PkJ133
The old Imam spoke the ritual words, his voice heavy with the grim solemnity of an ultimatum.
"Sana Jalaluddin Khan, do you accept Sher Muhammad Khan, bin Ahmed Khan, as your husband?"
The air died in the room. Sana's voice trembled, raw and cold.
"I can't."
The silence shattered into sharp, panicked breath. Jalaluddin bent forward, a sudden horror dawning in his eyes.
"What are you saying, girl?"
Tears tracked down her face, cold and unyielding.
"Abba, my heart is not mine to give."
"I am sorry, Sher, but I love another man."
Sher's face de-formed, a toxic mix of humiliation and violent disbelief warping his features.
"What did you just say, Sana?"
Jalaluddin gripped her hand like a vice.
"What ruinous nonsense is this?"
"Abba, it is already done."
I have bound myself to Umar,"
"I did nikah with Umar."
she confessed, her voice snapping under the weight of the sin. Umar Ahmed, a nameless engineer from outside the bloodline, a secret kept in the shadows of her university years.
Chaos was instant and violent. Ahmed Khan exploded, spitting venom at his own brother:
"Is this the whore you raised? She has spat upon our clan's honor!"
"Is this how you repay our blood? With disrespect?"
The hall devolved into a viper's nest of frantic whispers. Society matrons sneered behind manicured hands; businessmen grimly calculated the sudden death of their shared stocks.
Sher approached her, his voice dripping with a dark, suffocating despair.
"If you meant to butcher me, why do it at the altar? You have no idea what you've unleashed. You have murdered our family's name."
The crushing weight of the public slaughter struck Jalaluddin's heart. The blood left his face. He choked, clawing violently at his chest as his body gave out.
Sher caught the dying man before he hit the ground, while Sana's agonizing shrieks filled the ruined hall.
REVENGE OF LOVE (INTEQAM HAI MUHABAT)