Previously On Chained:  Mri and Harsh return from their month long trip. Aditya receives a phone call from Yash, Mrinalini's father and Pooja's husband after he went missing for almost two years, right after Pooja's fatal accident. He asks him never to call at his house again.Zoya senses something is wrong with Aditya . He decides to talk about it after they come back from Sahir's engagement. 

Word Count:2768

"Aditya, aap pareshaan hai aaj. Hum gaadi chalate hai, theek hai?". Aditya nodded with a smile. He was grateful for the fact that Zoya could understand what he wanted without him saying even a word. Zoya drove and put on some music. Coincidentally , the song Raabta was playing again on the radio.Zoya smiled and said "Aapko yaad hai, jab hum pehli baar ek car ride pe gye the tab bhi yehi gana baja tha?"

To this Aditya replied "Haan aur baarish ho rhi thi. Fir tumne apni surili awaz mein mereko gaake sunaya" ,Aditya put his hand on Zoya's which rested on the gear and squeezed it as he spoke, "Tabse leke aajtak tumne kabhi mera saath nhi choda." Zoya said "Lekin ab aap humara haath chodiye aur gear change karne di jiye." Aditya snorted and said "Tumhare saath toh koi pagal hi pyaar bhari baatein karega. You are stone hearted"

Zoya said "Listen, Dr.Hooda , I can't help it if you are in a romantic mood 24*7. And how dare you call me stone hearted. Aapne khud ko dekha hai kabhi?" Aditya said "Jhagadne ke liye toh tum ever ready rehti ho. Tumhari ladne ki battery khatam nhi hoti kya?" Zoya scoffed and asked him to shut up. They continued bantering till they reached the venue.

Zoya looked in the rear view mirror and straightened her hair and touched up her lipstick while Aditya patted the  crease marks on his kurta. He saw Zoya refreshing her make up, and caught her off guard as he quickly kissed her on her cheek and whispered "Katal-e-aam lag rhi ho begum jaan", and then got out of the car leaving Zoya who blushed at her reflection for a second and then got out as well.

As they reached the entrance of the hall, they saw Sahir's father greeting the guests along with another man whom Zoya didn't recognise. Zoya and Aditya went toward him and Zoya said "Assalam Ailakum chacha" to which Mr.Choudhury replied "Walekum Assalam bete. Lekin maaf kijiye ga , humne aapko pehchana nhi." Zoya smiled and said "Chacha, hum Zoya hai, Zoya Siddiquie Hooda. Sahir ki khaas dost.

M.Choudhary's face broke into a smile as soon as he heard her name and gave her a hug and said "Of course. Pata nhi hum kaise bhool gye yeh chehra. Sahir toh itni baatein karta hai tumhari aaj tak ki humein toh laga ki voh tumse hi nikkah karega ek din."

Zoya smiled uncomfortably and side glanced at Aditya and much to her surprise and relief she saw , Aditya standing absolutely at ease and grinning at Mr.Choudhury. Zoya then said "Chacha, yeh humare shauhar hai, Dr.Aditya Hooda." Aditya shook hands with him and then Mr.Choudhury said "Inse mileye, yeh hai Jannat ke abbu , Mr.Farooqui. Jannat,jinse Sahir ki sagai hone ko hai aaj."

They exchanged pleasantries with each other and then he showed them to find Jannat and Sahir. As they walked down the hall Zoya slid her arm into Aditya's and said "Hum aaj bohot khush the Aditya. Aapne chacha ki nikaah wali baat ko mazak mein hi liya aur gussa nhi hue." Aditya scratched her forehead with the tip of his finger and said "Tumhara pati ke Andar voh jo pagal insecure jaanwar tha usko tumne maar diya hai. Ab main inn baton ko mazak mein  le sakta hoon. Chinta mat karo Zoya."

Zoya patted his arm and they reached the stage where Sahir and Jannat were seated .  Sahir saw them and screamed in excitement "Adiiiityaa ....... Zoyaaa" He engulfed them both in a hug and squealed "I am so happy that you guys are here." He then took them to the stage and introduced them to Jannat.

Zoya and Jannat started talking when Sahir beckoned Aditya to come to the side of the stage and whispered to him "Adi ek problem hai." Aditya replied "Kya hua? You aren't getting cold feet right? Listen if you are, then I think you better talk to Zoya. She can handle these things better than I can,okay."

He was about to continue when Sahir said "Sssh. Will you shut up. No, I am not getting cold feet ,you idiot. It's about Zoya." Aditya's face changed into a look of concern and said "Oh! What about her?"

Sahir said "See, Jannat's parents are good friends with the Siddiquies. And they invited them here. Agar Zoya ne unhe dekha toh she 'll be heart broken and shocked as Mahi has got married and they didn't really invite Zoya to the wedding. So just look into that , will you."

Aditya nodded and  then both of them headed towards the stage where they saw that Jannat and Zoya were still chatting. Aditya and Sahir joined them and after a few minutes it was announced that the ceremony was going to begin. Aditya and Zoya left the stage after giving a hug to Sahir and Jannat.

Aditya then said to Zoya " Zoya ab toh function ho gya. Hum ghar chalein kya? Mera sar bohot dard kar rha hai" , praying that Zoya wouldn't want to stay for dinner so that they could leave without having an uncomfortable encounter with her parents.

Zoya however panicked a little and said "Aapne bataya kyun nhi ki aapka sar dard kar rha hai. Aap baithiye yahan , hum aapke liye abhi kuch khane ke liye leke aate hai  fir aap dawai le lijiyega. Chup chaap baith jaiye."

And before he could say anything else she had already left. Aditya sat down at a table with a huge sigh and almost immediately felt a pat on his back and a voice said "Are damaad ji aap?" Aditya closed his eyes at his failure of avoiding this very interaction. He got up and put on a smile and said "Namaste uncle." and hugged Waseem and then Roshnaq. Very soon Mahi and her husband Aakash joined them.

Aditya nodded at them politely. Waseem said "Aur bataiye Aditya kaise hai aap. Shaadi ke baad aapse mulakaat hi nhi ho paai. Uske liye shama chahta hoon." Aditya said "Are uncle it's okay. Aap toh family ho. Kabhi bhi aa jaiyega humare ghar. Zoya bhi kaafi yaad karti hai aap logon ko."

The whole Siddiquie family stiffened up at the mention of her name. Roshnaq however broke the silence and asked "Kaisi hai voh ? Aap khush toh hai uske saath?" Before Aditya could answer , Zoya spoke standing right behind Aditya holding a cold drink and a plate of mutton chops , "Aap yeh sawaal humi se kyun nhi kar leti ammi"

Waseem looked away when he saw Zoya approaching them. Zoya spoke in a low and cold voice "1299 missed calls, 1789 messages, 850 voice notes. In do saalon mein humne yeh sab kara. Aapne ek ka bhi jawaab diya ammi? Tab aapne kyun nhi poocha ki hum kaise hai, "Hum" khush hai ki nhi Aditya ke saath. Tab aapka yeh concern , yeh pyaar kahan tha. Mahi ki shaadi kara di aur aapne humein ek baar batana zaroori bhi nhi samjha. Humein kaise pata chala ki humari ek lauti behen ka nikaah ho gya hai ? Instagram se!!"

Zya was fuming but she wasn't creating a scene. Aditya held her hand and said "Zoya, hum iss bare mein baad baat karte hai.
Waseem said "Roshnaq, chalo yahan se. Humein inka chehra ek aur minute nhi dekhna."

Zoya who had calmed down a bit at Aditya's voice retorted in that same low voice "Aapne humein bardaash kara hi kab se tha abbu? Aap ko toh humara zinda rehna hi khatakta tha. Varna koi baap apni beti ke nikkah ke baad ek baar kaise nhi poochta ki jisse uski shaadi hui voh aadmi theek hai ya nhi, humein koi takleef hai ya nhi. Lekin aapne toh aisa kuch nhi kara."

Mahi was about to say something when Zoya raised her hand and said "Mahi, humein aapki koi baat nhi sunni. Aur ammi, abbu , itne saalon tak humein lagta tha ki shayad hum mein koi kami hai ki humne apna parivaar kho diya. Lekin aapki harkaton se yeh saaf jhalakta hai ki shayad acha hi hua ki aap humara parivaar nhi hai."

Waseem said in a angry whisper "Roshnaq chalo yahan se. Main inki badtameezi aur nhi dekh sakta." Roshnaq had tears in her eyes, and Aakas looked appalled at this family dynamic. Zoya turned away and went from there .
Aditya said "Uncle , Aunty please rukiye. Aise gusse mein gaadi chalyenge toh accident na ho jaaye. Please let me drop you home."
Waseem said "Aditya shukriya lekin hum chale jayenge." Aditya said "Uncle please, at least mere dad aur unki dost ke khatir mujhe itna sa karne di jiye."
Waseem agreed hesitantly. Aditya said "Thank you. Chaliye."

He messaged Zoya that he was going to drop her parents and he would come home in a cab. He knew he should have been with Zoya then , but today he wanted to talk to her parents. He wanted to know the reason behind their hatred towards her. He has always heard Zoya's version of the story , today he wanted to know theirs and fix the relation if he could. So he drove them to their house. There was pin drop silence on the way. When they reached , Waseem said a short thank you and got out from the car along with Aakash and Mahi.

Aditya didn't let Roshnaq leave the car and asked her to stay. Roshnaq was surprised and she asked "Sab theek hai na beta?"

Aditya said in a serious tone "Nhi aunty sab theek nhi hai. Lekin shayad sab theek karne ka wakt aa gya hai. Mujhe aapse kuch baat karni hai."

Roshnaq signalled him to continue and
Aditya said "Why are your relations with Zoya so bad? I understand there was a time when you blamed her for her brother's accident but that was a long time ago. And even before that you had always neglected her. What's this hatred that you and Waseem have towards her? I have seen her look at your photographs every night before going to sleep. I have seen her wait for you all to respond to her call or messages.
I have seen her cry for you and beg to god for a normal family. I love her a lot and it kills me to see her like this and be so helpless..
So if there is anything that can be done to mend this relationship then please tell me because I can't see her like this anymore. "

Roshnaq took a deep breath and Aditya saw tears swimming in her eyes . He passed her a tissue and a  bottle of water . Roshnaq calmed herself down and cleared her throat and said "Promise me whatever I tell you today, you will never mention to Zoya as it will break her more."Aditya gave her his word.

Roshnaq continued and said "Before I got married to Waseem , I was in a relationship with someone else. His name was Ahmed."   Aditya nodded , "Since he belonged to a different community, my father didnt allow me to get married to him. We were a conservative family and hence my father fixed my marriage with Waseem.
Anyway, I had a physical relation with that guy. And about two months  after I got married to Waseem , I found out I was pregnant but with Ahmed's child. I was shocked and scared. I tried to abort the  but I was told it could harm me as well. So I decided to tell Waseem about it. We had a lot of fights about this. Basically he shouting at me. He was reputed man. He didn't want a divorce in his family hence he didn't ask for one from me.  I always wanted to have a happy married life. I didn't have many dreams in life . The only thing I ever wanted was to be a good wife. I was brought up that way as well."

She stopped for a drink of water. Aditya was still shocked to say anything else. She continued, "I soon gave birth to Zoya. I hated her by then . For me she was the reason why I was suffering. But the day she was born I saw her smile at me . It was a long time since anybody had smiled at me and she held my finger after two days. It made me feel wanted.

That was the only time I felt happy that she was there in my life. Because after that I was shunned away by Waseem when I came back home. I thought of her as a burden and Waseem didnt even look at her. However things got better with time. Waseem and I sought out differences but he still hated Zoya and I was frustrated because of her . Hence the animosity built up.  Then we had Iqbal. And when Iqbal passed away, Waseem blamed her. So did I. Iqbal was the reason Waseem and I were finally happy. And that's the whole truth behind this unexplained hatred towards her. Your father knows about this , hence he was always soft towards Zoya."

Aditya started crying. Roshnaq had a heavy voice and she said "I know I have been a terrible mother. I blamed her for my mistakes. I don't even know whose mistake this was. All I know Zoya shouldn't have been treated the way we did. I know that. But it was difficult for us."

Aditya suddenly looked up and his eyes were red from tears and anger and said in a loud voice "IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR YOU? REALLY? She was completely broken when I met her. She  blamed herself for not being a good daughter and you have the audacity to say that it was "difficult" for you. It wasn't difficult for you. You were just selfish. I am sorry about what happened to you and your love life but you didn't have any right to treat like that."

Roshnaq said "She is really lucky to have a husband like you. You will always give her all the love....you..."

Aditya stopped her and said "I am lucky to have her in my life . And yes I will always love her. I will love her more than I love myself. She will always be the first priority for me and you needn't tell me that. I am sorry I thought I could fix this . I guess she is honestly better off without you guys. Goodnight aunty." Aditya never felt this angry in his entire life.

Roshnaq patted his shoulder and said "Beta one more thing. We haven't celebrated her birthday for 30 years because I always told her I had forgotten her birthday.  Her birthday is in 3 hours Aditya. She was born on 8th May. I hope you celebrate her birthday and give her the family she always wanted."

Aditya merely nodded and got out from the car but before leave he said "I am sorry you lost the opportunity to know what a beautiful daughter you had."
Roshnaq held her head down and said "I know. I am sorry about that too. All the best in your married life Aditya."

They parted ways. Aditya wiped his tears and recalled all those times he had hurt Zoya and made her feel unwanted. He felt terrible. But that night he decided to always treat Zoya like a queen and love her more than anything else in the world.

Dearest Readers
How was this chapter? Did you expect this revelation ? Next we will see how Zoya deals with Aditya's dilemma about Mri and Yash. Do let me know your views and please do comment.  They mean a lot.

Also I noticed a drop in the number of reads and votes in the previous chapter. I would really like to know if I can improve in any area. So do let me know that as well. Also would you like to see any other track between Aditya and Zoya in Chained before I end this book. Feel free to tell me.

I love you all. Please stay safe and I hope those who live in Vizag are safe. All my prayers are with you.

Cold Dragon.