Imperious

Chapter 12

People are prone to selfish greed. (Quran 4:128)

Ghazala entered her bedroom with evening tea to find her husband immersed in deep thoughts.

She could not understand why he mourned Sadia's death when his love for her had hardly been apparent and their attachment towards each other, was reasonably weak. But then again, her husband was emotionally complex. His choice to adopt morality and immorality was dependent on his mood.

She placed the tea cup on the bedside drawer and sat down beside him, "I was watching the news today and an advert came up. There is a new sim card which has cheaper phone deals for overseas calls. I was wondering if you could get it for me. I wanted to talk to my brother in Kuwait."

Farasat turned to her incredulously, "There has been a devastating death in the family and all you can think of is buying a sim card?"

Ghazala raised her brow. The mourning mood in the Manor was slowly dispersing. Life was resuming to its normality, as were most of the family members. Why then, was Farasat hell bent on sulking?

"But we knew it was going to happen anyway. Her condition had been terrible for days... Why should it surprise you if she is dead?"

"So knowing about the inevitability of a person's death is an excuse to feel less sorrow on her death?" exclaimed Farasat, "Woman, have you lost it?"

"No. I was just trying to change topic. You have been upset for quite a long time now-"

"And I will continue to be until my daughter does not get justice."

Ghazala's eyes narrowed.

"And you are a woman," Farasat persisted with his resentful tone throughout the rest of their exchange, "How could you not understand Zubeda's plight? I am sure Zubeda would have been at your side constantly if you had been in her position. But look at you, you are hardly bothered about what has happened and neither have you taken the initiative to check up on her."

Ghazala pursed her lips. She had concentrated her efforts on funeral preparations, handling the guests, at times handling Inaya. With Marwah, she had cooked all the family's meals for the past few days, as well as catering to the guests. She had also sympathised genuinely with Zubeda, expressing genuine concern over Sadia's death. She could not be anymore genuine than she had been because she wished to move on from the negativity.

"I did comfort her. In fact, I was the one taking all the sympathetic phone calls. And anyway, Behna's mother was around her all the time and Behna is too traumatised to speak to anyone else."

Farasat rose from the bed and smoothed out his clothes.

"Where are you going?"

"To Zubeda's bedroom."

Ghazala gaped, "But why? Your tea will get cold!"

"What do you mean, but why? As parents, we must work together effectively to handle this situation. We have many responsibilities ahead of us and we need to discuss them."

Ghazala watched her husband exit the bedroom, her heart burning with rage.

Farasat had neglected his emotional relationship with Zubeda for far too long. How could he suddenly assume it was time to reconnect himself with her?

Ghazala had never been insecure about Farasat's position in her life. She had given him his heir and was a favourite of his mother. She had raised his son and she had served him whole-heartedly.