The air was thick with tension.
Zafar stood in the doorway of his office, his arms crossed, his jaw tight. Zoha was beside him, her eyes scanning the room as the usual buzz of his office came to an abrupt stop. Everyone could feel it—the shift. The arrival of Zara.
Zara. His ex-wife. The woman who had torn apart his world without a second thought. The woman who left him when he needed her the most. The woman who had chosen to turn her back on their family.
And now, she was here.
Zoha's heart skipped a beat when she saw Zara standing by the window, the same cold, calculating look in her eyes that Zafar knew all too well. The woman who had once been his partner was back, and she hadn't come to apologize. She hadn't come to make amends.
She had come to take something. Take him back.
"I thought you'd be here, Zafar," Zara said, her voice smooth as silk, though there was an edge to it.
Zoha looked at Zafar, her heart pounding in her chest. He was as still as a statue, his gaze fixed on Zara, his face unreadable.
"What do you want, Zara?" Zafar's voice was colder than ice. Zoha could feel the way the air seemed to freeze with his words.
Zara smirked. "What do I want? You know exactly what I want. I've come to take back what's mine."
Zoha's chest tightened, but she didn't speak. She knew better than to intervene in their history. But her mind raced with doubts. What if Zara was still a part of Zafar's heart? What if…?
Zafar's eyes flickered briefly to Zoha, and his voice softened. "You left me, Zara. You left Ezra. And now you want to come back into our lives like it's nothing?"
Zara's smile faltered for just a moment before she regained her composure. "I never left you because I didn't care. I left because I had to. The marriage was holding me back, Zafar. You and your family were just too much to bear. But I'm different now."
Zoha stepped forward, her voice steady despite the storm brewing in her chest. "You think you can just waltz back in after abandoning him? After abandoning Ezra? That's not how life works."
Zara's gaze turned to Zoha, her eyes narrowing with a venomous glare. "And who are you to talk? The maid who cleans his office and watches from the sidelines. How does it feel to know you're just a substitute for the real woman he deserves?"
Zoha's breath hitched. Zafar's sharp intake of breath told her he didn't like that. His stance shifted slightly—more protective. But Zoha could feel the unease in him, the worry that started to creep in. Could Zara's words have hurt him more than he wanted to admit?
Zara took a step closer to Zafar, her hand trailing across his shoulder, the touch almost predatory. "Come back to me, Zafar. Let's fix this, for the sake of Ezra. For the sake of everything we once had."
Zoha's heart slammed in her chest as she watched, the jealousy and fear mixing like acid in her stomach. She couldn't let this woman take him away from her.
She took a deep breath, stepping between Zafar and Zara, the tension between them palpable. "Zafar doesn't need someone who only comes back when it's convenient for you, Zara. He needs someone who's been there for him through everything—someone who doesn't leave when things get hard."
Zafar looked at Zoha, his eyes filled with something soft, something unspoken. And Zoha knew, in that moment, he wasn't just protecting her. He was showing her that he was ready to fight for their love, too.
Zara's eyes glinted with something dangerous, but her smile remained tight. "This isn't over, Zoha. You may think you've won now, but you haven't. Zafar will always belong to me. And I'll get him back. One way or another."
With one last piercing look, Zara turned and left, her heels clicking sharply against the floor, the sound echoing in the quiet room.
Zoha felt the weight of those words. Zafar will always belong to me.
But Zoha wasn't about to give up. Not now. Not when she finally had something worth fighting for.
She turned to Zafar, her eyes full of questions and fear. "She's not going to stop, is she?"
Zafar's gaze softened as he moved toward her, his hand gently resting on her cheek. "No, she's not. But I won't let her take you from me, Zoha. Not now. Not ever."