Days flew by and not long after, Kanwal's ultimate academic year has arrived. She turned her full attention toward her studies like it was the only goal of her life and after graduation, she was planning to study Law.

After the conversation her father had that night almost a year ago with his sister, no one has brought up that topic again, at least she never heard about it. Except for the night when Maaz visited their house, after knowing about Abdul Rafay's proposal for Kanwal and to her surprise, he came to ensure Kanwal that she doesn't have to force herself because of others and that she will always have him standing by her side whenever she needs him, as a brother should be. Therefore, she calmed herself and was able to focus on her education, family, and the people around her. But how could she ignore the increasing visit of Abdul Rafay's family in her house and the glances he stole of her.

As a person, Kanwal really respects Abdul Rafay. He is a simple, well mannered, soft-spoken and kind person, unlike super active and mischievous Ahad. Kanwal couldn't help herself from comparing both of them in every way possible. And every time she does, Abdul Rafay gets more points than Ahad. Slowly, she also starts to see that he would be a good husband but she was unable to imagine him as her husband.

During Kanwal's summer break, Abdul Rafay got the chance to talk to Kanwal directly, unlike before, when their conversation would never exceed from Salam. It was the second day of Eid when Abdul Rafay visited Kanwal's house. It was an unexpected visit and Kanwal's parents weren't at home. Therefore, he gave the gift he bought for her saying 'Saima Baji sent this to you.' Although it was Saima's idea to buy something for Kanwal, he was the one who spent several hours trying to choose a suitable Eid gift for her.

"Thank you." Kanwal said, accepting the gift hesitantly. "I will thank Saima Bhabi too."

Abdul Rafay smiled and say, "I'll be going now. Say Salam to everyone." 

Kanwal nodded and closed the door. She felt bad for not letting him in but she couldn't do that and he also wouldn't come in knowing that she is alone in the house.

Kanwal was about to open the gift when a sudden knock on the door startled her.

Who is it now...?

She thought, while looking through the eye hole of the door and found Abdul Rafay standing outside, looking at the floor.

Settling her dupatta back on her head, Kanwal opened the door.

"Ji? (Yes?)"

"Um, sorry. I forgot about this." He said as he held out his hand holding a box of Mithai (sweets) with an apologetic look.

"Thank you." Kanwal smiled back, taking the box.

As soon as Abdul Rafay retracted his hand, the phone he was holding in the same hand fell on the floor. He was already feeling embarrassed by giving Kanwal a present like this and forgetting to give Mithai at the same time and things are now getting even more awkward.

Kanwal couldn't help herself from chuckling at his startled state. He also smiled hesitantly and abruptly picks up his phone.

"Okay, Allah Hafiz." Abdul Rafay said, taking a step back and Kanwal nodded in acknowledgement.

"Um Excuse me." as Kanwal was about to go inside, Abdul Rafay called her again.

"Ji? (Yes?)" She turned to him.

"Smile more often. Allah Hafiz." With that, he spun on his heels and left, leaving Kanwal stunned on her doorstep.

~*~

Walking into college the first day after the summer holidays, Kanwal takes off her wristwatch and stretched out to Mahnoor.

"Ya Allah! It's beautiful! Mahnoor exclaimed, taking the watch in her hands. It was the gift Abdul Rafay gave Kanwal on Eid night.

"Thanks."

"Where did you buy it? I want one too." Mahnoor asked excitedly.

"Um ... Actually Mano, it was a gift."

"From?"

"Listen, Mano... There is something I need to tell you." Kanwal's flustered and reluctant voice caught Mahnoor's attention and she turns to face her.

"Hm?"

"Yar... Do you remember Saima Bhabi? My cousin's wife?"

"Yes."

"Her brother gave this to me." Mahnoor's tracks stopped in the middle as she turns to her friend, wide eyes.

"Don't give me that look and keep walking, I will tell you everything." Kanwal holds Mahnoor's arm and starts dragging her towards college.

"You overheard your parents' and Phuppos conversation, Maaz came to discuss with you about all this, the person that gave you an Eid gift is Abdul Rafay and you are only telling me now?" Mahnoor questioned Kanwal once she finished telling her the whole story.

"Mano, I didn't take it seriously before, but since he gave it to me, I thought I better tell you." Kanwal gave Mahnoor puppy dog eyes.

"Ary, why did you tell me now? You still have plenty of time on your hands. You could tell me a few hours before your Nikah to him." Mahnoor said in a sarcastic tone.

"Mano, I am not marrying him." Kanwal said firmly.

"Then why do you accept his gift?" Mahnoor asked, returning the watch to Kanwal.

"I couldn't say no to him. I mean, it's bad manners."

"You could say no to him if you want to. He could have easily gotten the idea that you don't him like how he sees you, but you didn't." Mahnoor carefully continues after a pause, "Means a part of you didn't dislike the idea of your parents."

What Mahnoor said was enough to make Kanwal confused, she never thought this way. Kanwal tried to question herself and the rest of their path went in complete silence between them.

~*~

Kanwal was finally free, from the long stress of final examinations and now studying hard for the aptitude test of LLB. On the other hand, Mahnoor is behaving like a lost puppy since her classes started. She texts Kanwal several times a day, telling her how much she is missing her. She also calls her daily, while walking home after college and doesn't end the call until she has stepped inside her house. On the other hand, Kanwal who has also gotten so used to her for the past few years, tried her best not to let her feel the much difference between now and before.

Mahnoor knows that with having her nearby, Kanwal wouldn't be focusing on anything else and in those moments, the real Kanwal would only surface up again in her mind, when she's in deep sleep after leaving Ahad.

Ahad never contacted Kanwal after the last mail he sent when she was at her Khala's house. She thought about what others said about Ahad, what her parents said about him, that he will marry someone from the same wealthy background.

Who wouldn't?

Now whatever they said about him seems true. To be happy or not to be, Kanwal doesn't know how to feel about the fact that Ahad has moved on. The only thing she could do is try, try to forget him and move on. Some things aren't meant to be, perhaps her and Ahad's relationship was one of those.

~*~

As the time of Kanwal's convocation is coming closer, everyone got more and tenser. But Kanwal was a bit relaxed, unlike every other girl in her class. She was always a completely average student. From the start, she didn't think of herself as anything special, except for her passion for volleyball and she is quite sure that the Black Eagles wouldn't be interested in it and according to Mahnoor, if Ahad wishes to do anything, he would've done already. But since he didn't even try to contact her throughout the past year, means he is over her, so she shouldn't be worried about it. Kanwal believed Mahnoor and her own logical explanation, ignoring the feelings her instinct was giving her. 

Finally, when the day of her convocation ceremony arrived, Kanwal found herself in a strange mental turmoil. Her intuition was screaming 'danger', yet her mind keeps refusing it. But her fear of the unknown grew stronger when she saw the same restlessness in her mother's eyes. 

Her mother suggested her a night before the ceremony to leave Shareefabad with her father and travel out of the city. But Kanwal rejected the idea. She has seen how the senior class girls were brought back to college by the Blacks Eagles on convocation day. What chance does she have to escape?

What is meant to happen will always happen... 

Was the last thought Kanwal had when she left home.

On reaching college, she found a pool of students in the same uniform as hers. Today, she is wearing a college uniform for the last time.

Glancing down at her spotless white uniform, Kanwal starts walking towards the same tree where her group used to gather. But she frowned when she found Mahnoor there with her classmates.

"Sorry seniors, your place is taken." A girl with a black scarf from Mahnoor's group said with a smile when she saw Kanwal coming towards them.

"Is this how you behave towards your elders, especially the guests?" Kanwal answered with a fake glare while folding her arms.

She laughed and left her place, "Ghustakhi Maaf Hazoor (I apologize). Assalam o Alaikum." She said in a very thick Urdu accent.

"Ghustakhi Maaf (Apology accepted)" Kanwal answered, holding her chin up in a very proud manner and on the seat under the tree, next to Mahnoor.

"Have you seen the others?" Kanwal asked as her eyes scanned the ground.

"No." They answered and Kanwal only nodded and continue on searching for her friends.

No one said anything after it and slowly, one by one, they all left, leaving Kanwal and Mahnoor alone.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mahnoor whispered to Kanwal, who was nervously playing with the strap of her wristwatch while gazing at the entrance.

"Hm? Yeah. I am fine." Kanwal replied awkwardly and takes out her phone, "Are they all late?" She asked herself as she checks her phone.

"They are here." Mahnoor said and Kanwal heard snaps towards her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kanwal abruptly got up.

"I don't want you to get upset. Mehak was crying and everyone else also looked troubled." Mahnoor explained in a low voice.

"Take me to them, yar." Kanwal sighed. Mahnoor nodded and got up. But before they could reach them, the announcement of the opening ceremony starting caught their attention and they turn to the auditorium.

Holding Mahnoor's hand, Kanwal walks inside, "Come to me when the ceremony ends." Kanwal said to Mahnoor when she was about to go in another direction.

"I will don't worry." Mahnoor quickly gives her a hug and leave towards where her classmates were sitting.

Kanwal also made her way to her classmates, clenching the strap of her small hand-embroidered bag.

~*~

I supposed to feel happy...

Kanwal thought as she headed towards her seat after receiving her certificate.

But I am not...

She sat silently with her friends, who were also sitting silently with blank expressions. Glancing at her friends' dull faces, Kanwal takes out her phone which was buzzing. It was an incoming call from an unknown number. She dismissed the call and sat straight.

After a minute or so, her mobile buzzed again. It was a text, from the same unknown number.

'Congratulations, Kanwal. I have been waiting for this day.
Ahad'

For a moment, Kanwal forgot to breathe after reading the message. When she got a hold of herself, she raised her gaze and scanned the area around her. But she didn't find any other men aside from the college staff.

Maybe in the last...

She thought and tried to look back from her seat, where all the parents were seated. But as expected, she couldn't see anything clear from this far.

"Oye! What happened?" Raffat, who is sitting on Kanwal's left asked her slowly.

"Huh? N-nothing... Just trying to see my parents." Kanwal lied and sat straight. But her eyes kept glancing at her phone every now and then.

The rest of the ceremony went a blur and when Kanwal woke up from her daze, she found Mahnoor crouching before her, with a worried expression.

"Mano?" Kanwal was startled and look towards her both sides, "Wha- where are the others?"

"Kanwal, are you alright? You're sweating." Mahnoor asked, squeezing Kanwal's hands, which were rested on her lap.

"No... I mean, yes. I am fine. Just a little scared." Kanwal bit her lower lip and once again, she scanned the area. 

Kanwal's eyes widened in horror when she saw the same faces from the last year, the faces of the Black Eagles Gang who escorted her four senior girls last year. But today, there were only two.

Watching Kanwal's horrified face, Mahnoor quickly turned her face towards her by cupping her cheeks with both hands.

"Everything will be okay." Mahnoor said in a firm tone. Kanwal licks her dry lips and nodded.

"Attention, all final year students!" Kanwal's body stiffened as the announcement echoed in the auditorium.

The whole auditorium went dead silent until the voice on the speakers echoed again.

"Please form a straight row on the right side of the stage. As for the rest of the students, please leave the auditorium."

"Mano!"  Kanwal said, gripping Mahnoor's hands.

Suddenly, Mahnoor felt a strange uneasiness but she ignored it. She has more things to be worried about now. She slowly frees her hands from Kanwal's and holds them with a firm grip, thinking it might give her some strength, as she couldn't come up with good words to say.

Kanwal felt how Mahnoor is trying to help her, but she couldn't calm herself. The words of Ahad's email from last year is dancing before her eyes and her subconscious is screaming "danger!".

"I don't want to stay . . . I don't want to go . . . Please take me with you. Please, please, please." Kanwal said frantically when Mahnoor loosens her grip on her hands.

"Kanwal, relax. Everything will be okay... Have faith in Allah." Mahnoor said, patting her cheeks. But her eyes were saying something else.

"I-I have, Mano... But-" Before Kanwal could complete her sentence, a professor from the stage interrupted them.

"Hurry up, Kanwal. They are almost here and you, Mahnoor, go outside now."

They...

"Mano!" Kanwal cried when Mahnoor turned away to leave and she watched her as she went away. The restlessness Kanwal is feeling is growing stronger with each passing second and suddenly, everything froze when a familiar masculine voice echoed in the auditorium.

"Everyone can leave except for Nida Abdullah and Kanwal ... Mehmood." Kanwal felt a daze coming over on hearing her name and if it weren't for Mehak who was standing beside Kanwal, she would've hit the ground. 

In a state of panic, Mehak helped Kanwal to steady herself and slowly made her sit on the floor, while Kanwal stared at the stage where a man was coming towards her with a triumphant look on his face.

~*~

"Leave and forget her." Mehak flinched at Ahad's strict voice and so does Samra, Maira, and Raffat. They were all standing within a distance from them but couldn't clearly hear them as the auditorium is already empty.

Squeezing Kanwals shoulder slightly, Mehak got up and leave the place with her friends. But all of them kept glancing back at their friend with pitiful eyes.

On the other hand, Kanwal sat frozen on the floor, staring at the ground. She heard every word Ahad said but the only thing Kanwal was able to think was her family.

What will they do?

How will she explain to them?

Questions kept popping up in her mind and she was so engrossed with them that she didn't realize when Ahad crouched down before her.

"I don't mind spending my whole life with you sitting in this position, but I have other things to deal with too." Kanwal's head snapped up to him and Ahad's smirk widened.

"I have to do the preparation for our wedding." Ahad smiled with a strange look in his eyes, awakening countless fears in Kanwal's heart.

______________________________

Salam and hello everyone!

Sorry for the late update. Unfortunately, me and my editor both caught flu at the same time. Therefore, I wasn't able to post it yesterday.

So, Ahad is back. What you guys have to say?

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Take Care :)