Chapter 154: Two Months Later

Two months later

Dua never told Shehryaar why she tried committing suicide again or why she killed her

child with her own hands. She never revealed her husband's identity to him either. He

pressed her once to tell him everything, but she kept quiet and didn't utter a word. After

that, Shehryaar never investigated this matter. Because Dua pleaded with Shehryaar for the

investigation to cease for the sake of their mother, it caused something within him that

made him stop the investigation. In matters and requests where people gave him the sake of

his mother, he remained fair and fulfilled those requests. He held a very unexplainable

relationship with his mother, one that could not be put into words. The world always

thought he abhorred his mother, but only he knew about the dilemma he was caught in,

about the confused hate he had in his heart for her.

Shehryaar had become busier since the shift of power. Irtaza, his elder brother, had

transferred all the authority to Shehryaar, and with it came responsibilities too. He was

declared the new Ameer in the countryside areas. The landlords and prominent figures had

to pledge their allegiance to him. The politicians of the state also had to come and sign a

contract of their utmost loyalty to the blood of Shabbir Haider Syed and the next mafia don.

As he was also the new head of the family, every decision required his approval. He began to

be at the haveli most of the time. He had also shifted Sheharzaad to the haveli a month ago.

A small engagement ceremony had been done, and their wedding preparations had begun,

but the wedding date had yet to be decided as Shehryaar hadn't approved of any date yet.

All he said was, "soon."

That "soon" was a source of relief and, at the same time, nerve-wracking for Sheharzaad.

The dread had been eating her slowly and sensually from the inside. The married life and its

anticipation had crippled her heart. She was aware that with her becoming someone's wife,

it would bring her a lot of responsibilities. And when that someone was Shehryaar, the man

she dreaded to the core of her soul, her entire being, fulfilling her responsibilities and duties

toward him would be a task in itself. Especially with the mental state she had now, where

his shadow scared her so much.

She didn't know how he would be as a husband to her. All she had seen to date was his dark

side, which made her wonder if he had a humane part in him or not. She fervently hoped

that if there was any humanity in him, it would surface after marriage. Because now she had

to marry him, at any and every cost.

Meanwhile, she had gotten herself acquainted with the haveli and its members too. She had

no idea about Amna and Ahmed now. She was too afraid to ask him about them. Her day

and night were spent in the room assigned to her, and when she was called for lunch and

dinner, she would come, have her food, and then leave.

She wasn't allowed a phone yet, as he had deprived her of it, and she didn't dare go against

his orders or try using even the telephone at the haveli or ask anyone else for a phone. She

so wanted to talk to Amna, wanted to know about her condition. And Ahmed too.

But she just prayed for them.

Prayed that they were alive.

And that they were fine.

She so wanted to ask Shehryaar about Amna's health. To stop him in the middle of the

hallway, raise her eyes, look straight into those deep, dark orbs, and ask confidently,

"Where is my friend?"

But her courage had faded away. Even once, she saw him walking in the hallway, going

toward his grandfather's study, and she thought of stopping him. Thought.

Yet her actions were very much counter to her thoughts. She hid behind a door until the

sound of his footsteps faded away.

These little actions of hers always made her wonder about her after-marriage life.

Because all she knew was, "Obeying him."

One thing, and the only thing that had been carved into her brain, was to obey him. Day and

night, every second, every moment, every breath she lived in constant fear that she might

do something which would make him think she was disobeying him.

She saw him less. Very little. Because he was busy with work. She wouldn't see him at the

dining table either, as he was either working in his study, not at the haveli, or sleeping. One

night, she did come across him, and she forgot to breathe the very second that led to

fainting. Because she wasn't wearing her ring on her finger, as she had forgotten it in the

washroom, and the first thing he noticed was her finger.

She still remembered how his lashes moved down and his grey orbs fixed on her finger

before his eyes strolled up, fixed upon hers, and then he narrowed those orbs. The sound of

her fast and wildly beating heart was still fresh in her ears.

The next second, she let out a hiccup as her body shivered and her hands tightly holding

each other now. Her troubled face stared at him, and before she knew it, she had fainted.

She was now able to understand the power of the ring that sat on her finger proudly. She

wasn't the ring's owner; rather, that ring owned her. Because Shehryaar made her wear this

ring.

She was afraid of this diamond piece sitting on her finger.

She was afraid to lose it now.

She was afraid that he might take it away from her.

Because the last time he took it away from her, it resulted in days that seemed like years in

that cell. When she had come out of that cell, she had changed completely. Utterly.