling but he could not say it to her. Even though no one had told this to him yet and for good reason, he knew that Aaina was carrying another child.

He could see that because of the way the family had been around her, telling her to eat and the way Aaina always had a protective hand around her belly whenever they were in the car.

"Zaydaan will be out tomorrow and everything will go back to normal."

Yes.

NAB had declared Zaydaan clean and wrote back to the court, which meant that Zaydaan would come back on Monday and take charge as the Prime Minister of the country.

It was a great news, a relieved one but Aaina still felt this weird heaviness in her heart that she couldn't understand. She felt like bad days weren't over.

"I have learnt that everytime we think that things will be normal, they turn out to be not so normal." She stood up as she said those words.

"Have faith, Aaina. Things will turn out for the best." Sami tried to show her the positive side of things but she was not satisfied in her heart.

Still, the first lady cracked a smile.

"Yeah. I'll go check up on Zayla." She excused herself, leaving Sami to sit all alone in the living room.

He dialled his wife's number but just like it had been through out the day, Raima was not picking up.

Where was she?

--

"Sana? What are you doing here?" She questioned as soon as she entered Zayla's room and spotted Sana inside.

Zayla was laughing along with the girl so Aaina couldn’t help but smile at her daughter.

"She was up. I thought I should check on her." Sana replied, seeing the first lady as she sat on her bed and missed her daughter's head.

She switched on the television and upon her daughter's insistence, she changed the channel to that one stupid cartoon channel that Zayla loved to watch.

"Do you need anything? I can get you dinner." Sana suggested, she had already ate a sandwich.

"No, thank you. I will just sleep." Aaina answered,

"Theek hai, Aaina baji. Main bahar hi hoon, aap ko kuch chahiye to awaz dijiyega." (Okay, I'm right outside if you need anything, just call me.)

All Aaina needed right now was some silence and time with her daughter.

"Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye hoga, main bus sone lagi hoon. Tum bhi neeche jao, rest.." (I don't need anything. You can go downstairs.)

Sana nodded, opening the door to leave the room.

--

The first lady didn't remember the last time she had woken up so excited and giddy, her heart raced like it was the first time she was going to see her husband and her mind was filled with some sort of adrenaline. As if her own self waking up was not enough, she had already shaken her daughter twice to make her get up.

Zayla woke up with a smile too, she was a happy child who hardly ever cried. She had her own little world and she loved that.

Aaina got off the bed, standing in front of her daughter and making her sit as she greeted her with a kiss on her forehead.

"Good morning, my baby. Baba will be home today. We should get all pretty for him, hmm?" She said, excited as she picked up the dresses she had taken out in the morning.

She had two dresses that she could not choose between and Zayla's entire wardrobe was on display, knowing how picky her little girl actually was.

Zayla rubbed her eyes, nodding as the thought of seeing her father again got to her head.

"Yes? Okay." Aaina put two dresses in front of her daughter, chuckling as she thought about how dumb she was being right now.

She was a woman in her thirties, taking advice on what to wear from her three year old daughter.

"What should mama wear? This or this?" Aaina asked her, showing her the purple and the blue dress.

Zayla pointed towards the purple one.

"That." She said, getting off the bed as Aaina opened her wardrobe next.

She took out the two new frocks that had just been delivered for Zayla.

"And what do you want to wear? Pink or red?"

Her daughter actively pouted, putting a finger near her lips and her hand on her hip as she actually pondered over what to wear.

"Red, mama." She said after a while.

Aaina nodded once again, picking up both the red frock and the purple dress. She led her daughter towards her own bedroom, opening the door and switching on the lights.

"Why don't we shower and get dressed and then we can go downstairs. Hmm?"

She suggested, making her daughter enter the shower first.

Aaina made Zayla shower, got her dressed and made her sit on the couch, finally prepared to pamper her own self and look like a beautiful woman for her husband

In her purple dress, gold heels and wavy hair, she looked every bit of the first lady that she was. She had concealed her eyes to the point where no one could even see that she had cried alot in the past few weeks. Her face glowed, her eyes shone and everyone could actually feel the happiness radiate from her.

She stood in the hall along with the entire family, waiting for her husband. Ahad, who had just arrived downstairs, smirked at Aaina..seeing the way she was dressed.

"Look at you. Are you sure he's not returning from his honeymoon?" He questioned, Aaina laughed.

"Without me?" She asked, eyes locked on the door as she waited and waited for him.

All she wanted to do right now was hug the fuck out of him and just stay there, tight in his embrace.

She let out a sigh, impatient as well.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't go to pick him up." She whined, glancing at Ahad.

Ahad Ziagil, who was just as impatient to see his brother shrugged, he understood why his brother had done that. The world had seen enough of Zaydaan Ziagil's weakness.

"He has an image to maintain." Ahad murmured, smiling as Noora came to stand by his side.

He couldn't wait to tell the good news any further. He wanted to tell Aaina so bad but he didn't want to over shadow Zaydaan's welcome, especially knowing how his own mother would react to it, she wouldn't even care about his brother coming back home. Ahad didn't want that.

He was in his own thoughts when he felt Aaina nudge his side and his head turned towards her yet again.

"Itni tension main tum se to poochna bhool hi gai, Prime Minister duties kesi thi?"

She teased him, Ahad let out a huge sigh at that.

"Please. Don't know how bhai does it. I could not spend a minute with Noora." He replied.

"It's true. I had to force him down for sex like yesterday." Noora added from Ahad's side.

"Don't mention that word in front of Aaina. She's very frustrated, I'm sure." Ahad continued, teasing Aaina.

He had every right to tease her, ofcourse. It had been two weeks without Zaydaan.

"Shut it. The doctor has actually banned it for three months so.." She trailed off, Ahad raised his eyes.

Here he was teasing her and it turned out to be true.

"So you really are frustrated." He remarked, getting his arm smacked in response.

As Idrees and Safina Ziagil arrived in the main hall, Aaina ignored the couple. She wanted to greet Idrees Uncle but she didn't want to even say salam to her mother in law right now.

He had proven to be such a wonderful father in the past few days, actually, he had always been a great father to Zaydaan but she hadn't even noticed that until now. She was so engrossed in being fondled by her mother in law that she never noticed how caring Idrees Ziagil was towards his children. And he didn't dicriminate between them either.

She stood there, waiting for her husband instead. As the cat finally arrived and they walked towards the foyer, Zayla holding hands with her mother..Prime Minister Zaydaan Ziagil got out of the car, looking like a million bucks.

No one could even think that the man had actually been in custody for two entire weeks by just looking at him. He saw his family and gave them a nod, walking towards them.

All Aaina wanted to do was run into his arms but she obviously could not do that since the government's media team was capturing everything. There had been enough of the PDA already.

She exhaled a deep breath as Zaydaan walked upto his father, Idrees Ziagil patted his son on his back.

"Son, You're fine, yes?" He asked Zaydaan, his son just nodded at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Idrees Ziagil knew his son's eyes too well. There was a hidden rage, a thirst for revenge, he was seething from the inside, putting on a facade.

Zaydaan moved onto greet his mother next, the utter formalness of the way they met was enough for Aaina to feel bitterness.

"Mama." Zaydaan smiled at the woman, no, he smiled for the camera.

"Welcome back, beta." His mother did not even bother to hug him, only putting a hand on his back.

Zaydaan didn't care either, he moved on. Ahad grinned at his brother, embracing him.

"Bhai, how are you?"

"Good. You need sleep, you look like shit." He insulted, Ahad raised an eye.

"You don't look any better."

Zaydaan raised an eye at him, that certainly was not true.

Finally, Zaydaan bent down holding his daughter in his arms. The utter relief on his face when he hugged his daughter was enough to lighten everyone's heart, Zayla wrapped her arms around her father's neck as he scooped her up, feeling how heavy she had actually got. She was growing up so fast.

"Baba!" She squealed at him, Zaydaan put his cheek in front of her as she placed a kiss on his scruffy beard.

"Hello, My Princess. How is my perfect girl?" He asked, pinching her cheek.

"I'm good, baba."

"Very nice. And how's mama?" His eyes moved towards her this time as he held out an arm for her. Aaina hesitated, pointing at the cameras.

Zaydaan only shrugged. He put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his chest.

The feeling came back, that heavy feeling of not having him around all for the past two weeks, of knowing that he won't arrive home late at night and be by her side as she slept, of waking up to an empty bed side, all that heaviness came back and she couldn't help as the tears pooled around her eyes once again.

She figured that she was just being hormonal right now, there was no way in hell that a person could cry so much.

Zaydaan clicked his tongue as he felt her sniffle.

"I'm here now. Haven't you cried enough already?" He questioned, making her look up.

"I'm emotional, okay." She defended herself, causing him to chuckle.

The family started to go back inside, Zaydaan and Aaina following them as the Prime Minister released Zayla from his arms.

"You took care of yourself, hmm?" He asked his wife, admiring the way she looked.

He knew she had dressed fancy for him. He appreciated that.

"I did." She softly replied, stopping as Idrees Ziagil stood in the middle of the room, inviting his son to sit by his side.

Zaydaan followed his father as he sat on the sofa and waited for his father to speak.

"The public is going mad on Awan. His right hand man also handed himself over to the police and gave his statement." He started.

"This is not going to go well for him. He will do something irrational. You all have to be careful." Zaydaan added, making his wife sigh.

This was not the time to talk about politics and filth and Awan. This was the time to have a day without worrying, this was the time to have an actual lunch with the family like normal people would. Since it was still early in the morning, all Aaina wanted to do right now was go upstairs, sit on the couch and drink chai with her husband, spend some quality time with him.

"Whether it's mama or Noora or anyone else, please don't think of your security as something casual. Try to go out less infact." Ahad suggested, making Zaydaan nod.

"Noora, take a few days off." Zaydaan told her, knowing that she had work but her safety was just as important.

"And you too." He pointed to his wife. Aaina clicked her tongue.

"Can we talk about this later? It's hightime that we all get some rest." She replied, telling everyone that she was not in the least bit interested in talking about this stuff right now.

Idrees Ziagil stood up, telling his wife that he would be resting in his room as well. Safina Ziagil followed him too, holding a mug of tea in her hands.

"Just say you want some private time with your man, although you can't really do much with him right now." Ahad mumbled laughing as Aaina rolled her eyes.

Noora dragged him to towards the room as well, telling him to keep his mouth shut for once. Zaydaan didn't even have the time to tell Ahad anything as Aaina had already got a hold of his hand.

The couple walked towards the stairs, finding Zayla playing with Sana and Maheen inside the living room.

"Come on, Zayla." Aaina called for her, the girl only whined, shaking her head.

"wanna play." She protested.

"Don't leave the house premises then. Sana?" Sana lifted her head, nodding.

"Yes, baji. Don't worry."

Zaydaan stifled a yawn, ushering his wife to walk upstairs. The couple entered their bedroom as Aaina switched on the lights.

He had missed this place, missed the feeling of home, missed sleeping in his own bed, missed sleeping by his wife's side.

"Do you want some tea?" He heard her question as he removed his suit, he removed the coat and the dress shirt beneath, leaving him with nothing on.

He was so exhausted and finally he could not pretend to be fresh and completely okay, he sat on the edge of the bed and shook his head at his wife's question.

"No. I just want to sleep." He had even denied tea. He was genuinely tired.

Aaina removed her dupatta from her neck and sat down beside him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"Zaydaan. I am shocked." She teased him, even though she was genuinely surprised that he had refused to drink chai.

"Is the world coming to an end?" She further added, looking up at him with playful eyes.

Zaydaan narrowed his eyes at her.

"Look at you being all playful. Weren't you bawling ten minutes ago?" He teased her back, she fake gasped. He had exaggerates, she wasn't bawling, she was softly crying.

"It was pregnancy hormones." She defended herself.

"Oh." Those days were back again where she would literally blame everything on her pregnancy.

Great.

He took off his shoes and moved back on the bed, laying down.

"Sleep with me." He ordered, she shook her head.

"I have to change." She could not even sit in these fancy ass clothes anymore.

"No. Just sleep with me." He insisted, pulling her towards him.

Aaina groaned but seconds later, her head was on his arm while her other arm was sprawled around his waist.

"I missed you." She heard her man whisper with half closed eyes.

Aaina smiled, kissing his chin.

"I missed you too." She replied, closing her eyes in utter relief.

This was home. This was heaven.

---

Hours later, her eyes opened and she found the position that they were in. His head was placed on her chest, his arm was wrapped around her waist and her leg was between his legs. She didn't remember falling asleep in this way but she couldn't help herself as she dragged her fingers across his hair, feeling the softness and seeing some tiny white hair at the roots.

She could not wait to tease him about his white hair again.

She put her hand on the side table and picked up her phone, checking the time. It was around two, which meant that time for lunch was here and they had slept for more than five hours.

How had she slept for five hours? She had not even been sleepy.

As much as she did not want to wake her sleeping husband up, she knew that a lunch with the family would do good to all of them. Besides, the house workers had prepared special lunch for everyone, they couldn't skip it.

She tapped her husband's back, leaning up to whisper in his ear.

"Zaydaan, hey." She softly said, kissing his earlobe as she tried to wake him up.

"Come on, wake up. It's lunch time." She ushered him, slightly pushing at his shoulders.

Zaydaan only shifted his position, looking up with his eyes closed.

"This is nice, Aaina. Let me sleep." He rasped out, feeling the sudden urge to drink water.

Aaina only clicked her tongue, standing up from the bed as her husband let her move.

"Come on, let's go. We can have lunch with Zayla. I'm sure she's hungry." She gathered her hair into a ponytail, putting a perfume around herself.

She was still in her purple dress, with a face full of makeup. She put her dupatta around her neck, eyes on her husband who was still in bed.

"You go. I'll shower and be downstairs." He mumbled, his head on his pillow.

Aaina nodded, exiting the bedroom.

The first lady checked Zayla's playroom first, knowing that Sana usually brought her to the playroom whenever they were alone.

Her daughter absolutely adored Sana, she was always playing with her, to the point that she did not even like to be around anyone else other than Sana.

Aaina didn't mind that. Sana was a wonderful help, always taking care of her daughter.

Aaina opened the door to the play room, finding the lights switched off and the room completely empty.

Maybe they hadn't even come upstairs. Aaina walked downstairs, entering the living room as she found it to be empty too.

She frowned. Shaking her head, she walked towards the kitchen, finding the house workers cooking inside.

"Sana?" She called out, hoping that she would find the girl here. Sana wasn't there but the house workers lifted their head up, saying salam.

Aaina responded to their greeting as she entered the kitchen.

"Arey, Sana kahan hai? Zayla ke sath thi na wo to."

Aaina asked about Sana, question her whereabouts.

"Sana? Madam Sana ne toh kaha ke aap ne usko aaj chutti di hai."

(But Sana said that you have given her the day off?)

She heard the woman's response. Suddenly, her heart rate fastened.

No.

Positive thoughts, Aaina. Think positive.

She told herself.

"Where's Zayla? Have you seen her?" She urgently asked the house workers, one of them came forward.

"She was playing in the living room a while ago." He replied, Aaina nodded, practically rushing out of the kitchen.

She walked outside, towards the garden. Maybe Sana had taken Zayla to the garden like she had said once, maybe she had to go somewhere so she left Zayla with someone else.

Aaina didn't find her daughter in the garden either but she found Alexander, sitting in the garden and reading from a newspaper.

"Alexander, have you seen Zayla?" She yelled out since he was sitting far away.

The man stood up, shaking his head.

"No. I have not. She must be with Mrs Ziagil." He suggested, frowning at the panicked expression on the woman's face.

"Yeah, maybe." Aaina rushed back inside, running towards her mother in law's room. She opened the door without even knocking.

"Have you seen Zayla?" She asked her mother in law, finding her near the vanity table.

"No, love. We just woke up." Her mother in law replied, standing up as she saw the way Aaina was.

Her face was pale, her eyes were widened, her entire body was panicked.

She was about to turn around when she bumped into Ahad and Noora, who were ready for lunch.

"Aaina, hey." Ahad greeted, suddenly turning serious as he saw his best friend looking like that.

"Have you both seen Zayla?" She asked them urgently, Ahad frowned.

"Zayla? What's going on?" He questioned, Aaina exhaled a deep breath, trying to remain calm but failing miserably.

"I can't find her anywhere in the house." Aaina responded, all that bad thoughts that she was trying to keep away were rising on top again.

She had this feeling, she had it and she mashed it down, just so she wouldn't feel negative but here she was.

Ahad shook his head as well, trying to be positive.

"Arey, she must be playing hide and seek. Come on, I'll ask the guards to check around." He ushered her forward, walking beside her but she was practically running across the living room.

Ahad grabbed a hold of her arm, stopping her.

"Aaina, calm down. She must be around. The house is filled with security. She can't really go anywhere outside, yeah?"

Logically, Ahad was right. But when had logic thought about them before fucking them up?

"Yeah."

Ahad called for a guard, ordering him to check around the house. Meanwhile, the entire family was looking around the house as well, trying to find the little Ziagil girl.

Aaina felt like the entire world was shattering right before her eyes. She prayed to God that this was just one of Zayla's hide and seek games because the other reality was too damn scary for her to even think about.

She felt herself actually shaking and the thought of not finding Zayla was enough to make her head spin.

An arm touched her shoulder and she turned around, finding her husband in front of her.

"Aaina." He murmured her name, seeing the shock on her face.

"Zaydaan, I can't find Zayla." She burst out, her husband's eyes widened at that.

"What do you mean you can't find her? Where's Sana?" He enquired, his relaxed facial expression turning into an alerted one.

"She's nowhere in the house. The kitchen staff said that she left saying the first lady gave her a leave. I didn't." Aaina rambled, her face was so pale, Zaydaan didn't even know what to say.

What the actual hell was going on in this fucking house? "

Before the Prime Minister could say anything, a few guards entered the living room again.

"We have searched the entire house. She is not there."

In that moment, Zaydaan knew. He knew what had happened, he knew who had done this, he knew who was behind this vile act but for the first time in his life, he felt so damn helpless.

How had he not seen this coming? Fuck.

Oh God.

"That isn't possible." Aaina gasped out, not believing that her daughter was not even in the house.

Where was she?

Zaydaan Ziagil felt his heart beat fast as all the possibilities, thoughts, decisions, ran through his head.

Okay, he had to be calm. He had to be calm about this shit.

"Check the security footage." Zaydaan ordered, basically yelling at his team.

Ahad quickly switched on the television, clicking on the cameras option and rewinding the footage from hours before.

Aaina saw herself and Zaydaan, going upstairs, she saw Sana and Zayla playing in the living room, she saw Sana kissing the little girl's cheek. But after that, the footage was completely black.

"What the hell!" Ahad exclaimed, scowling at the blank video. He forwarded it, rewinded it, refreshed it but nothing really came up.

Once again, he rewinded the footage and then the devil appeared. The man who was responsible for every fucking thing.

"Hello my humble friends. You all must remember me, yes? The little Ziagil squad. Zaydaan Ziagil, your daughter is with me. Fucked, aren't you? I know what you were planning to do after getting out. You were planning to get me arrested and thrown into jail. Just like you did all those years ago. The thing is, I might as well murder the one thing that you love most before I go to jail. Yeah? "

The reality dawned upon Aaina as she realise what had had actually happened. She looked at Zaydaan, seeing his clenched jaw and his hand tied into a fist.

This maniac had kidnapped their daughter. He had crossed that line as well.

Murder? Did he say murder? Aaina let out a scream, sobbing into her hand as she saw with her own eyes what had happened.

"Oh Aaina, don't cry. I'll let you both suffer for a day or two before I tell you what I want from you. And by the way, turns out she is very smart. I gave her chocolate milk and she refused to drink it. Poor girl looks so hungry."

She hadn't even eaten anything. She had breakfast early in the morning and didn't eat anything after that.

Her baby girl was hungry and all alone, with a crazy man who would do anything for power and revenge.

Suddenly, she felt like she could not breathe. She wanted to die, she wanted to murder that man, she wanted to burn the entire world and get her daughter back.

"But she looks so scared. I see the fear in her eyes and trust me, it feels like Zaydaan Ziagil is staring right in my eyes, scared as fuck. That's all, I'll let you people cry now. See you."

The video went back to being blank. Her head span, her eyes started to close, her heart rate fastened, her whole world twisted.

"I'm calling the ISI chief." She heard her man say, his voice sounded so different. She had never heard him speak like that.

"Aaina." Ahad tried to call out for her before he could even hold onto her, she had fallen straight on the ground, losing all her senses.

"Shit, Zaydaan bhai!" Ahad yelled out for his brother.

Zaydaan Ziagil turned his head, finding his wife on the ground.

His wife had fainted, his daughter had been kidnapped.

In that moment, he finally realised. Caring only made a man weak.

---

Remember when I was talking about a character death?
🤔🤔

Thoughts?