- What if the world told you 'men never change'. Would you still believe in redemption?
- What if your whole life is shrouded in secrecy. Would you shed your mask for one person anyway?
- What if an avatar intrigued you. Could you fall in love with...
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Zain
Junaid Bhai stood outside the interrogation room shaking his head. "I can't believe Ameerah's parents would do such a thing."
Fiza and I couldn't either. Human trafficking was an offense that gave law enforcement agencies nightmares. Not just due to the heinous crime itself, but because of the condition we often found the victims in. From my cousin Nosheen to Leila and Rahim, people close to me bore evidence of the devastating impact.
None of which Ameerah seemingly suffered from.
"There is only one way to know for sure," Fiza pointed out.
"I know," Junaid Bhai sighed. Truth is never convenient. And even the best of outcomes can start off with a moment of moral weakness.
Armed with bank statements from twenty-seven years ago as well as the more recent ones, he went back into the interrogation room. Fiza and I took up our positions again, hidden from the couple under scrutiny behind a one-way looking glass.
Nauman Sheikh immediately got off his chair. "We're done here."
"Sit down, Mr. Nauman. We haven't even started yet," came the instant curt reply. Junaid Bhai was done playing the good cop. He laid out the statements on the wooden table.
"Care to explain where all this money is going?"
Eyes wide, Nauman Sheikh recovered from the initial shock quickly before folding his arms over his chest. "I am not saying a word without a lawyer."
His defiance did not deter the IG. "Come on, Nauman. I've known you for several years now. You don't seem like the type who would be involved in criminal activity. So, just tell me where this money went."
The man didn't budge. "I know my rights."
Junaid Bhai leaned forward. His voice dropped; I could barely hear his words but the look on his face was enough to even make me sit up.
"Then you should also know that Ameerah is like my own daughter. If you are hiding any information that will harm her, I will find it. And when I do, I swear, no lawyer in this world will be able to save you."
If Sindh Police's highest ranking officer's threat wasn't enough, surely something about taking their daughter's name did the trick. Nauman Sheikh sat still, his lips sealed shut, but Afreen Sheikh caved.
"We didn't know what we were getting into... " she started to say. Her husband tried to intervene, but she was having none of it. "Let me speak. We've already destroyed our children's lives, what's the point of hiding the truth now?"
The floodgates of guilt had opened.
Husband and wife glanced at each other; their gaze locked in a silent battle. Stormy clouds laden with secrets seemed to have engulfed them both. Where the husband had once flaunted his rights, now he sat hunched in his seat, accepting the inevitable. While his wife's face contorted with angst, like she would turn back time and undo the past in a heartbeat, if she could.
