They hit you out of nowhere. When bad things come, they come suddenly, without a warning.

Fariya

"Baba? What.. what are you saying? I don't understand."

Fariya looked at her father with all the bewilderment in her eyes, her father gazed back at her with all his tenderness and softness.

"This.. this.. is.. the onl.. only way.. my... daugh.. daughter."

He spoke with such difficulty that Fariya's heart shattered into a million pieces, each piece killing her inside.

"But Baba..."

She began to speak when her father cut her in mid sentence. Fariya looked at her father in the eye and choked to see that his brown eyes were filled with sorrow.

"He.. he is a goo... good man. Ahmad. He will... take care... of you."

He stopped to supply air to his lungs and began to speak after some seconds, his voice as low as ever.

"Fariya, his son... will take.. go.. good care you. Please. Ma.. marry him. This.. is my.. my last wish, my child."

At this, Fariya burst into tears. She began to speak while hot water was continuously flowing from her hazel eyes.

"No, Baba. Please don't say this. Please. Nothing is going to happen to you. You'll be fine. Please. Don't lose hope. Everything will be fine."

She said, her voice trembling. Her father merely shook his head, as if his daughter had said something silly.

"Fariya, my.. child. I am tak.. taking my last bre.. breaths. I want to see... you in good hands... before I die. Please.. marry Ahamd's son so.. that I can die.. in peace."

Fariya let out a sharp cry. She placed her head on her father's hand while tears made their way to her chin. She sat like that for a few minutes before she turned her head up and looked at her father again.

He was looking at her with all the love and affection in his eyes. He smiled when their eyes met, a slight smile. Fariya cleared her throat and wiped her tears. She shouldn't hurt her father like that, she thought. Seeing her like this must be hurting him.

"Does he know?"

She asked with a trembling heart. She wished that he would say no, that his friend's son doesn't know anything about it. In that case, she would be able to get out of this mess without hurting her father. But he didn't do what she hoped he would do. Her father nodded his head in approval, telling her that he knows. His friend's son knows.

She closed her eyes while anger shot through her body. What does he think of himself? Doesn't he have any opinion of himself? She was a girl, she can be emotionally blackmailed. Her hands were tied with values and traditions. But he? He was a man. A man whose opinions were valued, whose opinions mattered. Why didn't he refuse? Why?

She opened her eyes and looked at her father. His father's eye held faith, faith in her, that she wouldn't refuse, she would acceed to his wish, she wouldn't let him down. And he was so right, she wouldn't dare turn down her father's request.

How could she anyway? Her father had given her everything in her life, everything. She can't remember a single thing in her life which she wanted and her father had refused her. He was a perfect father, in every aspect of life and in every respect.

Fariya found herself in deep pain and agony. What is she going to do now? She can't turn down her father's request but she also can't marry someone she just met. Even the thought of this was absurd.

However, the pain in her father's voice was enough to turn all absurdity into sensibility, all confusion into understanding. She looked at her father's face and taking a deep breath, gave her life away. She turned herself into dust, turned her dreams into ash, turned her dignity into nothing. She gave her acceptance for a marriage in which she was sure she wasn't going to find any happiness, any peace.

Only for the sake of her beloved father did she acceed to this marriage, for his dignity, for his respect. While nodding her head and giving her word to her father, Fariya's heart trembled, her mind shook, her world crumbled.

She knew very well that once she had accepted to marry that man, there was no turning back, there were no second thoughts. She wouldn't be able take her words back, to run from this mess. All things, all scenarios in her head, yet she accepted, she gave her approval.

Only for the sake of her ill father, who meant the world to the woman whose world ended. Her slight nod reached the man on the bed and his eyes sparkled, as if he has been granted what he desired the most. With much difficulty, he placed his hand on Fariya's head while a lone tear escaped from his eyes.

"You are.. m.. my... strength."

He said, his voice laced with pain and happiness simultaneously. Fariya stood up, her mind filled with different thoughts; none of them positive, and made her way to the door. She didn't look back at her father, not once. She didn't have a courage to do so. One look at her father and tears won't stop, one look at his pale face and she won't be able to stick to her decision.

With a heavy heart, she made it to the door and went outside. She was still looking down, her mind somewhere else, when her mother ran upto her and Fariya soon caught herself in a tight embrace. As soon as her mother's arms went around her shoulder, she woke up from some deep thoughts.

She stood still, her hands falling by her side, when she felt her mother's tears on her shoulder. And Fariya Ali Sikandar gasped for she understood that her mother knew. The old lady was not crying for her man's health, she was crying for her daughter's fate. She was crying because her daughter's destiny was being enjoined with a complete stranger. A stranger whose name she didn't know, whose face she had not seen before this day, who meant nothing to her. Fariya pulled away from her mother's comforting embrace and wiped her tears away.

"Fari!"

Fariya placed a hand on her mother's shoulders while her insides were dying to find someone on whose shoulders she could cry. She wiped her mother's tears while her heart was crying hysterically. She gave hope to her mother while she herself was losing all the hope she had collected in her life. She supported her mother while her kness were trembling.

They stood like that, mother and daughter, for a few seconds before her mother stopped crying. Fariya placed one hand around her mother's shoulders and with the other, she caught her hand and led her towards the chairs attached with the wall. She helped her mother sit down and sat on the chair next to her, her mother's hand still in hers.

She did not say anything for she had nothing to say. She was not in a position to say a single word, her brain not functioning well. They sat there for a few minutes, none of them saying anything, before three men came to stand in front of them.

Fariya shot her head up and saw Uncle Ahmad standing there with his son and one other man. Her eyes did not go to the man's son, her would-be husband, instead they stopped on the man standing between the father and the son. Her eyes widened as she took in his appearance.

He was a much shorter man than Uncle Ahmad with a long beard. He had his head covered, wearing a white Shalwar Qameez along with a large shawl, and had a register in his right hand.

Her breath caught as reality dawned on her, tears welled up in her eyes when she realised who the man was. Mowlana. Her heart shook a little bit more when she realised that he was there for the Nikah. Now? She panicked. Her father did not tell her that the Nikah would happen tonight.

She was still looking at the Mowlana with wide eyes, fear in her eyes, when she felt her mother stand up beside her. Like her, she was slightly trembling.

"Now, Bhai Jaan?"

Like her body, her voice was also shaking. Fariya knew what she meant. Her mother also didn't know that the Nikah would take place tonight. Fariya moved her eyes from the Mowlana towards Uncle Ahmad and saw him nodding his head.

"Yes, Bhabhi. Ali wants it to happen tonight."

Her mind went blank instantly and she held her sister's hand, who was standing right beside her, for support. Maida grabbed her by the waist and helped her stand up on her feet in this cruel world. She felt her mother sigh and her next words robbed her of her breath.

"Okay. We will do what Ali wants."

As the words registered in her mind, Fariya's eyes moved towards the man with black eyes. Her eyes widened even more when she found his eyes already on her. His eyes were fixed on her, he was not even blinking, but as soon as she caught him looking at her, he blinked and moved his eyes away.

All of this happened so suddenly that Fariya was forced to think about its reality. But this was the reality and now she was more worried because of his eyes, the expression in his cold eyes. His jet black eyes were filled with anger and hatred. Her fear intensified, her heart accelerated while she quickly moved her eyes away from him.

Omer

He found himself fuming with anger. Nikah? Never in a million years would he have thought that his Nikah would take place like this. In a hospital, with no family members around and with a woman he just met some minutes ago.

His father had emotionally blackmailed him, asking him to marry that woman or else Omer would see his dead face. Omer found himself in dilemma. His father meant the world to him, he couldn't dare go against his decision. But this was not a decision, his whole life was on stake. One bad move and his life will be destroyed for good.

But the answer was made easier when he saw tears in his father's eyes. Omer was left dumbstruck. He had never seen his father cry, never. No matter what happened in his life, he always had had his composure. And now, just for the sake of a marriage, he was crying.

Omer, shaking all thoughts away from him head, gave his answer. He accepted. He acceded. The sudden joy that leapt in his father's eyes was enough to make his nerves calm a bit. He had made a right decision, he thought.

His father stopped crying and came forward to hug Omer. He hugged his elder son with all the force he had. When they separated, Omer saw that he still had tears in his eyes, but they were the tears of gratitude.

He smiled at Omer and put his hands in his pocket, only to bring it out with a phone in his hands. He dialed a number and placed the phone on his ears, his eyes still on Omer.

After some seconds, the silence broke and he heard his father greeting someone on the line and asking them to come right away to the hospital. Who? He didn't know neither did he want to know. He just wanted to get away from this mess as quickly as possible. But his father's next words robbed him of his breath.

"Allah Hafiz, Mowlana Sahab!"

Mowlana? His father had called a Mowlana and asked him to come to the hospital? There was only one explanation. The Nikah was going to happen tonight.

When his father ended the call, he brought himself to ask a simple question.

"The Nikah will happen tonight?"

One simple question yet it carried so many chaos inside it.

"Yes."

A simple answer yet it banished his world.

After few terrific minutes, the Mowlana came and Omer, along with his father and the Mowlana went outside towards the Sikandar Family.

Omer saw her, the woman who will be his after some moments, sitting beside her mother, grief written all over her face. As soon as she sensed them nearby, her head shot up and she looked at his father and then at the Mowlana.

Her eyes instantly went wide as she understood what was going to happen. Her face went pale and her legs refused to support her for she shook and it was her younger sister who held her for support.

And then the moment came. Her eyes met him. Black against hazel. Hatred against shock. His eyes were filled with hatred for the woman standing in front of him, for it was because of her that his father had cried, his father had begged him and he had to do something against his will.

He would be lying if he said that her wide hazel eyes didn't effect him, they did. But not in a good way. They enraged the man in him, the man who was forced to do something.

Omer quickly moved his eyes away, looking at everyone and everywhere except at her. It was the voice of the old woman which brought him back in the world.

"Now, Bhai Jaan?"

He looked at his father, whose eyes were on the old day in front of them. Omer saw his father nod his head.

"Yes, Bhabhi. Ali wants it to happen tonight."

She let out a sharp breath and begin to move towards the ICU door, followed by everyone. She was holding her elder daughter, who was in no position to walk, too weak to even say a word.

Everyone followed the woman inside the room and then he was the only one left outside. Taking a deep breath, he also went inside the room filled with people, all of them encircled around a man on the bed.

"Molvi Sahab, please start."

His father said and motioned Omer to sit on the chair next to the bed while the hazel eyed woman was already seated on the other side of the bed on a chair. He didn't dare lift his eyes and kept them fixed on the bed.

And that's when he heard Molvi Sahab recite Quran and finally the moment came when he was asked for his permission in the marriage. The moon hid behind the clouds, the wind refused to blow and the mountains trembled at the sight in front of them. Fates were being erased, rewritten and joined. Destiny was being decided and the souls were being interlocked.

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My lovelies, here is a new chapter. I hope you like it. Do let me know if you like it and don't forget to vote and comment.

Salam!