Don't give up on me.

SEVENTH

The next day, university was a blur for her. The professor did not come, Rua did not come and Samantha had classes all day. So, Johum was alone for the whole day. She took her classes and then went back home in the afternoon.

Returning home was uneventful as well. Murat and Nehir were out for lunch, her father was at office so she was all alone. Johum took a hot shower, changed and then got in between her covers. She was tired as she had not gotten enough sleep last night. And she was not even hungry to pass her time by eating.

The best option was to sleep so she did. She slept until there was a knock on her door. Johum sat up and gazed outside the window, the crickets were chirping and soft snow was grazing against her glass window. She got up and wrapped herself in a thick wool coat and pulled on a beanie over her head.

Knock knock.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes whilst walking towards the door. She opened the door to meet with her maid.

"Everyone is waiting for you at the dinner." She said. Johum nodded.

"Okay, I am coming." Johum stated and closed the door behind her. She walked downstairs and met everyone at the dining table.

"Assalam Alykum. Good evening." She dragged a chair out and made herself seated. Murat and Nehir looked at each other worriedly and then smiled at her, Samir was staring at her with a blank look. Johum scrutinized everyone and narrowed her eyes. "What?" She asked, lifting her shoulders.

"We have something important to discuss after dinner." Samir started serving himself and put a fork full in his mouth. Suddenly, her colour paled a little and she grabbed a glass of juice and took small sips.

Does he know about Zayan? Za'ir? Does he know what happened at the mall? Oh God!

She swallowed and smiled at her father,

"Sure dad." She nodded and turned around her food in the plate. Her stomach grumbled, urging her to eat so she did, otherwise she had lost the desire to eat food. She was tense.

"So how is your university going?" Asked Murat, sipping his lime. Johum glanced at Nehir who was busy eating and sighed.

"It's good." Adventurous, thriller, dramatic, full of action and some horror. Oh! Not to forget two hot Helmy brothers. She thought sarcastically. She just wished she had someone to share everything with, but on the other hand, she believed that it was better this way.

Her secrets had always remained secret. What happened in Turkey was a secret. The cause of her being a drug addict a few months back was a secret. Her life was a secret that nobody could ever have access to. No one.

And this part of her life, although it was not a secret but she wanted it to remain hidden from her family. The more they knew, the more they will be in danger.

'You are mine'

Those words of Zayan were enough to haunt her. She swallowed the bile in her throat and took a big gulp of water.

Her life had always been like this, and it was not going to change anytime soon.

She was not living in the time, neither entirely out of it. She was in a chaos, flying with the wind, the lightest of feather was not as light as her, for she drifted from one phase to another, unconsciously, without knowing, without wanting.

Johum shook her head from the thoughts and placed the fork and the knife on the plate in a crossed manner.

"I am done. I'll be in your study dad." She stood up and excused herself after her father nodded. Johum walked upstairs and as soon as she was in the study, she started pacing back and forth out of worry. She bit her lip, took off her beanie, sat on sofa, went through some files and then groaned. She was worried. If any of her family knew that she was in between war of two brothers, she was doomed.