She stepped out of the jail. Clad in a white Salwar-Kameez, she was a beautiful 25-year old girl. But unfortunately, she was a murderer, who spent her life's last ten years as a prisoner. At the age when a girl would be focusing on her studies, career, or marriage - She was living a hell of a life.

She stood outside the gate of the jail, thinking about where to go. She had a home decade ago, but she was afraid to go there. She would be unwelcomed there.

"Are you Aafreen Sayyad?" A masculine voice startled her. She looked at the source of the voice and found a middle-aged man wearing a driver's uniform standing in front of her.

She hesitantly nodded.

"Hiba madam has sent me to pick you up. Please sit in the car."

Hearing her name, all the painful memories of her horrible childhood flashed in her mind. She didn't want to face that lady. But she had no other option. Hiba was a dangerous woman. And Aafreen was a victim of her wrath.

She quietly walked to the car with slow and hesitant steps and sat on the backseat. As the journey began, her breath turned uneven. A fear invaded her mind. The same fear which she used to feel ten years ago. She was trying hard not to panic.

The car stopped in front of a very familiar place. The driver opened the door for her. She mumbled a thank you and stepped out. Her eyes took in the surroundings. Everything was still the same. The Qureshi Villa was nothing less than a monarchical palace. It screamed royalty. However, it's utter silence was torturous for any innocent soul. A silence which mourned, which grimaced, which grieved.

Aafreen felt millions of emotions in a fraction of seconds. She was happy to come back to the place she once called her home. She was sad because she knew it was no more the same Qureshi Villa. She was scared because once who loved her unconditionally will now hate her to no end.

Her dreams broke years ago, so does her heart. But she was still alive with a tiny hope. However, she was afraid that if this hope too broke, she will die that instant.

Her thoughts came to a halt when she heard her voice.

"Aafreen..."

She glanced at the front of her. There she was sitting in a wheelchair, Hiba Sayyad, her stepmother. The woman she feared the most. For Aafreen, the devil was more compassionate as compare to this vile woman. She was responsible for what Aafreen became.

But now that woman no more looked dangerous. She looked defeated. Her eyes, which once carried hatred for every pious soul, now itself begged for affection. She was tired of hating everyone.

"Come here." Aafreen was indeed scared of her stepmother. But she could read her eyes. It longed for affection.

She slowly walked to her and bent down to her level. Hiba tried to speak but no word came out of her mouth. No words had the power to describe what she felt at that moment. Her eyes filled up. For the first time in her life, Aafreen saw motherly love for herself in Hiba's eyes. Hiba patted her head and pressed a button of her automatic wheelchair to move it towards her room.

"Rania, take Aafreen to her room."

Her voice echoed in the hall as she went away.

The maid, Rania, came from the kitchen and looked at the girl standing on the doorsteps. She wondered how this beautiful young woman could be a murderer. She looked so innocent. But still, she feared for herself and her five-year-old daughter, who lived in the backside of the villa. What if this psychotic woman tried to harm her daughter?

Aafreen sensed her fear. She was an expert in reading other's eyes. She felt a pang of hurt by realising that someone feared her. She hopelessly looked at the floor and politely asked,

"Where is my room?"

Rania came out of her thoughts and stammered,

"Up... upstairs, last one in the east-side corridor."

Rania wasn't willing to go with her to her room. So she went to the kitchen.

Aafreen sighed and headed upstairs. She entered her room. It wasn't the one she lived in ten years ago. Her childhood bedroom was in the west-side corridor, opposite his room. This new room was simple and somehow peaceful. But it was nothing in front of the way he had decorated her old room himself.

He, her best friend, Shahaan Qureshi. The mischievous boy she still loved. But she knew he hated her. He prayed for her destruction every passing second.

Out of blue, she heard some yellings from downstairs. She went outside and stood near the parapet to find out what's happening.

"What is she doing here? I had told you I don't want her in my house." He yelled with pure hatred towards her.

"Shahaan, she is my responsibility. I can't abandon her." Hiba yelled at the same pitch but with helplessness.

"Khala, she had killed my mother and your sister, if you remember."

"But she is also my late husband's heir, his last belonging. And she has got her punishment."

"Fine! Do whatever you want but don't blame me if I killed her." With that said, he went out of the villa.

Tears escaped her shiny black eyes. The same black eyes which used to admire him for hours. Her already broken self again broke into millions of more pieces. Making her feel even more vulnerable.

She ran back to her room and cried while hiding herself in a dark corner. There was a time when he used to aid her wounds, now he hurt her heart the most. Could life be more merciless?

It was past midnight when she woke up from sleep. She slept on the floor while crying. She was hungry and felt stinky as well. She opened the wardrobe and looked for some clothes. It had many designer dresses with different colors, styles, and sizes. Probably Hiba bought a whole boutique itself because she neither knew Aafreen's choices nor her measurements. Aafreen first took a very long shower. Wearing a robe, she picked up few dresses and tried each of them till the time she didn't found the one which fitted her perfectly. Finally, a black Kurta fitted her and she headed to the kitchen, she was very hungry.

Aafreen opened the fridge to find something eatable, she could see vegetables and fruits, milk and drinks, meat and eggs. All of these were a luxury as compared to the gross food of prison. She had no idea how to cook, thus, she chose to eat fruits. She took a bite of an apple and leaned against the counter.

Unaware of a pair of hazel-green eyes shooting daggers on her back. Shahaan was standing at a distance and looking at her. Due to the darkness, she could not see him. He checked her out from head to toe in the dim lights of the kitchen. She was then even prettier than she was a decade ago. For once he still doubted if she killed his mother. Her innocent face gave an opposite picture. Ten years ago, he didn't believe what he was told. His Aafi could not kill his Mamma. But when she confessed her crime, that instant he killed the Shahaan who wanted to marry her in the future.

Anger rose in his veins, these thoughts maddened him. He dangerously paced close to her. Before Aafreen could even notice his presence, he pinned her to the nearest wall. The half-eaten apple fell on the floor from her hand. And her half-alive heart began beating vigorously.

Shahaan regretted this stunt of his when he took in her beauty. His anger rose to a higher extent when he realized that he was still attracted to her. His grip on her wrists tightened painfully. But she could feel nothing, she could only feel him against her. His eyes were showing different kind of emotions as a chameleon changing it's color. Before his mind could control his actions, his lips crashed onto hers. His emotions were driving him mad. He poured his hatred, his hate, his hurt into the kiss. He was harassing her. His hazel-green eyes looking into her lustrous black eyes. She could read him without any effort. He was like an open book to her, which she loved to read. But at that moment she couldn't understand what emotions he was passing into her through the kiss. It was a very long kiss. He wanted to hurt her, but his desire didn't let him leave her. She wasn't responding, he was glad for that. Or else it could lead to something worse. He consoled his heart by saying that he was punishing her. But no, he wasn't. Tears rolled down her cheeks, it soothed his anger. Her lips were bleeding, it healed his inner scars. She was trying hard to not respond. She could not let him win over her. He was only doing this to hurt her, and he succeeded in it. She felt terrible. He was using her. After an uncountable period, he backed off. Both of them were breathing hard. He smirked evilly finding her controlling her sobs.

"You felt hurt?... You deserve it."
He walked away, leaving her shattered.

She used to think that life couldn't break her more than she already was. But see, she was proven wrong. There is no limit to how much one can be broken. One could break again and again. The only difference will be that your broken self will never be healed, doesn't matter how hard you try.

Aafreen, at that moment, understood. It was just the beginning of her breakdown. Shahaan will break her terribly and she won't be able to do anything.

But destiny had some other plan. Shahaan was meant to tend her.

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