Zara had called me about twenty times for breakfast but I had no appetite. My sixth sense was indicating something but I wasn't able to figure it out.

I put my head between my knees and started catching glimpses of my past. My eyes were welled up from tears and a slight fear was dancing in my eyes.

I snapped to reality when my phone rang, I saw it was a call from Azlan, I didn't feel like talking to him, I knew he loves me and he was worried for me. He had sent about hundreds of messages but I ignored them and put my phone on flight mode.

"Zaynah, aunty is calling you," Zara looked tired and I felt bad for her. She didn't sleep the whole night for me and here I wasn't listening to her.

"Give me some time, I'm coming," I splashed cold water on my face and fixed my dupatta. I greeted everyone as I reached the living room.

"How are you, honey?" Mrs. Mariya asked me and I nodded my head in response. The whole family was there and they all were eying me from head to toe. I became uncomfortable under their gazes.

"Zaynah, come here dear," Mrs. Umaisha signaled me to sit next to her. I sat down there but my legs were shaking from anxiety.

"Zaynah, Zara has told us everything about your family, " Mrs. Umaisha said and I exchanged a look to Zara.

" See you're not alone, we all are standing with you, it's just we need to know everything, just tell us everything, " Mrs. Umaisha placed her hand on my shoulders and my body shivered under her touch.

I looked at her with my pleading eyes and she understood it. She asked the boys to left the room and a sigh escaped from my mouth. I licked my dry chapped lips and opened my mouth for the first time, "My mother left me for his lover leaving me behind with my insensitive father. He married Asiya her cousin the next day, Asiya wasn't like typical stepmothers. She was way dangerous than them. She wasn't a normal woman, she was a psycho, I didn't know why but she hated my mom more than anything," I paused for a while and took the glass of water from Zara and gulped it in a single breath.

"Two years later, my half-sister Safiya was born and one day when I was playing with Safiya, I accidentally hit her nose, she ran outside crying and ran to her mother, her mother came and punched me in the nose with her knuckles. My nose was bleeding but she didn't put a second glance. I was too young to feel her psychoses but as I grew older, I realized her abuses were taking another form, she used to lock me in the basement and kept me without food for days, My father always hated me cuz of my mother so he never cared about me and to be honest, he doesn't even know anything, " I closed my eyes and a tear escaped from my eyes.

"Every time she warned me to not repeat mistakes, she used to make cuts on my skin. I have millions of cuts on my skin, she used to hit me with belts, needles, hot water steam, there were black marks and scars all over my body but it wasn't enough for her. One day..., " I couldn't compose myself and broke into tears. My breath fastened and I started breathing heavily. Zara came and hugged me. She was crying, everyone had tears and sympathy in their eyes and I hate sympathy. My body got stiffened and I didn't speak any word further.

"One day..." Mrs. Umaisha asked in a cracked voice.

"She raped me," I spoke nonchalantly.

"What the heck, "Zara let out a piercing shriek and I started recalling all the moments.

"She was not a human, she was a monster, she raped me not once or twice but for a month, I can't explain to you all what I went through. I went through trauma and depression and one day I woke up in the hospital with a large black scar on my stomach. I had no idea from where did I get this. I was probably thirteen at that time, I tried to remember the incident but I forgot everything and still don't know how I got this scar. All I knew, Asiya was changed, her face showed a different fear, she stopped abusing me, I mean yeah she still used to hit me but her psychoses were gone, "

" It's been six years for that incident but I can't forget those things, when the last night she threatened me, I noticed her tone, it was the same as the time when she sexually assaulted me, and yeah you all might be wondering that how I'm still laughing and smiling like this even after those things, it wasn't easy for me but I want to meet my mom once in my life and want to ask her why she did this to me? I wanna be a strong lady and wanna put my culprits behind the bar. I want them to get the punishment they deserve, I have the power of the Almighty and I'm not that weak. I have to live for my dreams and... " I was speaking without senses then my eyes landed on Zara who was crying vigorously. I touched my cheeks, they were dry. My tears were dried.

"Zara, don't cry like this, I'm not weak and it's been six years and I've healed and left that hell. Yeah, I still get nightmares and all those attacks but it doesn't matter, I became numb every time it happens but you know what Zara, Allah is always with me, He always sends someone for me, He never leaves me alone. The only thing which is bothering me is that I know there's something which is hidden from me like I don't know how I got this big scar, and what made change Asiya all of a sudden, " I didn't know from where I got that confidence to open up and talk like this.

Mrs. Mariya was also crying and Mrs. Umaisha, was looking vulnerable, she came closer to me and pulled me in a hug. I felt a different warmth and comfort in that hug. The next moment she broke into tears. She was crying for me?? The stranger woman who met me yesterday was crying for me?? It felt like I had a different connection with her.

"We will do our best to put your culprit at her right place, she needs to taste the same pain you suffered from, " she wiped off my tears and said in a firm voice and I didn't know what to feel at this point. All these things coming from a stranger was so...

"I hope so, but I don't have any proof against her, no one is gonna believe me not even my father, " I sighed.

" Father? Who's that bastard?" Mrs. Umaisha's voice was flooded with emotions.

"His name is Asim Riyaz," I replied nonchalantly.

"Can..can you repeat?" Mrs. Umaisha's face became pale.

" Asim Riyaz, why?" I asked in confusion.

"Who has...umm... a shoe factory?" She stuttered.

" How do you know this?" My eyes widened.

" Can you please show me his pictures?" It felt like she was pushing back her unseen emotions but it all felt weird.

"I don't have his pictures, but yeah you can see it in his Facebook handle," I unlocked my phone and searched his name on Facebook. He appeared at the top, I handed my phone to Mrs. Umaisha.

As her gaze landed on the picture, her eyes widened and she froze at her place, her face was changing its color, the longer she was staring at the pictures, the weirder she was acting. Then she lifted her head and looked at me. But this time, her looks were different, she kept staring at my face like she was searching for someone on my face. I became uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

"Wajeeha," she mouthed, I looked at her in confusion. Her face was showing different pain and hurt, she looked stunned and the next moment she ran towards her room. We all looked at each other in the confusion and once again I was stuck at that name.

Wajeeha??

"Zara," I turned to Zara whose eyes were bloodshot red.

" Zara, I've told you everything, now I want to know something, who's Wajeeha?" I held her hands and asked looking straight into her eyes.

Her facial expressions started changing and she lowered her head.

"Zara, just tell me," I asked frustratingly.

She looked at me and sighed, " Wajeeha Abrar Shah was my first cousin, the daughter of Abrar Shah and Umaisha Abrar Shah, sister of Hamza Shah and Hammad Shah," she was speaking in a trance.

" Was?"

" She died at the age of eleven in an accident," the words left from her mouth, and I covered my mouth from my hand in shock.