Always Her

XII

♪♫ Hai saaz tu, tera tarz main

Tu hai dava aur marz main

Dildaar tu.. khudgarz main

Hai geet tu, tere lafz main

Tu hai dua aur farz main

Aazad tu aur karz main...♪♫

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After that call from Inaya's brother, they both rushed back to India. Sana—her sister-in-law—slipped from a few stairs and got into labour. Thankfully, her parents were at home so they rushed her to the hospital.

She was thankful that Ahana had a New York to Delhi flight and had left earlier that evening because she reached and supported everyone while taking care of everything in the hospital.

She was also glad that Noor, Aarav, and Zain's family were also there to support everyone.

Inaya and Zain reached Delhi in the middle of the night and decided to meet the mother and the baby first in the morning.

Sana gave birth to a baby boy and both of them were healthy.

It's been a month and a half since that incident and everything has been going well since then. During this time she confessed her love to Zain and also told him everything about Rahil.

Flashback:

They were sitting in her apartment in Mumbai. Ahana had gone to meet her sister so Inaya invited Zain to spend some time with her.

"Rahil was a nice guy until I told him about Ahaya. He never liked Ahana and maybe that was also the reason which irked him. He tried to stop me but my parents were in full support so I got on with it. It started when Ahaya got its first project and Ahana and I gave our everything to make it a success, after all, we had been waiting for that opportunity for a long time. We got busier than usual and Rahil used that against me.

"He used to accuse me of cheating because I wasn't able to talk to him often. He never tried to understand that we had a new business that needed much attention. He told me to stop working and when I refused him he used to verbally abuse me."

"Did you tell your parents about it?" Zain asked.

She shook her head. "I thought it was just a phase—that he would be back to normal after some time but that never happened. He started to distance himself from me after some time and I couldn't decipher why. He had also started to go out almost every day which wasn't like him but I still brushed it off. One day Noor suggested that we follow him and see where he goes every day. I was against the idea but surprisingly Ahana agreed to her idea and because it was the majority, we get on with it. We followed him and to my surprise, he went to Misha's house. I still didn't want to jump to conclusions so we waited there. When he came out of the house after an hour, Misha also accompanied him and he kissed her before getting into the car.

"I realized that he was cheating on me and that too with my own cousin who very well knew that he was with me. When I confronted him he again accused me of numerous things and at some point, Ahana lost control over her anger and beat him black and blue. The next day, when Bhai got to know about everything he also went to beat him up but Misha stopped him because Rahil was already looking so miserable that Bhai ended up only warning him to never come near me again.

"After that, I only focused on college and work. My family also supported me in every way. They had already shifted to Delhi before the incident so they were worried about me but Ahana promised them that she would that care of me and she did."

After she told him everything he hugged her and showered her with sweet kisses and promised her that he would always be there for her in life.

◅▫▻

Today was their date night and for the first time, Zain had blindfolded her.

He guided her to god knows where because refused to take off the blindfold. Suddenly she felt a gust of cold breeze and could smell the salt water which led her to the conclusion that they were at a beach. She was wearing a beige full-sleeved midi dress that had a square neckline.

He finally took off her blindfold and it took her a few seconds to clear her vision. She looked at him to see him already looking at her with a breathtaking smile. She looked ahead to see a short table that was surrounded by pillows, blankets, lamps, lanterns, and fairy lights. The table had been set up for two along with a vase that had her favourite flowers. There were a few baskets too which she assumed had food in them. It was stunning and more than perfect for her.

The setup was a little far from the water which was bioluminescence. The view was serene and she was looking forward to what Zain had in store.

They have been closer than ever after Zain told her their story and she was happy about it.

They enjoyed the food with the constant flow of conversation after he guided her toward the setup.

They were sitting in each other's embrace when he sat up straight, took her hands in his, and said, "Inaya, I fell in love with you not knowing what love really was. All these years, I stayed in love with you because no one else made me feel the way you did. I still fall in love with you every day because there's no one I picture my future with other than you and I promise to continue to love you even when it's hard because I'm aware no one is perfect, but you are worth it. From the moment I saw you I knew that my heart would belong to you. You are my first love and I promise that you'll be my last. I know you have been hurt before and I promise that from now on you'll never see a sad moment because it has always been you since the moment I met you and I would rather die than see you sad or hurt. What I'm trying to say is, will you marry me, amore?"

Inaya had tears in her eyes and a big smile on her lips. He took out a ring from his jacket pocket when she nodded and whispered a yes. "This is my grandma's ring. I loved and respected her a lot. She gave me this ring when she was taking her last breath. She told me to give this to the girl I love so her blessing would always be with me and her. You are the only one I love so I want to give this to you, amore."

He slid the ring on her ring finger and when he looked up, he was greeted by a sweet kiss.

They pulled back and Inaya looked at the ring. It was a gorgeous vintage opal ring with a swooping v-band accentuating a tiara-like design.

"Do you like it?" Zain asked hesitatingly.

"I love it! It's perfect."