Hey guys!!

Hope you guys like this.

Late night update but okay!!

Need alot of comments tho!!

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Aaina X Zaydaan.

Sensing that the public was turning against his rule by decree, Bhutto ordered new elections in 1977 to obtain a popular mandate.

His party won by a large majority, but the opposition charged him with electoral fraud.

The government was seized by General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, the army chief of staff, on July 5, 1977. Soon afterward Bhutto was imprisoned.

Aaina read over and over again, studying the political figure and how his politics worked.

Her exams were almost there and she had nothing prepared. She could deal with theories and history kind of subjects but it was the political history of Pakistan that she absolutely loathed.

It was too complicated, too much.

Since she had been busy with, you know, roaming around Germany as the first lady, she was now studying her ass off.

She was usually a bright student but she had to show it to Zaydaan that she wasn't dumb. She had to maintain her GPA.

For that, she had to score well in the one subject that she hated and the one her husband had mastered in.

She mumbled over and over again, reading from her laptop. In her green pajamas and messy look, she looked every bit of a stressed out student.

She didn't look like the wife of Prime Minister Zaydaan Ziagil.

Raima glanced at her from the other side, as she herself was making an assignment, just to help Aaina.

She clicked her tongue once again as she heard Aaina's mumbling of words, loud and unclear but really annoying.

"Aaina, you've got to stop reading so loud." She grumbled, typing away.

The first lady frowned, not even understand her since she was too busy reading the same shit over and over again.

"I have exams soon, what are you even talking about?" She replied.

Raima let out a sigh.

"Aunty Ziagil was so nice and graceful, here you are mumbling and growling."

This is not the first time that Raima had somewhat lectured or taunted Aaina for being like this. In fact usually it was done in humour and Aaina did not mind it at all. Today she was stressed out and her head hurt.

"Aunty Ziagil isn't the first lady anymore, I am." She shot back at Raima, almost snapping at her.

The moment she realised the impact of her words, she put her hand on her head.

"God, I think I'm getting vain." She mumbled more to herself than to Raima, who had heard it anyway.

"You're cranky." Raima noticed, smirking.

"That too."

Aaina yawned, turning to the next part of Bhutto's history era.

"So what semester will the next one be then?" Raima asked next, the voice of her typing on another laptop and her own voice causing a severe distraction.

"Like third."

"And how many more?"

"Well, one more and then I have two more semesters of complete thesis." She answered, Aaina turned around to face Raima as she felt her prolonging the conversation.

"Will you continue it after masters?" Raima asked her next, she just shrugged.

It was pretty obvious. She had to study more to be taken seriously. She didn't want to be taunted for not being educated enough. It was already enough that they made fun of her for being a student first lady.

"I have to. I don't want to be called out for not being educated enough." She responded.

Before Raima could even say something, just like it had happened a million times before, Zaydaan entered the room.

Her assistant stood up, not even bothering to say a Salam this time as she picked up the laptop and hurried out of the room.

Sami was his friend, infact Aaina always thought Zaydaan only trusted Sami and she was Sami's wife. Zaydaan still disliked her and he never hid it, but why was the confident Raima so damn scared?

Aaina, then realised that she herself was shit scared of her husband at the start. Now, things were rather different.

"Hey," She greeted him, turning back into her previous position.

Her husband sat on the edge of the bed, taking off his shoes and glancing at Aaina.

"She's so scared of you." Aaina said to him, mentioning Raima's sudden escapade.

He let out a dry chuckle.

"And you aren't?" He shot back.

"No." His wife denied, smiling at him as she continued.

"First ladies aren't scared of their husbands, don't you know?"

She playfully asked, Zaydaan lifted an eyebrow at her playful confidence.

He had been observing how confident she was getting lately, she was less shy now, compared to how she used to be, she could actually tell him how she felt without biting her lip or pondering over it, she wore casual shirts before him without thinking about how she would look in front of him, without thinking whether or not he would mind her not wearing the usual shalwar kameez.

He didn't think that Aaina even noticed the changes that were taking place within her personality.

"Oh really?"

Aaina just smiled, nodding her head and looking back at the laptop screen.

"How did it go with Ahad?" She didn't think Zaydaan would give her the details but she still enquired him about it, her husband just shrugged her off.

"It went fine. What are you studying?"

She let out a sigh at his query.

"History of Pakistan's political crisis." She answered glancing at him.

"I really like the Bhutto part." She continued.

"What part?"

Zaydaan, who himself had a diploma in Pakistan's political studies wanted her to be on the right path.

It obviously was not possible. Everyone had a different opinion, everyone thought in a different manner. It wasn't possible for one person to have the same political views as the other one.

He was still curious about why she liked Bhutto.

"Where he accepts that he drinks alcohol but atleast he doesn't drink the blood of his own people. Kind of brave to admit something like that in a muslim country, yeah?" She explained in awe.

Zaydaan looked unimpressed.

"But Bhutto wasn't a good politician, he made terrible mistakes. Don't idolise him."

Aaina didn't know how terrible or not terrible Bhutto was, since she was just in the middle of reading about him. She couldn't form an opinion.

"Politicians shouldn't be idolised. Humanitarians should." She said instead, finding the words that she almost believed in.

"True."

He agreed with her.

She put her laptop away as she felt distracted. Her husband who usually had alot of things to do even when he was in his bedroom, was actually staring at her.

And why?

Why was he staring at her like that? Was it because she was barefaced? But it wasn't the first time she was wearing no makeup. Did he not like her dark circles?

There were not alot of times where he had told her that she was beautiful. Ofcourse, the news channels always called her pretty, her family used to call her pretty too but did Zaydaan find her pretty?

Was she his type of pretty?

His type of pretty isn't the skinny Aaina but the curvy Minal with her big brown eyes.

So she simply sat there, not saying anything as he stared at her.

His dark brown eyes that radiated a certain fierceness, a certain courage, a certain authority, and they simply stared at her.

At first, she noticed how normal his gaze was but after a while, she understood that he was eyeing her up.

"Do you want something?" She questioned softly, not bothering to hide the knowing smile on her face.

"No." He murmured, still staring at his wife.

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

She asked him again. Zaydaan shook his head, smirking as he shot back with another question.

"Like what?"

She contemplated for a moment, not knowing whether she should say it or not. But a sudden urge of confidence passed through her and she said what was on her mind.

"Like all intensely as if you're picturing me naked." She said, clearly.

"I might be." He mentioned, smiling at her.

"You're smiling." She noticed next, saying it out loud.

Zaydaan looked at her like it was the most absurd thing to say. Couldn't he smile at her?

"I'm just thinking about how young you are, still in university." He told her.

How confusing are men? They ogle at you like they want to strip your clothes off and feel you naked against them and the next thing you know, they're smiling at you because you're young.

"Don't you know it's prohibited to have sex with young girls?" Aaina questioned him, chuckling.

Zaydaan stood up and walked towards her, knowing that his closeness always made her a little nervous.

Confident Aaina was nice but nervous Aaina, he liked playing with her.

He edged his hand toward hers slowly, until she felt him touch the base of her hand, brushing his fingers across it slightly, his fingers moved from the palm of her hand to her wrist, brushing them against her a skin. She could feel the goosebumps as he trailed his fingers, dragging it from her wrist to her arms, and then finally near her collarbone.

"Oh really?" He breathed near her ear, she shivered but managed to nod anyway.

"Oh yes." She replied in the same hushed tone.

His hand reached out to cup her face but before she could even feel or understand what he was about to do, they felt a knock on the door and then it opened.

Ahad entered the room for barely a moment, looking at the couple standing in a close proximity.

He didn't pass a playful comment, like he usually would. Instead, he just smiled at Aaina before looking at his brother.

"Bhai, baba's home." He announced.

Zaydaan clenched his jaw.

"You've no idea how much those words turn me off." He murmured to his wife, moving away as Ahad left the room.

Zaydaan looked at Aaina with a shrug as he put his phone on charge.

"Change your clothes and come downstairs, you can meet mama too."

He told her. Aaina nodded at him as he left.

God knew what Idrees Ziagil had planned now.

--

Aaina came down the stairs almost at the same time as Zaydaan, looking presentable enough for the in laws.

She hardly ever saw her mother and father in law, especially after Zaydaan became the Prime Minister.

Most of the times, they were vacationing around the world together and whatever time they could spend at home, it contradicted with both Zaydaan and Aaina's schedules.

She smiled as her eyes caught hold of her mother in law. She looked every bit of a graceful first lady that she used to be.

Dignity and poise oozing out of her, Aaina loved her mother in law, there was just something so lovely about her, there was this special kind of warmth that she absolutely adored.

"Salam alaikum, mama. How are you?" She greeted her, hugging Mrs Ziagil tightly. Her mother in law kissed both her cheeks.

"Aaina, I'm lovely as you can see. How are you?"

Before she could even respond, Ahad had engulfed his mother in a child like hug, pinching her cheeks.

"Mama has gained weight, don't you think bhai?" He asked playfully and his mother only laughed.

"And my Ahad looks so skinny too. Are you okay, love? How's my favourite son?" She questioned him, Ahad was about to respond when Zaydaan greeted both his parents.

"Salam baba,"

"Mama."

His greeting was just plain cold Zaydaan. Respectful to his elders but lacking of any emotions.

Nobody really frowned at it though, except Aaina. She heard her mother in law repeat her question to Ahad who put his hand around her arm, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm good yaar, amma. Just missed having you around," He answered.

"I was around, you were just too busy for me." Ahad kissed her head yet again and she could see the affection between both of them.

Aaina remained quiet amidst of all the noise. Her mother in law walked towards her and stood next to her.

"I saw your speech, Aaina. You were lovely." She commented. Aaina mumbled a thank you.

Her father in law also agreed, but not in the nicest way.

"She's Imran's daughter, I'm sure she knows how to open up to a crowd."

Usually, she could take pride in her father's name but there was nothing to feel proud of anymore, nevertheless she loved her father and she hated the way her father in law had passed a taunt.

She didn't like the fact that her father, the one who had raised her, and yes, he might not have been the most expressive but at the same time, her father still cared for his kids.

He cared for Aaina. And Saira. And Affan. He cared for his kids and even though he had used her as a leverage, even though he had used her for wrong reasons, she still believed that a part of him loved her.

Besides, her father had paid for what he had done. He wasn't in the position he wanted to be in.

She lowered her head, not mumbling another word. Meanwhile, Zaydaan was already scowling at his father.

"Yes, father. My wife knows how to make an impression." He replied, stressing on my wife.

Aaina glanced at him, and he did the same. A shared look between the couple that she didn't even know the meaning of.

Idrees Ziagil didn't say a word as a response, he just shrugged.

"Anyway, come to my study you both." He said to both of his kids.

"You mean, my study?" Zaydaan asked.

It was true though. They lived in the Prime Minister House and Zaydaan Ziagil was the Prime Minister now, not Idrees Ziagil.

Ahad let out a laugh and their father just rolled his eyes at his smug elder son.

"You're too arrogant for your own good, Zaydaan." He remarked but started to walk towards the study.

Ahad followed his father and Zaydaan was about to do the same but he turned around for a moment.

"Aaina, I left my phone in bedroom upstairs." He mentioned.

She nodded in understanding.

"I'll bring it to you." She told him and then he walked away.

She was about to go back upstairs and fetch Zaydaan's phone when her mother in law started to conversate.

"I see things between you and my son have changed." She started off, as if she had just observed a different behavior between the couple.

Aaina did not know how to respond to that, because things had changed but things had also not changed at all.

Her husband did not love her, he barely cared and yes, he had been more attentive and more caring towards her ever since the attack but did that mean things had completely changed?

She did not think so.

She didn't want to be naive anymore, she knew the ground which she stood on, in Zaydaan's life.

Not happy but not unhappy either. Whatever it was.

"He's good." She mumbled, Aiza response to her mother in law's observant remark.

She felt the woman take a deep breath.

"He's stubborn and arrogant, too proud. Sometimes I wonder if Ahad is like me and Zaydaan is like his father. I worry for Ahad the most because it's hard for the kinder souls to survive in this world."

Aaina slightly frowned. She felt like her mother in law had a biased opinion, even though she knew that all the things that she had said about Zaydaan were true, she still wanted to defend him.

"Ahad is more expressive, yes but Zaydaan is-." She started off, trying to find the right words.

"He's not cold, I mean he is when he wants to be but he's also caring. The kind of attention and care he showed me after the attacks, it made me realise that he has a hard exterior."

She explained, then looked at her mother-in-law and gave her a gentle smile.

"Besides, I feel like he has your qualities too." She mentioned.

Zaydaan's mother lifted an eye in curiosity.

"Like?"

"Like,"

"I don't know how to describe it but-"

Before she could explain or describe, her mother-in-law interrupted her.

"Aaina, you love him so it is understandable, the need for you to defend him."

"I've spent my entire life with Idrees Ziagil, yes, I've been happy but I've also been absolutely grief stricken. If there has been a day of happiness, there has been weeks of sadness." She continued.

Aaina listened to her attentively.

"I'm not wishing anything upon you, I'm just telling you that Zaydaan is not like me, you'll have to bend to his will, you'll have to apologise, you'll have to say sorry because he will never. He's heartless like his father."

Heartless?

Did his own mother think of him as heartless?

She almost wanted to snap at the woman but she respected her too much for it.

"Don't you think it's too late to tell me this, mama?" She said instead, gulping.

"I'm just telling you that you stand on egg shells with men of this family, excluding Ahad. Ahad's different."

Maybe mothers were always attached to their youngest.

"You're like Ahad in that regard, soft and kind. I wish Idrees had paired you two." She wished.

Aaina couldn't imagine being with anyone but Zaydaan.

"Allah chose Zaydaan for me, and I'm very happy with him." She replied without any hesitation.

Before her mother in law could even say a word, a servant appeared in front of them.

"Aaina bibi, phone maang rahe hain wo uper-"

" - I'll be back."

"Need to give him his phone." Aaina excused herself and rushed upstairs, knowing that Zaydaan wanted his phone.

-

,

--

On the other side of the house, in the middle of the study room, men of the Ziagil family were probably in the most heated discussion since a long time.

But this time, it was not Zaydaan Ziagil screaming or making a point, infact he had barely said a word.

It was Idrees Ziagil and Ahad Ziagil, who were exchanging heated words.

"Baba, she's older than me. She loves my elder brother and I hate her. How can you even suggest that?!" He snapped at his brother, not even caring about how he sounded, yelling at his own father.

Ahad couldn't believe how casually his own father had told him to marry Minal Ashfaq. Another political alliance.

"We need stronger alliances, Zaydaan. You know that and I know that. Minal can score us that alliance!" His father exclaimed, Zaydaan didn't say a word.

Ahad glared at his father.

"I'm not marrying that cunning bitch."

"Ahad!"

"What? She's a cunning bitch and I don't like her. This is absurd, baba."

Ahad couldn't believe what his father was even suggesting. He glanced at his brother, who was simply quiet.

"You think we're toys? You took the man she loved away from her and now you want the man who hates her to marry her?" He continued.

"Theek hai phir, Zaydaan kar le shadi."

Zaydaan looked at his father with absolute hatred.

This man took her away from him, this man told her to choose and now this man was making things even more complicated now.

"Kya? Baba, I think you need to go see a doctor. He's married, remember? Another alliance that you scored."

Ahad reminded him, shocked that his father would even suggest such a pathetic thing in the first place.

"Minal is not Aaina. She can't be Aaina. She'll want more and more, so will her father. We're not doing this."

Ahad said again, his father looked at him in anger.

"What do you know about politics, son? Nothing. Do as I say."

"I'm not marrying her." He denied.

"If Ahad doesn't marry Minal, Awan chaudhry will. They'll get stronger. General ashfaq only put this option in front of me because we are old friends."

"General Ashfaq se kaho Marr jaye humari taraf se, I'm not doing this."

Ahad denied once again.

Minal Ashfaq. The beautiful girl who sat at the end of the class with the best boys and girls, Minal who looked at Zaydaan fifteen years ago and made him her friend, Minal who understood the boy underneath all that hard exterior, Minal who was his first kiss.

Minal who told him that he was made for her, Minal who kissed her mouth as they studied together, Minal who told him that he should be a part of that student federation, Minal who supported him when he lost his first election, Minal who was there when he took oath as a National assembly member, Minal who encouraged him that he would be the best foreign minister the world had ever seen, Minal who had been there every step of the way.

And Awan Chaudhry? He was an entitled piece of shit.

"Did Minal agree?" Zaydaan suddenly asked, his father looked at him.

"What?"

"Did she agree to marry Awan?" He asked clearly this time.

"She did not oppose to it."

"How can she say yes to that forty year old man?" Zaydaan wondered out loud.

"Because she's thirty four?" Ahad said back, so pissed that his face had turned red in rage.

"Bhai, let her marry whoever the fuck she wants. You're the PM, what bigger alliance do you need?"

"He can get stripped off the moment opposition gets the establishment's support." Idrees Ziagil answered instead of Zaydaan.

"Ahad, you're marrying her and you're meeting her tomorrow. Is that clear?" He instructed his son who shook his head in complete disagreement.

"No. I'm not."

"Yes! You are!" He exclaimed telling at his youngest son.

Zaydaan stood up from his seat and looked at the men of his family.

"He's not, baba. He's not marrying her." He told his father in clear words.

Idrees Ziagil glared at Zaydaan.

"Zaydaan, you can't do that, Awan will marry her and the game will fall into his court. This is bigger than your relationships."

"Bhai, baba has gone mad. That's it!"

"Ahad!"

The ongoing yelling between his brother and father was only getting on his nerves.

Zaydaan felt so stupid. All this power, and he hadn't felt so helpless.

Minal couldn't marry Awan and she couldn't marry Ahad either. How could she even agree to this stupid stupid thing?

Did she not care about him? Did she not care what it would do to him?

How could Minal do this?

Zaydaan gulped as his father put a hand on his shoulder.

"Zaydaan, tell him. Tell him how good Minal was, tell him how much she gave to you, tell him how she changed things for you, tell him how she encouraged you every step of the way, tell him how she knew all about politics, how she made so many decisions for you."

How could his father remind him of if all and expect him to convince his brother to marry the woman that he loved?

"Marrying you to Aaina was the best thing at that time and marrying Minal to Ahad is the best thing to happen now." Idrees Ziagil continued.

"I'm not marrying Minal Ashfaq. I'm sorry." Ahad denied, he didn't even want to think of marrying Minal.

Marrying Minal was like marrying Zaydaan. They were too alike.

"Baba, stop forcing him. He's not going to do it." Zaydaan mumbled to his father who looked at his son, the Prime Minister like he had lost his vicious touch.

"Zaydaan, Prime Minister ho tum! Kher hai beta?"

Zaydaan thought for a minute about it all, was this the decision that he wanted to make?

But Minal. Minal was everything, how could he let her go?

"He's not marrying her, because she is mine. I'm not letting her go."

He announced.

Idrees Ziagil smiled.

"Are you saying that...?" His father trailed off, Ahad looked at both of them like everything was so fucking crazy.

"Bhai!! Stop it." He snapped.

Zaydaan glared at him.

"We're allowed to, are we not?" He shot back, voice cold and eyes blank.

It was only another moment of silence between them that they heard a knock on the door and it opened.

Her head lowered and her eyes on the floor, she wasn't crying, she wasn't shaking, she wasn't looking shocked.

She looked up for a minute, face as numb as as it could be as she stared at her husband.

"Your, your phone." She whispered, giving him his phone.

Then and only then, it dawned on him that Aaina Zaydaan was a part of his life too.

How could he forget about her? She was his wife.

She was his wife and she had heard everything.

Fuck.

---

Alright?!!

What do you think is gonna happen next?

Ahh.