"You walked into the lion's den, sweetheart," he whispered, stepping closer. "And lions don't let go so easily."
He looked down at her leg, at her trembling hands, and the fear in her eyes.
"A beautiful young girl like you," he chuckled, "shouldn't...
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Mishti
I don't know if it was me or Sultan... but something had changed. He wasn't the same anymore. At first, I thought I was overthinking-maybe he was tired, maybe just busy-but no. He had grown distant.
Bua was also missing.
That night I couldn't sleep. I turned and found myself lying against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Slowly, nervously, I unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and looked up at him with a small smile, trying to get close. I don't know why... maybe I just wanted to feel wanted. But he pushed my hand away gently and sat up.
"I'm tired, Mishti," he muttered, already walking out of bed.
I froze. My smile slipped. Tired? Since when did he ever say no to me? I didn't dare to argue. I just turned around, staring at the dark ceiling, my stomach sinking with unease.
He was hiding something. I knew it.
The next day, scrolling on my phone, I came across a post on social media. Some lawyer writing about divorce rates-how marriages break because of cheating, extramarital affairs......
My fingers turned stiff around the phone.For a moment I sat there frozen. Then, angrily, I threw the phone aside. "Nonsense," I whispered to myself. "Such obnoxious content."
That evening, Sultan returned home. I followed him into the room, ready to talk, ready to ask-but before I could, Zara stormed in. Her eyes were swollen with angry tears.
"I know what you did to my mother!" she screamed, her voice shaking the walls.
I stopped mid-step, staring at her.
Sultan didn't react. He just took off his watch slowly, placing it on the table.
"It was you. You made her disappear. You abducted her!"
I tried to intervene, my voice soft, trembling. "Zara, please... we are all worried about Bua. Even Sultanji is trying to search for her-"
"Search?" she cut me off with a bitter laugh. "He's the one who took her! How will he return her? Ammijaan found out his secret. That's why she vanished!"
Sultan's hands paused mid-motion. Just for a second. But I caught it.
"Secret?" I asked, smiling nervously, trying to ease the tension. "Zara, what secret? You're imagining things-"
"Stop it!" she screamed at me, her eyes blazing. "Don't you know who you're living with? The man you defend so blindly is the one who made you an orphan!"
My breath hitched. Her words sliced through me. My mouth opened but no sound came.
"Zara!" Sultan's voice thundered, sharp enough to silence the whole house.
But I whispered, "There's... there's some mistake. My mother died in an accident. My father is alive-"
"No!" she shouted, shoving something into my hands. A photograph.
