She has been keeping that secret in her heart for years and years, risking her every relationship. She has been accused. She has been hurt. She has been scarred. But she never defends herself because that means she has to reveal her dreaded past. So...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
His body was covered in goosebumps, a terrifying shadow covering his eyes. The threats were gory, bloodcurdling, and psychotic. He was horrified for her, how did she deal with this all alone? While he made it all about himself, being angry at her, taunting her, demanding answers. Guilt reared its head like a serpent in the pit of his stomach. He'd only made it worse for her not just himself, but they were using him to blackmail her.
"How long?" His whisper was haunted, quiet and filled with rue. "You have held it in for so long. Please, let me be here, Sunshine." He pleaded for her to unfold the tales that kept them separated for so long.
"It started when Lala attacked Hafeez Mirza and Father took Asfandyar Lala away from us. Lala made sure to have him reported when he was in Juvenile Detention. That incident made him lose his license to practice for life." She grimaced saying his name out loud, a shiver of fear still slithered on her skin.
"How are you related to Asfandyar's case?"
She swallowed the growing ball in her throat, holding his hand tight in hers.
"You have to remember I'm okay, Alright? I'm here, in front of you."
"Ayla!" There was a warning in his voice. He was at the brink of his sanity. If she stalled it anymore he'd lose it.
"Everything started that night because Lala caught him trying to touch me. He was trying to assault me. He would have that night if Lala didn't barge in, almost killing him. That man had his dirty hands on me and he blamed me for whatever happened to him afterward."
His face had gone pale, his eyes were wide open with shock. He was seeing through her, his eyes stopped seeing her. He was far gone in the past. He was remembering the triggers he could have picked on. The way she always fell asleep when he took her down to the lake. Her eyes were always red, deprived of sleep. Or when he found her dozing off in the library more often than before. He assumed because she was so attached to her brother, his departure took a toll on her.
How could he be so aloof that something so sinister was happening to her, he didn't even realize it. How could he go on to college while she was left behind in his clutches? He could've saved her but he didn't. Damn it.
"Go on," There was a chilling tone to his words.
"Zach, please." More than for herself, she was begging for the welfare of his sanity, but he wouldn't let her stop.
"Go on. I want to know." The eerieness in his voice scared her.
"He started playing mind games with me, trying to scare me. There were threats, warnings, and much more. I'd find blood everywhere, sometimes even on my clothes. So much that at some point I started being paranoid, that came with a series of hallucination. I started seeing blood everywhere even when it wasn't there. I thought I was losing my mind. I couldn't sleep unless I had to take sleeping pills."
