Make Me Your Villain

Chapter Two

Hayat Azhar

I didn't know how I managed to reach home in one piece after having gone through the most dangerous encounter of my life.

But it was when I stepped inside the familiar premises of our ordinary house with the crumpling paint on the walls that I was able to breathe properly.

Leaning my back against the main gate, I closed my eyes. A painful throb had begun to course along my left arm and I found myself relieved that it wasn't my other arm that douche of a criminal had decided to squash.

"Hayat, have you returned?"

My eyes fluttered open and I saw mother approaching me. She'd lost the fresh look from her face and seemed frailer than usual.

Perhaps catching something in my expression, she added, "Are you alright, beta?"

Not having the strength to form a verbal response, I nodded my head in affirmation.

What was I supposed to say? That some armed men stopped the bus and robbed everyone? That I was held at gun point? That I actually crossed paths with a criminal whose name had been surfacing in the news for some time now?

If I told mother the truth, she would confine me inside the house until I got married off and left this city. I couldn't risk losing the freedom of stepping out of the house. I still had to go to a university; I wanted to amount to something more, someone my family could lean on.

I kept my left hand hidden in my chaddar to keep mother from noticing the missing golden band that was supposed to be on my finger. If she noticed its absence, she'd question me about it.

I was still engaged. If someone found out that the ring was already lost, there was no telling what havoc would befall us.

Mother wasn't the main concern. Zohaib. If Zohaib came to know of this, who knew how he would react. It took him months upon months to save up enough money from his salary just to buy me such an expensive gift filled with his affection.

And now it was gone.

A sudden rush of gratitude flowed through my gloominess at the fact that those thieves didn't notice me dropping the purse. If they had taken that too, it would've been the end for me. Our expenses for the whole month depended on the few thousand rupees inside that bag.

"Why are you still standing over there? Go and wash your hands, we've been waiting for you to eat dinner." My mother's voice tugged me out of my trance.

I gave her a small nod and pushed myself towards the kitchen to wash my hands and face. Then, I made my way to our aging dining table.

Drying my hands on my dupatta, I took a seat on the wooden chair that squeaked under my weight.

"You know, that electricity guy came in today. He threatened to cut our wires if we didn't pay them the bill soon." Before I could even take my first bite, mother dropped the first bad news.

A piercing ripple of despair cut through me. I was already feeling down, the last thing I wanted was to make myself feel even worse.

For the past few months, with the high inflation rates, our financial condition had been worsening and because of that, we weren't able to pay the bills on time.