Zohal Wadi stood rooted to the place, as Omar Fatih burst through the doors and shut them loudly.

She took a few steps backwards, appalled at his sudden behavior.

"Who were you talking with?"

Omar's low voice reached her ears.

Zohal furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched up her face.

"Why do you ask?" Zohal asked confused.

She realized subconsciously, that it was the first time, they both were conversing properly. Until now, it had just been one word answers.

"I asked a question." He said impatiently.

"I talked with Dada." She answered quietly, not knowing what had gotten into him.

What?

He didn't seem to be angry. Face was blank. Expressionless. Hollow eyes.

He breathed heavily, before looking up.

Zohal thought for a minute that he was going to leave, but when he started to step forward, all sane thoughts left her mind. She backed away slowly, not knowing what to expect.

But before she could take more than two steps, he had caught up with her.

His hands reached forward and gripped her forearm.

Zohal's eyes widened at his actions.

"If you so much as try to snitch on me, ever again, I don't know what I will do." He said in a low voice.

Anger boiled through Zohal's veins and she turned red, as his words reached her. All she saw was red.

"I don't snitch. And also, who are you to tell me that? Let go!" She sneered.

She struggled to get his firm hand off her. But he was holding her in a dead grip. A moment passed before it loosened and she quickly stepped away, inspecting her hand.

Before she could get any words out of her, She heard the doors of the room banging, indicating his leave.

Tears brimmed in her eyes brown eyes.

Zohal would never snitch. She didn't take her problems to others. If anything, she solved it herself.

He dared to touch her? When clearly, Lateef and the others had warned him not to touch a hair on her?

If she had loathed him before, she detested his mere existence now.

She didn't understand in what way, Darab saw Omar Fatih, and she didn't have any interest to understand, anyway. But, whatsoever, this would be the first and last time.

A sudden determination coursed through her blood. The flames of resolution burnt her.

Not anymore.

***

It had been a week since, Omar and Zohal had tied the knot. But Zohal never got to see Shehraz after that day. It was like, Omar was deliberately keeping him from her. Whenever she'd go to his room, he wouldn't be there.

But living in that house she noticed something peculiar.

Only the boys paid attention to Shehraz, if at all.

The girls almost never talked about him, unless Najeeba breached the topic.

Only Umaira and Salim Fatih seemed to enjoy spending time with him, truly.

She understood that Mina who was a bit of reserved, and wouldn't talk or interact much. And she spent most of her time in her room.

But Maria and Rahma were so kind. And the fact that they ignored the boy, was hard to get around.

She initially, brushed off the thought not giving it much importance, but as time went by, she noticed their detachment more and more.

Najeeba, being the exception.

But, since Najeeba was expecting, she was advised not to tire herself much.

Zohal never spoke to Omar after that night. She chose to ignore him at all cost.

Omar was still the same stoic person. If anything, his demeanor only intensified after that night. He never bothered to glance at her, nor acknowledge her.

Azan's taunts and remarks lessened, probably the result of Umaira's and Salim's reprimands.

Naveed, Salman and Azan, never talked to her. It was like, there was an unspoken agreement among the brothers to avoid her. Was it the threat from Wadis or some other reason, she didn't know.

After a week had passed by, Zohal decided to return to work.

She had expected her in laws to show somereluctance. But to her pleasent surprise, they didn't.

Feeling a sudden elation about returning to work, Zohal walked along the path to the parking lot, located at the back of the estate. The pathway was built with black paving blocks. There were tiny shrubs and bushes, planted on both sides. They were properly maintained she noticed.

Badam Chachu, had driven her Audi from the Wadi house, the day before the nikkah had taken taken place.

There were multiple vehicles, ranging from cars to jeeps. But what caught her attention was the sleek Range rovers, at the back.

It was dark and shiny. She wondered to which Fatih it belonged.

Just then it roared to life and snaked through the rest of the vehicles, and halted right before her, earning a small gasp from her.

To her dismay, when the shutter rolled down, it was Omar Fatih's face which stared back at her with indifference.

Zohal couldn't help but scoff.

Of course.

She looked away, morphing her features back to a blank mask before she looked back at him with the same nonchalance.

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, "Where are you going?"

"Funny, coming from you." She muttered to herself. "I am a woman who earns for herself." She spat back.

Omar's jaw ticked and he held the bridge of his nose, with pale, thin fingers, attempting to contain his anger.

"What? You work?"

She remained silent, her anger getting the better of her.

"Ans-", he started.

"Spare your words." she spat venomously.

Before the engines of the car roared to life and zoomed away again, she heard his words.

"This isn't over, we'll talk again."

***

Zohal turned over the files of cases, which were piled on her mahogany desk.

Her assistant Ms. Fatwa had greeted her and congratulated her, only to bring heaps of files with a sympathetic smile.

The time she had taken off of work, had caused more than a dozen of files to pile onto her desk.

It had been only a little over half a month, but the cases that she encountered were much more than she could even imagine.

She just hoped that, she would be able to reach home early than usual, since she was now living in a different place.

Salim had specifically instructed her to return home before late night, as he didn't permit any of the girls to stay out late. She couldn't help but wonder if it had more to do with her safety or just a normal rule.

As the night rolled in, and she continued to go through the cases, a call interrupted her.

Mumbling incoherent words, she lifted her phone and checked the ID. It was an unknown number. Shrugging and deciding to ignore it, she returned to her work. The ringing continued for a few more minutes before they stopped altogether.

But the silence didn't remain for long, and Fatwa peeked through the door, her high pitched voice ringing in the silence.

"Ms. Wadi, there's a call for a Mrs. Fatih from Mr. Fatih?"

Zohal whipped her head towards the door in a heartbeat, causing her to wince at the sudden pain that coursed through her neck.

"I will direct it to your line."

Zohal stared at the now closed doors of her room.

Just then the phone on her table rang.

"Hello?"

Her weary voice spoke.

"Where the hell are you, Wadi?"

His gruff voice reached her ears, causing her to move the phone away from her drumming ears, by reflex.

"What do you want?"

An eerie silence settled over.

"Get back now."

With that the line got cut, leaving a confused, perplexed and ticked off Zohal. She just couldn't figure out, the enigma Omar Fatih was.

***

After parking her Audi she had noticed that, Omar's Range Rovers was missing. True to that, the Fatihs confirmed her doubts.

When she turned up at the door, Umaira was holding the baby.

Oh.

She froze.

Was she to greet her mother in law and just leave? Or was she to hold the baby?

She looked at the dull grey eyes of the infant.. He was interestingly eyeing a few stray strands of Umaira's brown hair, which managed to escape her dupatta.

He touched the strands of hair and twined it around his little chubby fingers.

It was only the third time she was seeing the baby, but It seemed, unlike the father, the child was quite different.

She smiled internally. But her face betrayed no emotion. Akin to a blank sheet.

As Zohal stared at the baby, she wondered why, the girls were hostile towards him.

Not even Omar Fatih was much expressive and fatherly.

That's what Zohal perceived from her stay at the Fatih house.

For God's sake.

He called the little boy a monster.

She had heard him once, mention that to Khalid. Much to her humour, Khalid then proceeded to tell him, that it was his monster.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Umaira addressed her.

"Zohal."

She looked up at the gentle voice.

"Do you want to hold him?"

A sigh escaped her. Until when was she going to deny? Might as well face the little monster without further procrastination.

What a hypocrite I am. She blamed Omar for calling him monster yet here she was. Setting a great example as the mother.

She smiled at her mother in law,

"Alright."

Umaira passed the baby gently onto her arms.

She tried to hold the little infant, as gently and carefully as possible. She still hadn't mastered the art of holding a baby.

Her mother in law smiled at her kindly, before adjusting her hands, to accommodate him.

That night was spent with both daughter and mother in law, talking and opening upto each other.

While, Zohal had held the baby, Umaira proceeded to tell her all that she knew about Shehraz.

His birthday. How he spent his day. How he liked to sleep. Who he liked the most. His most comfortable way of being held. His allergies.

There were many things Zohal learned, that night, while listening to Umaira and while rocking him.

And few hours later, when she retired to bed, after she returned from Umaira's room, her mind was chaotic.

The more she thought about it, the more bad she felt.

While she had been afraid of him, and had put little effort to get to know him, he had been suffering on his own. He might not be able to say it, but he probably felt alone.

He didn't have proper parents. The person who should have been there with him at each and every moment, was no more.

As for the other one.....she frankly didn't know, much. But she could tell he was anything but normal towards him.

And now her.

Could she be considered as one of his parents now? Would she qualify? While she had been moping around uselessly, irresponsibly?

She hadn't been comfortable at the time. Hadn't even grasped the idea properly. She she still new to it. But, she couldnt deny the fact that she had failed her the little monster, her Dada, God, and even her own values and morals in doing so.

She should be responsible for her actions. For her words. When she clearly gave her word to Dada.

In a strange way, she felt a familiarity in the baby's eyes. He was quite similar to her. She had lost her own parents when she was little.

***

That night, as Zohal drifted off to sleep, she made a promise.

A promise to Shehraz Fatih.

***