THIRD PERSON'S POV

Everything seemed to stop for her when he uttered those words. She wasn't able to believe her ears, thinking she was mistaken hearing him.

"Can you please repeat what you said ? I think I heard you wrong."

Looking inside his tired eyes she waited for him to repeat what he said, thinking her heart was playing a sick game with her.

"I want you to marry Mustafa, dove."

He repeated what he said earlier and this time with much confidence, seeing her face expressions turning to that of shock and then she laughed loudly at his face.

"Aisa mazak kaun karta hai Murat."

And then she lightly pushed him out of her room, asking him to get ready quickly, controlling her laugh not able to believe what he said.

"Main mazak nahi kar raha and I am very serious."

Before she could close the door of her room, he stopped her and held her arms, making her look inside his eyes for her to know that he was serious, very serious.

"Tumhara dimaag to theek hai na Murat ? I am supposed to marry you not him."

She screamed, fisting the collar of his shirt in her mehendi claded hands which had acquired the deepest shade of red that anyone could trace each and every design on them.

"Mera dimaag theek hai and that's why I want you to marry him. NOW!!"

His eyes held softness in them when he asked her to marry Mustafa. It was as if she was a stubborn child and he was convincing her to eat medicine which she didn't wanted but it was the only cure to her disease.

Love was the disease her heart was suffering from and it could be cured by Mustafa who was her medicine, the only hope to heal her heart which she was not ready to accept.

"So that means you won't marry me. Right ?"

Leaving his collar she looked in his eyes which gave her the answer to her question. He was hopeful for her to say yes to marry Mustafa for which she wasn't ready at all.

"Yes, because you are marrying him."

He answered his dominant voice booming inside the whole room with finality, telling she was getting married and she had no choice but to say yes. She was shocked seeing his dominant side but nonetheless kept her stance, answering him with all the confidence she had within herself.

"No, I am not. If not you then no one else. Especially not him."

"But you promised me, dove and you can't back now."

The flicker of emotion in her eyes didn't got unnoticed by him. He saw the hurt look on her face when he raised his voice, regretting it immediately. He wasn't angry at her but he was getting frustrated seeing her stubborn self. He knew convincing her would be difficult but he wasn't ready to give up. If she was stubborn then he was twice stubborn than she was.

"I can and I will. It's my life and I decide to marry whomsoever I want."

Narrowing her eyes at him she gave her final decision, not at all ready to listen to him and turned around showing her back to him.

"You said you trust me. You said you trust me with all your life and now I can see how much you trust me."

He accused of her for not trusting him knowing well she did, and narrowed his eyes at her to show how much disappointed he was with her for not trusting him, not aware of the emotional turmoil she was going through.

"How can you ask me to marry him even after knowing everything ? You know what I went through, infact you were there with me that time and now you are asking me to marry him. How ridiculous of you Murat."

She screamed getting frustrated with Murat's behaviour, eyes turning misty for not being able to complete his first wish. She cried remembering her old Murat who stood with her like a rock during tough times, but the man who was now standing in front her was different. He was not her friend rather he was Mustafa's supporter, the same Mustafa whom he hated for hurting his dove.

"Don't cry dove but please trust me. I only want best for you and he is best for you. Marry him. Please."

She was engulfed tightly in his embrace when he heard her crying. His heart was paining for being the reason behind her tears but it was necessary for her happiness. Sometimes you hate something which is good for you, while you crave something which is bad for you. She didn't wanted to marry Mustafa, fearing another heartbreak but he was best for her and Murat knew that well.

"I won't. I won't. You heard me now please get out."

Anger came back with full force hearing same thing again and again like a broken record. That was when she pushed him and hugged herself tightly, focusing on breathing.

"Please marry him dove. He will keep you happy. He loves you."

"But I don't."

Not meeting eyes with him she lied, denying her own heart who was mocking her for being such a bad lier.

"Kisse jhooth bol rahi ho. Khud se ya mujh se ? Because we both know well how much you love him. Your heart still yearns for him and that's why you were not able to move on even after so many years and that's the proof how much you still love him."

Jerking her arms, he made her look up holding her chin, his laughter echoing the whole room hearing her lie to him. Did she really thought she could lie and get away from the truth that easily ? Well sadly she was mistaken and he screamed at her confessing the truth of her heart, looking fearlessly in her eyes pleading her not to run away from the truth, but embrace it and give her poor heart a break.

"Bhaad mein jaaye dil aur bhaad mein jaaye usi dil ki mohabbat. I have locked my heart, for it didn't gave me anything but pain and now I don't have the courage to go from same thing again. I have had enough."

Wiping tears, she stood up from her place and screamed in frustration, seeing everything slipping away from her hold. Murat was adamant on his stance and so was she, no one ready to give up.

"He won't hurt you. He loves you and I have seen it with my own eyes. Please marry him, dove. Give him another chance."

"What about your happiness Murat ? Why are you sacrificing your happiness for him ? As far as I know you hated him to the core. So, what changed now that you are advocating him with so much of passion, forgetting everything I went through."

Wasn't he the one who hated Mustafa and didn't even liked seeing him in the same room as her ? Wasn't he the one who went nuts hearing about Mustafa's proposal ? Then what changed in few hours he was taking his side, ignoring his dove and was adamant to marry her off with Mustafa, forgetting he was the one she was to get married with, not Mustafa. It was shocking for her to see Murat change in one night's span.

"I am not sacrificing my happiness dove. My happiness resides in yours and I know you won't be happy with me ever. Your happiness lies with him and his with yours."

He was stating truth. His happiness was with her's and he really wanted her to be happy. Holding her hand, he traced circles on it with his thumb and softly smiled at her, telling her he was happy. He really was, and he wasn't sacrificing his happiness for anyone.

"Why can't you be selfish for once Murat ? Don't do this to yourself. I plead you."

He was one selfless man and that was the only reason she was able to trust someone after a long time. She trusted him with all her heart but she didn't trust Mustafa at all, especially with herself. He broke her too much for her to trust him again and marrying him would be a life long commitment for which she wasn't ready. Maybe her heart was, but her mind wasn't.

"I am being selfish here dove. You are my family and I am doing best for my only family. Please meri baat maan lo."

He too started crying fearing her rejection. He wanted her to say yes. God knew how much he wanted her to marry Mustafa. He was so wrong judging him and now she was doing the same mistake even when she was oblivious of the truth. Mustafa deserved a chance to prove his love and he was the only hope who could unite them.

"Main har wo cheez karne ko taiyaar hoon jo tum mujhse kahoge par ye nahi. It's too much. I can't....."

It hurt her to say no to Murat. For the first time he asked her something but she wasn't able to fulfill it, the fear of getting hurt overpowering all her senses.

"Please dove. For my happiness. I'll be the most happiest person on this planet if you marry him."

Caressing her cheeks, he wiped her tears which were flowing continuously from her eyes, pleading her ignoring his own tears which were flowing along with her.

"Murat....."

"Please for me. You said you trust me. So, please trust me when I ask you to marry him."

His voice sounded so weak and fragile while he was pleading her. It was breaking him seeing she wasn't agreeing to what she promised. She was backing on her promise and it was not going well with him.

"I will never wish anything bad for you and you know that."

"Please Murat you are doing so wrong. Please don't do that with me."

His tears were making her feel helpless and she wasn't able to decide what to do. Her heart was screaming to say yes but at the same time brain was reminding her of the past to which she closed her eyes and took a long breath, taking her final decision.

"Please. Meri khatir. Just believe me for once. Please."

Kissing her forehead, he patted her cheeks and whispered seeing her expressions of surrender to his wish.

"I can't believe you are asking me to marry him. I....."

"Are you ready ?"

Holding her hand, he helped her standing up and hug her, assuring her to make everything alright.

"Only for you."

Her voice came out in a mere whisper and he won't have heard it if he wasn't standing close to her, but he did and a big smile broke out on his face, as well as Aamina who was standing there.

"You won't regret it. I promise."

Giving her a last look, he left giving her few minutes to get ready for her nikaah with Mustafa.

•

"You look beautiful beta."

Dado complimented, kissing her forehead and held her hand making her sit beside her as nikaah was about to start within few minutes but she took her hand out of her hold immediately finding her happy for marrying Mustafa. She always wanted her to get married with him and now her dream was coming true but Maria was feeling betrayed. Betrayed by Murat and her family. She was an emotional fool and she accepted it with all her heart.

"Are you angry with me beta ?"

Holding her hand again dado asked feeling hurt with her behavior but it wasn't time for her to apologise, feeling too numb to care about other's feelings.

"Qazi sahab is here."

Her heart picked it's pace hearing about qazi's arrival and then she found him sitting beside her to take her consent for the nikaah first.

"Do you Maria Ahwaan daughter of late Ali Ahwaan hereby accept Mustafa Ahwaan, son of Aaqib Ahwaan as your husband with the alimony right of 1 lakh ?"

She heard qazi's voice loud and clear but wasn't able to speak, finding herself too speechless to speak and looked up finding Murat standing close to the sofa where she was sitting. His eyes were trained on her as she found him nodding his head at her, encouraging her to say yes with a small smile on his face.

"For me."

As soon as he whispered those words she took a long breath and closed her eyes, finding her voice, surrendering to her best friend's wish.

"I do."

"I do."

"I do."

A lone tear leaked out of her eye when she heard Mustafa's voice from another end accepting her as his wife. Everything happened so quickly that she didn't realised she was sitting beside him until his fragrance hit her nose.

"Maria....."

She heard him whispering her name with utmost delicacy but wasn't able to speak anything, feeling everything spinning around her in circles and before losing herself completely in darkness she found herself falling in the arms of the same person who was now her husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Salam everyone,

Murat seems to know something which made him side with Mustafa.🤔

Aur kya to manaya hai ladke ne. Daat deni padegi uski himmat ki. Haina ?

What will happen now ? How will she react after gaining consciousness ?

Don't forget to vote and comment 😉

Till next time,

Allah Hafiz ❤️