The night had drawn its heavy curtains over Khan Haveli, leaving the vast mansion cloaked in an ominous silence. The only sound was the soft rustling of the wind as it crept through the slightly ajar windows, carrying with it the scent of impending rain. Inside, the grand hallways seemed to stretch endlessly, a labyrinth of memories both sweet and bitter. Yet, in the heart of the house, where once there was warmth and laughter, a storm was brewing.
Murtasim stood by the doorway of their room, his broad shoulders tense, fists clenched at his sides. His normally composed demeanor was fractured, barely holding together under the weight of the accusations and doubts that Haya had sown in his mind. His dark eyes, usually filled with unwavering love, now flickered with confusion and anger. But beneath it all, there was an undercurrent of fear—a fear he dared not voice, a fear that the love he cherished was slipping through his fingers.
Across the room, Meerab stood by the large window, her back to him, staring into the darkness outside as if it could offer her some solace. The soft, muted light from the single lamp cast a shadow over her figure, highlighting the tension in her rigid stance. Her hands were trembling, gripping the edge of the windowsill as if it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart. Her heart was racing, her breath coming in shallow gasps, as the words she had heard from Murtasim earlier echoed in her mind, each one a sharp blade twisting in her chest.
“Why did you speak to Naurez?” Murtasim’s voice cut through the silence, laced with anger and disbelief, the words hanging in the air like a guillotine waiting to drop.
Meerab’s body stiffened, her nails digging into the wood of the sill. She didn’t turn around, didn’t face him. She couldn’t. Not when her heart was shattering with every beat. “I told him the truth,” she whispered, her voice so quiet it was almost swallowed by the night, yet the weight of her conviction was unmistakable.
Murtasim took a step forward, his eyes narrowing as he tried to control the rising tide of emotions within him. “The truth? Or your version of it?” His tone was sharper now, the pain of her perceived betrayal cutting him deeper than he could express. “Meerab, you defied me! I warned you not to interfere, but you went ahead and did exactly what I asked you not to do!”
Meerab finally turned to face him, her eyes blazing with a mix of hurt and fury that mirrored his own. “I did what I had to do, Murtasim!” Her voice trembled with the weight of the emotions she had kept bottled up for too long. “Mariyam is my sister too, and I couldn’t just stand by and watch her be forced into a marriage that would destroy her!”
Murtasim’s chest tightened at the sight of the tears brimming in her eyes, but he couldn’t let go of his anger, his frustration. “It wasn’t your decision to make!” he retorted, his voice rising with the intensity of his feelings. “You’ve created nothing but chaos, Meerab. Do you even understand the consequences of your actions?”
“Chaos?” Meerab echoed, her voice cracking under the strain of holding back her tears. “You want to talk about chaos, Murtasim? What about Haya? She’s been the root of every problem between us, and yet you refuse to see it! You refuse to stop her!”
Murtasim’s face darkened, the mention of Haya striking a deep nerve. “This isn’t about Haya!” he snapped, his voice growing louder, more desperate. “This is about you, Meerab! About the fact that you constantly undermine me, that you don’t trust me to handle my own family!”
“Trust?” Meerab’s voice broke as she spoke, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “How can there be trust when you’re blind to the truth? When you let Haya manipulate you, poison you against me?”
Murtasim’s heart ached at the sight of her tears, the pain in her voice cutting through his anger like a knife. But his pride, his stubbornness, wouldn’t let him back down. “Meerab, I love you, but this… this constant fighting, this doubt, it’s tearing us apart!”
Meerab’s heart shattered at the desperation in his voice, but the hurt, the betrayal, was too strong, too overwhelming. “And what about the way you’ve treated me, Murtasim? You’ve kept me in the dark, pushed me away… and all because of her. Because of Haya!”
Murtasim shook his head, his voice breaking with the weight of the emotions he had been trying so hard to contain. “No, Meerab. This isn’t about Haya. This is about us… about the way we’ve drifted apart. I’ve never stopped loving you, never stopped wanting you by my side. But you… you’re pushing me away.”
Meerab took a step back, the distance between them growing like a chasm that neither of them could cross. “I’m not pushing you away, Murtasim. I’m trying to protect myself… from the pain, from the heartbreak. I can’t keep living like this, constantly fighting, constantly doubting… maybe it’s better if we just… let go.”
Murtasim felt the ground shift beneath him, his world tilting on its axis. “Let go?” he whispered, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and disbelief. “Meerab, no… don’t say that. Don’t even think it. We can work through this… we can fix this, together.”
Meerab’s eyes filled with tears, the pain in her heart threatening to overwhelm her. “I don’t know if we can, Murtasim. I don’t know if I can keep doing this… maybe we’re just too broken.”
Murtasim’s breath caught in his throat, his hands reaching out to her, desperate to bridge the gap between them. “Meerab, please… I can’t lose you. Not like this. You’re my life, my everything. I love you more than anything in this world… please, don’t leave me.”
Meerab’s heart ached at the vulnerability in his voice, the love that still burned so brightly in his eyes. But the hurt, the anger, was too strong, too overwhelming. “I’m sorry, Murtasim,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “But I can’t stay here anymore. I need… I need to leave.”
Murtasim’s world shattered at her words, his heart breaking into a million pieces. “Leave?” he echoed, his voice filled with despair. “Meerab, no… you can’t… you can’t leave me. Not like this.”
Meerab closed her eyes, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks. “I have to, Murtasim. I need time… to think, to figure things out. I’m going to Karachi.”
Murtasim’s breath hitched, his hands shaking with the effort to keep himself from breaking down. “And what about us, Meerab? What about our marriage?”
Meerab opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with a mixture of love and sorrow. “I don’t know, Murtasim. I just… I don’t know anymore.”
With those final words, she turned away from him, walking towards the door. Murtasim stood frozen, his heart screaming for him to stop her, to pull her back into his arms and never let go. But he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, as she reached the threshold.
Just as she was about to step out of the room, Murtasim found his voice, his heart breaking with every word. “Meerab… please. Don’t go. I can’t… I can’t live without you.”
Meerab paused, her hand gripping the doorframe as if it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing. She turned her head slightly, just enough for him to see the tears streaming down her face. “Goodbye, Murtasim,” she whispered, her voice filled with a pain that matched his own.
And with that, she stepped out of the room, out of his life, leaving Murtasim standing there, his world crumbling to dust. He wanted to run after her, to beg her to stay, but his legs wouldn’t move, his heart too shattered to carry him forward.
The door closed behind her with a soft click, the sound echoing in the silence of the room. Murtasim sank to his knees, his hands clutching at his chest as if trying to hold the shattered pieces of his heart together. He stared at the door, willing it to open, willing her to come back… but it remained closed, just like the chapter of their lives that had just ended.
As the night deepened, Murtasim remained on the floor, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts. He couldn’t lose her, couldn’t let this be the end. But how could he fix something that seemed so irreparably broken?
The questions tormented him, the uncertainty gnawing at his soul. As the tears he had held back finally spilled over, Murtasim made a silent vow to himself: he would do whatever it took to bring her back, to heal the wounds between them… even if it meant facing his own demons.
But as the first light of dawn began to filter through the curtains, Murtasim knew that the road ahead would be long and painful. And he could only hope that at the end of it, there would still be a future for them—a future where their love could survive the storm.
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