With trembling hands and a fast beating heart Ayat pushed her daughter inside the room instructing her to not make a single sound as she herself went to the door to see who it was that was banging on the door. She had ignored it and had waited for it to stop but it started happening again after a small pause, her mind could only come up with thoughts that lead to only one man that was a threat to her and her daughter. 

Ibrahim.

She kept her hand on the door knob before mastering up the courage to ask who it was.

"Who is it?" She asked, her question although was followed by a long silence before the banging started again. Cold sweat broke out on her brow as she trembled asking again, much loudly and clearly this time.

"Open the damn door" the voice was familiar and slurry as the fist of the man yet again collided with the door and Ayat, contemplating if she should open the door or not but after a while of her just standing there, there was a soft knock on the door making her ump slightly and asked again. 

"What do you want?" She yelled making another male voice speak making her heart go in a frenzy.

"It's me Zayn, can you please open the door for me Ayat?" The voice of her neighbor filled her ears making her heave a sigh of relief before she opened the door.

"Yes?" She asked opening the door just enough to slip out and see what was happening, her neighbor didn't really say anything but pointed to the man sprawled on the floor beside her door.

"You know him?" He asked and Ayat's heart stopped witnessing Ibrahim laughing maniacally on the floor, her throat dried as she stared at him making Zayn frown at her paled expression and waved his hand before her face to pull her out of her thoughts, the woman jumped slightly making Zayn to pull his hands back and up in surrender. 

"he was making a scene so i had to and a punch or two to calm" he said making Ayat crack a smile at his reddened cheeks, the nineteen year old was a shy kid and Ayat's heart warmed at his concern.

"Thankyou Zayn, it means a lot. He's sort of an ally." She explained.

"Oh.. do you want me to call the police?" He asked making her think for a second before shaking her head.

"I have a better option" she smiled before quickly taking her phone out of her pocket.

"Hello" the intimidating voice of the old man echoed in her ears, her heart picked up its pace as she now felt the voice Murad Sukhera vibrate through her ear drums, the very man who had left at the orphanage to fend for herself, the very man whos son was no sprawled on her welcome mat.

"Would you mind coming and collecting your son from her doorstep before I hand him to the police." she spoke and the man had no doubt as who was speaking. this was the last warning that he was getting from Ayat before she took his son to court which only meant a disaster for him.

Murad Sukhera was a twisted man and is any of his illegal businesses got to the police he was in deep trouble, his son was so blindly in love with a woman who wanted to do nothing with him but he was persistent, he had to send Ibrahim away for good before his foolishness brought down the empire he had built upon the money he stole from his orphaned niece, it wouldn't be nice for him.

"I'm sending my men, can you please take him in---" his sentence was cut short as Ayat spoke in monotone.

"He's laying at my door step come and take your trash before some else takes him under arrest" it that she hung up and glanced at Ibrahim who had gained some consciousness.

"Ayat?" he grinned hauling himself up making her take a step back and open her door to walk inside and lock him outside but he  was a quicker than her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to himself, her eyes widened as she closed the shut seeing that now Mihrimah had come out of her room with wide eyes, before Mihrimah could reach the door ayat had pulled it close, the hallway was deserted as Zayn had now left feeling as though the situation was under control but it had only gotten worse. 

"Leave me Ibrahim" she growled against him making him even more than he already was.

"Not when I've finally got you" he whispered near her ear making her grit her teeth in annoyance and push him with all her might, the distance was of no use her head turned to the side with a loud ringing in her ear, her left cheek felt as if someone had lit it up on fire. Her eyes watered at the slap that she had not expected, not getting enough time to recover from his previous assault she felt her hair being fisted and pulled and before she could retaliate she felt his mouth covering hers, her senses as if came crashing back to her and she started struggling against his bruising hold.

She turned her head to the side and slapped him only to feel another blow to her cheek making her lip tear from the corner, the cold breeze of the air conditioner felt like an electricity jolt to her bruised cheeks making her glare at him and punch him hard in the gut, the man hunched over and she kneed him in the face making him stumble back with a smirk on his face.

"I see you haven't forgotten anything from the past" he  laughed making her cringe as the image of an eighteen year old ayat fighting for the money filled her vision, on instinct she blocked another blow that she had not expected but it wasn't enough as she felt a hit to her nose, tears dropped from her eyes making her vision blurry. She swayed on her feet and before she could steady herself the man was pulled off of her rather harshly, loud noises over took the rabid mans screams and ayat felt herself being held against a warm chest. 

"Hey, Ayat" someone patted her cheek as she struggled to focus on the familiar face and voice but her eyes were two heavily bruised to be opened at the moment. 

Zaviyar opened the door to find a worried Mihrimah pacing in the living room with trembling hands and tearful eyes, her eyes widened as took in her mothers bloodied nose and black eye and immediately came running to the man who held her mother to his chest, his face an image of concern.

The paramedics were rushing in after him, Mihrimah had called 911 and Zaviyar respectively after witnessing her mother being dragged outside mercilessly, Zaviyar came to stand beside her as they took her to the ambulance to take her to the ER. 

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It was almost midnight when Zaviyar's phone rang making him groggily turn on his back to see who it was, his eyebrows scrunched as he saw Mihrimah calling him that late at night and answered the phone at once.

"Zavi uncle" her trembling voice reached his ears and sat up straight  rubbing the rest of his sleep away from his eyes.

"Mah? what happened?" he asked paying his utmost attention to the shaky breaths she was taking.

"He.... mama.... can you please come here?" her voice was muffled and low and could've easily missed it if hadn't paid enough attention to her.

"What's going on?" he asked already on his feet after he heard the word mama leave her mouth, he feared her ex would've broken into her house as he rushed pull on any clothes that he found over his briefs before dashing out of his room, the rush making Alaska and robin bark in alert, waking Maa jaan up in the process.

"Breathe, Mah, breathe" he instructed and the girl did as told, after a moment of silence Mihrimah explained to him the situation and his jaw clenched, he pressed his foot flat on the gas and sped on the almost empty road, seeing his security team following behind him.

The moment he reached his floor his anger knew no limits as he witnessed a man holding ayat against the wall, her head turned to the right when the mans fist collided with her nose, he pulled the man off of her and held her as almost fell to the ground his men took over the task to break every bone in Ibrahim's body as per their boss's order. 

As the doctors in the emergency room treated her bruises and busted lip he pulled Mihrimah to his chest, the child was sobbing outside the ER and instantly hugged him back wrapping her arms around his torso.

"Will she be okay?" she asked making Zaviyar sigh and help her to sit on the metal chairs in the hallway, his own eyes threatened to water looking at her broken state but he knew ayat would be fine and soon  his little girl will be at peace.

"She will be, she's Mah's mama, she'll be fine" he said kneeling before her, his hands on her shoulders as he pulled her in for yet another comforting. he felt his heart falling at ease as he felt her warmth calm him down. right there in that moment he wished someone had ever hugged him the way he held Mihrimah close to his heart, wished someone knew how to console him when his father walked out of his life to cater for his half siblings. 

His eyes closed as he felt the little mirror his gesture of rubbing here back, making him chuckle at her trying to calm his frantically beating heart. the moment was short lived as the doctor examining ayat came out to explain that would be fine but due to the hits to her head she would be facing vertigo for some time, he left prescribing her medicines and let them meet her.

"Mama" the child sobbed jumping on the bed making ayat old her head as a wave of dizziness hit her.

"Sorry" Mihrimah mumbled apologetically before hugging her mother tenderly, Ayat's eyes fell on the man standing at the foot of her bed, dressed shabbily in washed denim jeans and a white button down, his hair a wild mess  on his head and a worried expression on his face.

"I'm so sorry she troubled you Zaviyar." Ayat apologized making him glare at her and shake his head at her irrelevant concern.

"That was your apartment hallway not a fucking boxing ring that you were getting smashed in" he scolded her making Mihrimah snicker sharing a sneaky smile with the man, leaving the woman to roll her eyes and turn her head away from them, her cheeks turned rosy under the bluish hue of her bruise.

"Who was he even?" Zaviyar asked making eyes divert to Mihrimah who was equally expectant of an answer as Zaviyar was.

"I knew him in my teenage" she replied making Zaviyar hum half satisfied and raise his eyebrows waiting for an explanation.

"Listen i'd rather not discuss him right now, where is he anyways?" she asked making Zaviyar eyes travel to a disappointed Mihrimah and nodded before taking in a deep breath to reply.

"In jail" he replied swiftly making her close her eyes in annoyance.

"Did you tell Nuha?" she asked making them reply at the same time 

"yes"

"no" 

Mihrimah looked at Zaviyar with a irritated look much like her mothers, before the oblivious, man look between them confused but his confusion was cleared as a disheveled Nuha ran in with tears streaming down her face, her hair curled in beach waves from her date, eyes squinted and watered.

"What happened to you?" she asked hugging ayat as tight as she could making Mihrimah throw her off her mother so she doesn't ends up with broken bones instead of bruised ones.

"Why did you tell them?" Mihrimah gritted as she came to stand beside Zaviyar who looked like a deer caught in highlights.

"What did I do?" he asked throwing his hands up in the air making Mihrimah huff.

"Why aren't you answering your? Before you maa jaan ruined my date calling me time and time again to ask why you weren't in your damn room" Haider hissed as he walked out of the ER.

"On purpose" Zaviyar replied making Mihrimah frown seeing the two man scowl in space.

"So how did your date go?" she asked trying to get them to talk because otherwise they looked like two toddlers standing in punishment.

"It went good." that was all Haider said making Mihrimah pout and Zaviyar felt himself softened at the sight, he elbowed Haider harshly making him groan and glare at him for making his little sad and Haider roll his eyes before taking her to one of the seats to sit and explain in detail how it went leaving out a few details but the spark on Mihrimah face said everything about the censor not being needed.

Leaving Mihrimah with Haider he walked back inside to check up on Ayat to find her sleeping with Nuha sitting beside her, the woman slowly massaged her scalp keeping the bandage on her forehead in mind.

"Do you mind telling me who he is?" he asked, keeping his voice as calm and low as possible, Nuha lifted her head up and gulped before nodding slowly.

"He's Ayat's cousin, her uncle I mean his dad left Ayat the orphanage when she was young since was moving away after illegally gaining ownership of Ayat's inheritance, we met after years in high school when ayat was dating his best friend Michael. they both were perfect for each other and loved each other so much their breakup wasn't even an option that was until Ibrahim started showing interest in ayat ruining Ayat's day and night, her relationship with Michael was falling apart with each day as Ibrahim forced himself into our life, it wasn't long when Ibrahim found out that Michael was taking ayat to his lake house for the weekend, no one was supposed to know about this and before they could get there Ibrahim had gotten cameras installed everywhere to record their every move leading to him finding things that should've just stayed between them." she stopped taking a deep breath and Zaviyar clenched his fists feeling his heart racing against his ribcage. 

"Ever since that weekend Michael started growing distant and when Ayat asked what had happened he blew up throwing curses at her for cheating on him by setting up cameras to use the videos against him. she at first didn't know what he was talking about but when he showed her the clips shown to him she lost it, they fought and even came to a conclusion that there was something more to it, according to them they deleted the film from the memory card and had destroyed but the footage leaked and soon spread around like fire in a forest. they both were left to accuse each other for cheating the other and leaking it to be used against the other." she paused wiping her eyes reliving the time and taking in a deep breath. Zaviyar kept his eyes trained on Ayat's face not knowing what to even think at that moment, his mouth had run dry and he felt his chest tighten.

"Ibrahim kept fueling the fire and soon the news of her pregnancy had reached Michael he was furious and had refused to even look at ayat and left. during the nine month long period her life was a mess, Michael's mother found out and she demanded ayat get an abortion which wasn't possible any longer without risking Ayat's life, Ibrahim tried to get  Mah out of the way by after her birth but that couldn't happen. we moved to another city, nearly homeless when Ibrahim presented an offer that gave a place to live and money, he trained ayat and used her as a pawn for his underground boxing club, we had to put Mihrimah in foster care and since then she's been living with Humaira and Ismail. it took a lot for ayat and me to escape that dreadful situation, it ruined our lives and trust on men, Michael was all a girl ever wanted, caring, gentle, honest and loving but after he left her neither of us was stable enough to move on, we had to let go of Mah because by the time Mah was nine Michael was on an hunt for her, he had found out about everything but even then his only focus was Mah so he could use her to gain access to his inheritance which wasn't possible without his heir." Nuha felt a pair of arms wrap around her supporting her slouching shoulder making her turn around to find Haider standing behind her, a sab smile on his face as he rubbed her arm to strengthen her.

he had dropped Mihrimah to a room where she had a friend admitted, the friend was Izhaan, he left her under the boys caretakers presence and came back only to have his heart break at the problems these three women had faced, Zaviyar was gazing at her Ayat's face with a far away look before he straightened and turned towards Nuha.

"Can you pack a bag for Ayat and Mihrimah?" he asked making her frown at him before he continued.

"I'm taking them home with me" he stated making Haider turn pale, maa jaan would eat the two girls alive.

"Zavi-" he was cut short by one glance of Zaviyar's red eyes.

"I'm not leaving my girls alone anymore, you can come with them Nuha if you want" he said making Nuha shake her head.

"I'm sorry Zaviyar but that's not happening, Ayat would never agree to this-" Nuha started but she stopped feeling Zaviyar intense gaze.

"I don't care, today its a small attack next you don't know what hell do, and if ayat has  problem she can suck it up" with that the man was out of sight, another storm that was waiting for him was maa jaan and he better do something steady before maa jaan does something.

"Tera dimag theek hai?"  Haider asked pulling him harshly making Zaviyar growl.

(have you lost your mind?)

"Maa jaan will eat the two of them alive" Haider gritted making Zaviyar burst out in anger.

"Enough! maa jaan, maa jaan, maa jaan, I'm fucking tired of having to think a hundred times before living my life. ayat is going home with me and maa jaan has a problem with it she can keep to herself" he growled making Haider shake his head before pulling a pacing Zaviyar to sit beside him.

"Listen, think of the torture they'll go through under her scrutinizing gaze, well have security lining they're apartment and help them but not like this" Haider said raising his eyebrows to emphasis on his words.

"Haider-"

"Maa jaan won't allow non mehram girls in the house. Whatever you've done in the past she doesn't know about it but you taking two random girls home will ruin everything." Haider explained but the way Zaviyar's lips pulled up in a smirk he knew there was something going on in his mind.

"That's where you're wrong my friend" 

Assalamualaikum guys! 

How are you all doing?

Just wanted to come and drop this eidi for you all. I know ill end up disappearing again for now please bear with me, my schedule is very tiring hence I don't update as much.

And please guys leave your comments here so i can look forward to writing more updates. 

I hope you all enjoy.

Love

Hafsa tahir