Ifza's pov :

"I'm Ifza Zafar! I'm not scared of anyone. I have to be brave and strong. No one can break my strength. I'll meet you Ruhaan. I definitely will." I mumbled to myself.

"But howww ahaaa" I cried stomping on the floor when I recalled all the mysterious things regarding him.

"Ifza come down!!" Dad yelled.

I hurried downstairs. Dad was waiting for me at the dining table and mom was as usual busy in the kitchen.

"Assalamualikum" (peace be upon you) . I hugged dad , greeting him.

He pecked a kiss upon my forehead greeting me back.

" How are you feeling, princess ?"  he asked.

"I'm fine dad " . I lied into his face.

I wasn't fine. I have my heart in my mouth because I have to face Ruhaan and his true colors.

" Then lend me a hand in the kitchen" mom called.

" Ahh! Ouch! I think I have headache." I faked the act leaning my head over my dad's shoulder.

" Drama queen!" mom taunted me.

" No. She'll not touch any chores until this week." Dad commadded. I jumped out of happiness.

" You've spoiled her way too much" she complained. Getting back to her work.

" How can't I. She's my princess and I love her." Dad said caressing my hairs.

" I love you too dad! You are the best." I said hugging him tightly. 

Zafar's pov: 

Ifza gave a tight hug screaming "you are the best". 

Am I? 

"You are the greatest blessing I've ever received in my life. I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU!" She screamed hopping with joy. 

No I'm more blessed to have you as my princess. If it wasn't him, you wouldn't have been in our lives. But do I deserve all this? Am I really this deserving to get all her love. 

I was dragged from my lost world when I joined the loudest conversation of Ifza and Kinza again.  

" Now stop your father-daughter melodrama" Kinza scoffed from the kitchen.

" Look dad, someone is JEALOUS" Ifza teased her which made both of us chuckle.

I saw my princess isn't feeling well, she was sick as well as worried about something. More than worried her expressions were of tense and fear. Maybe she's thinking about Zain and his proposal. I don't want to force her into marrying someone she doesn't willing to, even if it's the last thing which keeps me from loosing her. I can't be selfish with my princess because of my greedy love for her. 

"What is it? My princess is dull. You sure you okay? Is something troubling you?" I catechized  her.

"No dad, I'm fine...it's just, i- I'm- I don't know"  she troubled finding words to speak.

"Well then you are confused and let me guess it's about Zain?" I added.

"No! No no no. Not him" she claimed.

"You like someone else?" I mustered.

"NO! No dad, it's not like that, I don't like anyone. It's not about love or marriage thing I'm worried of." She explained.

" I, um, it's a bit complicated. Okay so let me phrase it like this, I met someone who was like weird, like very weird—" 

"What do you mean by weird?" I interrupted her. 

"Shhh! Do not interrupt me" she commanded. I nodded in agreement.

"So," she continued. 

"This  weird person seemed very nice and gentle. I felt genuineness around this person.I felt I could trust and I was strangely comfortable with an unknown random stranger."  She explained, clearly hiding the identity of 'this person'. 

" Okay but first tell me who's  'this person' . Is it a girl or boy?" I quoted. 

"Dad! NO INTERRUPTION" she ranted. 

"Well I assume it's a guy, and my lovely daughter is afraid of sharing her feelings with her dad." I commented.

" No, that's not the point here, the point is 'this person'  'HE' lied to me, and is mysterious and secretive, have lots of secrets which I discovered later. Now he has reasons and explanations for all of these, and I don't know whether to trust him or not." She paused for a brief second.

Flashback : 

-on call 

" It's been 23 years. What do they want  from us now? What's the purpose of sending the box full of toys? Aren't we already had  a deal?" I wailed on the other person on call. 

(A/N: If you didn't get  the box thing then please refer #chapter-5 . Zafar was worried because of it so he made a call to someone) 

" Don't dig for the past, none of them had sent such things. Don't mess up the things with your stupidity, you've to pay a greater price if they found about this." he warned. 

"I'm pretty sure it's them. They want me to get scared of them but I'm not. I'll not let them come near my daughter. I have to take an immediate action." I claimed.

"No, you'll only loose her. You'll not be able to see her again. All these years you've protected her now don't push her into the hell she can't escape for the rest of her life. You get that?" he explained.

*Flashback ends*

"Is it possible to trust someone after being betrayed? Am I able to give him a chance?" She asked with those puppy eyes which left me in amusement. 

How could I answer a question when I myself am like the guy she's mentioning?

Ifza's pov : 

Talking my feelings out with dad gave me a lot of enough courage to face this invisible mr. rude. 

It was 12 in the noon and I was almost half the way to the park where we've decided to meet. Not to mention I was a lot more than just scared. God knows how I'm walking with my tottering feet and dizzy head, chanting all the salutations(Duas)  I've ever learned.

He was already there seated on wooden chair, waiting for me to arrive. His back was facing towards me. 

"Glad you came" he mumbled without even looking at me. 

"Thought you would never come" he added.

" I have to. I want my answers. I want to know who are you and why did you betrayed me?"

"Have a seat" he pointed his finger towards a chair which was not present the second I arrived here. I took a step back in shock. 

"I'm not here to have a chit-chat. I just explain me everything right away" I wailed trying to hide the lump in my throat.

He stood there with the guilt in his eyes avoiding the eye contact. 

"SPEAK UP RUHAAN!"  I yelled.

"I'm not what you think, I-" he blurted.

"Well I know who you exactly are. A liar and a cheater. You used me."  I screamed because I was scared to listen the truth. Deep down inside I don't want to know what and how it happened. I just want to end everything right here and bring the things to normal when we were trying to be friends.

"No. Please listen to me once" he took a step forward.

"Do-don't. Don't come near " I warned him moving away from him. He raised his both hands in air giving up and stepping away.

Ruhaan's pov :

I'm glad she made it. She wants explainations and all the answers. She'll demand for the truth. Telling her everything means I'm going to loose the person who could see me, talk to me, can feel my touch. I never admired this fact but today I don't want all these to happen. I don't want her to know who I am but I've no other choice.

"Don't come near" she screamed. I stepped away.

"Look you need to hear me out first. Trust me-"

"Trust you?  Heh- the guy who lured me into his web of lies. You said you'll help me, I trusted you." she ranted taking slow steps forward.

"Ifza!-" I whispered. She wasn't allowing me to say anything.

"You said you're gonna help me get rid of those dreams, I trusted you. It turns out to be you , because of whom I was traumatized by dreams." her enraged voice turned into sobbing tone.

She was screaming trying to hold her tears back. I've never felt this remorse the way when I saw those tears in her beautiful eyes. Why the hell this girl have so much impact.

" I trusted you every single time Ruhaan." she raged.

"I can explain. Look I really wanted to help you, I wasn't lying about that" I tried to explain.

"Y-yo-u, you are the one who was following me. The blazing red eyes man? The one wh-who disappeared. Ye-yes you did all of these things, right?" she wept moving away with trembling foots.

"Ifza!" I've no other words to utter besides her name.

" Please tell me that you are not the one from the bus stop following me and the same night in my room. Please tell me that you haven't done all of these?" she screamed.

"Ifza I- um, I" I was barely speaking infront of her loud miserable screams and enraged voice.

I've always intended to use her for my own benefits but why am I feeling guilty. I could kill her right here and no one could know about this but now why am I unable to do anything.I was more afraid losing her than to tell her the truth.

"Yes or no, Ruhaan? Tell me. I want to hear from you. You are the one who came to my room that night. YES OR NO ANSWER ME!"  she yelled.

"YES! Yes, I was the one".

I stood there observing her reactions, change of emotions and her enraging anger.

" Wh-who are you? Wh-what do y-yo-u want-t from m-me?" she cried in shattering voice.

"I'm DEAD Ifza. I'm not a human" I finally confessed.

"The person standing in front of you does not exist. I died a long back" I glared at her, she was scared, trembling and shivering in fear.

Ifza's pov :

I couldn't believe whatever he just said. Everything got blurred and his echoing voice  perceiving my ear drums made me shudder and dizzy. I wished it should be just my another dream.

"No! I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming right? Of course none of this make sense. It's a dream. Wake me up, Ifza you are again in a weird dream." I started mumbling myself getting away as far as possible.

He covered the distance between us within a fraction of seconds like he just teleported.

"No, it's not a dream Ifza. This is the actual truth" he whispered in my ears standing next to me which gave a chill down my spine.

"Look here." he commanded.

"I will not hurt you. Trust me, you are safe with me." he tried comforting me.

*Flashback*

"Am I able to give him a chance?"

"It depends on the intensity of the truth his explaination had. "

" How would I know he's not lying to me again?"

" If he's telling the truth then you can read through his eyes. Eyes never lie neither our heart. The moment when he tells you the truth look for his eyes and ask your heart. Don't listen to anything besides the silent screams of your heart. It'll guide you"

*Flashback ends*

I recollected the conversation I had with dad this morning.

"Please trust me Gorgeous, I mean no harm at all, and I never will." he claimed cupping my cheeks in his hands.

" At least not from this very point, now that I've realized I've no one beside you" he whispered under his breath.

"I need you, to trust me. I've no one else. I wanna be with you, please don't leave me. Please!" he begged.

I looked for his eyes and they were really really attractive. I've seen those eyes earlier in my dreams too, manipulative and magical eyes. They seem so pure and honest but those eyes cannot justify his confession which left me in an amusement.

What should I do now?

*********************************************

Hello guys, I'm back!

Finally the wait is over and Ifza learnt

Ruhaan's true identity.

What she'll do now?

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Do vote and comment.

Till then take care.

XOXO-

_Inaayat_