100k 🎊🥳 thank you so much for the love, truly the love is overwhelming. 

Love you all❤️ and I recently joined Instagram so you can follow me there, if you want to rant about the book or spoilers

Happy reading!

(Abdullah is the doctor friend who came to check on Seher in chapter 14)

___

Abdullah arrived at his best friend's house, Saad, who was excited to meet him. He was met by a sullen, sad face.

"Why are you sad? Didn't they find your wife?"

They walked to the hall where he sat on the sofa, "Wife? How can I call her my wife... when I failed as a husband?"

"What do you mean? How did you fail? She ran away, " Saad didn't understand Abdullah's tone, who looked at the sky. He wanted to protect this relationship of his with his wife, but in doing so, he complicated it further. If he hadn't put so much pressure on her or let his insecurities take the best of him, maybe Maheen wouldn't have runaway.

"I failed her as a man, I was meant to protect her, but I didn't. Like all the villagers, I took part in the atrocities..."

Saad laughed, "Drag her back like a man, maybe impregnate her so she doesn't run away, rebellious woman need to be taught a lesson."

"You think that's the solution?" Abdullah asked, his voice heavy with disappointment.

"Force her back, make her submit... and then what? Pretend everything's fine?"

Saad shrugged, unfazed. "That's how it is, Abdullah. Women need to know their place. If they don't, it's our job to remind them." Abdullah shook his head, unable to hide the pain in his voice.

"I don't want a wife who's afraid of me, Saad. I wanted a partner, someone who'd stand by me... not someone who runs because she can't breathe in this suffocating world I've built around her."

Saad frowned, confused. "You care too much about what she feels. She’s just a woman."

"Maybe that's where I went wrong," Abdullah muttered, more to himself than to Saad. "I should've seen her as a friend instead. Maybe if I'd seen her for who she truly is... she'd still be here."

"And who she is apart from being your wife? She is a nobody.. just like my wife, Seher thinks she has a choice that she can choose another man over me, just like your wife who is still stuck on a dead man."

"Seher... she feels trapped too, doesn't she?"

Saad snorted, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand. "Trapped? She's just ungrateful. I give her everything she needs, but still, she thinks that fool as if he is worth more than me."

Abdullah sighed, his heart heavy with the weight of their conversation. "Maybe that's the problem, Saad. Maybe we think giving them things is enough, but it's not."

Saad's expression hardened, his eyes narrowing. "You're losing your mind, Abdullah. These are just women. They belong to us, and it's our right to keep them in line. And come on, will you justify their adulterous actions now?"

Abdullah shot back, his voice rising. "Look at us. Our wives are unhappy. They're running away or dreaming of other men because they don't feel loved, respected, or valued. Is this the life we wanted?"

Saad's face twisted in anger. "I won't let Seher leave me. She'll learn her place, just like your Maheen will when you drag her back."

Abdullah shut him up, his expression resolute. "I won't drag her back, Saad. I can't force her to live in a world she ran from. If she comes back, it will be because she wants to, not because I've coerced her."

Saad sneered, "And if she doesn't come back? Will you live alone, pining for a woman who clearly didn't want to be with you?"

"I'll live with the consequences of my actions," Abdullah said quietly. "If I've lost her, it's because I failed to be the man she needed me to be. But I won't compound that failure by becoming a tyrant."

Saad shook his head in disgust. "You're weak, Abdullah. You're letting a woman dictate your life."

"No, Saad," Abdullah said, his voice calm but firm. "I'm trying to do what's right, even if it means admitting I was wrong. And if that makes me weak, then so be it."

"You have lost it. Listen, every women need to be tamed. My father believed that if you can't control your woman, then you are no man."

"Men are protectors of women not abusers. And didn't you hate your father?" Abdullah asked.

"I do, but I understand why he did what he did."

Abdullah laughed, standing up from the sofa, "I have learnt it the hard way, taking accountability for your actions and accepting your mistakes instead of blaming it on your past. Because on the day of judgement, it would be me reading my own sins alone. I will be responsible for what I do, not my father."

___

Musa was running around the corridor when he stopped by Seher, Ayesha came running by as Seher bent down to the cute baby's height.

The baby's grey eyes were so innocent as he glanced at her as it extended its little hand, Seher looked at Ayesha for consent before kissing the baby's head.

"Kitna pyaara hai, (he is so adorable)" she cooed as Musa laughed, Ayesha leaned on the pillar, "Baap pe jo gaya hai. Bachpan mai Saad ikdam Musa jaisa tha. (Just like his father) "

Seher sighed, "You love him, don't you?"

Ayesha had a sad smile, "But he loves you... you are so lucky."

"No, he doesn't love me. He hates me, I don't want his love because he is incapable of loving."

Ayesha couldn't handle how ungrateful Seher was, "Now you are just projecting yourself, Seher, you are too cruel, you were the one who poisoned him and tried to burn him, not Saad."

"Ayesha, Saad isn't the man you think he is... "

Ayesha's gaze hardened as she picked up Musa and stepped away, "I won’t listen to you slandering my husband."

Seher saw the look in Ayesha's eyes and knew she couldn't do anything to change her mind, so she nodded, "I am sorry", it was better  for Ayesha to remain in her bubble. She would be happier, and Saad would have to pretend to be a good man. 

___

It was the day of election campaigns. There were chairs filled out men and women sitting row wise as Jahangir stood there, looking across the crowd waiting for them to be silent so he could speak.

He cleared his throat and adjusted the microphone, his voice echoing across the open space.“Thank you all for coming today,” Jahangir began, his tone calm yet authoritative. "I have led this community for more than thirty years, I have guided many men and women here to the right path, but now your General Sahib wants to do more for you, I want to develop this village into a city, and this would be not just for men but also women".

There was deafening silence. Some people cleared their ears to make sure they heard the word 'women'.

"I am not the type to make promises. That's why in the past days, I had started addressing women through my daughter because I realised... women are weak physically, that's why they face injustice, and our daughters and sisters suffer because they have no support. By 'allowing' them to earn money through trading, I have not only made them financially stable but also increased our economic status."

A smile creeped on his face. He knew how important votes were, and Jahangir realised there were more women in the village compared to men. So he used his daughter's contributions to society and called it his ideas, "I want all women to be educated like my daughter and I will pay for it out of my own pocket."

This would be revolutionary. Men who worked for women's cause were called 'great'. And he truly wanted to be great, to be in history books, labelled as a revolutionary. It wasn't a new concept. Stealing a woman's ideas to gain fame was an age-old tactic. But at least it was supporting a good cause.

“In the coming days, you’ll hear many speeches, many promises,” Jahangir said, his tone softening. “But I want you to remember one thing: Actions speak louder than words. Look at the record. See who has been there for you when it mattered. And when you step into that voting booth, I ask you to choose not just a leader but a future that we can build together.”

His speech, designed to captivate and manipulate, presented him as a benevolent leader championing women's rights and societal progress. But beneath the surface, his actions had been far from noble.

This was a speech the state would never forget because never had a candidate addressed women this strongly.

Journalists took his pictures, and in a few weeks, he was the talk of the town.

___

It's scary... the number of cases I read about in the last 24 hours, it's making me sick truly, how many women have to suffer before these sick criminals are punished. Most cases I read about, they weren't first-time offenders. They have hurt women before and been let off so easily, so they could harm other women... it's just sad.