~Third Person's POV

"Hooriyah Jahangir Khan, Kya apko Hammad Ali Gillani sey ye nikkah Qubbol hai?"

There was a pin drop silence in the hall as a couple of joyful eyes stared at her with ecstasy. She remained silent as the Nikkah Khwan asked the same question again and again, only to get no response in return.

"Hooriyah Jahangir Khan, Kya apko Hammad Ali Gillani sey ye nikkah Qubbol hai?"

She sat there like a robot, staring at the nikkah papers, which were soon going to be signed by her, ultimately sealing her destiny with the name of someone whom she had never dreamt about ever before.

"Hoor, say something!"

One of her friends whispered in her ears, bringing her back to her senses.

She blinked multiple times as a pool of tears started to form inside her large hazel brown kohl filled eyes as she tried to hold her breath, knowing that what she was about to say next was soon going to take her life anyway. Her eyes were wide open with pain and hopelessness as something unintentionally slipped out of her mouth, something which was enough to make her regret for the rest of her life.

"Qubool Hai! "

A layer of joy and excitement ran across the hall as she repeated thrice, while a synchronized stream of tears cascaded down her rosy face which was hidden behind a red colored net veil.

"Hooriyah Jahangir Khan, Kya apko Hammad Ali Gillani sey ye nikkah Qubbol hai?"

The Nikkah Khwan asked for the third time.

"Qubool Hai! ", was her final reply as she continued to watch herself being completely detached from the one who had been the only dream of her, since two decades.

And that's when a loud and deafening sound of thunderstorm pushed open all the windows of her room, scaring her soul to the core as she jolted and woke up from a deep slumber, which seemed to last till eternity.......!

~Hooriyah

My eyes popped open with fear as a loud and deafening roar of thunderstorm pushed open the windows of my room.

I looked at my surroundings while breathing heavily.

There was no red veil over my face.

No Nikah Khwan in front of me.

And no questioning gazes, torturing my soul.

I silently rested my head on my knees and wept innocently after realizing that I was watching a terrible nightmare.

"Ya Allah, please have some mercy on me!"

I cried and mumbled under my breath as my body trembled with fear.

As I continued to recall the tits and bits of my dream, the events from last night started to traumatize my soul simultaneously.

The touch of his skin, the warmth of his breath on my neck and that soul shaking insanity in his deep and piercing olive green eyes started to make me feel cringe as I recalled Shahveer's vulgar tactics from the last night.

I closed my eyes tightly and held my head with my hands as a layer of excruciating pain ran across my head.

"I love you Hooriyah ! "

His painful voice rang like a bell inside my head as I shook my head with annoyance.

"It's just that you are driving me insane day by day and I couldn't control myself while watching you like this."

I cried harder as his words started to torture my heart.

"I want to marry you Hooriyah! Please don't insult my love and my feelings like this!"

At last, I screamed at the top of my lungs as I tried to hush all the painful memories away.

I couldn't surrender myself to his love anymore. Shahveer was torturing my soul beyond my tolerance and giving up myself to him meant a disaster. And after all what he had done to me five years ago, was not worth forgiving at all. I was a fool that I forgave him and allowed him to take an advantage of this opportunity by trying to destroy my character and my honor.

All of his confessions were a lie. He was using me all this time, just to satisfy his own lust. He was pathetic and I was a fool that I believed that he had changed.

How can a man change for the sake of love?

A man like Shahveer Khan was meant to make his and other's life miserable, and pathetic as hell.

Before he could try to emotionally blackmail me, or overpower himself over me once again, I decided to take the things under my control, because he was unbelievable. He had already destroyed my soul beyond repair. Now I don't want him to destroy this new life which had welcomed me after five years. I won't let him ruin me once again. I won't let him torture me once again.

HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE MINE!

I WAS WRONG!

I deserved to be with a man who seemed to be respectable and pious, both from his deeds and his thoughts. Not with a man who had spent his life while sinning and who never knew how to respect a woman and her character.

I hate myself for praying to get his love, since eighteen years. How I wish I had prayed to never see him in my life, again.

I was a fool.

And now was the time to rectify my mistakes.

I immediately picked up my phone and started dialing Hammad's number. I knew this was insane but this was the only thing which could help me in staying alive.

"Hello, is everything fine Hooriyah?"

A deep voice entered my ears from the other side of the phone.

"Hammad, I wanted to talk to you about something!" I stammered while my heart raced wildly.

"At 4 a.m? What's wrong Hoor? You don't sound well!" He seemed concerned.

"Can we marry next week, instead of next month?" I blurted out at once.

Extremely unethical, but more than important it was!

"What? Are you sure, Hooriyah?" He sounded extremely happy.

"Yes I am sure Hammad. I don't want to delay this anymore."

My voice cracked with pain as a lonely tear escaped one of my eyes.

"What happened Hooriyah? Weren't you always trying to delay the marriage, before?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, but my reasons have changed now Hammad. I think that this will be the best for both of us, the sooner, the better! I don't feel comfortable while staying as your fiancé anymore. We should make this relationship halal as soon as possible!"

I wept as I talked to him painfully.

"Is all of this related to Shahveer?" He asked as his voice drowned into an ocean of disappointment.

I remained silent for few seconds trying to control the storm of tears ready to escape any second.

"Did he hurt you again, Hooriyah?" His voice wavered with pain.

"I just want to close his chapter once and for all. That's it! It's only you who can understand the depth of my pain. You have been by my side since five years and I think that without your support, I wouldn't be able to survive. I am asking for your help for the last time, please fulfill my wish for one last time. After that, I won't ask anything from you!"

I cried harder as he silently listened to my painful sobs and merciless hiccups with pain.

"Fine then! We are marrying next Friday! Please stop crying dear, you know very well how pathetically your tears hurt me. I promise you that all of these tears of agony will turn out to be the tears of joy one day. I promise you with the depth of my heart!"

I smiled painfully as he tried to calm me down.

"The days of pain are going to end soon, Hooriyah! And I promise you that I will paint your colorless life with myriad of colors, once again!"

He smiled as I listened to him silently, still thinking about someone I shouldn't have had.

"I love you, okay?"

He whispered on the other end while my heart skipped a beat, making me recall the events from the last night along with Shahveer's pale disappointed face, gloomy swollen eyes, betrayed emotions and the pain in his voice.

I shut my eyes tightly as his angelic face started to waver in front of me.

"Goodnight, Hammad!"

I ended the call as I started sensing a layer of disappointment in his tone, for not getting an 'I love you too' back.

Because I never loved him!

He had been my support since years. He had always been by my side through my thick and thin and supported me through my nervous breakdown, emotional and financial crisis and had always been extremely sweet and caring. But I could never return those feelings to him which he always had for me since five years. The only reason why I agreed to his proposal and engaged to him a year ago, was the fact that I didn't want to break his heart, for I had always known that how it feels to be hurt and rejected by your loved one.

But the truth is that the second person is always a compromise,

'cause we only love once !

But unfortunately, the only person I loved the most was the one I hated the most tonight. My hatred had never been this much strong for him over these years for what he did to me five years ago, but what he had done last night was unbearable, unforgivable, unforgettable and enough to accelerate the once buried hatred toward the final limits. The eyes I used to love the most, were the same which were making me feel sick to the core. It was becoming hard to close my eyes, as whenever I closed them, his teary olive green eyes started to appear in front of me. The eyes which were so close to me last night, for the very first time in my life, that I could easily drown into them. I had never been this close to him before. The more the events from last night started to revolve inside my head, the more I started feeling sick and uncomfortable. I was never touched by any man in my life, and that feeling was beyond unbearable. The feeling of sin.

It was pathetic!

How angry Allah would have been on both of us?

But it was not my fault Ya Allah!

It wasn't me who crossed the boundaries.

It was him!

It was his fault!

Please forgive me , my Lord!

I cried and whimpered with pain as the feeling of being the victim of such a sinful act was making me feel extremely traumatized and disgusting. I wasn't like the other girls. I was different. I didn't deserve to be treated like this. Why did he fail to notice this difference? Why did he fail to realize that I never appreciated such type of vulgar acts?

If he loved me so much, then why did he make me feel uncomfortable to such extent that I had to slap him and push himself away from me?

Why did he force my heart to grow the forgotten seeds of hatred once again?

Everything was getting better, then why did he break my trust again?

"Why Shahveer, Why?"

I mumbled under my breath as I cried innocently while politely rubbing the scar on my arm with my thumb, which was given to me by him due to his tight, ferocious and unapologetic grip.

I laid back on my pillow and shut my eyes with helplessness while a storm of tears escaped my eyes, making me feel numb as I started to surrender myself to a deep, but not a peaceful slumber at all!

x-x-x-x-x

~Third Person's POV

Aesthetically decorated with marigolds and golden lights, the house glimmered with magic and peace. Soft sounds of wedding songs and cheerful laughter of lots of women scattered across the garden as all of them gathered to joyfully celebrate the wedding function, and apply henna on Hooriyah's hands.

"How lucky is our Hooriyah! She must have committed a very good deed due to which she is blessed with such a handsome and dashing lover like Hammad. Truly, I have never seen such a beautiful couple before!"

The girls chirped with ecstasy as they teased Hooriyah who was silently sitting on the beautifully decorated swing and continuously staring at the peaceful river which was flowing nearby.

As they continued to giggle mischievously, they failed to notice Hammad's arrival.

"Let's leave the two love birds alone!" They laughed and immediately left.

He silently entered the garden and sat by her side.

"You look extremely gorgeous tonight!" He smiled as he looked at her with affection.

"Thank you!" She replied weakly, without even looking at him.

"Are you sure you are doing this willingly?" He asked nervously.

"Yes Hammad. It's the only thing which I can do willingly. Every other thing, doesn't even ask for my will!"

She smiled sarcastically, while a storm of pain wavered across her voice, which he was always quick to sense.

"Well Hooriyah, there is someone waiting for you outside and I want you to go and meet him." He smiled painfully as she looked at him with curiosity.

She silently stood up and lifted her pink colored lehnga carefully and walked outside the garden, only to witness the most unexpected visit.

"Shahveer?"

A soft whisper escaped her mouth as her eyes widened with shock. She had not seen him since one week and now here he was, standing in front of her, all of a sudden.

He stood at a distance, dressed in faded jeans and a jet black leather jacket, underneath which was a white colored shirt tucked out. Even in this messed up attire, he still managed to look flawless as always, making her heart terribly skip a beat. As soon as his eyes laid upon her, his madly swollen eyes turned gloomy once again. Dazzling in a perfectly designed wedding lehnga, she was looking beyond beautiful tonight. Just like the full moon which was playing hide and seek on the sky above.

"Kya zalimaana ada hai apki Hooriyah Jahangir Khan, hum sey bicharty waqt zarurat se zyada haseen lag rhi hein! "

He smirked sarcastically while his eyes twinkled with myriad of tears as he examined her from head to toe with his cunning gaze.

"Why did you come here?" She asked aggressively.

"To attend your wedding, of course!"

He laughed painfully while she remained silent, feeling pity at his disheveled state.

"I though you would invite your childhood best friend at your wedding. But Alas! I had to forcefully invite myself." He added.

"If you are done with wasting my time, you may leave. People are waiting for me inside!"

Replied Hooriyah, rudely.

"Shadi k baad bhool to nae jaogi mujhy?"

He asked while throwing a poisonous taunt towards her heart but she chose to remain silent.

"Just give one answer to my question, and then I will leave only to come back never again, I promise!"

She closed her eyes tightly as the pain in his voice shook her soul to the core.

"Did you ever love me?"

Her eyes popped open with amazement.

How dare he asked such question?

"Or was it all just a lie?" He added, tearing her flesh apart.

"You have no right to accuse me for lying!" She fired back.

"I don't have any right left Hooriyah. The only right I had was to love you, which I lost too, tonight!"

He smiled again as he watched tears trickle down her face. He came closer to her, making her take few steps back.

"I came here to apologize. I know it is my fault. Allah has given you a heart purer than crystal. When Allah can forgive the biggest of my sins, then being the part of HIS Beloved Creation, why can't you forgive me too?"

He started weeping.

"I am tired of forgiving you again and again. You love to torture me. And that's what you have done since five years."

She sobbed innocently.

"I want you to know just one thing Hooriyah!"

He whispered painfully as she watched his disheveled state with grief.

"That night, whatever I said, just came out of my mouth unintentionally! I know that I was a dumb head five years ago, but still I had no intention to break your heart that nighy!"

He wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

"What's the point of explaining things which I don't even wanna know, and that too, after five years?"

She gave him a disappointed look.

"It's just that, I want you to know that at that night, my heart was bleeding with pain while humiliating you! But I couldn't stop myself because I thought that showing any kind of sympathy to you will embarrass my honor, my status and my reputation in front of that bunch of trashy friends of mine. I will always hate myself for this because that was the same night when I realized that my honor, my reputation and my status only belonged to you, and no one else. "

He whispered painfully as she remained silent.

"I had already realized that I was in love with you, but I failed to admit it just because of my superiority complex which eventually died the same night. The moment you cursed me for a painful destiny, I finally understood the true meaning of love! The moment you left me, I realized that, slowly and gradually an important fragment of my soul was about to disappear!"

She sobbed silently as she heard that painful confession.

"If you had known and even witnessed just one of the painful nights which I used to spend while screaming, crying and continuously hallucinating about you, you would have abruptly forgiven me. You weren't the only one who suffered, Hooriyah. I suffered too! The moment I had laid my eyes upon you for the very first time, when you were offering your prayers, I had already started to sense that there was going to be some strange connection between you and me. The moment you were leaving my house, my heart was bleeding and screaming with pain, which my brain refused to accept!"

He cried mercilessly.

"Stop it Shahveer! For God's sake stop it! It's of no use now! I am going to sign the Nikkah papers in few minutes. There is no point in trying to tell me all of this now. This means nothing to me at all!"

She cried and begged him to leave.

He shook his head in disagreement and knelt down in front of her and joined both of his hands together while an ocean of tears cascaded down his face.

"Mujhy Maaf Kardo Hooriyah! Mein Mar Jaunga, Khuda K Lye Mujhy Maaf Krdo !"

He cried like a child as she looked down at him with helplessness, while her heart continued to wince with pain.

She took few steps back as he continued to beg again and again, like a poor helpless beggar.

"You can take my life, you can punish me the way you want, but please forgive me and don't leave me like this. I beg you, I have waited and suffered through five years, only to see you as my bride, not someone else's. Please don't torture me beyond my patience. For God's sake please forgive me!"

He cried harder, this time his sobs turning out to be even more louder, making her feel afraid that all of the guests may gather around them.

"I may leave, I can't stand here anymore!"

She started panicking.

"You don't have any idea what you are doing to me Hooriyah! You will regret it later!"

He wiped his tears and stood up as he warned her.

"I have already regretted a lot, just because I loved you. But not anymore, I am sorry, but this is how we have to part our ways tonight!"

She gave her final statement and turned to leave.

"Hooriyah please stop!"

He shouted from a distance but she did not listen to him.

"You will regret it Hooriyah!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs like a mad man.

"You will always regret for what you have done to me tonight!"

He cried harder but she didn't even care to look back for once.

"You will cry and curse yourself. You would be dying to have a single glance of my face, but you won't be able to see it again ever in your life! Because I won't be there to pray for you, to live for you, to breath for you anymore!"

He cried as she finally disappeared from his view, leaving him all alone in an extremely disheveled state.

He held his head which was spinning wildly and turned to leave the house with a heavily defeated and broken heart.

As soon as she entered back in the garden, she found Hammad still sitting where she left him an hour ago. He finally stood up and came towards her and looked at her with shock.

"Are you crying?" He asked with concern.

She shook her head and started to walk away from him.

"You still love him, don't you?" He asked innocently.

"There is no good reason left to love him anymore. I only hate him, and always will. I told you before too Hammad. I have closed his chapter once and for all and I want you to stop mentioning him in front of me! I beg you!"

She joined her hands as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"I am sorry Hooriyah! I didn't mean to hurt you."

He wiped her tears while trying to comfort her.

"I just wanted to make sure that you are not doing anything forcefully. I just want to see you happy and keep you happy. You are my only asset in this world and I can't see these silly tears in your eyes anymore. I will try my best to give you each and every possible happiness which truly belongs to you. You will find comfort in me. Even though I know that you don't love me, but I will try me best to gain your love at any cost, and I know that I will be successful in that!"

Both of them smiled at each other as he squeezed her hands gently.

"Molvi Sahb is waiting to start the Nikkah Hooriyah. I can't wait for the moment when you are going to seal your destiny with mine, for eternity, In Sha Allah!"

He smiled energetically while her smile eventually faded away.

"Shall we go inside?"

He asked happily, as she stared at him blankly, while Shahveer's voice still rang like a bell inside her head.

"You may go Hammad, I will take her along with me!"

Interrupted Ms. Nancy from behind.

"Sure!" He smiled and left.

She silently helped her in picking her lehnga and started to lead her towards the lounge.

After a huge pause of silence, she finally opened up her mouth to speak .

"There was a twenty three year old beautiful girl, crying silently while sitting on the bench of the railway station and when I laid my eyes on her, I immediately asked her the reason for which she narrated the whole story of her life to me in the blink of an eye. That girl was pure, soft and kind-hearted. For over the years, I watched her all day and night and brought her here in Kumrat with me. I watched her growing and improving in all these five years. She became strong, independent and extremely gorgeous."

Hooriyah listened to her silently as they walked towards the lounge.

"But then she started to change. The girl I saw five years ago, is totally different from the girl standing by my side!"

She complained while looking at her with disappointment, making her feel guilty.

"You were never so cruel Hooriyah! Then why did you do this?"

She asked painfully, while she remained silent.

"The day when you were admitted in the hospital, he was leaving you so that he could avoid harming you again in the future. But I was the one who went to him and stopped him from leaving, and forced him to confess his love to you. I know it was my fault that I didn't tell him that you were already engaged. But if I had told him, he would have never stayed. He would have never confessed and his morals would have died at the same moment. In order to bring him back in your life, I had to lie to him, so that you could get your long lost love back. But it seems as if you, yourself have turned your heart into a stone, there is not a single drop of sympathy remaining in that anymore! Just remember one thing. God does not give chances to His people again and again. And perhaps, this was your last chance!"

She looked at Ms.Nancy with disbelief as she helped her to sit down where the Nikah Khwan was waiting to start the Nikah.

"It's not just Shahveer whom you have tortured tonight, its me too!"

She whispered in her ears, patted her head with affection and stood up to leave as she did not want to witness her being someone else's while knowing how much pain the other one was going through.

Hooriyah stared at the papers blankly on which she was asked to sign. Her eyes stung with pain as flashbacks from past started to break her heart slowly and gradually.

x-x-x-x-x

"How cute are these bride and groom looking together?"

Little Hooriyah grabbed Shahveer's attention while showing him her dolls which were dressed as a newly wedded couple.

"Hmmm, but I bet you, when we will grow old and you will be my bride, you will look thousand times more prettier!"

Little Shahveer announced confidently.

"Ewww.... Why on Earth would I even marry you? You are not even handsome!"

She scrunched her nose.

"If you won't marry me, then I promise you that I will do something so awful that you would be left with no other option other than marrying me!"

He laughed like a devil while she watched him with horror.

x-x-x-x-x

"Hooriyah Jahangir Khan, Kya apko Hammad Ali Gillani sey ye nikkah Qubbol hai?"

The Nikah Khwan repeated for the umpteenth time to which she finally came back to her senses.

"I love you Hooriyah!"

Shahveer's words started to ring in her head again as she tried to focus on her Nikah, but she failed to do so. The same night started to revolve in front of her eyes when he was so close to her that she could see the reflection of her eyes in his eyes.

"Hooriyah, why aren't you answering dear?"

One of her friends shook her shoulder trying to bring her back to her senses, but to no avail.

Another horrible memory started to waver across her mind.

x-x-x-x-x

"Women like you beg for the love of men like me just because of our status. You don't love me, you love my money! You are a gold digger trying your best to fulfill your greed and lust! And as far as love is concerned, here is my better half, who is sassy, classy, brilliant and just gorgeous in every aspect, unlike you!" Shahveer grabbed Soniya's arm and pulled her towards himself, smirking devilishly as she caressed his hair with affection.

Hoor's eyes widened with horror as she watched this disgusting act.

"Don't do this! Please don't leave me like this!" She cried and begged again and again.

"You are just a piece of shit YOU UGLY GOLD DIGGER! You should have at least compared our statuses. Idiot!"

He spat those words right on her face while his olive green eyes boiled with lava. She gasped him with horror and tried to voice her pain between those merciless hiccups.

"I neither loved your money, nor your looks , nor your status. It's only your soul which I had dearly loved since 18 years, Shahveer for God's sake don't make fun of my feelings!"

She begged him while joining both of her trembling hands. Her eyes overflowed with a pool of painful tears.

"Apparently, your filthy caliber doesn't match my prestigious one, sweetheart. Your face is not even worthy to be spat upon" He whispered in her ears, while his eyes were still fixed on hers.

"I was never yours, and never will be, Hooriyah!"

He mumbled coldly while his red fearsome eyes sparkled with unwanted tears as if he was hating to see her in this condition. He finally moved his forehead away from hers and got up, leaving her in a traumatized state.

And that's when her whole world collapsed into millions of pieces.

x-x-x-x-x

She jolted as she realized that she had been lost since few minutes and all the questioning gazes were continuously glued upon her.

Suddenly she squeezed her dress nervously and clenched both of her hands into a fist around it as she started to feel the same warmth of his breath on her skin which she felt that night as there was just an inch left between both of them. Recalling the way he kissed her passionately, started to make her feel sick again. She wanted to run away and let all the contents out, but it felt as if she couldn't move at all.

A strange feeling started to envelope her ferociously as her forehead started to get wet with tiny beads of sweat.

The Nikah Khwan repeated the same question again with annoyance this time, while she braced herself to mutter the response she was not willing to give at all.

And before she could open her mouth to speak 'Qubool Hai ', strange and terrified voices started to scatter across the lounge and the garden outside.

Someone from the men immediately entered inside the lounge and whispered something in the Molvi Sahb's ears, making him jolt with shock.

"What happened Bhayi Sahb, what's the whole chaos about?"

One of the elderly women asked the man.

"A man has been badly hit by the truck on the road outside a few minutes ago, not much far away. He is in a very critical condition and continuously bleeding. People are saying that the chances of his survival are extremely minimal. But still we are taking him to the hospital, alhtough we are afraid that he might die before even reaching there ."

The man replied in a hurry as the villagers started to run, creating havoc all around the house and outside.

"Oh my Allah. Poor guy. May Allah recover him soon. Who is he by the way?"

She asked with nervousness as the man left without answering her.

"Hooriyah!"

Came Hammad's voice from behind as he watched her with shock and disbelief.

"What happened Hammad?"

She looked at him worriedly.

"It's...It's Shahveer!"

He stammered as he watched her expressions turn pale and lifeless within the blink of an eye.

A lonely tear escaped through one of her eyes as her mind started to spin wildly.

"I won't be there to pray for you, to live for you, to breath for you anymore!"

His painful voice started to build a layer of an excruciating pain in her brain as she held her head in her hands.

The last thing she could see and hear before her vision could completely black out was Hammad yelling her name and running towards her with an extremely horrified expression glued upon his grief-stricken face.

As the deafening sound of the sirens of the ambulance outside started to echo in the air, she surrendered herself to the layer of undefeatable unconsciousness and finally collapsed on the floor mercilessly.