Yawar didn’t follow Shahina, however, within a few minutes, she received his text. 

‘Driver will pick you up in five minutes. This time it’s your win Chipkali (lizard).’

Win???

Is it some sort of game for him???

Shahina frowned and shook her head, trying to shrug off the thought.

For Shahina, Yawar’s actions were always unfathomable, as well as his intentions. She had witnessed him transforming from a young boy to a man in Moosa’s absence. A man who was able to lead, a man who carried the responsibility, and a man who possessed the power and knew how to use it. It’s unnerving when someone like this bullies her like this. She always thought that Yawar’s behavior was because of his jealousy. However, now that they are both grown up, things get even more twisted. Sometimes he called her names and joked around, yet she often found him observing her intentionally. That side of him frightened her, his gaze frightened her, his words frightened her, his presence frightened her, and the thought of what this man wanted from her frightened her the most. 

~*~

“Samreen, give me Shahina’s number. I will call her.” Tooba barged into the kitchen while Samreen was busy making dinner. She sighed and held her phone on the kitchen shelf. 

“Sent.” She set the mobile aside and got back to the cooking.

“You are not going to ask me what I would say to her?”

“You are her sister too Baji, you can say whatever you want. Why would I inquire about it?”

Samreen has a very good idea what Tooba will be talking about. She would ask Shahina to visit them again. Their father was depressed, he had been waiting eagerly for the day when he would meet his lost daughter, his youngest daughter. However, the way she ran away after watching him left a great impact on him. Although their mother kept consoling him, it was all in vain. On the other hand, their youngest sibling and only brother, Omer, kept asking questions about Shahina. He had heard about her and wanted to meet her, but the turns of events left him puzzled. Since then, he kept asking everyone what had happened. 

In all this chaos, Samreen’s nonchalant behaviour irked Tooba the most. She couldn’t understand why she suddenly backed away when she was the one who made every effort to bring Shahina into this house. 

“I will tell Shahina that we want to meet her so-called guardian.” 

For a moment, Samreen’s hands paused and got back to work, “Like he had the time to meet us.”

“Well, if he can’t, then we can always go through a legal procedure to get her back to our home, as she is still underage. There will be nothing they could do.”

“Baji, have you lost your mind?” Samreen slammed the knife on the shelf and turned to her, “Do you believe such an option will do us any good? Ahad Murtaza is not a small name. How can you even think about messing with that guy? And you know better than me that the law is in the pocket of rich people.”

“Then what do you suggest? Should we let her live with him? Without knowing why such a person is so gracious towards Shahina.”

“If there could’ve been something wrong, she would’ve told us.”

“And what if she was being threatened?” Tooba raised his voice.

“Baji, she was with her for many hours. Alone, she could’ve hinted at us. Use your brain for once, even Ami was there. She didn’t sense anything wrong.”

“Ami said she acted like she had forgotten everything.”

Samreen exhaled a deep breath and said, “Do as you please, Baji.”