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As days were passing, the distance between Sid and Shehnaaz was increasing more and more. They were physically close but emotionally too far from each other. At first, Sid was trying to give her emotional support as she needed it the most. He told her that he had no problem with her infertility, he accepted her how she was. But it was Shehnaaz who couldn't accept herself. She couldn't accept the fact that she could never be a mother. She started doing prayer, keeping fast and whatever else people told her to do but nothing was working. Because of that Shehnaaz used to be depressed all the time which became unbearable for Sid. He wanted his old Naaz back but she was lost somewhere. This Shehnaaz was new to him, who had created a shield around herself which Sid was not being able to break. And ultimately it caused the growing distance between both of them.

One day, Shehnaaz was passing by Fatima Ji's room when she heard her conversation with Shabnam Ji.

"Bhabhi jaan hum iss Shehnaaz ko aur bardasht nahi kar sakte. Humein nahi lagta yeh ladki humare Sid ko aulad ka sukh de paayegi. Baanjh kahi ki!" Said Fatima Ji with despise.

"Kitna accha hota agar uss waqt hum Sid ki baat naa maante aur Sid ka Nikah Nusrat se hi karwa dete. Abhi tak toh tum Dadi bhi ban chuki hoti aur apne Paute Pauti ke saath khel rahi hoti. Sab kuch Ammi jaan ki wajah se hua. Khud toh chali gayi, humein iss baanjh ke saath chhor diya." Said Shabnam Ji.

"Uss waqt hum kuch nahi kar paaye. Lekin ab toh kar sakte hai na? Nusrat ka Nikah abhi tak hua nahi hai. Hum chahe toh Sid aur Shehnaaz ka talaq kara ke, Nusrat ke saath Sid ka Nikah karwa sakte hai."

Shehnaaz got shocked hearing that. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Fatima tum jaanti nahi apne Bete ko? Usne aaj tak humari suni hai jo aaj humare kehne pe Shehnaaz ko talaq dega aur Nusrat se Nikah kar lega?"

"Woh karega." Said Fatima Ji smirking. "Kuch din pehle Nusrat aayi thi humare ghar. Sid ke baare mein puch rahi thi. Woh office gaya hai sunte hi taurant chali gayi. Humein lagta hai woh dono aaj kaal mil rahe hai ek dusre se. Ho sakta hai Sid ko apni galti ka ehsaas hogaya ho aur Nusrat se Nikah kar ke woh apni galti ko sudharna chahta ho. Kyu ki koi bhi mard ek aisi aurat ke saath toh nahi reh sakta jo usse Baccha tak na de paaye."

"Khuda kare aisa hi ho. Peecha chhute uss baanjh se."

Shehnaaz couldn't stay there anymore and left. The whole day she kept thinking about this. She felt that what Fatima Ji was saying was not completely wrong. What would happen if Sid married Nusrat instead of her? He would have become a father by now. Nusrat would give him that happiness which she couldn't. Maybe it would be the best for him if he rectifies his mistake now. After all every man deserves to feel the happiness of being a father.

With a heavy heart, Shehnaaz finally decided to talk to Sid about this.

At Night...

Sid came back from office and went to  his room. Shehnaaz also went behind him and closed the door.

"Sid aap se kuch baat karni thi." She said.

"Hmm bolo." Said Sid removing his tie.

Shehnaaz took a deep breath and said, "Hum chahte hai ki aap Nusrat Di se Nikah kar le."

Sid looked at her frowning and asked, "Kya? Kya kaha tumne?"

Shehnaaz somehow controlled her emotions and said, "Sab kuch kar ke dekh liya humne. Acche se acche doctors dikhaye, Masjid, Dargah kaha kaha nahi gaye, lekin kuch nahi hua. Sahi kaha tha aap ne. Humein iss sach ko maan lena chahiye ki hum kabhi Maa nahi ban sakte. Ab hum iss sach ko maan chuke hai aur iss hi liye aap se keh rahe hai ki...... Aap humein talaq de ke Nusrat Di se Nikah kar li jiye. Woh aap ko khush rakhengi."

Sid was numb for a moment. Was she really in her sense? Definitely not, otherwise she would never speak this nonsense.

Sid went towards Shehnaaz and grabbed her arms angrily. His eyes were bloodshot red.

"Dimaag kharab ho gaya hai tumhara? Kya bakwas kar rahi ho, haan? Tumhe sach mein lagta hai hum tumhe talaq denge? Aur kya kaha tumne? Hum Nusrat se Nikah kar le? Tum ne aisa soch bhi kaise liya?" He asked demanding answers. He was deeply hurt by her words.

"Sid humein chhoriye. Dard ho raha hai." Said Shehnaaz while struggling to free her hands from his grip.

Sid tightened his grip and said, "Dard humein ho raha hai Shehnaaz. Woh bhi tumhari inn baaton se, tumhare iss behaviour se. Itne dino se takleef toh de hi rahi ho humein aur aaj toh saari hadhein par kar diyi. Mazak bana ke rakh diya humare mohabbat ka."

"Kaisi mohabbat Sid?" Shouted Shehnaaz almost crying while freeing her arms from his grip.

"Aap ki woh Biwi jo aap ko aulaad ka sukh nahi de sakti uss se kaisi mohabbat? Abhi sayad aap ko lag raha hai ki aap humse mohabbat karte hai par yeh zyada din nahi rahega. Akhir humare Abbu ne bhi iss hi wajah se Ammi ko chhora, dusra Nikah kiya. Aap bhi woh hi karenge. Isliye hum khud hi aap ko azad kar rahe hai. Aap Nikah kar li jiye Nusrat Di se aur phir Baccha bhi.........."

"SHEHNAAZ!" Yelled Sid and almost raised his hand to which Shehnaaz closed her eyes in fear.

Sid stopped as he couldn't raise his hand on her. He took down his hand and fisted his palm to control his anger.

"Aaj sach mein humein lag raha hai ki humne galti kar diyi tumse Nikah kar ke. Galti kar diyi apni jaan se bhi zyada tumse pyaar kar ke. Kyu ki tum na toh kabhi humare pyaar ko samajh saki aur naa hi humein. Aur hum tumhe baar baar samjha bhi nahi sakte. Agar tum humse alag hona chahti ho toh ho sakti ho. Hum tumhe nahi rokenge. Kyu ki hum samajh chuke hai ki ab yeh rishta........."

Before he could complete, Shehnaaz said with teary eyes, "Kabhi pehle jaisa nahi ho sakta."

Sid sighed and said, "Ho sakta hai. Agar humein humari purani wali Naaz wapas mil jaaye toh. Warna nahi."

Shehnaaz didn't say anything and Sid left from there. That night, Sid took his pillow and slept on the couch. Shehnaaz felt hurt but couldn't stop him. Whole night, they both shed silent tears.

Since the next day, Sid stopped talking to Shehnaaz. He was very angry at her. She disrespected his love for her by saying those words. Even she compared him with her father. He was not ready to forgive her for this. Though Shehnaaz tried to speak to him but he ignored her.

"Hum office jaa rahe hai."

Saying that, Sid was about to leave when Sana said, "Sid aap ka tiffin."

Sid paused for a while and then called, "Rihana!"

"Haan Bhai jaan boliye." Said Rihana coming there.

"Zara tiffin dena. Hum late ho rahe hai."

"Lekin Bhabhi jaan toh already....."

"Jitna kaha hai utna kar." Said Sid sternly.

Rihana made a confused face and took the tiffin box from Shehnaaz. Then she gave it to Sid.

Taking the tiffin box, Sid left from there and Shehnaaz kept standing there sadly.

This thing didn't end soon. Sid was angry and hurt at the same time and he was ignoring her as much as he could. Sid's cold behaviour towards Shehnaaz was bothering her but she had nothing to do. Somewhere she also knew that it was her fault.

But before she could apologies properly, one more thing happened. One day, Rihana took Shehnaaz out to cheer her up as she noticed her sadness. In her way, she saw Sid and Nusrat on the road. They were talking with each other while smiling. It made Shehnaaz confused. It was Sid's office hours. Then what was he doing there with Nusrat? Before Shehnaaz could understand anything, Sid and Nusrat got inside his car and left from there.

After that day, Shehnaaz started being insecure. She noticed that Sid used to talk to Nusrat at late night. They used to meet outside. Even some days Nusrat came to their house to meet Sid. Shehnaaz couldn't think logically as her brain stopped working. She was feeling that her fear was coming true. Sid was replacing her with someone else.

To take a break from all this, Shehnaaz went to her mother's place to stay there for some days. She expected that Sid would come to take her back and everything would be fine between them.

On the other hand, Sid became sad after knowing that Shehnaaz went to her mother's place. But he decided that he would not go to bring her back.

"Iss baar hum nahi jaayenge. Iss baar tumhe hi aana hoga humare paas." He said in his mind.

Days passed. Neither Shehnaaz went back to Sid nor he came to bring her. They both were expecting each other to take the first step.

One day, Shehnaaz was sitting resting her head on her mother's lap and Mariyam Ji was caressing her hair.

"Ab yeh narazgi chhor de na Shehnaaz. Tu khud bhi dukhi hai aur Sid ko bhi dukhi kar rahi hai." Said Mariyam Ji trying to make Shehnaaz understand.

"Agar woh itne hi dukhi hai toh ek baar bhi yaaha aaye kyu nahi?" Asked Shehnaaz with teary eyes.

"Wah wah! Galti kare tu aur maanaye koi aur? Bechare koi itna kuch kaha aur maafi maang ne ki jagah muh fula ke baithi hai. Sukar kar Sid tere Abbu jaise nahi hai. Woh pyaar karta hai tujhse. Itna sab kuch hone ke baad bhi tere saath khada rehna chahta hai. Par tune usse jo sab kaha woh sun ke toh kisi ko bhi gussa aayega."

"Hum pareshan the Ammi. Gharwalon ke roz ke taane sun sun ke tang aa chuke the. Aur uss hi frustration mein aa ke hum Sid ko chot pohuchate gaye. Lekin ab humein apni galti ka ehsaas hai. Hum toh Sid se maafi bhi maang na chahte the par......"

Shehnaaz suddenly stopped. She couldn't tell her mother about Nusrat.

"Par kya?" Asked Mariyam Ji.

Before Shehnaaz could say anything, she heard a car's sound.

She gave a huge smile and said, "Sid ki gadi ki awaz. Woh sayad humein lene aaye hai."

Saying that, Shehnaaz immediately ran towards the balcony. She saw Sid's car and then Sid coming out of the car. Shehnaaz was smiling with teary eyes as she became emotional seeing him.

She was about to go to him when her eyes fell on Nusrat who came out. Shehnaaz's smile faded away seeing it. Nusrat side-hugged Sid and then they got inside Sid's car. Soon they went somewhere.

Shehnaaz's heart broke seeing it. Suddenly she remembered the day when Sid promised her that his love for her would never end. Now everything seemed to be nothing but a lie to her.

Later that night...

Sid dropped Nusrat home. After coming out of the car, she said smiling, "Thank you Sid. Thank you so much. Aaj aap ne jo kuch bhi kiya humare liye, yeh hum kabhi nahi bhulenge."

Sid smiled and said, "Abhi se thank you mat bol. Pehle Khala maan jaaye, uske baad bol dena."

Nusrat nodded in yes and then said, "Sach mein Sid, hum bhi na kitne bewakoof the. Itne din yeh soch ke aap se naraz the ki aap ne humare pyaar ko nahi samjha. Asal mein toh aap kabhi humara pyaar the hi nahi, sirf humari pasand the. Saccha pyaar kya hota hai yeh toh humein Ankush se mil ke paata chala. Aur aaj sirf aap ki wajah se humare pyaar ko Ankush ke gharwalon ki manjoori mili. Samajh nahi aa raha hum aap ka shukriya kaise aada kare."

"Zyada kuch karne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Bas Nikah ka date fixed ho jaane ke baad ek treat de dena."

"Done."

Saying that, they both giggled.

"Hum chalte hai." Said Sid and was about to leave when Nusrat stopped him.

"Shehnaaz se mil ke nahi jaayenge?" She asked.

Sid's face turned pale. He looked towards her balcony. It was true that he was missing her a lot. But he knew how to control his own emotions.

"Nahi actually abhi raat ho gayi hai. Ghar jaa ke phone pe baat kar lenge." Said Sid smiling forcefully.

"Kuch hua hai kya Sid? Shehnaaz kaafi dino se Mariyam Khala ke paas hai."

"Nahi bas usse apni Ammi ki yaad aa rahi thi isliye yaha aa gayi.... Tu abhi yeh sab mat soch...."

Though Nusrat was not fully convinced, she nodded.

Then Sid left from there and soon reached home.

As soon as he entered, Rihana went to him and said excitedly, "Bhabhi jaan wapas aa gayi."

Sid smiled brightly hearing and ran to his room. Shehnaaz was sitting on the bed with an emotionless face. But Sid didn't notice that. He was happy thinking that she returned because she realised her mistake. Now he also thought of forgetting everything and give a fresh start to their relationship.

"Naaz....."

Before he could speak, Shehnaaz looked at him and asked, "Kya aap Nusrat Di se pyaar karte hai?"

Sid's smile faded away immediately.

"Humne kayi baar aap dono ko saath mein dekha hai. Even aaj bhi, jab aap humare ghar aaye the Nusrat Di ko pick up karne. Isliye agar aisa kuch hai toh humein baata di jiye."

Sid closed his eyes and teardrops fell from them. Soon he wiped his tears and said, "Haan Shehnaaz. Tum sahi ho. Hum Nusrat se pyaar karte hai aur Nikah bhi karna chahte hai."

Sid's confession made Shehnaaz hell shocked.
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