“She must be thinking like you, she must be suspecting him of murdering your father”

“Oh, I suppose so” Hannan agreed.

“Furthermore, there is a prophecy mentioned that states that their child would face a lot of pain and torment”

“Yeah, so?”

“So that signifies that his wife wanted to dump him because she didn’t want her child to suffer”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense. In fact that makes a lot of sense”

“I know, now you should stop worrying about them and think about…”

Khubaib stopped speaking but Hannan asked him:

“And think about?”

“Think about, well you know, getting rid of Rizwan”

Hannan stood up getting enraged and exclaimed:

“Getting rid of Rizwan? What do you think I am?”

Khubaib looked down and then uttered:

“Alright I’m sorry”

“What are you expecting from me? Who are you exactly?”

Khubaib asked him to keep his voice down through waving actions.

“No! Answer me!” Hannan yelled angrily. “You think I’m trying to get rid of my brother?”

Angry Khubaib stood up and said:

“Don’t you raise your voice over me! And don’t think that I am afraid of you. I can go and expose you in front of Rizwan”

“Excuse me? Expose me? Why? What have I done? What do I have to be ashamed of? Why would I be afraid of you or Rizwan?”

“I will tell him that you sent me to pick up that paper. And he will believe you”

“I never sent you to do that. I just asked you to…”

“…Whatever you asked me to do, I can prove it to them that you sent a spy whose job was to expose the secrets of the family”

Helpless Hannan held his collar and pulled him closer. They both looked at each other with fury in their eyes but Hannan let go off him saying:

“This was a mistake. A big mistake of mine. Seeking help from a disgraceful character like you”

Hannan picked up the paper and said:

“I thought you were doing a favor on me but I was wrong. Now I realize that you had your own benefits as well”

Khubaib smiled devilishly. Hannan commented before finally leaving:

“I don’t know what you exactly want but I do know that you have either something against Rizwan, because it is clear that you want to get him out of your way”

Hannan had left. Khubaib kept on looking at him with furious eyes. His driver came by his side and said:

“Can we leave now, sir?”

“Yes”

“Is everything ok?”

“No, it is not. My plan is not working. I was up all night trying to convince Sidra”

“Sidra?”

“Yes, she is Rizwan’s wife but I want her. I want her to be my wife. I tried to convince her last night regarding her horrible future with Rizwan. It worked out, she asked for divorce. Now my next plan was to infuriate Hannan and force him to kill Rizwan”

“Kill Rizwan?” the driver asked.

“Yes, because it is not easy. Rizwan will not divorce her that easily. My plan is to remove his love from Sidra’s heart and then get him killed”

“I see” the driver felt shaken.

Two days later during the evening, Rizwan was sitting in his room as usual and he was thinking about his miserable life. That moment he remembered his father’s words:

My sons, be patient. Have tolerance in life. Bad times will come. Life will get worse than this, you have to remember that no matter what happens, you do not have to lose faith from God.

He commented:

If only I were as kind hearted as he was, I would have been in patience. My life cannot have enough patience. I feel so upset after seeing this phase of life.

He stood up and lied on his bed. He turned off the lamp and tried to sleep.

That very moment he heard something breaking inside through the glass window. He was startled but he immediately jumped out of the bed and went to see.

He rushed to see who was trying to attack or create trouble.

As he reached outside, he saw his step brother Hannan standing outside. Rizwan was shocked to see him so he asked:

“What do you want?”

Hannan came closer to him and took out a knife from his pocket. He held the knife close to his face and yelled:

“What was the dispute between you two? Why were you and my father not talking during his last days? I know you are the beneficiary of his death”

Angry and frustrated Rizwan slapped Hannan so brutally that Hannan fell on the ground. Rizwan then held his throat with his left hand and with his right, he punched him twice. He claimed afterwards:

“I am not a killer, but I think I am about to become one”

Hannan pushed him and then stood up. He tried to punch Rizwan, but Rizwan held his hand and kicked him through his knee on his waist. Hannan fell backwards and felt extremely painful. Rizwan looked closely and realized that the knife had pierced inside his neck. The blood was clearly visible.

As Rizwan saw Hannan’s blood, he exclaimed:

“Oh my God”

He bent to pick up his brother but Sirtaj came from behind and pushed him. Rizwan fell aside and looked up at Sirtaj.

“Listen to me Sirtaj” Rizwan said pointing his finger.

“No I am not going to listen to you. You are a killer. You have killed your father and now you have tried to kill him”

“Oh for God’s sake” Rizwan yelled out.

Maqsood came over that very moment and stood in front of Rizwan. He said to Rizwan:

“You cannot fool us now. I know that you have poisoned Tariq Yasar. Either confess your crime here or we’ll take the matter to court. Now it is your choice. How do you want this to end?”

“I am willing to go to the cops but I will not utter falsehood. I am innocent as far as our father’s death is concerned”

Hannan yelled holding the wound of blood on his neck:

“Then why don’t you tell us about your dispute with him? What was it between you two? Why weren’t you talking to him during the last days?”

“He was not satisfied with my marriage” Rizwan spoke shutting his eyes with embarrassment, “my marriage was not something that appealed to him. I had no other option, I loved her. I disappointed my father unwillingly”

Hannan was quite shocked as he heard this. Sirtaj held Hannan and said to Maqsood:

“We have to take him to the hospital. Now!”

“Oh yes, of course” Maqsood agreed.

The two of them picked him up and slowly dragged him to the exit. Rizwan followed them but Sirtaj stopped him and spoke:

“Don’t come near us. You are a murderer. And from today onwards, we are not working for you”

Rizwan was quite shocked at Sirtaj as he wasn’t expecting this from him. He saw the two of them dragging his brother away. Rizwan was feeling deeply upset so he turned and walked towards the house. He wondered while walking:

Why is this happening to me? Why is everyone leaving me? Am I a man of sins? Am I a criminal? What is my sin? I really need to know why am I being molested like this?

Next day’s morning, Hannan was lying on the hospital’s bed with a minor bandage on his neck. He opened his eyes and found Sirtaj sitting next to him. He asked him:

“How is my condition?”

“You don’t have to worry about it? It was a minor cut on the upper side of your skin. Don’t worry, you will not die”

“Oh, thank God. So what about Rizwan? Where is he? Are you taking any action regarding him?”

“I have sent Maqsood. He is going to convey this news to everyone. Your relatives will support you, once they discover what he has done”

“Great, this is what I need. I need support of our relatives”

“I Know” Sirtaj answered.

“And secondly Sirtaj” Hannan spoke remembering something really important, “that guy Khubaib. He is not associated with us. He wants to marry Sidra and he is planning to harm Rizwan for that. Therefore, tell everyone that he is not affiliated with us. We have no concern with him”

“But he is Khattab’s brother, isn’t he?”

“I don’t care, who he is. The guy should not put blames on us”

“Ok, but why does he want to marry Sidra?”

“I don’t know, he obviously likes her that’s why”

“I see” Sirtaj answered.

“And one more thing. I have to confess a little crime of mine”

“Yes?” Sirtaj asked getting a bit curious.

“That paper of prophecies. The list that Rizwan made, I stole it”

“You stole it?”

“I sent Khubaib the other day. His job was to collect it”

“From Rizwan’s house?”

“Yes”

Sirtaj chuckled and then commented:

“Wow, quite smart of you, but also stupid, of using Khubaib for this”

“I know, but let’s forget it”

 Two days later

Sidra was sitting with her friend at some public park. She was quite upset and was not speaking much. Her friend said to her:

“Look Sidra, I know you are upset. But your decision was good. You had to separate from that family. That family was not bringing peace in your life”

“No my dear, I hate what I did. Instead of supporting Rizwan when he needed me, I dumped him. I feel like I abandoned someone who would have never done the same to me”

“So you’re saying that you are thinking of reconciling with him?”

“If I won’t then I would never be able to forgive myself”

“And what about your daughter?”

“I don’t know, I can think of another way. Rizwan is totally alone. I have been told that he had some sort of physical fight with Hannan. Now the servants have left the house. Rizwan is all alone”

“Why don’t you simply tell him that you would only reconcile with him if he is willing to give up this family and move out of the city with you”

Sidra gave it a thought but disliked the idea. She spoke afterwards:

“My life is really incomplete without him. I am going back to him”

“You were also telling me about some old friend of yours who wants to marry you”

“Yes Khubaib, but I am not interested in him”

“Oh I see”

“He is coming here to meet me” Sidra spoke.

“Oh, so what are you going to tell him?”

“I’ll tell him the truth”

“Ok, that’s good”

Half an hour later, Sidra was walking in the park all alone until she saw Khubaib making his way towards her. She greeted him and asked:

“How are you?”

“I’m good” Khubaib answered. “I’m glad to meet you”

“Yeah, same”

“So have you considered my offer?”

Sidra did not respond and kept on walking until she heard him asking for the second time:

“Sidra, I’m asking have considered the option of getting married to me?”

“Look Mr. Khubaib, you are a great guy but I’m sorry I cannot marry you. I am still missing my husband”

“What? Rizwan? Are you still thinking of reconciling with him?”

“Yes” she replied firmly. “Yes, I am. We are not getting divorced”

“But that guy has no interest in you. He keeps on seeing other women behind you”

“No, that is not true. But I need to stop you here and remind you about your limits”

“You are making a big mistake”

Sidra stopped walking angrily and exclaimed:

“Alright, now that’s enough”

Khubaib was a bit shocked on her reaction. He heard her saying:

“I have given you a lot leverage, ok? There’s a lot that you say every day and I bear silently, but now I have endured enough. Now we cannot meet anymore, therefore I’m asking you to stop thinking about us. I love my husband and I am going back to her”

Khubaib’s eyes were left wide open as he was quite shocked after listening to her. Sidra continued;

“Now I am requesting you to go back to your home and stop following me”

Khubaib changed his standing position and said:

“But I love you Sidra. I love you. I have loved you since two years and yet you are thinking about that loser Rizwan”

“Shut up Khubaib. Just shut up”

“No Sidra, I want to know, what is there in that stupid family that is still attracting you towards them”

Sidra lost her temper as she heard this. Khubaib provoked her by saying:

“Your choice is so disgusting because you have chosen a disgraceful person like Rizwan to spend your life with”

Sidra raised her hand and slapped him.

Khubaib wasn’t just shocked but embarrassed as well. Before seeing her, he saw other people in the park who were staring at him.

Sidra who was also embarrassed left the spot before any further trouble would come up.