••|2nd in Arranged Series|••
Can be read as a standalone.
"That was in a bad taste, Ishmal. You even hurt yourself in the process."
She sniffed her nose. "I don't care about anything. I want to leave at any cost, Mr. Haider."
A sinful smile came ac...
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She bit her lower lip in anxiety as she impatiently saw Haider standing near the corner of the room, talking over the phone. He was speaking very quietly hence she couldn't make out any context either from his ambiguous words or from his body language as he was having his back facing her.
She had noticed he still had a very aloof and tough vibe surrounding himself which never gave the idea of what he was in his mind. He only changed when he was with her. The mask from his personality got inclined away and he showed some sprinkles of what was hidden beneath all those layers of indifference. At first when he used to the same rudeness to intimidate her, now she couldn't even remember the dangerous man whom her family had been making her aware of. She only remembered the side of him who loved, cared for, adored, and cherished her.
After the call ended, Haider reached towards her. Ishmal stood up quickly, hoping to hear the good news of a way for her to go to her house as soon as possible. But the way he pressed his lips together made some of her hope die.
"Is the situation back to normal now? Can I go home?" She asked.
Haider shook his head. "A protest of merchants is happening to make the government listen to their demands. The protest is peaceful and will end tomorrow morning hence police can't meddle."
"Tomorrow morning?" She repeated blankly. "How will I go home like this?"
Haider touched her arm "You can't, Ishmal. Roads are blocked."
"So if the protest will end tomorrow then it means I have to spend the night here?" She questioned, more to herself.
Haider shrugged his shoulders. "I reckon."
Her breath hitched at the consequences of these words. "If...if I won't go now and I won't be found be home for a whole night then what...what will people think of me? They will accuse me of fleeing again. They will again character assassinate me."
Haider gritted his brows at her. "No one can dare to do that. I am at your husband. You are at my place and that doesn't give any mouth for anyone to spit nonsense about you."
Ishmal swallowed to make her dry throat wet. "It will give, Haider. Our marriage is hidden. The few people who know I got married think I am lying to save my dignity which got tarnished when I left my house. And on top of everything, we...we are meeting secretly. No one...not even my Ammi knows this. My...my honor will be again put on stake. Please find a way, Haider, please."
"Who says this rubbish about you? Tell me the name and I'll take care of that person," he said, sharply.
"The whole world. And you can't arrest the whole world, Haider," Ishmal enlightened him.
"I can do anything for you, Ishmal," he mumbled, a matter of factly.
"Just do one thing. Save my honor. Help me have my rotten dignity back which my stepfather snatched away from me. Announce this to everyone that I am your wife and take me with you with full honor," she murmured as a tear fell from her eye.
