I sat with my head against the soft mattress, which was now moist with my never ending tears. My hands clutching his cold hand in my grasp, which once used to blaze with the warmth of his loving touch. It had been an hour since he had got out of surgery and despite Haniya's constant pleas to go home and rest, I didn't budge. So, she decided to go back to get me food and necessary items for my night stay; since I was nowhere near willing to leave his side for even a single moment.

The surgery had been successful, Alhumdulillah. The bullet had penetrated without causing damage to any vital organs. Yet, despite knowing the point by point details of the injury and surgery, I still couldn't be reassured. Until I saw him awake and well, I won't be able stop thinking about how close I was to losing him, today.

Just yesterday, I was telling him how I wouldn't be able to live without him—and today, Allah showed me this.

'Ya Allah, forgive me for saying something that I had no right to claim. But please, Ya Allah—don't take him away from me—I have only just found him—Just now, we had begun to heal from our wounds—please—please, have mercy on us. Verily, you are the Most Kind and the Most Merciful—'

The sound of the door opening made me look up through tears.

"Ah—sorry, I just came to check on him—I'll come later—" A man, who looked in his late twenties had turned back towards the door, looking apologetic.

"Wait—You're Ismail—?" I stood up from the stool, carefully letting go of Rayyan's hand. He nodded in response and I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand after asking him if he would like to take seat. He seemed uneasy at my request, as if foreseeing what I wanted; yet, relented.

"He said, he was meeting you—It happened in your office, right?" I began, after pulling my chair closer to his couch. He didn't look up, instead kept his gaze fixated to his hands knotted in front of him.

The only information that I could manage to get out of Ahmed was that he along with Uncle Zubair had brought in an unconscious Rayyan; who was immediately taken into surgery. Uncle Zia who was present during all this had instead gone with Harris bhai who was taken into custody, immediately after someone had called the Police. However, no one knew exactly why Harris bhai suddenly shot him, out of blue. Haniya had told me this much that Rayyan went in for negotiations today and everything was supposed to be wrapped up after he gave up on his shares of the company. Uncle Zia and Zubair had agreed to this deal as well and only the legalities were left to be concluded.

So, if everything was happening how Harris bhai wished, then why? Why did he need to go so far as to—

"You called the police on him, didn't you?" I was shooting an arrow in the dark but it got his attention. His gaze shot up to meet mine, surprised and he finally looked away with a slight nod.

"So, you know everything, right? Also, the real reason why Harris bhai shot Rayyan—" I slowly began my interrogation. At my words he gulped, unintentionally and this was enough to confirm my suspicions that there was a lot more to all this than met the eye. Before he could make up any excuses, I cut him off.

"I will hear the truth and nothing else—it's no use to hide it anymore—" From Rayyan's words this morning it was safe to assume that he trusted Ismail. Still—I was treading on shallow waters here. But, seeing how the people I trusted turned out, I think it would be in everyone's best interests that I don't rely on my judgment for a while, now.

A few moments passed but the man sat tight-lipped. It was starting to piss me off. Really, just how much has Rayyan threatened them—First Haniya, then Ahmed and now him. Everyone is so scared that Rayyan would hurt them if I found out anything from anyone.

"I won't tell Rayyan that you told me—" I tried to bribe him and for an unbelievable moment he looked like he was seriously considering it.

"Impossible—He will definitely know—" He finally gasped out and I wanted to slap the man for being so scared, despite his size. But rather than that, I was more concerned about what it was that Rayyan wanted to hide from me so much. Even more than the fraud case—

"In all honesty—You should leave this alone, bhaabi. Rayyan didn't want you to know about this—If you try doing this, then it will only put all his efforts to waste—" He began solemnly, still not meeting my gaze. I knew what he meant and I could find myself admiring him for respecting Rayyan's wishes. However, emotional blackmail wasn't what I was looking for, right now.

"Right—and Ismail bhai, do you know why he so desperately tried to hide it all from me?" I questioned with a small fake smile and found him watching me quizzically.

"So that I don't take the matters into my own hands." I added simply and watched recognition dawn on his face.

"Bhaabi—" He began saying but I cut him off by getting up.

"You have only 2 options—Either you tell me everything and maybe help me process it in a way that Rayyan would want me to. OR—I go to Harris bhai and hear what he has to say. But obviously, you wouldn't want me doing that would you—?" I looked down at the man who was watching me too stunned for words.

"Also—if you do leave me with the second choice, then I'll leave YOU to explaining Rayyan; how I had come to that decision—So, who do you think will get the worst blow out of us two, Ismail bhai?" I asked sweetly and saw him shaking his head in disbelief.

"Rayyan—that guy said—my poor, sweet, innocent Zaira—" He muttered under his breath while turning his gaze down once more.

"And? You disagree, that I am sweet and innocent?" I teased the poor guy with a poker face who could only turn away with a gulp.

————————————

I sat in the passenger seat with Ahmed, while rubbing away the angry tears brimming in my eyes. I now understood why Rayyan went so far to stand in my way of discovering it all.

"Rayyan called me a day after you came here. He told me about allegations against him and wanted me to take care of it, until he got here. I could've easily called their bluff but he strictly forbade me to involve you in all this. It took me a few days of pestering to get him to tell me the full truth—-" I felt my heart thumping loudly in my chest. He looked up at me guiltily as if he wished for me to stop him, but I could only watch him unblinking.

"—He told me how he had received a picture through an anonymous source—your pictures  from a police station and with you was—someone who wasn't Rayyan—" He exhaled a small sigh while I gaped at him taken aback.

"What—?" I heard myself asking at which he extended his phone out to me with a long sigh. I watched between him and the phone; unable to release the breath that I was holding in.

The phone shook in my hands as I watched myself sitting on a bench, crying in the police station. The next was when Rayyan had come and grabbed me by my arms—except it wasn't Rayyan—but someone, whom I had never seen in my life before.

"This—this isn't—" I found my voice breaking with oncoming tears at which Ismail bhai looked away.

"It's photoshopped. Someone had taken this picture that night, when you were caught speeding. It took Rayyan a while to trace it's source to Harris. Harris said he would leak this picture if Rayyan didn't leave this family. He would tell everyone that Zaira was trying to run away with her boyfriend before her nikkah day but was caught before she could. He threatened Rayyan that before he could manage to bring to light the truth, the damage would already have been done. No one would believe a word he said after this picture was revealed—and even if they did, the fact that you had tried running away would still put your honour in a compromised position—" Unable to hear another word, I slumped down on the chair and dropped my face in my hands.

"That's why Rayyan didn't want you to know this—" I didn't let him finish and asked him to continue. He exhaled a small sigh before going on.

"—Rayyan knew that the only way to make sure he never blackmails him was to dig something on Harris that he wouldn't want anyone to know—and it wasn't hard, really. Harris lived a kinda lavish lifestyle back in the US—and visual proofs in pictures and videos were provided by his own ex-wife, whom Harris had cheated on shortly after marriage. The worst out of all this were her grounds for seeking a divorce—domestic abuse. Owing to his fame, he was banned from the country too—Rayyan threatened him with all this and that's when Harris lost it finally and shot him—-" I stood up, wiping away my tears.

"Harris is out on bail—And they have also asked to not press charges against him or else they would have to reopen the case against you and Rayyan—"

The car screeched; coming to a halt outside the haveli and without wasting another minute, I got out; Ahmed on my tail. He knew what I was going in for, but not why.

I knocked on his door and after a moment's wait, he opened. His eyes hardening on taking in my tear stained face.

"Can we talk, please?" His eyes narrowed at my inquisition; nevertheless he left the door to let me come in. I walked in, leaving the door ajar and came to stand to his side.

"Why—why did you have to shoot him—" I blinked away the tears and saw him snapping his hate filled gaze to mine.

"Why? Are you an idiot, Zaira? You still don't get it? It's because I hate him—! I hate him so much that I can't stand the sight of him—Rayyan this—Rayyan that—Ever since he came to this house—I have hated him—! He would get everything so easily while I would work so hard for it—! No one could see my efforts—! Always comparing me to him—Telling me why couldn't I be more like Rayyan—! What I did, didn't matter—but Rayyan—! Everyone wanted to be his friend—everyone wanted to get close to him—! Even you and Haniya—! Do you know how hurt I got by your actions—" It was like he had exploded. Everything that he had tried to put a lid on was finally set free.

"—So, what gave him the right to be happy—after ruining my life—?! I took away everything from him. Even you, his friend. I don't regret it at all. Except missing that shot through him, today—" I needed to let him finish before I could slap him, but I couldn't stop myself. His eyes filled with disbelief as he stood in his place, stunned; a hand pressed against his slapped cheek.

"What? So easy?!! Do you know the hell you made me and Rayyan live through?! Easy??! Do you have any idea what we fought through to get this far—??!!" I screamed through tears, while he looked ready to return the favour of my slap.

"You're not even 1% the man Rayyan is—!! You really ought to be ashamed of yourself—! Instead of being jealous of Rayyan, maybe you should've watched and learned from him! Maybe that might've had saved you from being such a pathetic mess and a nuisance to those around you—!!" He had inched closer to hurt me but I used that moment to play the video file that I just received on my phone.

He watched dumbfounded between me and my phone which was repeating his words from just a few moments ago.

"You—!!" He tried to lunge for the phone but I quickly hid it behind me.

"Don't even think about it—-! I have got a copy of this and so has someone else—You dare lay one disgusting finger of yours on me or Rayyan—I swear to God, I'll make you regret being born—! You might not realise this, since you've never loved someone selflessly, besides your own self—but if you did, then you would've had an idea of the lengths people are willing to go, just to protect their loved ones—" I seethed disgusted through clenched teeth; the muscles in my neck tightening, as I turned away; leaving him standing in his place at a loss.

"I am ashamed of myself—that I thought of you as a brother. I feel very sorry for you if you thought this was enough to break Rayyan. If you were relishing on the misunderstanding that you had hurt mine and Rayyan's relationship even one bit, then I would gladly rid you of this delusion—Also, thankyou—for making me realise how truly blessed I am. I must've done something right in my life that Allah saved me from being tied to you and instead gave me Rayyan—" I stated over my shoulder before leaving through the open door; outside which Haniya was awaiting me with Ahmed.

Hello!! 👋🏻 Truth bomb 💣 Hopefully it wasn't too much to take in.
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