Monsters are real. I met one, when I was 11 years old. I became one, years later. I am manipulative, controlling, and calculating. My mind is filled with noise and my heart with hatred.
I didn't expect her, though. I fell for her fast and hard, but...
"What's wrong?" I asked my wife, who had been engrossed with her phone for over an hour.
"Dad is not picking up his phone, neither is Ali Baksh. I have called them for over an hour now. I called at the landline too. Bua has no idea where they are", she said. "It's worrying me. He has never not received my call."
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I remained silent because I knew why her calls were being ignored. Mir Farooq Zaman was currently being questioned by the police for the murder of Sahira. Yes, he got her killed too. I had often questioned the man's sanity. Killing people (or ordering to get people killed) had almost become a hobby of his.
Two months ago:
"When you contacted me, I thought this was a trap by Farooq to check my loyalty to him. You had done your homework well. You knew everything about everyone and it scared me. I was apprehensive, too. But the way you spoke about Aina - that was what drew me in," Sahira said.
"He never allowed me to meet her but I always wanted to," she continued. "I wanted to have a family but I was told that I didn't have the social status to be the mother of his child. In the eight years of marriage, I was never allowed to host my own family at my house. I may have been his wife, but I was always treated as a mistress." Sahira paused for me to say something, but I didn't. "I don't know what you intend to do with the documents I sent you but I am glad to know that there is someone who knows Farooq's real face."
"I will let you know before I use those documents, I promise", I said.
"You're a smart guy, Amaan. There's a possibility that Farooq finds out that I am passing information over to someone and I might not survive to see you use those documents. I have been his secretary before I married him and I know how he operates."
"I know how to cover my tracks, so he will never reach me. Unless I want him to. And you need to take care of yourself," I tell her.
She is quiet for a while and then says, "You are a loving husband. Don't ever change that. Aina will need you after these information leak." Before I say anything she adds, "If I survive this, will it be okay if I meet her?"
"Of course," I said.
"And if something wrong happens, will you tell her that I have always prayed for her and loved her from a distance?"
"I will; but nothing will happen to you. So, you be prepared to be called history's youngest mother-in-law," I joked and disconnected the call.
Sahira's death turned something in me. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was another loss or maybe it was helplessness - but it accelerated my plan into action. I contacted Sahira's family anonymously, gave them all the information related to her death and personally made sure that the police investigated this case. Mir Farooq wasn't going to rid of this easily. And if he did, I had evidence of his involvement in six other murders. The man was going down.
