Tangled Ties

Two best friends. Two boys they can't quite figure out. And secrets that could change everything.

Twelve years ago, Maha's mother left her with a family friend "for a day" and never came back. Now she lives in a house where she's always felt like a guest - polite, grateful, but never quite belonging. The one exception was Hasan, her childhood friend who made her feel at home in her own skin, until a falling out neither talks about turned them into careful strangers who live down the hall. These days, they share a roof, a university, and all the unspoken tension of whatever they used to be.

Zimal is everything Maha isn't - confident, beloved, with a mother who adores her and a stepfather who treats her like his own. She also has Aariz, her best friend and partner-in-crime who knows her better than anyone. They share everything, except for the part where he's been quietly in love with her for years. When Zimal's search for answers about her inheritance pulls her into her estranged father's dangerous political world, it drags everyone along with her.

Suddenly they're all navigating family secrets, old betrayals, and feelings they're not ready to name. Between late-night conversations that feel like confessions and moments that hang heavy with everything they're not saying, Maha and Zimal discover that some truths are worth the risk - and some people are worth fighting for.

A story about friendship, belonging, and finding the courage to reach for what you want, set against the backdrop of Karachi's complicated family politics.