Sadqay Humare.

sixteen

Aaina x Zaydaan.

It had been a few hours since the prime Minister came to know of the truth, the truth that he saw with his own eyes. Who was the kind of man who believed that he saw but at the same time he knew that there was a lot more to the story.

Noora had a pure heart. Yes, she was highly ambitious, over smart and always interfered at every time I had put forth his opinion but she loved him and everything that he loved.

A woman like that could never murder someone but a woman like that could lie.

In the few hours of waiting for Ahad to return to Islamabad, Zaydaan had managed to to call up every person involved in finding out the truth about Maria's death.

Some conveniently managed to say a that it was suicide and he didn't have to worry about anything where is others told him that the opposition was going to take up this matter and create a huge fuss out of it.

They were planning rallies all across the country already, the were conveniently benefiting from Awan's plan or they were equally involved in the entire scheming. It seemed like the friendly opposition was not friendly at all.

On the other hand, Ahad had been extremely confused about his brother's sudden call.

He had not even visited the hospitals yet when the Prime Minister had called him up, telling him to be there in his office as soon as possible.

Ahad entered the office without even a knock, letting out tired sigh as he sat on the chair opposite to him.

"What was this urgent that you called me back, bhai?" He asked, skipping the greetings.

He knew that his brother had something far more important to discuss.

"Something important." Zaydaan replied, opening the laptop and clicking on the video.

He paused it first, then looked at his brother who looked so relaxed right now.

Ahad probably thought something political had come up but that was far from the truth.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned his brother, waiting for an answer.

Zaydaan thought about how to tell him. He didn't do sensitive but he didn't want to throw the entire news at his brother like cold water.

"Okay?" Ahad asked yet again, suddenly growing wary. He hoped it wasn't something serious, something that could affect their families.

"I believe the things that I see but for some reason, my head is not wrapping around this one." Zaydaan started off, his brother kept quiet as he listened attentively.

"Answer me honestly, Ahad." He mumbled, ready to ask him all the questions that he had in his head.

Ahad's face turned into a face filled with concern.

"You're worrying me." He murmured, afraid of where the conversation was heading.

Zaydaan ignored his remark as he started to speak again.

"Did Noora have any contact with Maria?" He interrogated, standing up from his seat.

Ahad stood up as well, hearing his wife's name made a chill go through his body.

It couldn't be.

No.

"Noora? My Noora? What the hell? Not at all." He denied, not understanding where his brother was even coming from.

"Are you certain?" The Prime Minister asked again.

"Yes!" Ahad exclaimed.

He trusted Noora. He did. These questions were not even making any sense at all.

"Did she ever visit her house?"

"No, bhai for God's sake!"

"Have you noticed anything shady about her lately?" Zaydaan pressed on the matter.

If Ahad knew something, anything..he had to tell him. He had faith in his brother but a man in love could do stupid things. Ahad had done it once and the Prime Minister wasn't very keen on second chances.

Ahad grew more worried by each second, his mind filled with all kinds of crazy thoughts and questions.

"No, bhai. Just tell me. This is seriously worrying, please." He pleaded, his once relaxed posture now completely gone.

"Call Noora right now. Tell her she needs to come here quick." Zaydaan instructed, saying nothing else.

Ahad let out a huge sigh. What was wrong with his brother? Couldn't he just pull him out of his own misery?

Regardless, Ahad took out his phone and shot Noora a text, telling her to reach the Prime Minister's Office as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister ordered some tea for the both of them, Ahad remained quiet, not touching the huge beverage and thinking of all the possible things. Had Noora lied to him about something? Was she hiding something? Was someone blackmailing her?

He had to put his faith in Noora, she couldn't betray him.

"Bhai." Ahad said, voice low and filled with vulnerability.

"Please tell me that the woman I love has not betrayed me, again." He continued.

Suddenly, Ahad remembered Saaniya. She had convinced him that she loved him, she wanted to marry him, she was loyal to him and at the end, she had turned out to be a backstabbing, power hungry monster. What if Noora wasn't who she said she was? What if he was not a good judge of character?

No.

Noora was his wife. He had to trust her. Zaydaan bhai would not doubt Aaina for even a second, why was Ahad doubting Noora then?

Zaydaan turned the laptop around, leaning against the table.

"Look at this video." He pressed enter and the video started to play.

Ahad saw Maria bibi entering the house with a bag of groceries, she unlocked the door, talking to someone over the phone, then she closed the door.

The door remained closed for a while before it got opened again, the person opening the door couldn't be seen but the woman entering was way too recognizable.

This was the woman that the Railway minister slept by every single night, the woman who he loved with all of his heart and the woman who might be responsible for breaking his heart at any moment.

Ahad Ziagil did not understand what was going on, his mind could not comprehend all this.

Out of all the things that he had expected, this one just was not it.

"This is Noora entering Maria's house and this is her exiting." He forwarded the video to show Noora running out of the house, panicked.

Ahad let out an unbelievable scoff, face growing pale at the thought of his own wife, no..she hadn't done it. She couldn't.

"That can't be possible. Noora had no connections with Maria." Ahad denied, even with a video proof he denied that his wife had done anything wrong.

"They say that this security footage is from yesterday." Zaydaan said quietly, continuing. "At the same time when Maria was reported dead. This is with the authorities."

Ahad looked up at his brother, eyes filled with worry and vulnerability.

"You're the Prime Minister." He stated.

He said it like it was a fact, like he could save anyone and everything.

"If she's guilty," Zaydaan mumbled, not even bothering to continue.

His brother knew. Zaydaan Ziagil didn't forgive. He didn't believe in sparing the guilty. He had done it once, for Aaina. But he couldn't do it again.

"Bhai-" Ahad tried to say something but his brother interfered.

"Let's talk to Noora first."

He said instead, taking a sip of his tea.

Both the brothers waited for Noora to arrive, both of them silent.

---

It had been quite a few days since the first lady visited her husband at the Prime Minister's office. They were always stuck in some sort of issue, dismissing any other plans.

Usually, Aaina would have lunch with Zaydaan and Zayla in his office, the Prime Minister would make time for the both of them. But these past days, things had been out of control.

His schedule was always packed and Aaina herself had some new issue at the foundation, plus their recent troubles with the court cases, mother issues and God knows what, it was all too much.

But today, she had decided to simply take lunch and go to him. It was hightime that they had a normal lunch together, without any one else, without any arguments.

Yesterday had been so awkward anyway. Her sister had disrespected her husband but Zaydaan had been kind enough to not say a word to Aaina about it. He hadn't even discussed it with her, knowing that it was awkward.

Her sister was important to her, she didn't want that relationship to disappear like all the others. 

So Zaydaan had simply told her to sleep it off and say goodbye to her sister in the morning.

It had taken Saira a hell lot of begging by Aaina to leave for London. Her mother, however was not bothered at all. Infact, she seemed happy to be in Pakistan.

That made Aaina feel even more suspicious.

So there had been tears in the morning, both the sisters hugging it out. The first lady had dropped her off at the airport, saying her goodbye.

After that, she had gone to her foundation, taking Zayla along.

It hadn't taken her long there, merely an hour or so before she had to go back home. Aaina was just ready to take Zayla with her for lunch but all of a sudden, Zaydaan's parents had arrived.

She couldn't say no to mama as the woman insisted on spending time with her granddaughter for a while. Zaydaan's mother was not too attached with Zayla but whenever she did spend time with the girl, she showered her with all the affection she had.

So Aaina had showered, changed into a lawn dress and then left for the Prime Minister's office.

Aaina greeted both Ferhet and Hamza with a smile, telling them that it was nice to see them both since it had been a while.

Both the men greeted her back, escorting her towards Zaydaan's office.

Aaina thanked them with another smile, then opened the door to his office after knocking twice.

She knew that she didn't need to but she didn't want to interrupt anything.

The first lady entered the room, spotting both Ahad and Zaydaan sitting in utter silence.

Zaydaan stood up upon seeing Aaina, a frown on his face. The first lady clearly didn't expect this reaction.

"What are you doing here?" Zaydaan questioned, not even bothering to hide that he wasn't happy with her being here.

He didn't want her to know anything untill they had a confirmed explanation. Untill Noora had told them the truth.

"What a warm welcome." Aaina mumbled, spotting Ahad on the seat adjacent to Zaydaan.

The frown on Zaydaan's face didn't really go away but it was not directed at her. It was just there. 

"Everything alright? Weren't you supposed to be in bahawalpur?" Aaina directed her question at Ahad, seeing his face twitched into worry and concern.

She instantly felt worried. What was going on?

"Where's Zayla?" Zaydaan asked as Aaina walked ahead and sat next to Ahad, looking at her husband.

"Your mother and father are back. I left her with mama." She told him, leaning forward.

"Zaydaan, what happened?" She enquired, feeling the silence between the brothers and the way both of them seemed to fighting an internal battle.

When Zaydaan didn't answer, she turned to look at his brother.

"Ahad?"

Ahad Ziagil didn't really have anything to hide, so he just turned the laptop towards her and pressed enter.

"Have a look." He said blankly, shrugging as if it was not a big deal.

It was. His heart felt so trapped, so confused.

Aaina looked at the video in confusion, seeing Maria bibi in the flesh. She had some bags in her hand as she opened the door.

"That's Maria. Is this from yesterday?" She directed her question at her husband.

"Yes." He replied, voice evident of any emotion.

"You have the footage of who murdered her? That's great. It means that we can fight off any accusation against you."

There was no reaction to that either. Aaina didn't really know why.

She continued watching the video.

Her eyes stuck to the screen and widened as she saw the very next footage. She didn't want to believe it, she reversed it, seeing it once again.

Her eyes widened, seeing Noora walk inside the very same house as Maria, she walked inside and then rushed outside after a while.

Aaina knew that this world was filled with lies and betrayal, of fake people and scheming. But just like the others, she could not believe it.

There was more to the story. She just had the feeling. Still, she let out the breath that she had been holding and stared at her best friend.

"Ahad.." She trailed off, not even knowing what to say.

Ahad Ziagil's face in that moment was everything Aaina never wanted to see.

"I want to trust her, I do trust her but she hid this from me and-" He tried to say something, she understood.

She wanted him to trust her, to not give up so damn easily.

"Hey, have faith in your love." She whispered to him, trying to get him to feel better.

She herself didn't know what the truth was, how it was going to unfold and what made Noora enter Maria's House.

But she was sure that Noora hadn't been the one to kill Maria.

Upon seeing the exchange between the two, Zaydaan let out a scoff at his own wife.

"That's just bullshit. Why did she lie then? She didn't kill Maria, I can assure you of that. But she lied and that's an even bigger betrayal in my eyes."

Zaydaan said out loud, his words Impacted Ahad but at the same time, he remained calm because of Aaina's words. Have faith in your love.

"So we'll talk to Noora and ask her about it all. I trust her." Aaina replied, trying to make the best out a situation.

The Prime Minister clearly was on edge today.

"You also trusted your mother and she's been plotting behind our backs. Maybe you need to stop trusting people, Aaina." The disgust that rolled of his tongue as he talked about Aaina's mother, it made her feel even more bad. No matter what, the woman was her mother.

Besides, this was not even the right time to talk about her. They had a crisis at hand, just like every other day lately.

"Zaydaan, she's my mother." Aaina defended, voice low but firm.

Her husband clearly was not in the mood. Aaina hadn't seen him so rude in a long while.

"Don't." He warned.

Aaina let out a small sigh.

"I'm sorry that I try to find the best in people. I won't change that about myself." Her soft voice didn't really change his attitude so Aaina looked at her best friend instead.

Ahad, who was so damn confused right now.

"Ahad. Noora is an amazing woman, she loves you. She'll never betray you." She reassured him, being optimistic as usual.

Ahad stared at her.

"Then why did she lie?"

Aaina didn't have an answer to that.

--

Noora Ziagil knocked on the door twice, then opened it.

She looked so wonderful, with her soft smile and her beautiful attire, she looked so innocent and kind, she didn't look like a murderer or a liar.

Noora had been in office when she received her husband's message, telling her to come to PM office as soon as possible.

Noora hadn't felt bothered by the message. She understood that as the director entertainment of PTV, she had to adhere to certain government demands and make sure that they were satisfied.

What she didn't know was that the Prime Minister himself had wanted to meet up with her, along with his wife and brother. Her husband.

"Can I come in?"

Zaydaan gestured her to come inside, she entered and closed the door behind her back, seeing both Aaina and Ahad sitting in front of the Prime Minister.

Noora let out a confused smile, waving her hand awkwardly at them.

What?

"What's going on?" Noora murmured, looking at her husband, then Aaina.

She didn't dare to look at Zaydaan if she was being honest. She felt intimidated by him.

"Salam, bhai." She greeted, still looking down.

Ahad?"

"Sit."

Her eyes glanced at her husband, confusion laced on her entire face as Aaina stood up and made her sit on the seat beside Ahad.

She, herself walked towards her husband, sitting on the arm of his chair.

Ahad didn't say anything but clicked on the video, showing it to his wife.

"Watch." He mumbled.

And then once again, another person of the Ziagil family was forced to watch the video of a dead woman.

She let out a frown, seeing Maria enter a house that she couldn't put a finger on.

But that didn't matter to her. She didn't know Maria so her being dead or alive didn't matter to Noora.

That one just was not it though.

Her eyes widened and face paled as she saw what was next.

Her.

Her in the red dress that she loved the most, her with her signature heels and her bag, her entering the house of a woman she did not even know.

And Noora understood. She understood the Prime Minister's accusing eyes and Aaina's sympathetic ones, she understood why Ahad wasn't telling her anything.

But how would she even explain this one? She didn't know the woman, didn't know the house but somehow, she had been seen entering and leaving.

"That's me. Entering and leaving her house." Noora said with a gulp.

Zaydaan and Aaina both remained quiet, simply seeing their interaction. If there was anyone who could get the truth out of Noora easily, it was Ahad.

Ahad Ziagil turned around in his seat and took a deep breath. His hand pressed against hers and he looked at her.

"Noora, I trust you. I know you wouldn't do something without a reason. Why did you go there and why didn't you tell anyone?" He questioned, voice soft and almost shaky.

He wanted to find out the truth but what if the truth was going to lift his faith from love for the second time?

"Ahad.." Noora bit her lip, eyes burning with tears as she felt so damn scared. How could you deny what was right in front of your eyes? How could you explain that? Noora knew she hadn't done anything but how would she ever explain it to all these people?

"I know, love. I know you had a reason. Please, tell me." He pleaded.

"I-"

Seeing her hesitation, Zaydaan could not help but stand up. Here he was, going to get framed for a murder and this woman was not even speaking up, let alone tell the truth.

"I don't have time for this. Did you kill Maria?" He asked blankly, there was no anger in his voice but there was this lack of patience that irked them all.

Noora looked shocked at the accusation.

"What?! No." She straight up denied, standing up along with Ahad.

"But you met her?"

"I didn't. I didn't even know the woman, I dont-" She tried to complete her sentence, freaked out of her mind but Zaydaan interrupted her.

"Then what is this video? You think someone made that up?" He questioned, Noora gulped not knowing what else to say.

Aaina, on the other hand didn't know what to do either. She was just as confused as Ahad.

Noora let out a deep breath, her hands shaking.

"I didn't meet her at all. I didn't kill her, I promise." She swore.

It didn't look like she was lying at all. Aaina sat on the Prime Minister's chair, pulling the laptop towards her as she replayed the video.

Maybe, there was something shady about it. Something that they hadn't been able to put a finger on.

"Then why do I see fear in your eyes? Are you with them? Are you trying to set me up?" She heard Zaydaan say, he wasn't holding anything back.

He was being his very own self. Mean and cruel to a point where the other person would start crying.

"You're a liar. You met Maria behind our backs and that makes you a liar and a betrayer. It doesn't even matter if you killed her or not."

Noora let out a choked up sob, looking at Ahad who himself seemed conflicted.

"Zaydaan bhai, I promise I didn't meet her yesterday or any other day -" She swore yet again.

"Then what is this video?" He pointed at the video as his wife replayed it over and over again.

Ahad came upto his brother.

"Bhai, let's listen to what she has to say." He whispered, telling his brother that she was his wife and she needed to be okay, she had to be fine, even if she was wrong. He couldn't lose her.

Zaydaan narrowed his eyes.

"Your wife is a liar, Ahad." He hissed, not caring that his words were hitting him harder than usual.

Aaina replayed the video one last time, looking at Noora and then back at the video.

Noora looked different today, much different than she looked in that video.

Something was odd.

She looked at the woman in the video, then back at Noora and finally, it clicked.

Thank God for being a woman.

"She's not. She's not lying, Zaydaan." Aaina said, getting up from the seat and picking the laptop in her hand.

Zaydaan shot her a look.

"Now is not the time to find the best in people, Aaina." He told her, she was always trying to be hopeful.

In real life, the ones closest to you betrayed you the most.

His wife shook her head and walked upto him.

"Look here." She pointed at the video, both Ahad and Noora started to see it as well.

"That's Noora, coming out of Maria Bibi's house." Aaina mumbled.

Her husband rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we saw that." He replied as a matter of face.

She clicked her tongue. What even was it with him today?

"Noora has highlights in the video."

Noora gasped, literally looking at her hair to see whether Aaina was right or not. That was the state of her mind. She didn't even know if her hair was black or not.

"Highlights?" Zaydaan asked, frowning.

His wife nodded.

"Noora has highlights in the video but she hasn't had that hair for six months. She dyed it black at her anniversary party and then didn't change it."

She explained. A Ray of hope lit up in both Noora and Ahad. Zaydaan didn't show it but even he felt relieved.

"Noora, can you recognise this place?"

Aaina asked her sister in law, showing her the video.

"It's House 34-A in F11. It's adjacent to the park." Zaydaan told her, ready to hear why she was in this house in the first place.

"I don't know." She mumbled, her mind was still so panicked that it made impossible for her to think.

"Then she must have worn a wig." Zaydaan murmured on purpose, pressurising her just so she would remember something important.

Noora, on the other hand panicked some more.

"I didn't do it, bhai. I swear." She swore.

Aaina held her hand, guiding her to take three deep breaths with her.

"It's okay, Noora." She smiled at Ahad's wife, telling her that she believed her.

"But you have to remember, love. You must have went there. Maybe to meet a friend or some important person?" Ahad tried.

"Just remain calm and think about it. We did see you entering and leaving the house."

Noora observed the video once again, quickly opening her i********: account.

Both Aaina and Ahad frowned, not understanding what she was doing. Noora scrolled downwards, revealing several pictures of herself.

She finally stopped at a picture of her with her best friend, they were stood in a porch like area, arms around each other as they posed for a selfie.

Noora zoomed in on the video, then stared back at the picture, realisation finally dawning on her.

"It's Nadia's house. She's my friend." Noora murmured, finally remembering.

"When were you there?" Ahad asked.

"Last summer, Nadia called me and invited me to visit her house. She had rented out a place for a few months. I went to visit her and when we were having tea, she spilled it all over herself." She explained.

"Her arm burned quite alot. I called up a doctor but he wasn't picking up so I went outside, her neighbour in the adjacent street was a skin specialist so I rushed outside to call him." She continued talking and everyone listened in silence.

"Then Nadia called and said that her husband was taking her to the hospital. I left for home after that."

She finished her words, taking a deep breath and then gulping down an entire glass of water down her parched throat.

"So this video of you rushing outside, panicked was actually from a year ago." Aaina stated, happy that she had found a way to help Noora but shocked that the Chaudhrys were actually going this deep, digging so deep to find out everything about the Ziagil family and framing them.

"Noora was with Zayla all day. She couldn't have left the house anyway." Aaina mentioned, looking at her husband.

Zaydaan Ziagil only smirked. He had to give credit where it was due. Awan was this close and ready to outsmart him, it was only because of his wife that he hadn't.

"Well played, Awan." He commented, going back to sit on his seat.

"A few years ago, he tried to frame father in a money laundering case using a fake video proof." He told everyone, continuing.

"His team made up this video, he sent it to us on purpose. He thought that I'd immediately take an action against Noora, making Ahad turn against me."

He looked at his brother, raising an eye at him.

"He wants us brothers to fight, He wants to take it all away from me."

Suddenly, Noora let out a small gasp.

"Oh My God." She whispered, more to herself than to others but she had been heard anyway.

"What?" She turned to her husband.

"You said that Aaina's mother was in touch with Awan, right?"

The mention of her mother's name made Aaina gulp. She hoped that her mother was not involved in any of this. They were keeping an eye on her but who knew when it came to Aaina's mother. She was Imran's wife after all.

"Yes." Ahad agreed.

"When I was with Zayla..she tried to poison my head but I was so busy that I didn't pay any attention."

"What did she say?" Aaina asked, waiting for an answer.

"She said that Ahad deserved to be the Prime Minister, that Zaydaan bhai had done enough and it was my duty as a wife to convince Ahad to emerge as a leader, to be at a higher level than him. She said that I would suit as a first lady, more than her own daughter. "

Aaina let out an unbelievable chuckle. It wasn't bitter, it was sad.

"Awan is using my mother." She told her husband, looking at him.

"No. Your mother is taking her revenge from me by siding with Awan." Zaydaan corrected her, voice sharp and face flat.

Aaina could not help but respond.

"Why are you looking at me like it's my fault, Zaydaan? I'm clueless." She defended, he just shrugged...giving her a look that meant they would discuss this later.

Aaina nodded, going back to the previous conversation.

Zaydaan Ziagil looked at his family.

"The point is that Awan wants to break my family, my power and my life. I will not let him do that." He decided.

"What are we going to do?" Ahad asked, worried.

"Prepare for war." His brother replied.

He didn't care about crossing limits or breaking boundaries anymore. If Awan wanted war, he would get it. No one could mess with the Ziagil family and get away with it.