His Rose

Chapter 10

She lost it.

The spark in her big doe eyes, they were just a plain brown now, Zaria would wake up with a heavy heart every morning, her mother's sickness was still present, the doctors still trying to find out the cause of it.

On the other hand, Zaeem would come home at 1 or 2 at night and sleep in the guest room, and he would be gone before she was even awake. He was barely home.

In every prayer pleaded to God, asking Him how everything had crumbled in front of her eyes, what she had done to deserve so.

After the newly wed couple had left the brunch Nina and Babar kept their silence, but Babar couldn't ignore what he saw and ask his wife if she knew anything and she said no, they both knew something was up and it was serious, the main point of confusion was that of the marks on Zaria's arm, Zaeem was not abusive, he would never even swear in front of a woman, so what had happened?

It was Tuesday, and as Zaeems PA said, he was in a meeting and wouldn't be back till 3 in the afternoon, it was just enough time for Nina to find something, anything that would tell her the reason for her brother's behavior and Zaria's.

The other day, she tried sneaking into her brother's phone, after 15 minutes she got it open, only to find nothing.

Nina walked into her brother's office and started rummaging through his drawers, one was closed.

She pulled the keys out, the one she had 'borrowed' from the manager and she unlocked it. There were bank statements and checks, but what caught her attention was the red paper folder. She opened it and dumped its contents on the table.

What she saw made her gasp in horror and her eyes widen, no.

This couldn't be, how was this possible, it was a picture of Zaria's arms around another man, and the shot looked anything but friendly.

She set everything back in place, took pictures of the shots, and placed them in their previous order.

Babar was waiting in his sleek grey BMW outside. He turned to see his wife rushing out like she saw a ghost. She sat in the car and took a deep breath, she showed her husband the pictures.

Babar's eyes narrowed, he knew this guy in the picture. He was one of his business associates, and he was engaged. There was something very very wrong here.

"Nina babe, I know this guy, his name Haider Qazi, he's our business partner and he's an engaged man!" Babar exclaimed

"Oh God," Nina choked

"Calm down, I know Zaeem isn't home at this time, it's only 2:30 how about we go and clear everything with Zaria first before jumping to conclusions eh?" He asked his wife, rubbing her thigh soothingly.

She gave him and teary smile and they drove off.

Zaria was in her painting room, her hand a few inches away from the untouched white canvas, some of the red paint dripping onto the floor, her eyes distant, her body cold.

Her maid came in, she knew her mistress and master were having troubles, so she said softly,

"Miss, your sister in law and her husband are here, they're waiting in the dining room,"

Zaria looked up, nodded, and headed downstairs to meet her unexpected guests.

"Assalamualaikum I didn't know you'd be coming today," Zaria said, her fake smile overly bright.