A Tale of Hearts

Chapter Sixty Two

Misha's POV:

It was going to take us 8 hours to drive back from Gwadar to Karachi. The weather outside was beautiful. It was breezy and the sun was partially out from behind the clouds. I would have enjoyed the weather if it wasn't for Ibraheem emitting a deathly aura beside me.

I was pretty sure if he continued to grip the steering wheel that tightly he would leave a dent in it. There was a frown on his face and I know he was trying his best to make sense of things ever since Kamran's call.

I had seen that expression on him a few times before. One was when he had met Saba in the mall with me beside him. The other time was when he saw me with Farrukh outside my house.

That expression was the epitome of a ticking time bomb. He could react in any way possible and I was messed up for getting butterflies thinking about it given our previous record. This is all Ibraheem's fault. He had screwed my morals. I need therapy.

I shook my head to get rid of illicit thoughts. Now was not the time or the place. Ibraheem had gone rigid after Kamran had told him that his sister, Kainat, was alive and kidnapped by Wassal. I didn't even know he had a sister. I thought all three of them were an only child type kids.

I vaguely remember Wassal among the army of Ibraheem's cousins. After the wedding, the entire Narejo family had gathered to give me a welcome dinner excluding Kamran who was apparently looking for Zoya at the time. I was upset that I couldn't say a proper goodbye to Zoya during the wedding. She had just given me a signal during the Waleema that she was leaving and that was it. Just like that she was gone. Her phone had been off since then too.

Anyway, I had seen Wassal on that day. He barely spoke to any of us and just focused on his phone. Out of all the Narejo's, he had the most untouchable vibe. I thought Kamran looked intimidating but even he was pleasant and approachable as compared to Wassal. His eyes were just so black, it felt like I was looking into the dark hole or an oblivion. It gave me goosebumps. His buzzcut and slit eyebrow gave off such a dark vibe.

Well, there wasn't much I could see apart from that. I couldn't observe any of Ibraheem's male cousins for longer than thirty seconds because Ibraheem would give me a narrowed eye jealous look and squeeze my thigh under the table making me jump.

I remember him leaning down to whisper something that was equally mortifying and equally hot. I shook my head a second time to forget the moment. I fanned my face that was a tad bit too hot right now.

"Don't make that face, meri jaan, it's already hard enough to focus on the road." Ibraheem winked while turning the steering wheel with one hand and pressing the button to turn on the panaromic sunroof.

"Tell me about Kainat." I switched the topic so fast, Ibraheem chuckled. It was a relief since his body had been tensed for the past hour or so.

"If I had to describe Kainat, there was only one way. She was the older sister I didn't know I needed. She looked after the three of us including Fahad. She was the complete opposite of Kamran. She was loud, blunt and had a killer sense of humour." Ibraheem recalled. A faint smile took over his features as he breathed in slowly.

"Was?" His smile dropped while his eyes lost their light almost immediately as if he was reliving a traumatic event.

"Yeah. She disappeared fourteen years ago. No notes, no nothing. There was no trail we could follow. We couldn't find her no matter what. The Narejos and the Abroos tried everything. It was beyond all of us. We were kids back then. Powerless."

I gripped Ibraheem's free hand that had clenched into a fist.

"Then she was declared dead twelve years ago and Kamran's family lost any hope they had. Kamran became how he is now. Emotionless. Numb. Uncaring. He stopped making friends or associating with people apart from us. Auntie and Uncle were a mess too. Auntie had to take anti-anxiety medicine. Uncle stopped really living. Kamran never gave up on finding Kainat or Anushay though. Anushay being Zoya. He said he had lost two of the most important people of his life in a single day."

At that moment, I felt such immense pain and sorrow for Kamran that I placed a hand on my chest to calm the ache. I didn't know he had experienced such loss.

"We tried our best to be there for him. We had promised auntie that we would do whatever it takes to make sure Kamran doesn't feel left out or alone at any point. Personally, Fahad and I had come to terms with it, acceptance was the only choice we had but Kamran was always stuck there. To that day when he had lost both Anushay and Kainat. We could see it in his eyes. He never really grew out of that phase. He never moved forward."

I was finally connecting the dots. So that is why Kamran was so hell bent on finding and making sure Zoya was Anushay. It was his only hope for sanity. To resume his life and become what he was once more with the people he cared about. But then again, Zoya had seen things in her life. Things that had scarred and traumatised her for life. We could never be sure that Kamran meant good for her.

So it truly came as a shock to me was that Zoya had told Kamran about this information. It made me question a few things. Firstly, had Kamran kidnapped Zoya? It was highly plausible. He was looking for her. Secondly, did she tell him this willingly or was it coerced out of her? She isn't the type to be coerced easily given her nature and profession as a lawyer but then again, this is Kamran we are talking about. And most importantly, is she okay? I really hope Kamran hasn't hurt her in any way.

"And what about Wassal?" This was a very loaded question that I had dropped casually on Ibraheem. He gripped my hand tightly but made sure he didn't bruise me.

"Wassal is our cousin from our father's side. My dad, Kamran's dad, Uncle Azmat, and Wassal's dad, Uncle Buland are brothers. Kamran's dad is the youngest. Dad comes in the middle and Wassal's dad is the oldest." Ibraheem explained and gave me a few seconds to process the information. Once I nodded, he went on. "Uncle Buland, used to be very toxic. He wanted to be the one with all the properties and the authority and all. Dad and Uncle Azmat used to tell us to stay away from Uncle Buland. And we did. However, Kamran used to get along with Wassal because Kainat and Wassal were very close."

Okay so Wassal and Kainat had a history of sorts.

"Anyway, the initial years had a lot of fights and there was loads of family drama, there came a point when dad and Uncle Azmat was on one side and Uncle Buland was on the other. In order to separate Kainat and Wassal, Uncle Buland decided to send her to an art school in France. Fourteen years ago, at 19, she was one of the best painters in Karachi. So talented. At least that was the plan but that all changed when Kainat disappeared."

"Changed? How?"

"Well, out of nowhere, Uncle Buland became the caring, oldest sibling that we didn't even know he had the capability of being. His reasoning was that his family has experienced such an immense loss that he decided to put his greed away once for all to be there for all of us. It was odd back then. But it actually makes sense now, love. If Wassal had really kidnapped or hurt Kainat, Uncle Buland was bound to cover it up someway. And here I thought he was being genuine. Kamran's family is not going to leave this be. Blood will be shed." Ibraheem spat out bitterly. More than anger, I could sense fear and dread in his voice. Fear of losing another family member. Fear of the inevitable.

Raising his hand that had been holding me tightly, I entwined my fingers through his and kissed the back of his hand softly.

"It will be alright. Trust Allah. It will be alright."

"I hope so. We will be home soon."

Author's Note:

Hello and Asalam o Alaikum lovelies!

I hope all of you are well. I know y'all have been eagerly waiting for an update. I am trying my best to find the motivation and inspiration to write and complete this book. It's so cold and I am really down mentally because of the Palestinian situation so it is extremely hard to find the will to write nowadays.

Also IMPORTANT: Many of you are not following me on Instagram (@asfarnoor) which is why you all had no idea that I had exams and was occupied with that. I am more active over there and would urge you all to keep a check on my instagram stories to know what is happening and when I am updating and when I am not. 

That would be all. Thank you.