Match Made In Moonlight ✓

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She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The reason why she left home and was still wary of coming back was getting away from her without any effort. Why was Haider doing this for her? She meant nothing to him and they were about to get divorced then why doing this? Perhaps it was out of his loyalty to his profession. Maybe he wasn't as heartless and impassive as she had been thinking of him as. He knew her problems and now he decided to help her in his own way. Ironic but true. And that was something where she couldn't stand a chance against him because it happened so dramatically.

"Ammi..." Ishmal whispered as now finally police had dragged Abid towards their police mobile.

It was weird how her mother hadn't uttered a single word of protest for the benefit of her husband. She never asked the cops that they shouldn't take him. She remained silent though Abid had revolted very much. She could even find him glaring at her when he was eventually made to sit in the vehicle.

Farah's teary eyes found her and she again hugged her tightly. "Ishmal, my love. Where were you?"

Ishmal's jaw dropped. That wasn't the welcome she was expecting. She had thought of everything worse but here her mother was referring to her as her love and even hugging her. This caused her to sob more. She had missed her way too much.

Ishmal then narrated every single happening to her. From her stepfather's second attempt to assault her, her getting fearful after hitting her painting board on his head and then he that becomes the reason for her fleeing. How she met a police officer in the night and out of need and pressure, she married him based on a contract. And how everything led to this day.

Ishmal held her hands. "Ammi please forgive me. I...I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have fled. I should've come to you that day but...but I was very frightened and then I didn't know how that fear made me take this big step."

Farah shook her head and wiped her cheeks. "No, my dear. It wasn't your mistake. It's mine that I couldn't have protected you enough. And you wouldn't have been able to reach me that day, Ishmal because that bastard had fed me and your grandparents some sleeping pills mixed with juice. But I am so grateful to Allah SWT for protecting you."

Ishmal was stunned. Was she hearing it right? Her mother had never become suspicious of her and still thought of her safety.

"Ammi, do you believe me?" She asked, impatiently.

Farah kissed her forehead. "There's no way I would have doubted you. Abid tried to disgrace you but I always knew it was he who was behind all of this. Why did you marry someone, beta? You shouldn't have left the house. You should have hidden anywhere but even if you did, you should have come back home quickly. I would have protected you."

Ishmal licked her lips while moving her head from left to right. "It wasn't easy, Ammi. I was totally dumbfounded. I thought I had killed him. And if he had survived, my presence would become a disaster for you and my brothers. You guys still needed him.

Farah clenched her jaw angrily. "I would have been happy if he had died. He is such a pathetic man and I didn't even know that there's such a horrible personality behind all those sweet gestures by which he made a fool of my parents and then me."

Farah then cupped her cheek. "You married someone. Did he give you a divorce already?"

Ishmal bit her lower lip before shaking her head. "Not yet. But soon."

Farah face palmed herself. "Oh my God, Ishmal. What did you do?"

"I had no other choice, Ammi. I had no place to go," she muttered.

"But marriage wasn't a solution for it, Ishmal." She then held her arms and moved her hands up and down. "He didn't try anything with you, right?"

Nothing except a try to make her fall in love with him in which he succeeded. He got her heart, mind, and soul without even trying. Her first touch, first kiss, and love. Everything! But that wasn't what her mother should know.