aab e hayat ( English version)

chapter no 18

Sikandar Usman couldn't believe for a few moments that it was true. 

"You must be mistaken, that plot couldn't have been sold. It's in Salar's name," he told Ehtisham uddeen. They were business associates, and a few minutes earlier, Ehtisham Uddeen had called Sikandar Usman to complain about the sale of a plot. A friend of Ehtisham Uddeen had bought a plot through Sikandar Usman's lawyer a few days ago, a plot that Sikandar Usman had offered to sell a year and a half ago. 

At that time, Sikandar had told him that the plot had already been allocated to Salar during the division of property. However, he had promised that if there was ever a need to sell that plot, he would give Ehtisham Uddeen preference. All the paperwork was done through my lawyer. If you want, I can also send you the newspaper advertisement about the transfer of the plot. Your son sold this plot for fifteen crores. 

I regret that my lawyer informed me about the transfer only after it happened, and that too by coincidence. If I had known a little earlier, I wouldn't have let anyone else buy the plot."

For a few moments, Sikandar Usman's head was spinning. Last year, he had divided his property. This was one of the two plots that had gone to Salar.

 "I will talk to Salar and get back to you," Sikandar Usman said suddenly. He still couldn't believe that the plot could have been sold without informing him. Salar was in Islamabad that day and was heading towards the market when he received Sikandar's call. "Salar, did you sell your plot?" Sikandar asked as he picked up the phone. Salar, at a signal, couldn't say anything immediately.

 He hadn't expected Sikandar to find out about the sale so quickly. Salar's brief silence confirmed Sikandar's worst fears. 

"Come to my office," Sikandar said coldly and ended the call.

 "When did you sell the plot?" As soon as Salar arrived at the office and took his seat, Sikandar asked him. His tone was far from pleasant. The plot was part of his property but was not meant to be sold. Last month, he had tried to maintain a cordial tone. 

"Why?" 

"I needed some money." 

"For what?" Salar hesitated while answering this time.

"Why did you need the money?"

"I had to buy a ring for Imama."

Sikandar thought he must have misheard.
"What?"
"I needed to buy a ring for Imama." He repeated his answer in the same normal tone.

"You sold the plot for a ring worth a couple of lakhs? Sikandar drew a completely wrong conclusion from his answer. "You could have used your credit card, taken a personal loan from the bank, or asked me."

"I didn't want to take a loan to buy a gift, and the ring wasn't just a couple of lakhs; it was more expensive. You would never give me that much money." He said this with a certain amount of assertiveness.

"How expensive was it, four or five lakhs... alright, even if it was ten lakhs, I would have given it to you," Sikandar was extremely upset. "That plot was worth two and a half crores, and it was sold for one and a half crores. It wasn't just ten lakhs." Sikandar heard himself say.

"Then?" Sikandar frowned.

Salar cleared his throat. "13.7 million was the only way he could afford the ring's cost in three installments."

"What?" Sikandar didn't understand. "13.7 million." Salar cleared his throat once more and said the next word. Sikandar was breathless for a few moments. It was the first time he had understood what Salar was saying.

"You gave a ring worth 13.7 million to him?" His mind seemed to be reeling. Salar was looking at the papers on the table with his head lowered. At the moment, he couldn't do anything else in the room.