Since the beginning Qaina had this thing in her mind that she will never marry. Who will marry a blind girl? She forced herself to believe that she will remain alone and void of companionship.

But that day this belief of hers crumbled down after listening to her Mamu's words.

"Qaina, I never told you anything related to your father's family. But now you need to know it. You have a cousin and he wants to marry you. The decision is yours."

The way her Mamu said those words, it appeared as if he was hesitant. Like he didn't want her to agree. Yet he knew she has to agree. As if he wanted to refuse yet he was liable to accept this proposal. As if Qaina marries or not, her doom was unaltered.

And Qaina, like an innocent angel she is, agreed without any question. Because she could feel the upcoming storm. As if her life is going to take an ominous turn. Her ruin is awaiting for her. She didn't want her Mamu or his family to suffer this disaster.

So she agreed without meeting her so-called cousin, who was out of blue interested in her. Maybe he is her ruin. But she would gladly ruin herself if it saved her family.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Clad in a heavy embroidered lehenga, whose colour she didn't know, her Mami and Uroosa helped her in sitting in her husband's car. Both the mother-daughter duo were crying their hearts out on Qaina's departure from their home. While her Mamu was standing silently, puzzled if he did right or wrong.

"Mami, please don't cry." Qaina was consoling them when suddenly someone held her arms gently.

It was a feminine touch, soft and gentle. And the scent of that lady was familiar to her.

Nikhat.

"Aunty, don't worry. I promise I will take good care of my Bhabhi." She spoke, elation evident in her tone.

She was Nikhat.

Qaina froze at her place. She was trying to conclude something.

Nikhat saved her from a guy named Atif.

She got a proposal from any cousin of hers.

And Nikhat is her husband's sister.

Maybe this marriage is not her ruin. Maybe her cousins want to save her. Maybe there is some dark secret. Maybe she will get through the darkness.

This Maybe was enough to bloom hopefulness inside her.

And finally she left her safe haven to go to an unknown destination. The car speed up, so did her heartbeats. She was nervous, it seemed like her life had became a game of chess where she was being used as a pawn.

"Qaina Bhabhi, how are you feeling?" Nikhat tried to start a conversation with her newest sister in law.

"I am alright, Nikhat."

Her reply caught her attention. How did Qaina knew her name when she hasn't introduced herself yet?

"Bhabhi, how do you know my name? You heard it from someone?"

Qaina wasn't someone to play mind games, neither she wanted to play along in Nikhat's verbal hide and seek.

"Nikhat, don't pretend. I know you were the one who saved me from that Atif guy." Qaina gave a straightforward reply, without beating around the bushes.

"How?" For a moment Nikhat began doubting if Qaina is a blind or not. How she could recognise her?

"You are tend to remember people by their faces. But I am tend to remember people by their voices and scents."

Nikhat was beyond surprised at her statement. She had thought that it would be easy to hide the truth from her long lost cousin but she was wrong. Qaina had sharp senses as compared to normal person, all thanks to her blindness.

"Now will you mind revealing the truth?"

"Qaina Bhabhi, our family is not like other normal families. That's all I can tell you for now."

"What's this family called?"

"Naqvi family."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The car halted after an hour or so. Qaina was hell nervous to meet her paternal family, especially the man she married.

What was his name again?

Shahnawaz Naqvi.

He didn't even bother to meet her yet, it was a clear indication that this marriage was just a liability for him. That only increased the burden on Qaina's blind heart.

"Bhabhi, let me help you." Nikhat said sweetly and helped Qaina to walk inside the beautiful mansion she called her golden cage.

"Is it a mansion?" Qaina asked while stepping on the stairs.

"How do you know that?" Nikhat's eyes widened, she highly doubted Qaina's blindness.

"I can hear water showering from a fountain and only a grand residence can have an artificial water fountain." She justified her prediction.

"You are right. We have an artificial pond as well. And there are many colourful fishes prisoned in that pond." Nikhat was using a sweet tone yet it was evident that she hated the way innocent fishes were living away from their natural habitat.

"And one of those prisoned fishes is maybe accompanying me." Qaina spoke.

"That's the golden fish of that pond. Everyone's favourite yet ignored like she is nothing."

"Don't worry, another golden fish is all set to join her misery."

"Bhabhi, you are lucky that my brother married you. Don't call this marriage a misery. He is a humble person, but only for those who love him."

"How am I supposed to love him when I haven't even met him yet?"

"He is a charmer, it will take you a mere second to fall for him."

"Let's find out about that."

Busy in their mysterious talks, they reached to the door of Qaina's husband's room.

"Here's your destination." Nikhat opened the mahogany door to her brother's room. Holding Qaina's hand again, she made her sit on the middle of a king-size bed.

"Bhabhi, your luggage will be sent tomorrow so you can use Bhai's clothes for tonight. I don't think he will mind. Actually he will be delighted." Nikhat teased her before leaving.

"Have a good night, Bhabhi."

Sitting in a strange and silent room, waiting for a stranger who was now her life partner, it was the strangest experience for Qaina. She knew her marriage won't be normal. Yet she had expectations, she couldn't help hoping for good. Even when she knew it will take no time for her life to take a worse turn. Yet there was a hope. A hopeless hope.

Her trailing thoughts took a swift break when the grand mahogany door was opened. Slow and calculative footsteps could be heard coming into her direction. Nervousness was what the air felt like. He was nervous. Why?

Qaina's senses got alert when the bed dipped and she could feel him sitting in front of her. His eyes leaving a warming sensation on her skin.

Her breath hitched for a moment and when she was able to regain it, something clicked.

His scent.

He smelled like smoke and roses.

A fragrance she could never forget.

Smoke and Roses!

It was him!

"You!" She uttered unconsciously.

Their was no reply to her unsure accusation. The only response was silence. A silence that lingers before the storm.

"Shah?" She still remembered him.

Shah Sahab was what his men called him.

"Shah Sahab? Shahnawaz Naqvi?"

Her chest felt heavy as the tears cascaded down her cheeks, ruining her makeup. But it didn't bother her, she couldn't see her smudged makeup. But yes, she could see her doom even without her eyes.

Her husband was a murderer.

Isn't it enough to promise a miserable married life?

A sob escaped her lips.

He recognised her as his cousin, is that the reason he left her alive?

Is that the only reason he left her alive?

If it wasn't their relation, he would have killed her?

"You need time, Qaina." That was all he said before his footsteps killed the deadly silence and yet again merged into the quietness of the mansion.

Silence and darkness, her two best friends since forever were the only witnesses of her breakdown.

Her silent sobs emerged as if silence had a voice as well. And her pain was evident as if darkness could shine as well.
{ I kinda feel satisfied with these phrases I wrote. }

Her life was darkening a shade every passing moment and the person who was supposed to lighten it himself faded in the black sky.

The awaiting ruin had approached her doorsteps and there was no escape from it.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Nikhat was standing in the middle of a room which she called her Art Haven. These closed four walls were her escape from the outer world. The room where she would sculpt her imaginery friends into the reality.

Wearing a loose t-shirt and pyjamas, her hair came undone in messy knots. The makeup was long gone after the shower.

Her hands trailed over a sculpture. The pearly white figure that had hints of greyish shades, a headless statue. She was yet to scuplt the head. At that time she was focusing on it's chest. She was engrossed in highlighting it's abs and strong chest, trying to make it similar to the one she admires almost every night.

The door was opened but she didn't notice it, she too much engrossed in her art. And her body stiffened when two arms snaked around her waist. Recognising the familiar touch she huffed a sigh of relief.

"Atif, you scared me." She spoke sternly.

"It's nothing in front of what you did." He sounded angry, yet he couldn't hide the immense adoration he had for her.

"What I did?" She asked, faking the oblivious expression. She knew what exactly he meant.

"Nikhat, don't push me to my limits. It won't be good for either of us. I am talking about that girl." His hands came in contact with her bare skin, tightening the hold around it.

"Her name is Qaina and she is now my brother's wife. Start respecting her." She said leaning against his hard chest. She let go the sculpting, her hands were tainted with the thick white layers.

"Respect? Are you kidding me? You know how much I hate her." He brought his lips closer to her ear, trying to refrain her from giving a comeback to his words. But she did have a comeback at all times.

"And both of us know that she don't deserve your hate."

"Why? She is the reason why mother suffered from my father's hand. She is the reason I endured my father's hate. Isn't it enough reason to hate her existence?" His nails roughly stung her skin. She slightly winced, but it didn't do anything to reduce his anger.

"Atif, don't force yourself to hate her."

"Nikhat, why are you so compassionate to her? Does she mean more important to you than I?" As these words left his mouth, he unhooked her brassiere and she gasped a little.

"If you meant no importance to me then I wouldn't have married you, that too secretly." She turned to look at him. And found him wearing a shirt, whose buttons were opened and his chest was on full display.

"Hmm, then why you are so adamant on saving her from me? So adamant that you got your brother married to her?" He again pulled her closer to him by her waist. Nikhat put her hands on his bare chest which led to taint his skin in white fingerprints.

"Atif, first of all, I am doing it for my husband. And second, I am doing it for my brother."

"How?" He asked with his lips inches away from hers.

"I don't want you to do something that you'll regret for rest of your life. And I don't want my brother to have a loveless life."

"By marrying him to a blind girl?" His tone was mocking.

"Why? I am also colour blind. Aren't you happy with me?" She felt offended. And he knew that.

"I am happy, but your case is different from hers." He gave a desparate explanation while rubbing her stomach with his fingers.

"How? We both are special persons." She pushed away his hands.

"At least you can see." He cupped her cheeks, looking straight into her eyes.

"Eyes has nothing to do with love." She put her hands over his hands.

"How can you admire your partner without eyes?" He pulled her cheeks, to make the situation a little less serious.

"It can be done by heart." She pulled his cheeks as well, with a beautiful smile adorning her lips.

"She won't be able to become his equal." He smirked arrogantly.

"My brother doesn't need his equal, he needs a companion, that's all." She smiled compassionately.

"Nikhat, stop debating over that girl!" Now he was irritated that his wife was defending someone he hated the most.

"It was you who started it."

"No, I wasn't." He spoke a white lie.

"Yeah, I believe you." Her words had a very opposite meaning to what they actually meant.

Atif didn't dare to speak, he knew he could never win over Nikhat in arguments. So he picked her up in his arms and laid her down on a soft, fluffy mattress spread on the floor for the times when Nikhat would sleep in her Art Haven.

Nikhat made herself comfortable on her favourite bed, waiting for her favourite pillow to join her. Atif removed his shirt, at that moment he saw the white fingerprints on his chest. However, he was too lazy to leave his wife so he ignored it.

As he lowered his body to her level, he was engulfed into a warm and romantic hug. Now he was glad that he had already locked the door of the room.

That night was one of those many nights when Nikhat's unending love soothed his profound old scars. However, the outer world had no inkling about it. It was a secret between them and their Art Haven.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

asma2212
I hope you like it. Thanks for your feedback on the earlier chapter.