Hooreen's words had made Mr. Ilyas realize a lot. He felt that something was very wrong. He turned back to Haleema Begum, who was standing right behind him. Mr. Ilyas grabbed her by the shoulders, shook her, and asked:
"What has happened to Hooreen, Haleema...? What have you told her...? Why did my daughter sound so shattered...? I am asking you what happened to her and what you told her...?"
"I told her the whole truth, Ilyas. The whole truth—that she is someone's filthy blood, and the punishment for the sins of that same filthy blood...!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Mr. Ilyas's hand rose and left its mark on her cheek. Haleema Begum looked at her husband in disbelief, the man who had always showered her with love and never even scolded her. Mr. Ilyas grabbed her shoulders again; this time, his grip was harsh. Haleema felt his fingers digging into her arms. He spoke with ferocious eyes in extreme anger:
"She is not anyone's filthy blood! She is the daughter of Ilyas Murad, understand? Don't you ever use such words for my daughter again, or I will behave very badly... I am her father, so how can she be punished for any sin...?"
Saying this, he let her go. As he was about to leave, Haleema Begum blocked his path and forcefully hugged him, sobbing:
"My cry has consumed Hooreen, Ilyas... The prayers I made for nine months proved heavier than my prayers of twenty-two years... Our Hooreen is going through the same agony I went through... That Kayan...!"
Her words were like molten lead being poured into his ears. With trembling hands, he circled his arms around Haleema Begum. He didn't have the strength to say anything. For a long time, they stood there like statues while Haleema Begum kept crying against him.
"I won't leave Kayan... What he has done is unforgivable...!"
He pulled Haleema Begum away from him, took the car keys, and headed outside. She tried to stop him, but ignoring her, he left.
Hooreen's words had made him realize a lot; he felt that something was very wrong. He turned back to Haleema Begum, who was standing right behind him. Mr. Ilyas grabbed her by the shoulders, shook her, and asked:
"What has happened to Hooreen, Haleema...? What have you told her...? Why did my daughter sound so shattered...? I am asking you, what happened to her and what did you tell her...?"
"I told her the whole truth, Ilyas... the whole truth... that she is... someone's filthy blood... and the punishment for the sins of that same filthy blood...!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Mr. Ilyas's hand rose and left its mark on her cheek. Haleema Begum looked at her husband in disbelief—the man who had always showered her with love and had never even scolded her. Mr. Ilyas grabbed her shoulders again, this time his grip was harsh. Haleema felt his fingers digging into her arms. He spoke with ferocious eyes in extreme anger:
"She is not anyone's filthy blood! She is the daughter of Ilyas Murad, understand...?? Don't you ever use such words for my daughter again, or I will behave very badly... I am her father, so how can she be punished for any sin...???"
Saying this, he let her go. As he was about to leave, Haleema Begum blocked his path and forcefully hugged him, sobbing:
"My cry... has consumed Hooreen, Ilyas... The prayers I made for nine months... those prayers proved heavier than my prayers of twenty-two years... Our Hooreen is going through the same agony I went through... That Kayan...!"
Her words were like molten lead being poured into his ears. With trembling hands, he circled his arms around Haleema Begum. He didn't have the strength to say anything. For a long time, they stood there like statues while Haleema Begum kept crying against him.
"I won't leave Kayan... What he has done is unforgivable...!"
He pulled Haleema Begum away from him, took the car keys, and headed outside. She tried to stop him, but ignoring her, he left.
He kept driving aimlessly on the roads for a long time. When he grew tired of it all, he turned the car toward home and walked slowly into his room. But the room was empty, which gave him a strange sense of restlessness.
"Hoor...!"
He called out to her, but there was no sound. Desperation began to set in. He called out many times, but received no answer. He got up and searched the entire house, but she was nowhere to be found. His anxiety continued to grow.
"No, Hoor... not this time... you cannot leave me like this again... nor will I let you go anywhere... and the punishment for trying to stay away from me this time will be as great as this mistake of yours...!"
Talking to himself, he sat on the bed. A lava of anger was brewing inside him—how did Hooreen dare make the mistake of leaving him? How could she leave him? No one knew how this anger would manifest against Hooreen, not even he himself.
He called Waleed, who answered on the first bell. He spoke authoritatively:
"Waleed, you have half an hour. Do whatever you have to, but my Hoor must be in front of me before that half hour is up. I will not forgive any kind of negligence or delay."
Saying this, he ended the call and threw the mobile onto the side table next to the bed. At that moment, his eyes fell on a letter lying there. He quickly picked it up. He had only opened the first fold of the letter when the writing on it surprised him.
"I know you must be very angry right now that I have once again slipped from your reach, and in this anger, you must have issued an order to Waleed to find me... but keep your anger a little in check and call Amna's number. I am sure you must have her number because you take great care of every relationship connected to me and stay informed about everything."
Kayan ignored this text and opened the second fold. Once again, he was astonished by what was written.
"I knew you wouldn't listen to me because you are very stubborn. But if there is love for me in your heart, then right here and now, call Amna and ask her what we talked about that night and in what manner we spoke. I swear it on your Hoor...!"
Reading this, Kayan clenched his lips in anger. His eyes were turning blood-red with rage. He called Amna.
Being an unrecognized number, she didn't answer at first, but with the persistent ringing, she finally picked up and spoke in a sharp tone:
"Who is it that can't find peace...?"
Cutting her off mid-sentence, he spoke:
"It's me, Kayan Zarrar! I need to ask you something important."
Hearing Kayan's voice, her own voice got stuck in her throat. She spoke with difficulty:
"Yes, Sir... you...?"
"The night before last, what was discussed between Samara and Hoor?"
Kayan asked bluntly. She spoke in confusion:
"Which night, Sir...?"
"The same night all of you were at my house and you took Hoor with you to the other room."
He chewed every word. Amna was terrified by his manner. She stammered:
"Sir... that night... there was no conversation...!"
"I am asking for the last time—what was discussed between you, Samara, and Hoor that night...? and I will not tolerate lies at all. Your every word must be true, otherwise, no one will be worse than me."
Hearing this, Amna swallowed hard. She didn't understand what was going on. Then, gathering courage, she told Kayan everything from 'A' to 'Z', and finally said:
"All these things were discussed between me and Hooreen; Samara was sleeping at that time."
Kayan hung up without saying a word and sat on the bed as if collapsing in a broken state. He didn't have the strength to open that letter. He sat like that for a long time, then with trembling hands, he opened all the folds of the letter. Now a long text was before him, and as he read, he felt as if he were being buried under tons of earth.
"Talked to Amna...? Did you get the answers to all your questions...? Now tell me, was I worthy of the punishment you gave me...? Was I a criminal...? No, right...? In fact, besides being my offender, you are also worthy of punishment. And you said that you accept every punishment I give. But before telling you your punishment, there are some things I want to tell you..."
"No one ever came into my life, nor did my heart ever beat for anyone like it beats for you... I love you very much Kayan, very much. And do you know since when...? Since the first time I saw you... that night when you forcefully married me... at that time I didn't know why, even after Amna's countless warnings that this wasn't the hall, my heart was desperate to go there. I kept feeling that place was exactly right, and I went there... there was such truth and intensity in your feelings that, despite being unaware of them all, they were reaching my heart and pulling me toward you... when I saw you there, I fell in love with you... I don't know how... but my heart intensely prayed at that moment to have you. I even forgot that you were a groom for someone else's destiny whom I was asking for myself. When I realized this, I freed myself from that thought. But after that, whatever you did to me created a strange fear and dread of you in my heart... I just wanted to get out of your reach. I didn't know what was happening to me or why... I was badly affected by that incident. I used to cry a lot thinking that perhaps my prayer was accepted and I had murdered another girl's desires, broken someone's dreams... snatched someone's happiness... and your coming close to me like that made me even more fearful... Even then, I didn't hate you... I felt angry at you when I saw my parents worried and in pain because of what you did, but even then my heart didn't hate you... never... and nor did I ever forget our relationship... I didn't forget our bond for even a second...!"
"When you came before me again, my fear dominated my love and anger, but gradually that fear and anger vanished... When you went away from me, I realized how much I love you... You didn't call me even once, while I waited for a single message or call from you every moment, every second... I was certain you would definitely call me, but you didn't... I found out from Papa that you call him and Mama every day. I got very angry—why didn't you talk to me directly? Why didn't you ask even once how I was feeling after you left...? Or what I wanted...? In that anger, I didn't tell you about my arrival... but I came here only for you because somewhere I knew that if I came to Islamabad, to our home, you would surely come too... and that's exactly what happened... I didn't want to deprive you of your right anymore, but before that, I wanted to talk to my Papa because I had told him that first of all, I would tell him the words of my heart and inform him of my decision regarding this relationship. Then I wanted to tell you... That is why I messaged Amna and told her to take me away on a pretext so I could go home and talk to Papa... It was now impossible for me to keep you away from me or stay away from you any longer... I wanted to do everything the right way, but everything went wrong... You listened to a third person and doubted me, thinking I had humiliated you. How could I humiliate you or cause you pain when my life resides in you...?"
"You had asked for my forgiveness, right? So for everything you did before, I forgive you, Kayan... I forgive you for all the pain my Papa and Mama suffered because of you. But for the mistake you have made now, I cannot forgive you. Despite wanting to, I cannot forget the agonizing fact that you broke my trust... You always give punishment for every mistake, don't you? So today it's your turn... Your punishment is that I am leaving your life... Your punishment is that you will never see my face again... Your punishment is that you live your life without me...!"
"And one last request to you..."
"I had promised Papa that I would tell him the words of my heart first, so tell my Papa I wanted to tell him, but circumstances and time didn't allow it. I know you will be very angry with me, but I can no longer be the cause of anyone's grief. That is why I am going away from everyone forever..."
The letter slipped from his hand and fell down... he felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart. He felt as if his heart would stop. His mind had gone numb. Due to the intensity of his restraint, his red eyes were turning even redder, as if blood were dripping from them.
"N... o... no... Hoor... not such a big punishment... you... cannot leave me like this... I would have accepted the death penalty... but not this punishment... this is a punishment more horrific than death... No, Hoor... I do not accept this punishment... No...! I will find you... you know... I will find you... you can give me any other punishment... but not this... Hoor...!"
His voice was faint at first, then it grew louder. Within moments, he trashed his room. Both his hands were injured and bleeding, but he didn't care. He sat down amidst the scattered things, clutching Hooreen's picture to his chest.