Shaayad...

70.

When Shehnaaz heard her mami saying that she was treated like a daughter, Shehnaaz wanted to laugh out loud. How could her mami spout such lies with a straight face?

Her ability to act was top notch, Shehnaaz had to agree. She really wanted to tell her mami to treat her own daughter like Shehnaaz was treated and then say how well the treatment was.

"Bhabhi, Shehnaaz ne galti ki hai. Par aapke sath rahi hai itna time, aapko bhi pta hai ki bina kuch baat ke nhi karegi kuch aisa. Ek baar puch lete hain bachchon se ki kya hua hai!", mumma said.

Mami just scoffed, "Puchna kya hai? Yeh Ladki hai hi aisi. Mujhe lagta hai ki kafi pehle se hi Yeh kuch aisa karna chahti thi! Itni achchi tra paala humne...".

And maami couldn't say anything any further because Shehnaaz stopped her. "Achchi tra?", she asked with a tearful face. It seemed that today she was going to tell everything she had experienced.

"Mujhe jo gifts milte hain wo saare aap apni beti ke liye cheen lete ho. Ek bhi new dress nhi hai mere paas. Aapki beti ke puraane kapde pehenti hun mein. Meri school uniform aur books ke paise bhi aap le lete ho. Apke bachchon ke purane uniforms aur books se mein school jaati hun. Saari rotiyan mujhse banwate ho, aap sabke kapde aur bartan bhi mein dhoti hun. Aap iss tra apni beti ko paalte ho? Agar apni beti jaisa treat karte ho toh jo mujhse karwate ho, wo apni beti se karao!", Shehnaaz yelled.

When mumma and papa  heard this, they had no idea what to say. "Aree humare ghar mein rehti hai, agar thodi help kardi ghar ke kaam mein toh kya hua?" maami asked, still being self-righteous.

Shehnaaz looked at her parents in hope, but they didn't say anything. She was totally disappointed in them. That was the day that she promised herself to never go to her parents even if everything in her life was falling apart.

She made a vow to never depend on her parents who couldn't even take a stand for her. If she couldn't depend on them, then she would depend on herself.

Maybe that was the reason why Shehnaaz didn't seek them out before she tried to kill herself. She just didn't trust them enough.

When her parents asked why she wounded her cousin, Baaz instantly tried speaking uo that he was the one who did it, his sister was innocent.

But before he could say anything, Shehnaaz stopped him and held his hand tightly, conveying to him to not to open his mouth and he listened to her.

Shehnaaz had already decided that her parents probably wouldn't believe her, so she didn't bother telling then about the humiliation she had faced. She just told them that she threw the vase at Naman because they were having a fight.

When all was said and done, Shehnaaz was asked to pack up her bags. Shehnaaz couldn't help but think that maybe today's incident was a blessing in disguise.

Atleast now she could go back to her home, find solace in her grandmother's arms and be with Baaz forever.

"I though that I was going home, but it seemed like mumma papa had yet to disappoint me again. Guess where they took me?", Shehnaaz asked Sidharth after she finished telling him about how she and her parents drifted apart and how she still feared Naman.

Sidharth was silent for some time. He couldn't believe that Shehnaaz had such a terrible childhood. He couldn't help but think that when Shehnaaz was 14, what was he doing.

When she was 14, Sidharth was around 26 and he was also going through a tough phase in his life because that was the year, his father left the world.

He and Shehnaaz, both were equally miserable during that time. Also, when  Shehnaaz broke down because of Ayaan, he was also broken and had to leave the industry.