Meri Musibat [Tere Bin FF]

28. 23, 26 - Part 2

A/N: Hello, I know it's been a while! Wattpad went crazy and deleted all my stuff, but I am super grateful it's back. Thank you to all of you for all your love for the last chapter, just read through the comments and they made my heart happy. On to the next chapter, which really got away from me, but it was so much fun to write. Hope y'all like it, see you on the other side!

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Murtasim was convinced that his current state of misery was a collective effort, spearheaded by every acquaintance he had the misfortune of knowing. The most egregious act of betrayal, however, came courtesy of his soon-to-be wife, Meerab. Well, not directly her fault, but he felt her absence as acutely as a physical ache. She had been spirited away from him, placed beyond his reach by an invisible barrier of tradition and familial decree that insisted he could not see her until the mehendi, and then the nikaah ceremony.

The mastermind behind this torture?

His mother.

She had laid down just one condition for their wedding: it had to take place at their ancestral haveli on the outskirts of Hyderabad. A grand, sprawling estate that, despite its grandeur, was hardly practical for day-to-day living. It was large and felt more like a museum than a home. Yet, as the wedding date approached, what had seemed an insurmountable challenge turned into a venue of remarkable beauty. Weeks of relentless cleaning, repairing, and decorating had transformed the haveli into a scene right out of a fairytale.

The only hitch in his plans to see Meerab was the inconvenient fact that her room was situated in the opposite wing of the haveli that had become a temporary home for a week. To reach her, he had to stealthily navigate past three critical checkpoints: his mother's room, his uncle's quarters, and the Ahmed's lodgings.

The thought of scaling three levels of the ancient structure seemed both foolhardy and akin to a suicide mission, he couldn't risk it, especially with the wedding so close. But he missed falling asleep next to her, having snuck into her room on more nights than he could count, despite the fact that it was always a test of his restraint.

Fueled by desperation and a yearning to see his bride, Murtasim resorted to drastic measures. He donned the most nondescript white shalwar kameez he owned and navigated through the chaos to find his wife-to-be before the guests arrived for the mayoun.

The plan was simple yet fraught with the risk of discovery.

But the risk was worth it, because the sight that greeted him as he slipped through the wooden door into the courtyard, had robbed him of his breath. Meerab, clad in a white and gold outfit, shone with a celestial light. Her attire shimmered, catching every fleck of light as she moved gracefully. Her hair, parted in the middle, fell in loose waves over her shoulders, accentuated with delicate yellow and white flowers. Daisies, to be precise—the very ones he had chosen with painstaking care, now adorned her hair, matched the earrings dangling softly by her cheeks, and encircled her wrists as bracelets.