"Wajeeha," the words left from her mouth, and I stared down at her with a bewildered expression.

Wajeeha??

Hamza's expressions changes but soon he masked a smile, "Mom, she's Miss Zaynah, our teacher and the best friend of Zara Appi,"

She didn't speak any words, she was just continued staring at my face which was making me more uncomfortable.

"Asslamalaikum," I greeted her flashing a nervous smile at her.

"Walekumassslam," she smiled back at me and it felt like she broke out from some trance.

"Farwa, What's wrong baby," as I was about to say something, Hamza's mom whipped her head around and asked in a worried tone to Farwa who just came there.

I looked at the nervous Farwa, our gaze met and her face's color changed. She looked more panicked.

"Aunty," she broke into tears and hugged Hamza's mom.

"How did this happen?" She asked Farwa whose hair, dress was screaming a lot of things.

"I...I...," She passed a plain look at me before lowering her head.

" I slipped in the garden and got hurt by trees and thorns of flowers," she stuttered and her voice was mixed with slight fear.

I looked at her dress, her sleeves were torn up and it looked like someone had hit her.

It is so obvious that she is lying!

Drama queen!

"It's okay honey, stop crying please, you're fine, go and take a rest," there was genuine concern written on the woman's face. And I mentally rolled my eyes.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mrs...." Farwa went inside and I turned my attention to her.

" Mrs. Umaisha Abrar Shah," she smiled cheekily and her smile was so perfect which was making her more beautiful.

"Excuse me," someone called her and she excused herself.

"Your mom is an amazing woman," I smiled cheekily and his face lit up.

" You don't even know her, the more you'll spend time with her, the more you're gonna like her," he said with confidence and I couldn't agree more cuz his mom had an intimidating personality.

"Well, who's Wajeeha?" I asked nonchalantly scanning his face.

But to my surprise his face's color changed, his eyes became hard like stone and he pressed his lips together firmly.

"Are you okay?" I asked him with slight concern in my voice.

"Yeah, excuse me," he tossed a fake smile at me and left me bewildered. I shrugged my shoulders and headed outside.

I inhaled the fresh scent of flowers and the cool breeze touched my skin. The whole garden was decorated with beautiful lights, and the white beautiful moon was enhancing its beauty. I sat on the bench and started staring at the moon, the beautiful moon, stars, and the clear sky, everything was so mesmerizing. There was a different peace, I rested my head on the back of the bench and closed my eyes.

Then all of a sudden, I heard footsteps which caused an adrenaline rush in my body. I opened my eyes and looked around but the silence was screaming. I gulped my saliva and my body was drenched from sweat.

I was heavily breathing and walking straight when something pricked my leg. I bent down to see, it looked like a piece of jewelry. I had seen this somewhere.

I strained my mind and then I remembered this I saw it in Farwa's dress.

Damn!

I went in the corner of a tree and found royal blue color cutting.

Wait, it's the cutting of Farwa's dress!

"I slipped in the garden and got hurt by tress and the thorns the flowers,"

It means she wasn't lying!

But if she was here then who tf was that girl??

Who wants to hurt me?

Who is threatening me??

Who???

My head started spinning and I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, the footsteps got louder and I clutched my heart.

"Zaynah," someone placed a hand on my shoulder and I half screamed. I turned my head to see, it was Naina.

"What's wrong Zaynah," she asked with concern.

" Umm..no.. nothing, " I gulped the saliva in my throat and calmed my breath.

"Zara was looking for you, come inside," she looked at the cutting of dress and eyed me suspiciously.

" Yeah, I'm coming," I forced a smile and started following her.

" Are you okay?" She asked me.

" Yeah,"

"You don't look though,"

"Okay tell me one thing Did you see someone going upstairs? Like an hour ago?" I could ask this to Naina as she was the most sensible.

"I don't remember," she replied.

"Uh, okay... No problem,"

"But yeah Farwa went inside an hour ago as she needed to fix her makeup but I'm not sure if she went upstairs or not," she replied nonchalantly and my mind got blank.

So it was Farwa... Damn why it's being so complicated!

But her dress cutting in the garden shows that she wasn't lying!

But Naina saw Farwa going inside.

Also, she was stuttering and giving me strange looks.

Ya Allah...I don't know what is happening to me?

Please help me!!

*******

We all settled down for the dinner, Farwa was sitting across from me and I eyed her from head to toe. Her body got stiffened and the beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Her face was showing a known story.

"Zaynah, Why ain't you eating anything?" Mrs. Mariya interrupted my thoughts and my gaze traveled to Wajahat who was looking at his plate but a small smile was tugging on his lips and I knew why was he smiling. The blood rushed on my cheeks and I lowered my head.

"Try this Badam kheer (a type of almond dessert)," she offered me a bowl of dessert.

" No Thanks Aunty, I'm allergic to almonds," I smiled sheepishly.

My gaze accidentally traveled to Farwa' Mom and my heart sank in my chest. She was again staring at me continuously which was now annoying me.

I averted my gaze and put my all focus on my food.

We all were doing our dinner peacefully when my phone started ringing.

I knew who was it so I ignored the calls but it kept ringing and I had to receive the calls.

I excused myself and answered the call, "So are you trying to play dirty with us, I've warned you enough but it looks like you are trying to play hard. Noice baby, just ready for the consequences, Don't forget what can I do to you," Asiya's voice burnt in my ear and the phone slipped from my hand.

My face became white and fear started dancing in my eyes. I knew it wasn't just a threat. She knew my weakness, she knew how to hurt me and she was gonna ruin my life for sure.

"Zaynah," Zara ran towards me and hugged me, I didn't speak any word, I didn't even hug her back.

"Come with me," she intertwined her hands with mine and started climbing stairs, everyone else in the dining hall was watching us in confusion.

"Now tell me baby what happens?" She held my face with her both hands and looked into my eyes. My eyes welled up from tears and I bawled out.

"Shush, don't cry, just tell me what's wrong?" She pecked my forehead and made us sit on the bed.

" I'm sorry I ruined your family time," I lowered my head.

" Shut up," she looked mad.

" My family is sending someone after me, and I don't know what to do," I started sobbing.

" Shhh, they can't do anything, you're not alone baby," she handed me a glass of water which I gulped in a single breath.

"You don't know anything about them, Zara...you... I can't even ..tell... you..." I said between my hiccups.

" And you don't know what we can do to them," a beautiful voice rang in my ear and I tilted my head. Mrs. Umaisha was standing at the door.

She sat beside me and she had a bowl of some chocolate dessert.

"Dear, you're just like a Zara for us, you might be wondering that we are meeting for the first time then how can I say this, Well, we met today but I've heard about you a lot from Zara, Mariya Api, Hamza, Hammad, Farwa... And I don't know but there's something in you that is ... I don't know but there's something which I'm unable to figure out, so just wanna say, Don't feel alone, we all are with you, " her voice was sweeter than honey and her words were doing a different impact on me.

"Do you like chocolate?" She smiled at me when she saw me sitting in the same position.

" Umm..yeah," I smiled sheepishly and a small smile formed on her lips too.

"Then try this dessert, its taste is really good," she handed me a bowl of dessert and just looking at the bowl brought water in my mouth.

"Try this," she brought the spoon near my mouth and I opened my mouth in a trance. The taste exploded in my mouth and I closed my eyes. She let out a soft giggle, I opened my eyes and smiled awkwardly.

I didn't realize she fed me the whole bowl of dessert, and I actually eat this. This woman was different. Like who the heck feed like this to a stranger girl. They all were right, I'm gonna love her.

And for the first time in my life, someone had fed me like this as Asia used to feed Maaz and Safiya. My eyes started pricking from tears. It was so overwhelming.

"Hey, don't cry, we will talk about your family in the morning," she made me lay down on her lap. My body stiffened like again who the heck does this to any stranger.

And as I put my head on her lap, my breath got hitched and my heart started beating. She was running her fingers in my hair and it felt like I was dreaming or my old dream came true.

Me lying in the lap of my mom!

Mom?

Why the heck this thought is crossing in my mind? Why was she giving me different vibes? Why was I feeling a different connection with her? Why did it feel like it was the same touch, same warmth for which I craved for years? Whyy??