ab ke ham bichhḌe to shāyad kabhī ḳhvāboñ meñ mileñ
jis tarah sūkhe hue phuul kitāboñ meñ mileñ
                  ~ Ahmad Faraz
•••

Meher was old enough to remember details of the riches she lived in before her father left them, but the palatial house she stood before made her old house seem like a poor man's hut.

The pristine white walls of the two story house, the gold dusted pillars, the windows reflecting sunlight, the majestic fountain sitting in front of the entrance or the perfectly trimmed lawn and beautiful garden, everything about this place screamed money.

"Ma'am I have your bag." The chauffeur said interrupting her thoughts.

"Ji. Thank you." She muttered. She didn't know where should she head from here, the man whom she understood to be her husband had left her all alone, not that his presence had provided her any comfort but he was the only person she knew.

"Should I carry them inside Ma'am ?" The driver asked hesitantly.

"I..I guess." She said shrugging her shoulder and followed the man into the house.

If the exterior of the house had her in awe the interior had her tongue tied. The house opened into a wide foyer which was lit by a gigantic chandelier. The sandstone marbles guided her further, to the left was a ball room size sitting room, with Victorian decor and to the left was wide winding stairs made of milky white marbled.

The driver had kept her bag down, and left silently. She looked around to find a sign of life but the house was just bathed in warmth of the light from the chandelier and cocooned in
silence.

Meher carefully walked straight ahead in a hope to find someone who would help her. Was the man, Arham, her husband the only who lived in this gigantic house ?

Her steps took her to another section of the mansion, it was the interior of the house, tall columns supported the two floors above, a grand piano sat on one side next to the small fountain embedded into the wall, a couple of silken sofas were scattered strategically around, the roof was made of translucent glass which gave the entire section of the house a warm yellow glow and the centre of the ceiling was adorned with a huge metallic golden chandelier.

Meher loved how tastefully the place had been done, power and money radiated from ever inch of this place.
Meera walked towards the grand piano and placed her finger on the Ivory key, the piano gave a beautiful chime making Meher smile.

"Do you play ?"

Meera jumped at the voice, she turned around with a hand on her chest trying to control her erratic heart beat.

"Ya Allah!" She whispered softly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." The lady standing in front of Meher said with a pout.

"That's alright, I wasn't expecting anybody, I mean, I thought no one was home." Meher said with a small smile.

"Well I am home." The girl said in a gleeful voice. "Mama aur Mami jaan had to leave for Peshawar ." She informed.

Meher looked at the girl, she was beautiful, with beautiful almond eyes and a sleek straight nose and high cheekbones, she was beautiful.
Her skin was pale, except under her eyes which were a couple of shades darker than her porcelain skin, she was quite skinny, much like herself but -

Her thoughts were interrupted as the beautiful woman spoke.
"I'm so sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Hooriya, uh Arham's cousin." She said extending her hand.

"Meher." She said taking Hooriya's hand for a handshake and gave her a small smile.

After long, Meher had given someone a genuine smile and received such warmth.

"Gulnaz please Meher Bibi ka bag upar pohcha de." Hooriya called out loudly.

"Ji Hooriya baaji." Came a reply.

"Chalo, I'll show you your room, you can rest for some, I know the journey must have been painfully long." She said holding Meher's hand and gently tugging her towards the stairs she had seen when she entered.

"If you need anything just let me know alright." Hooriya said taking the second flight of stairs to the second floor with Meher in tow.

"This is your room." She said standing in front of closed heavy oak doors. The doors too had been carved beautifully.

"It's the only bedroom on the second floor so you'll have to come down to fetch me. Right opposite there." She said pointing opposite to the bedroom.

"That's the library and that is the lions den." Hooriya laughed.
"That's Arham's study." She
explained pointing at the door between the bedroom and the library.

"Thank you so much."

"That's not a pro-." Hooriya was interrupted by the loud noise of the latch unbolting and the doors of the bedroom opened.

Meher looked up to see Arham standing there in a white shirt and beige trousers, his hair tousled and his eyes blood shot red.

He looked at Meher for a second before his eyes found Hooriya. If Meher was in Hooriya's place she would be digging her own grave the instance his eyes fell her.

Meher could see Arham grit his teeth and his hand were balled into a fist, his knuckles had turned white.

Hooriya looked at Arham and smiled widely at him.

"And here is your husband." Hooriya said with a small laugh, although the smile on her face now didn't reach her eyes.

A loud boom made the two females jump in their place, Arham had banged his fist on the door.

"Arham." Hooriya whiper yelled.
"Meher go inside freshen up Gul must be getting your bag up, if you need -." Hooriya stopped talking as Arham held her wrist in a painful grip and started dragging her down the stairs.

Hooriya managed to give Meher a reassuring smile before being unceremoniously dragged away.

Meher stood there for a few seconds, "Keep her safe mere rabb." She prayed her husband's crazed expression had her worried for the girl she had just met but instantly felt connected to.
"Keep me safe from him." She prayed for herself.

•••

"Arham." Hooriya said trying to free her hand from his as he dragged her to the guest bedroom on the first floor.

He left her hand, making her stagger as she lost her balance but he held her by her shoulders immediately to steady her.

"Why did you have to scare her like that ?" Hooriya scrunched her brows and asked him in an irritated tone.

"How dare you?" Arham seethed in anger taking a step towards Hooriya but she stood her ground.

"HOW DARE YOU." he roared.

"What have I done ?" She asked looking at him with confusion etched on her face.

"Really Hooriya ?" He said with a humourless chuckle. "Was marrying her not enough ? What kind of a wife are you Hooriya, who gets her husband married to another woman and then sends her to his room to warm his bed."

Hooriya cringed at his choice of words, but she knew he spoke nothing but the truth.

"How could you Hoor ? You want her to live with me in our bedroom, sleep on our bed, how are you okay with this Hoor, do you even love me ?" He said as a helpless tear ran down his cheek.

Hoor pushed down the lump forming in her throat, her Allah knew she was dying on the inside sharing her husband with another woman but she had to, she was dying and she didn't want to leave him alone.

"I want a baby." She said in an emotionless tone.

"We could have adopted Hoor, gone for surrogacy, why did-."

"I've told you why, I want my child to grow in front of me, I want your blood, don't argue with me Arham give me a child." She said as if she was putting forth a business proposal.

"Is my love not enough, am I not enough Hooriya." He said in a broken voice. "Do you not care about what I want ? About my feelings ? Do you just need me to give you a child, did you not one think about me about how I-."

"Think about you, why ? All you have to do is impregnate her Arham, I'm sure getting in between her legs is not a task for you, so do it. You are talking as if fucking her will break your heart. You are a man after all." She scoffed. "The more woman you bed , the merrier you all are." She said turning around, hiding her tears from him.

"Yo..you want me to bed her, fuck her, impregnate her huh ? Don't worry my love that's what I'll do." He said in a hoarse voice, controlling the tsunami of emotions trying to drown him.
"I'll made sure she does all her wifely duties, you are free to do what you want." He said and left, closing the door with a loud thud.

As soon as the door closed, Hooriya slumped on the ground, the dam holding her tears back had broken, she let out all her hurt, her pain, her sorrow flow away with her tears.

AN: vote please