Zubiya felt hugely relieved after she came into realization that she had one less thing to worry about; which was the most important to her i.e., her education. She felt as if a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. All thanks to her Allah and her mother.

Finally, she looked at Usman uncle and gave him a slight smile.

"Ma-Mamo... I have no idea how I should thank you for handling all this..." Zubiya said, as she shook her head in slight disbelief. Because she still felt this was all a dream.

"Zubiya, please don't embarrass me by thanking. Just do me a favor. Please stay with us at our house. I have always wanted a daughter like you. And now, Allah has granted my wish by sending you to me." Usman said softly.

Zubiya looked down as she tried to blink off tears that had suddenly formed at the corner of her eye. She sniffled softly and gave her Mamo a teary smile and slowly nodded her head, making him smile widely.

"Thank you, Zubiya. Thank you."

Usman announced during dinner to everyone that Zubiya would be living with them from now on.

Zubiya nervous about their reactions couldn't look raise her gaze from her lap. She was tremendously scared that they would consider her as a burden... and she knew she couldn't and wouldn't stay in their house the moment she saw any one of them objecting with the decision.

But she was again proven wrong.

Gaiti, who was sitting beside her hugged her tightly for almost a minute followed by Lubna aunty while Daniyal gave her a welcoming smile, making her feel that they were glad with her decision to stay with them.

Asfandyar had a slight smile on his face which was quite enough for her even though she had noticed that he hadn't directed it towards her. And the fact that since she had arrived to their house they hadn't had a single interaction except for the eye lock they had earlier shared in the morning.

She instead basked in all the warmth she felt from the other family members and decided she would worry over it later.

Zubiya startled awake as Gaiti barged into her room and announced loudly that they were going shopping for her school supplies and some clothes for her as Gaiti deemed her clothes' collection out-of-fashion for the current season. She stared groggily at Gaiti as she babbled off speaking about the specific shops they needed to visit and the brands of cloth they were going to purchase. As she didn't have any fashion sense she just let her words fly over head and closed her eyes, snuggling back in her comforter.

"Zubiya!" Gaiti shook her awake again.

"Huh?"

"Get up! We need to hurry or else we will get stuck in traffic jam and won't be able to return back in time!" Gaiti said as she slowly pulled her out of the bed and pushed her towards the washroom along with her towel and the clothes that she would wear.

Zubiya groaned as she already missed the warmth of her bed and grumpily entered the washroom.

Zubiya, freshly showered and ready to head out slowly walked down the stairs, feeling weird again. She knew it would take her some time to get used to and not feel awkward most of the time.

She walked to the dining table where she saw only found Usman uncle and Gaiti seated and the rest of the members absent.

"Come Zubiya. Sit. And quickly have your breakfast before Gaiti takes you for shopping without letting you have anything." Usman said to Zubiya who started munching on her sandwich. Zubiya chuckled softly as Gaiti lightly glared at both of them.

"Zubiya, before I forget. Here is your card. You can now start using it." Usman said as he handed her a card.

"Thank you, mamo." Zubiya said softly as she took the card in her hand.

Usman uncle told her again to not mention while Gaiti made her hurry and pulled her out of their house along with her towards the car that stood waiting for them.

Zubiya sat, trying to rein in her emotions and keep a control on her mind as it tried to once again bring back the dark memories back. She fake-smiled as she watched Gaiti give a full-on description on their shop visit and show Lubna Aunty everything they had purchased. From the new phone, laptop to her new sets of suits and shoe wears and some jewelries and cosmetics that Gaiti had insisted was a girl's necessity.

Once everyone had finished had dinner, Asfandyar still absent and had retired to their respective rooms Zubiya was finally left alone with her tormenting thoughts.

She twisted again and again, trying to sleep but finally opened her eyes and sat up straight on her bed as she realized it was all in vain. She took a sip of water from the glass on her bedside table. She ran her fingers through her sweaty hair and got up from her bed.

She wrapped her shawl around her and took her new phone. Turning on the flashlight, she slowly walked out the room towards the back door of the house.

Remembering the code Gaiti had given her, she typed into the safe-lock system and sighed in relief as the door softly clicked open without making much noise. She slowly stepped out and walked towards and up the staircase that led to the terrace floor.

She sat down on one of the two chairs she found and gazed at the sky. She blinked up at the sky and tried to keep her mind blank.. but blurry images of her parents and Rehan bhai flashed in front of her eyes.

Zubiya growled frustratedly as suddenly stood and turned to start pacing round to clear her head.

But stopped short as she came face-to-face with the last person she had expected to see.