Damsel In Distress (A Wattpad Featured Book✓)

CHAPTER: 39| CHANGE OF HEARTS (PART-3)

ASSALAMUALYKM!

*Unedited*

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Their first day in the Othman Haveli rather went faster than any other day.

After lunch, Habeeba, Maha and Burhaan decided to give Laiba a tour of the Othman Haveli and took her with them. Zeeshan and Aariz locked themselves in the study room with Shah as they had some office work to do. Essa was in his room, playing video games with the caretaker's son. Areesha was with her wedding planner, both of them discussing and planning out things for the upcoming events together.

Here, with Burhaan, Habeeba and Maha as her guide, Laiba learnt that the Haveli was built into two different portions; the front portion and the back portion.

While the front portion was two storey and had all the accommodations including the banquet hall, common hall, two separate living rooms, kitchen, study room, library, prayer hall and huge foyer, the back portion seemed to have been designed only for the solemn purpose of public gatherings. There were halls after halls, one larger than the other, like a series of ballrooms.

The architectural work over the ceilings, the windows, the doors and especially the pillars were phenomenal and aesthetic. It was magnificent and something worth seeing. There weren't many furniture at the back portion but the ones which were there, were all regal. She loved the high ceiling glass windows and the red and gold silk curtains, draped down over them. There were numerous chandeliers, of all size and kind, hanging down the ceiling and there were all types of lanterns and lamps mounted on the walls. And with all those lightings, the solid marble floor they were walking on was sparkling like a diamond against it, reflecting their unmistaken images underneath.

Much to her dismay, she wasn't able to see the painting room and the other places as they were called back for dinner.

"Hey! We will come back tomorrow, okay? I promise." Burhaan assured her as they were returning to the front portion.

Laiba gave him a sideway smile, "In Sha Allah." She said, taking the turn and entering the banquet hall.

The moment she stepped inside, her smile vanished from her face.

Seated between Aariz and Shah, clad in a casual tees and denim, Zeeshan was laughing at something the latter was saying.

She had halted on her place like a statue while Burhaan, Maha and Habeeba casually walked past her to join them at the table, leaving her standing at the threshold. They approached them with hi-hellos as they dragged the chairs out and took their seats in front of them.

Laiba quietly watched each and everyone's face as they sat across the table, opening and closing dishes, filling their plates with food and the place with its smell while talking and laughing with one another.

And without even her realising, her eyes chose to lingered on Aariz at last.

Her gaze stayed on him long enough for him to realise her presence. He looked up just in time as she turned away from them, walking out of the banquet hall.

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Laiba didn't realise she was holding her breathe until she was out of the banquet hall, hyperventilating. She took long, deep breathes, trying to calm herself down as she strode down the corridor. Living under the same roof, she knew facing Zeeshan was inevitable and that she couldn't avoid him for long but when she saw him sitting there unaffected, she just couldn't. She wasn't prepared for that. How could she go in front of that person whose thought alone was enough to provoke bad memories inside her head.