The Forced Bride

Chapter 2 - Conviction

I IDRIS I

Idris Quraysh knew his father wouldn't let him have full control over the land until and unless he married. He has always known that, and he has tried to prepare himself for it since he knew it would never be his choice.

Like any doting father, his father too would want his only son to get married and be well settled before his time, especially in the light of the partition, or so one would think. But the bastard who called himself his father was only worried about himself and his possessions. His son was a mere seed that was meant to continue his lineage.

His father, Mahmud Quraysh, was a man who held a lot of power. He was a renowned landowner and, in his eyes, an utter waste of space. The man was corrupt, greedy, and a monster without remorse. Idris has hated him with every fiber of his being since he was a child.

He had always been looking for ways to get more power and wealth, and it had only brought suffering and misery to his family, with his wife, Idris' mother, being the worst victim. And Idris would never forgive him for that, until the day he died, maybe not even then.

His father had annexed the lands of smaller peasants and landowners around them through immoral deeds, and yet he was dissatisfied. When the partition became official, his father was possessed with the need to gain more power and land. He funded and organized rebellion against the non-muslims in the area and forced them to flee their homes and cross the border to India. The alternative was certain death. He then annexed their property and assets.

He also helped the Muslim men who came to this side of the border set up homes, helped them secure wives, and leased the land he had confiscated from the ones he drove out, to them, so that they would work for him. It was not done out of the goodness of his heart but to spread his influence through the loyalty that he expects from these men.

To persuade all the other religious orthodox men in the community to marry the women brought in from the other side of the border, he decided to marry his own son to one of them.

Idris never expected his father would make him marry a hindu woman, especially someone from the other side of the border, given his hatred for non-muslims and "Hindustanis," as he liked to call them. But he should've known that there was nothing his father wouldn't do for power and wealth.

Ali Khan, his father's old friend, was the one who suggested the marriage. Idris had heard them talk about it in his father's haveli. Ali Khan was a major member of the party and one of the wealthiest landowners in Sindh. He was, just like his father, a man of great influence. He also held a grudge against Idris for a few reasons.

When both his father and Ali Khan asked him to join them in a meeting, Idris knew something major was about to happen, and he had an idea as to what it was. And he was proven right when his father ordered him to get married to a Hindu woman that they had brought in from the other side.

Ali Khan had the nerve to pat his shoulder as he said, "Don't worry, Idris. I've told them to save the most beautiful woman for you. You don't have to worry about being stuck with an ugly bitch as your wife for the rest of your life". He had laughed as Idris stayed silent, his laughter fading only when he saw that Idris was not laughing. He had excused himself and left Idris alone with his father.

"Do as I say if you want my land", his father had said, and he had remained silent. Idris didn't care for his father's land or wealth. He already had a large haveli and more than three hundred acres of land under his name. It had been transferred directly by his grandfather to his name. But there was a patch of land that meant the world to him-the land where his mother slept, deep in the earth-that was still under his father's name. If it wasn't for that patch of land, he would've broken all ties with his father long ago. And his father knew it. So he kept that land over his head to try to control Idris.