Scarred

Chapter 20

"So lose not heart, nor fall into despair, for you will be superior if you are true in faith."

(Surah Al-Imraan 3:139)

Bundles of newspaper were scattered on the glass top of the coffee table, tense silence was covering the spacious living room, and every member of the family was present in front of Mr. Shah who was sitting on antique styled luxurious sofa, his both elbows supported on his knees and his tired old face covered behind his rough palms.

"Her phone is still switched off, dad." Dua's soft voice spread across the hall and Mr. Shah's shoulders dropped.

"This is the reason why I always stopped you Mohuiddin. It's all your excessive freedom which spoilt her—"

"For the love of god, mom, can you for once stop blaming Daniyah," their eldest child and only son, Davar's voice boomed and Mohuiddin Shah shook his head. Since yesterday he has been listening his son and wife argue on the news which had made headlines.

"Davar not now, this is about her life—"

"I just can't understand why her doing a job is such a big deal, Dua had been doing job, Nisha did job all her life, for heaven's sake you have been a working woman yourself and now all of a sudden every single person is against Daniyah," Davar frantically spoke and unconsciously his father's eyes rested on the newspaper again. Picture of his youngest and dear child was on the front page.

Shahs and Kirmanis greatly failed when they offered a huge bulk of money to the newspaper agency on taking the news back as whoever spread the news already invested an unimaginable amount, now both the families were thinking to legally prosecute the agency but the question was how many agencies could they control for involving in their personal matter. The matter of Daniyah working was not which was bothering her father or even the news, the matter was she was unapproachable from last twenty four hours now and the way her in-laws spoke especially her father-in-law made his old heart shiver from a fear he never felt, for the first time he felt vulnerable on being a father of a daughter, a daughter which made most of his world.

"Dua, dial her number again, beta." Mr. Shah looked at his elder daughter, who passed him a small but weak smile and nodded her head.

----

She shivered in her sleep as the cool wind kept hitting on her bare arms, her heavy eyelids kept fluttering before a wince left her swollen and chapped purple lips, taking deep breath Daniyah weakly grabbed the sheets to cover her body, her mind still blank but as she blinked her eyes the memory from last night started playing on the screen of her mind. Her heart started drumming in her chest as a her body started shaking furiously, she could feel her limbs freezing as she frantically pulled her body and sat bringing her knees closer to her chest, lump was forming in her throat and it was almost impossible for her to breathe.

The burning tears swiftly made their way across her cheeks and she looked around the empty room, there was no sign of any other presence but even in the arms of loneliness she could feel every wall shrinking, every part of the room haunting her. Grabbing the sheets she jumped out of the bed and madly ran towards the ensuite washroom. The door closed with a thunderous voice as Daniyah locked herself and fell on the white marble floor.

Every wall of the bathroom shivered with the scream which erupted from her chest, tears were easily flowing on her pale face as she kept on screaming, with blurry eyes Daniyah looked at her hands, her wrist were blue because of being tied, her forearms had scratches and bruises were on every part of her aching form, the screams turned into whimpers and stubborn hiccups.