Everyone was asked to gathered in the living room on Murtasim's orders. Maa Begum sat on her signature sofa, and Murtasim stood beside her waiting for all of them to arrive. Mariyam and Meerab were the first to enter, followed by Haya and then lastly Anwar. Murtasim asked Meerab to stand next to him and Haya in front of him.
Then he turned towards Maa begum, "Maa, aap pooch rahi thi na Haya ne kya kiya hai? Wo aapko Meerab batayegi.", he said as he folded his hands behind him and gestured Meerab to start.
Meerab felt put on the spot for a good minute but quickly composed herself and began, "Maa Begum, Haya knew that the guy Maryam used to meet is Malik Zubair, she also saw her leaving with him and took the video but didn't stop us, neither did she inform Murtasim". Meerab finished, all the while, staring at Haya.
"Aur main Meerab ki baat ko sach kaise maan loon?", Maa Begum said, looking at Murtasim, seemingly still distrustful of Meerab.
"Maa please, think logically", Murtasim started irritated, "where else would Haya get the video from? And I trust Meerab, nothing else matters after that. Haya is guilty of a huge sin in my eyes." he finished and shot an angry look at Haya.
Haya was in a state of shock, she had not expected to be exposed. She, shaking her head, pointed and moved towards Meerab, "Nahi nahi, maa begum, nahi, Murtasim, ye Meerab jhoot bol rahi hai, maine aisa kuch nahi kiya hai, mujhe nahi pata tha Malik Zubair-"
Her rambling was cut off by Maryam, who shouted at her, "Bas kar do ye dhong Haya", which made Haya stop in her tracks, "Maa, Meerab Bhabhi is not lying, Haya admitted everything in front of me too, I didn't tell you all before because I didn't think you'd believe me after everything.
Maa Begum unable to process everything, put her head in both her hands while Murtasim issued his statement "Haya has hurt two of the most important people in my life, just for her own sick agenda, and I can't tolerate her in this house and within my family anymore. She will have to go back to her paternal house." Meerab and Maryam breathed a collective sigh of relief while Haya started crying hysterically.
That made Maa Begum look up, "Murtasim, bachpan se paala hai maine usse, aise kaise can we send her back to that hellhole where she was thrown out from as a kid?"
"Main kuch nahi jaanta Maa, Haya se Meerab ko khatra hai, she has already attempted to cause harm to her before, she can do it again, I can't take the risk of keeping someone like her here who'd go to any lengths to harm my spouse in pursuit of me", Murtasim said with finality and slid his hand in Meerab's. Meerab clasped her fingers around his', and felt tears prick her eyes at his protective gesture.
Haya knew there was no point pleading to Murtasim. He wouldn't listen, love for Meerab had gotten to his head. So she tried to get Maa Begum on her side and went close to her, "Maa please, aap to jaanti hai wo log kaise hai, wo mujhe bilkul pasand nahi karte please-", and as she tried to hold Maa Begum's hand and plead more for mercy, Maa Begum jerked her hand and spat at her, "Door raho mujhse ladki, meri beti ki zindagi barbaad karne chali thi, aur ab mujhse rehem chahti ho. I would still punish you even if I didn't send you to that house, but ab Murtasim ka faisla ho gaya hai aur main kuch nahi keh sakti." She got up and went away to her room leaving a crying Haya behind.
________
Meerab lied down on the bed as soon as they came into their room, "I am exhausted, I just want to sleep now", she whined.
"Sure, its past 1:00 AM anyway," Murtasim said, taking a look at the wall clock. "I'll go freshen up".
Meerab looked at his retreating back as he went into the washroom and thought about his muscular arms dropped on her shoulder casually as they were walking towards their room. She had felt a strange sense of contentment over that. She sighed and began wondering how things were going to go forward for them from now on. She had bared her soul in front of him, had been vulnerable, and she could sense a shift in their equation after everything that happened yesterday.
