Keep Your Enemies Closer

~ let the show begin~

Zaviyar couldn't bring himself to go back to the haveli just yet. He had scratches on different parts of his body leading to bleeding, while his wounds were hurting afresh, yet he couldn't bring himself to care. He sat by the river, the roaring of which felt dead silent compared to the heavy thumping of his heart. He was shaking - with fear, with anger and most importantly, the realisation of helplessness.

When he took up this fight, he was alone. All he had to care about was his own self, and he had long decided that he would be willing to bear any pain on himself. Even death was acceptable to him as a result of the path he had chosen for himself. In his heart, he was content knowing that Ahmer would die before allowing any harm to touch either Nooreh or Ruqaiyya. Izzat was dearer to the Seths than life itself. He had to only worry about his own life, which he had put on the line the moment he sought for answers.

Yet, with Zaira's entry into his life and heart, he was no longer just an individual. He had a responsibility on his shoulders. As her husband, it was automatically a compulsion on him to protect her from all kinds of attacks. On top of that, the realisation of being truly in love with her, the thought of any evil eye even looking at her was making his heart ache. He felt his chest contracting as he kept replaying the words in his head.

"Jab tumhari biwi hamaray qabzay mein ho gi, tab kya ho ga tumhara haal?"

"aap ki maa, behan, biwi, sab ke naam drag kiye ja saktay hein."

Ibrahim's voice rang in his ears, making him sit up straighter as he began to think hard.

Ibrahim had warned him. The sudden appearance of Yasir with the intention of scaring Zaira and him, then the men today. He held his throbbing forehead in his head.

They were trying to scare him from the court case, and if he didn't back out, they would intensify the attacks in the court.

They were using Zaira to weaken him. They were using his biggest strength to scare him.

He wouldn't let them.

But he also wouldn't let them harm Zaira.

He had to send her back to her father's place.

He screamed loudly as he threw a pebble into the water.

~

Arslan found himself back in his father's study room, this time with more determination and focus. As he was rummaging through the documents, he found a brown envelope hidden right at the bottom of the drawer. Confused, he picked it up, the seal was already open. He pulled out the legal notice and read through it.

It was the court notice requiring a response within a month from his father, the date for which was about to be over.

When did his father get a court notice?

He had a strong feeling that it had something to do with Zaviyar, and Jahangir's severe dislike for him. Dislike to the point of getting him shot.

He had to meet Zaviyar, but before that, he had to sort something else out too.

Pulling his phone out, he scrolled down to the number he had gotten very slyly. On the fourth bell, he finally heard a response from the other end.

"Assalam o Alaikum Nooreh. Kesi hein aap? Mujhe aap se milna hai."

~

Zaira leaned against the dressing table, observing Nooreh closely. The girl was panicking like anything as she kept biting on her nails. Having had enough, Zaira walked over towards her, pulling her hand out of her mouth.