spoke in a faint voice,
"Shahram, but Sultana… please look at your condition. Don't be so cruel to yourself."
Hearing her, Azlan added gently,
"Yes, Sultana, please go and get some rest."
But Mehr did not listen to anyone. The very next moment, she was once again standing before Fateh. This time, however, she did not let herself be defeated.
Azlan forced Fateh's eyes open, and the moment his gaze fell upon Mehr, he froze—like a statue. His breath caught in his chest.
"How are you even alive?" Mehr's voice trembled.
Fateh forgot all about his own state, the fact that he had been tied up for two whole days. All he could do was stare at her, unblinking.
"Mehr… what happened to you? Your face…"
He stopped mid-sentence, shocked.
Mehr turned her face away.
There was a softness in Fateh's voice, heavy with sorrow, almost breaking into tears.
"Why have you come back now?"
Without looking at him, Mehr asked in return,
"Fateh, when you once left me behind… why have you come back?"
Fateh's eyes remained locked on her.
"Mehr, what question is this? I left for you, Fatima—I wanted you to be safe."
"Safe?" Mehr let out a bitter laugh. Pointing to her scarred face, she said,
"Do you think I was safe? Look at me—look at what became of me!"
Her eyes welled with tears. She spoke with the weight of a heart full of pain.
One of the women tried to console her,
"Mehr, please… just listen to me once."
But Mehr did not listen. She stood up abruptly and walked out.
---
The others left Azlan behind and went after Mehr. She was still weeping, and the sight of her tears pierced Haqim's heart.
"Are you alright, Sultana?" Shahram asked softly.
Mehr wiped her tears quickly and forced a smile.
"I'm fine… thank you."
But everyone knew she was not fine at all.
Zoran exchanged a glance with Nawab and said firmly,
"Take Sultana home."
Mehr sat quietly in the carriage. From inside the house, Fateh's desperate cries could be heard.
"Mehr! Listen to me, just once!"
Hearing his familiar, broken voice, Mehr shut her eyes tightly. Then, turning to Shahram, she said coldly,
"If Fateh troubles too much, you may as well break his legs."
Her merciless words left everyone staring at one another in silence.
Maaf had already taken Mehr home, but the rest remained where they were, lost in worry.
"She is disturbed," Zoran signed with his hands.
"I am confused myself," Haqim admitted, folding his arms, his tone heavy with concern.
"Ever since she regained consciousness, she has been acting strangely."
Zoran frowned.
"Do you think we should be worried?"
"No," Haqim whispered, "we should be afraid."
---
Since returning to the house, Mehr had locked herself in the study. She had not eaten a single bite, nor had she taken her medicine.
Rabba had knocked countless times, calling her out, but Mehr never replied.
Even Nawab had come again and again to persuade her, but she would not answer.
Night fell. It was already nine o'clock, and still, Mehr had not stepped out of the room.
When the others returned, Nafeh told them everything anxiously. Hearing this, their hearts grew heavy with worry.
---
Haqim and Zoran finally went to her room. They knocked gently on the door.
"Sultana Mehr, please open the door. It's time for dinner."
They knocked again, but silence lingered.
Her refusal to answer frightened them both.
"Sultana, open the door," Zoran said firmly.
Haqim added in a louder tone, "Open it, or else we'll break it down!"
After a few seconds, the door finally opened.
Both of them asked at once,
"Why weren't you opening the door?"
But their words froze in their throats.
There she was—the old Mehr. Tears streaming, swollen red eyes, trembling lips. She had wept herself into ruin.
A sharp pain twisted inside Haqim's chest. Those eyes that once looked so beautiful now seemed drowned in grief.
He couldn't find the words to speak.
Then, stepping inside, Zoran asked gently,
"Sultana, what has happened? Why are you cutting yourself away from everyone—why are you suffering like this?"
Mehr gestured toward the sofa.
"Sit."
She herself sat down on the chair opposite.
As soon as Zoran sat, he asked again,
"Why are you doing this to yourself?"
Mehr smiled faintly, hiding behind her hand.
"Nothing…" she whispered.
But that smile seemed to conceal countless sorrows.
Zoran took a long breath and said softly,
"Why have you become your own enemy? Why aren't you eating?"
Haqim remained silent, his eyes fixed on Mehr's tear-stained face, struggling to hold himself together.
"I'm not hungry," Mehr smiled again.
That smile broke Haqim's restraint. He suddenly stood up and shouted,
"Then what do you want? Why are you torturing yourself like this?"
His voice was so loud that Shahram and Azlan, sitting downstairs, heard it. They rushed upstairs at once.
"What do you want, Sultana?" Haqim cried.
"To keep crying like this, while we all stand here helpless, watching you destroy yourself?"
The three men stood at the doorway, frozen.
Mehr raised her voice,
"Then tell me, Haqim! What should I do? If my past comes and stands before me again, what am I supposed to do?"
Haqim stepped forward.
"Be strong, Mehr. Why are you giving others so much power over you, to affect you this deeply?"
Nawab quickly pulled Haqim back and dragged him outside.
"Haqim, leave it!"
But Haqim struggled in his grip.
"No, Nawab—let me speak to her!"
He clutched his chest, his voice breaking into desperation.
"It hurts, Nawab! It hurts me to see her like this! I cannot bear it. My soul is tearing apart, Nawab, I am losing myself! Why is she torturing her own eyes for a man like him?"
This was a side of Haqim no one had ever seen before. Maaf looked on in shock, unable to understand how Haqim could fall apart like this.
Maaf stepped forward and held Haqim against his chest.
"Calm down, Haqim. Breathe… deeply."
Inside the room, Mehr still sat quietly. Shahram, Azlan, and Zoran stood around her.
Zoran finally walked up, placed his hand gently on her head, and said with brotherly affection,
"Sultana, you are like a sister to me. And a brother cannot bear to see his sister cry."
Those words broke Mehr's fragile walls. She could no longer hold back. Her tears spilled freely.
"I don't know, Zoran… I don't know what to do. I loved Fateh. But he left me. I thought he would always stay by my side—but he went away. I gathered myself, I tried to live again… and now he has come back."
Her sobs filled the room with sorrow.
"I don't want it to be like this, Zoran. But when I see him in that condition… my heart cannot turn to stone. Don't I have the right to feel—even for a single day?"
Mehr's weeping left everyone's heart heavy with grief.