Makhfi

chapter 38

I apologise for the late update.
I was honestly busy with University admissions so I haven't been able to write much.
Thank you all for 24K reads on Makhfi
Qaraabat and Marghoob will also be updated soon.

Chapter 38
A month later
Author’s POV
   A month has gone by since Armaan’s and Zunaira’s marriage. Both of them haven’t been in contact much even though they were living under the same roof. Zunaira had hardly seen Armaan nowadays. Both of them were still not ready to accept the changes, well at least one of them. Armaan had purposely been ignoring Zunaira as he didnt want to answer her questions. Meanwhile Zunaira was still in a faze, she was living her life not exactly the same way but similar to the one she had before. Aside from the reminders of her being a married woman now. 
  Zunaira was sitting in a cafe, her friends had just left after a meetup. She was in deep thoughts, when someone clears their throat, gaining her attention. She looked at the person and a sour expression made its way on her face.
Anural: “Can we talk?....please” Zunaira agreed nonetheless.
Zunaira: “kya baat kerni hai tumhey mughsey.” she asked, clearly showing her disinterest. 
Anural: “Look I don't know how we got on the wrong foot…….but I want to make amends.”
Zunaira: “Since when do you care ke main kya sochti hu.” Zunaira asked, there was a hint of curiosity in her tone.
Anural: “I do care and Armaan is a great friend of mine and I want happiness for him.”
Zunaira: “are you really this insane or you’re a really great actor. That man is your fiance” Zunaira was stunned at how casually Anural was discussing Armaan, like that man meant nothing to her.
Anural: “Was…he was my fiance but now he is your husband.”
Zunaira: “he WAS your fianceeeee. Tumhey is cheez se koi masla nahi hai ke the man you were supposed to marry, married someone else.” Zunaira looked at Anural, begging for her response.
Anural: “ooooh Armaan ne abhi tak nahi bataya tumhey kuch.”
Zunaira: “kya nahi bataya.” she asked 
Anural: “Do you have time because it's a long story.” 
Zunaira just nodded in return.
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Zunaira’s POV
   After 65 minutes of pure horror and new revelations, I sat appalled in front of Anural. Never in my wildest dreams or nightmares have I ever thought about this. That idiot!
  When did this even start and how did this even happen? My mind was going blisters. I sat there thinking about an action of mine that had attracted him to me. 
Anural: “I know that it is a big blow to you but listen ab toh koi masla hi nahi hai. You guys are married.” Anural was nervous when she spoke, it was quite evident. She kept fidgeting her fingers.
Zunaira: “You do remember how we got married, right?” 
Anural: “honestly, No! I was literally not present there." I nodded in return. Obviously she wasn’t there. This was all too much to handle. My mind kept repeating everything that Anural had just told me. Armaan likes me.
Zunaira: “And why did you agree to this engagement? You've told me Armaan’s reason but you haven’t told me yours.'' I questioned her and relaxed myself in my seat.
Anural: “Well you can say I trusted the wrong person.” it had hurt her to say that. Who that person was had done her wrong. I didn't pester her with questions. The topic seemed sensitive.
Anural: “Anyways, I hope that we can be friends, rather than whatever we were before. Waisey, why did you hate me?” her question got me off guard.
Zunaira: “it's not like I hated you, I just didn’t like you.”
Anural: “why?”
Zunaira: “Let's leave something for our next meetup.” Anural smiled at me and nodded.
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Armaan’s POV
   I entered my room after a tiring day. Things have been a mess since the past month. Business has been going downhill, I've been ignoring everyone and especially Zunaira. For some reason I still haven't been able to digest the fact that she's my wife. As badly as I wanted this, I've never thought about what Zunaira wanted. And no matter how much effort I put into this relationship, all of it is a waste if Zunaira doesn't want this relationship. 
I ran a hand over my face and sighed. Remembering why I had come in my room in the first place, I opened up the drawer where that envelope was kept. I hadn't got the time to open that envelope and had forgotten that it existed. 
  Taking that envelope in my hand for some reason I felt anxious. I emptied the envelope on my bed. My breath hitched, time stopped. My heartbeat accelerated and I felt my ear ringing. These weren't supposed to be here, these weren't even supposed to be taken in the first place. They were a reminder of the past. A past that was hidden. They were all marked by numbers, linked together in some sort. They were photographs of a girl. It took me a while to understand who the girl was.
It was Mehrma
They were all photographs of her as a kid but none of them were ordinary. There were pictures of her in the hospital. On the roadside. I picked up one of the photos, there was a tiny 6 written on the top right corner of the picture. It was all a pattern. I started to lay them from 1 onward. There were a total of 12 of these photographs. The first one was of her on chachu's lap and the twelfth one was of her laid in a hospital bed. It dawned upon me what this actually was representing. The first photo was taken prior to her kidnapping and the last one was taken after her return. All of these were taken from a distance, probably while being discreet. Now everything was making sense, Mehrma's kidnapping was all a political stage. But who was the person who had used a child just for the sake of votes? 
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Author's POV 
The door of his room banged open making him startle. Armaan
hastily collected those photos. He didn't bother checking who the intruder was. 
Zunaira’s brows furrowed in confusion when she saw Armaan picking something up hastily. Armaan picked those photographs and stood up while shoving them back in the envelope. Armaan walked up to his desk and kept them inside his drawer. He mentally cursed himself for not locking the door. His breathing was still not normal. 
Zunaira: “Armaan yeh..” her words got stuck in her throat as she gazed at the picture. Her eyes wide as she looked at Armaan. Her eyes travelled back and weren't between Armaan and the photograph.
Armaan turned around at Zunaira’s voice but froze when he saw her looking at the photo with wide eyes. Thus must've fallen when he had rushed. 
Zunaira: “Yeh…..yeh kya hai?” She somehow got the words out of her mouth.
Armaan: “listen…”
“Yaha kya ho raha hai?”
Both Zunaira and Shahzain paused at the voice.
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Just a few more chapters to go!!!
Finally Zunaira knows the truth
Who was the person?
Plz vote and comment