Assalamo Alaikum❤

Hello Joonams!

Do you know that Forcefully Yours is about to reach 1M reads.

😍😍

I still can't believe it. Can you?

It feels like a dream. It wouldn't have been possible without you guys.

A big thankyou for all the motivations. Thank you for being an integral part of my journey. This chapter is a small gift to the wattpad family of mine.

PS: I've never really given any interviews on wattpad ever but it had always been my fantasy. Thanks to for giving me this opportunity. I don't know if anybody will be interested in knowing about me, but incase you are, do check this interview out.

Click on her profile and go to the book 'Know About Your Authors'. You can find my username down there in one of the chapters. If anybody's interested do check it out. 🙈

Moving on to the chapter, it's a small one. Nothing really big. I wrote it within one hour, my apologies because I couldn't come up with something really great.

If you think our darling Humza first met his wife at her aunt's home, you are wrong.

"I want you here." Humza groaned, his scorching eyes gleaming under the mask even in the dark night. The mask however did nothing to cover his sharp jawline. "Please. Hazel." His voice crackling by the end. He just wanted her here. He needed her here.

"Humza you know I can't come. I have plans already." She explained to him as if he were a stubborn and snobbish child. Humza found himself clenching his teeth even as he forced himself to take a few proper breaths, forcing air down his lungs. She had disconnected the call before he could reply, so he stared blankly at the tenebrous night. He had heard the rumors for a while now, seen pictures actually, she was cheating on him. There was no one at the balcony. He wanted to stay here for the entire night if possible, except it was not, so he made his way back to the great hall.

He stared at the crowd, so many people in the foyer yet his heart felt as lonely as it could be. His heart felt heavy from the news he'd heard this morning. He didn't want to be a part of this masquerade party, had it not been his father's bestfriend's daughter's engagement party, he would have never stepped out of his room. His baba would have wanted him to be here. He loved Isra, adored her and so Humza did too.

A lot of people smiled politely at him but was it from fear or were they really happy to see him, he didn't know. A lot of people were already giving him sympathizing glances and it roiled his gut. He was sure the news already broke amongst people. His mother who had kept the news of her remarriage to her husband's brother a secret for months, was now going to make it public. He couldn't help but feel the betrayal. He swallowed the lump that had clogged his throat.

He needed Hazel tonight, he needed her to be here with him, right beside him. He wanted to nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck and he just wanted to forget everything else. She helped him forget. Everything he had done. Everything that was about to happen.He wanted to forget it all.

His mother was here somewhere and he didn't want to know where. He didn't want to look at her face. His uncle was no better. They had both betrayed his father and him. But how was he himself any better? He murdered his own father, no matter what the world said to console him.

It was just an accident.

It was meant to happen.

It was the qadar of ALLAH.

He laughed a sarcastic laugh.

Lies. All lies.

He hadn't wanted it to happen.

Yet.

Yet he couldn't shrug the feeling that he was the murderer of his own father.

A hand pressed onto his shoulders and his body immediately went rigid.

"Thankyou for coming son. It means everything to us." Nabeel spoke from beside him. Humza's body immediately relaxed when he realized it was only his father's best friend.

"It's nothing. Not a big deal." Humza shrugged. "It is, for a family who couldn't afford this extravagant party but you offered it. You helped. You are just like your father you know." Humza tried not to listen and stared ahead at the cluster of people dancing in the center of the hall, his hands curling up into a fist inside his pant pockets. He recognized only a few in the crowd because of their masks yet he stared as if they struck him.

He couldn't find Huzaifa in the crowd. He was nowhere. When he didn't reply, Nabeel further added, "I heard about your mother and your uncle." He paused waiting for Humza's reaction. He hadn't noticed how Humza's body had frozen at that moment, and how much of an effort it had taken for Humza to not leave the conversation in the middle and walk away.

Nabeel heaved a sigh of dejection before he continued, "Your father.. Your father would have wanted this for your mother." Humza's gaze turned sharply towards Nabeel, his eyes piercing daggers through him.

"You know nothing about my father then." His voice was taut with anger. "I knew your father since he was a child. I know him more than you do. You are too young to understand about love, about sacrifice. Perhaps in time, you'll understand. Maybe." Humza didn't fail to catch the sharp edge to his voice.

"If this is what you call love, then I am better off without it. It's not worth it. Women will cheat. Always." He said with hatred lacing through his voice.

"The right women won't." Nabeel laughed. "You should wait for the right person to come." He further added.

The music was not very loud thankfully, it was loud enough to stop anyone else from hearing their exchange. Humza wanted to leave then and there. He was in no mood to hear anyone talk anything about his parents. He hated the sympathizing glances that he received.

When the power to the building got cut, Humza found an excuse to move away from the crowd. "I'll go check with the manager." He told Nabeel. It was a very rare occasion when such a hotel ran short on electricity but Humza was grateful today. On some other day, he would have knocked some sense into the hotel management staff.

The corridor he now walked was isolated. Everyone had moved towards the hall. He was walking towards the open terrace on the second floor, when the door towards his right shot open abruptly and a girl flounced out, it was too dark for her to see and so she collided with Humza.

"Fuck!" Humza cursed, rubbing his elbow that slightly hurt from the impact. "I am sorry." The girl sniffled but continued to walk away. "Typical idiot bitch." He snapped loud enough for her to hear. Her footsteps halted and she immediately twirled around. "Excuse me?" She retorted, the abaya she wore made her look ever more dainty. She didn't even wear a mask.

"Excused." Humza spoke arrogantly, shoving his one hand in his pocket, an action he often did out of habit. "What's your problem? I did apologize." She sniffled again. "Stop wasting my time with your melodramatic whimpers." He said, sounding completely bored of their conversation.

"You kn..know nothing about my life and so you don't have the right to.. To judge me." He knew she had let the tears fall as she no more lifted her hands to wipe them away. Perhaps, he had hit a nerve. There was only enough light for him to know that she had a petite figure and she wore an abaya. Everything else was just as dark as his future.

Something about her broken voice had made him speechless though. She wasn't really wrong. He found himself fetching his handkerchief from his pant pockets. Before he could think of what he was doing, he had already held it out for her, she only moved back a step. When she didn't make any move to take it from him, he assumed it was too dark for her to know what he was offering. "It's a handkerchief." He said in a very polite manner, frowning with amusement at his ownself.

"I don't need your sympathy." She spat and it only made his temper flare. He grabbed her wrist and forced the handkerchief into her hand. Her wrist was cold and wet from her tears. If he hadn't been imagining, she was trembling too.

He didn't wait to watch her put up a fight. Not giving her another chance to do or say anything, Humza strolled out into the open balcony, locking the door behind him. He needed silence. He already had his own baggage of memories to haunt him. He looked at the radiant stars above him in the night sky, the only guiding light. The entire street was dark. He rested both his palms on the railing and enjoyed the tranquility of the night. His phone beeped and he knew before he looked at it.

Another picture.

He opened it knowingly.

She wore a sheathlike dress that hugged her in all the right places. She looked as beautiful as she always did and then there was a man she was clinging to. He had embraced her in a hug. They were in a bar. His jaws clenched as he leered at it. He couldn't take this anymore. Hazel was a cheat, just like his mother. He felt his heart ache. He felt it breaking. Throwing away his phone on the ground and watching it shatter, he fisted his own hair in both his hands, hoping the pain that followed would be enough to numb the pain he was already feeling. He just wanted to distract himself at the moment.

"Please go away."A distant voice said.

"Don't follow me Uzair. Aunty might see us together." He lifted his head to look at the source of that familiar voice. It was the girl from the corridor but she wasn't alone. A boy followed after her as she exited the building.

"This is not possible. Look at you. You are so scared of her." He heard the girl say. The boy tried to grab her arm to stop her but she snarled at him, "don't touch me." The boy had lifted his hands within seconds, "I am sorry. I am sorry."

He was constantly saying something, pleading actually but Humza couldn't make out his words as they moved further away into the lawn. He could only make out a few words here and there.

"Wait for me. I will marry you."

"…Don't make it more difficult....Uzair."

"I'll be back.. Please.."

He was not usually the kind to eavesdrop on other peoples conversation yet he couldn't help but listen this time. It was obvious they were a couple. A fucking happy couple going through a temporary rough phase. He lit a cigarette, his only available stress buster right now. He stared at the couple, who were now seated on the bench in the lawn. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy deep down. They had someone to fight with, someone who wouldn't leave, someone who'd wait, someone who'd still love, whereas he didn't have anyone.

He watched the couple seated on the bench speak nothing at all to each other. They just sat there and enjoyed the stillness of the night. He wished he had someone at the moment too, someone who'd just look into his eyes and that would have been enough to calm the storm within him. Someone who would just be there for him.

By the time his cigarette was almost completely burnt out and he had turned around to lean back on the railing, facing the locked doors to the balcony , the electricity problems had been fixed. The sudden illuminating lights had almost blinded him. He had completely forgotten about Hazel's photos with another man. Like always.

He was ready to walk back to the hall but some part of him made him turn around to look at the couple, to look at the girl one last time. His eyes met a pair of teary black eyes. The girl was looking right back at him. He could see her tightening her grip on the handkerchief he had given her, making him wonder what that meant. Her face was completely covered, except for her eyes and so even with so many lights eliminating the darkness , he could only see her eyes.

He could clearly see as a lone tear escaped her eyes and she wiped it away with his handkerchief. He dropped his cigarette and put it out by stepping on it. He then turned around and left, unaware that she was the girl who was soon bound to become his happiness, his life and all it contains.

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