Samia rested her back against the headboard and took a deep breath. Mrs. Naseem was fast asleep under the effect of sedatives. The room was silent making Samia shift in her place uncomfortably. Silence was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Her inner self was taking her again and again to the conversation she had with Imad in the evening. His words were echoing in her ears.

It wasn't like her family never tried to defend Alizeh in front of her. She remembered how her mother always took Alizeh's side no matter what. But with Imad it was different. He wasn't someone related to Alizeh so his point of view regarding all this had left an impact on Samia which she couldn't deny.

Samia had always been a pampered child. Being the first born of her parents she had always got immense love from her family specially her Dado who literally doted on her and had spoiled her to a great extent. Samia always wanted everything which she ever wished for right in front of her.

Shehryar was almost eight years younger to her. But when he grew up their father always said he was way more sensible than her. She never minded it. If one of them was demanding and stubborn the other one had to be a little sensible and understanding. Which, no doubt was Shehryar. No matter he had his inborn traits of being egoistic and stubborn intact but he was still less than her.

Samia was always a picky one. From curtain in her room to her friend circle everything was according to her status but all her attitude went into air when she fell in love with Imran. The guy was the sweetest person she had ever met who treated her like his prized possession. She trusted him blindly and for the very first time Samia Hussain, who was always careful about even her clothes to be matching her class, succumbed to her heart and literally begged her parents to marry her off with Imran. Her father had many objections to this proposal but being the ever stubborn girl that she was, she made him agree anyhow. Even after getting married to Imran, Samia was mostly seen at her maternal home and when Rodaba tried to make her understand how after marriage a girl's true home is her husband's, Mrs Naseem, Like always had taken Samia's side stating she could live there as long as she wanted making Rodaba quiet.

Shehryar was Samia's beloved brother. He was always mindful about his family and specially his parents. His studies, institutions, coaching center, what to study, everything was decided by their father only. And Shehryar never mind it. He liked to take his father's advice on everything. But Samia wasn't like that. She was not the one who would take anyone's interference in her personal matters. And that's how both of them were poles apart in personality and character.

But their family was hit with a huge blow when Shehryar announced he had married Alizeh. Samia was shocked and furious. That time she judged her brother and his decision forgetting she herself had married the person she was in love with. But that was her. She never took her errors in account and always kept an eye on others. Samia was never happy with Shehryar's sudden marriage and when she came to know the girl and her family's financial state she started believing Alizeh had tricked her brother into this marriage just to materialize her dreams. A gold digger. Samia had often thought of Alizeh to be one. The day Alizeh set her foot in Hussain mansion, Mrs Naseem and Samia left no stone unturned to make her realize how they both can never have a soft spot for her.

Their father's death was something which took them a lot of time to cope with. A huge responsibility was on Shehryar's shoulders. He was trying to prove himself as the best son and brother. He gave her the needed support while she should have been the one to hug him tight and ensure him things would be better.

What was his age that time? Just twenty one. The age at which people don't even worry about their own future and here he was working day and night for his family's future as well. She was pregnant that time and seeing her fragile state Shehryar had asked her to stay at Hussain residence till she delivers.

Imran was always busy in his business. But when he got time it was reserved for Samia only. But she didn't know why for quite a time Imran was acting a bit weird around her. She thought it was her misunderstanding. She was not a kind woman when it came to her household. She had started demanding Imran's attention some more and it worked. His behaviour was back to normal much to her relief.

But this relief was short lived. The day she saw Alizeh and Imran in like that was the day she lost everything in true sense. She had fainted in her brother's arms who was as shocked to see all this as her. When she came back to her senses she felt a rage eating her from within. And she was more furious at Alizeh than she was at Imran. She knew her husband and was sure Alizeh had tried to trap him but when he himself confessed in front of her it shattered her to no measures.

"I have fallen in love with Alizeh, Samia. And she loves me too. I'm not happy in this marriage with you and neither is she with Shehryar. I want to accept her in my life and I know the only hurdle in all this is just you and your brother."

She didn't want to hear anything more. Or maybe she couldn't hear anything else. Her home, her dreams, her love, her trust broke in just one moment. She had pushed Imran away from her life. Throwing him out of the house she was ready to charge on Alizeh when she felt extreme pain in her body and a fear engulfed her being.

Was she going to lose her baby too?

She clutched her lower abdomen when Shehryar rushed towards her. He took her to the hospital but it was late. Her Baby was gone.

And that day Samia Imran became Samia Hussain once again.

But the change had taken everything from her. She had come to know Alizeh had herself left the house. She had no plan of punishing the people responsible of her miserable state. It won't give her baby back. It won't bring her happiness back.

But to her utter shock her mother was defending Alizeh. Her brother was searching for her. And that was the time she lost her calm.

"Mom! Shehri! How could you both? She is responsible for my sorry life. Just because of her here I'm in this condition. She was involved with Imran. She was having an Affai..."

"Enough, Aapa!"

Shehryar who was sitting on the couch, shouted.

"No matter what happened yesterday but one thing is for sure. Alizeh was never involved with Imran! Never! I know her. She can never do this."

"Then why she left? Where is she?"

"She left because we both are not able to take this forward anymore! We have failed in this marriage. No trust. Nothing."

He stuttered and left the room.

He hadn't talked to Samia after that. Neither had he tried to search Alizeh. He was torn between his relations. Samia had announced she won't live here if Alizeh ever came back but whom she was kidding. Alizeh was gone forever. The girl never looked back. It gave Samia satisfaction but in all this it had drawn her brother away from her. He had become distant from all of them except Rodaba. Samia had lost her brother who was once so close to her.

Her mother had tried explaining this to her. How her irrational behaviour was causing so much tension but she wouldn't budge.

It wasn't like he never tried to defend Alizeh in front of her. But she had never let him. He had given up on everything. His routine, His life all had become mechanical with no emotions involved. Samia knew her and Imran fiasco was just another problem in Shehryar and Alizeh's married life. They both had so many issues before. And all this proved last nail in coffin.

They were tired of moving forward with no compatibility between them and at a point it was bound to happen this way. It happened.

Samia had made it clear to herself that her brother was never happy with Alizeh. He might take her side when it came to Imran's matter but he and Alizeh were not coming back together. They both took a decision in haste and realized it was never meant to be.

But these days seeing both of them working on their marriage again with so many efforts from Shehryar's side had made her realize he wanted her back in his life.

Was she judging Alizeh wrong again?

Was she always irrational about all this?

She didn't know. She was angry with Shehryar for not punishing Alizeh the way she deserved but did Alizeh deserve any punishment in first place?

Samia held had head in her palms.

What if she was wrong since the very beginning? How many times her mother explained things to her. How many times Shehryar made it clear to her that he hadn't left Alizeh. It was Alizeh who took this decision. How many times had he told her Alizeh had nothing to do with Imran. How many times he declared It was because of his and Alizeh's own problems which lead them where they were. Imran had nothing to do with all this.

Samia decide to give her overworked mind some rest and see things in a different light.

That would be the best for her right now.

She rested her head on the pillow to get some sleep but sleep was far away from her eyes.

______________________

Morning

Alizeh was standing outside of Mrs Naseem's room to check up on her before leaving for the office. Samia had taken the responsibility but still it was Alizeh's duty to ask about her wellbeing. Mrs. Naseem had always been rude to her but that didn't mean Alizeh would forget her upbringing. Her mother hadn't taught her this.

Alizeh took a deep breath and knocked at the door.

"Come inside."

Rodaba's voice gave her some strength and she entered the room. Mrs Naseem was smiling at Samia who was making her drink the soup while Rodaba was sitting close to her on the bed.

"Alizeh, Come bacha. Why you are standing there?"

She smiled at Rodaba and glanced at Mrs Naseem who was also looking at her.

"I just came to check how is Dado doing."

"She is good. Shehryar has talked to the doctor again. There is nothing to worry."

Alizeh nodded and turned to leave when Mrs Naseem's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Alizeh."

The soft expression on her face made Alizeh surprised.

"Thank you. Rodaba told me it was you who took me to the hospital when both Shehryar and Samia weren't home."

"That was my duty. I hope you recover quickly."

Mrs Naseem nodded and averted her gaze. Alizeh gave another glance to them and came out of the room.

_____________________________________________________________

The coming days had made Samia some more confused. She had observed Alizeh closely. Her and Shehryar's relation was going on smoothly. Samia could see it from their faces. They had developed a certain understanding between them which wasn't there before. Shehryar was smiling more often. The anger was not there anymore.

It seemed Alizeh's presence had seriously changed things for him.

Rodaba had always loved her daughter in law but these days Dado too was lenient towards Alizeh. The taunts and angry looks were a thing of past. Things were not going on a rapid speed but they were changing slowly and steadily.

And in all this Samia was the only one who was confused.

Alizeh was keeping a distance from her and she knew the reason very well. She was the only person in this house who hadn't changed her behaviour towards her even after all this.

"Samia?"

Rodaba's voice brought her back to her senses.

"Where are you lost? Dinner is getting cold."

She didn't say anything and got up to leave.

"I'm not hungry."

Alizeh's gaze followed her till she was in the middle of the stairs. Shehryar was talking to Mrs Naseem but Alizeh knew before that he had thrown a worried glance in his sister's direction.

Alizeh had noticed many changes in Hussain household after coming back here and Shehryar and Samia's changed equation was one of them. They both never talked like before. There was a certain kind of understanding between them which was no longer there. May be what happened in past had changed it all.

Alizeh was not happy to realize not only her and Shehryar's relation suffered in all this. Everyone had their fair share of loss.

_____________

Next Morning

Alizeh came out of Shehryar's cabin after discussing the ideas for new winter collection with him. It had been a month she was working as the head designer here. But she would lying to herself if she said she didn't feel nervous whenever there was a new event scheduled. This company had a reputation and she always feared her work not matching its standard. Shehryar had assured her multiple times but she would take some time to be habitual to all this.

She was walking towards Imad's workstation to get the file which had all the details regarding the dates and sponsors of fashion event. She knocked at the cabin but to her surprise the door was ajar.

Imad was not inside. She took a deep breath when her eyes fell on the blue file placed on his table. Alizeh picked it up and to her relief it was the file she was looking for. She heaved a sigh and turned to leave but stopped immediately. Her eyes went towards the photo there and she was shocked to see the woman in it.

Samia?

It was a candid shot where Samia was laughing at something while sitting on the bench in a garden. Alizeh picked it up and gazed at it for a long time. She flipped it and read the words scribbled on the back.

"The only smile which can light up my day."

She knew Imad and Samia were good friends but this was telling her a different story.

Imad was in love with Samia?

Alizeh was pleasantly surprised. If this was true nothing could be better than this. She and Samia had many issues between them but Alizeh was hoping her guess was right. Imad was a very nice person if he was in love with Samia then that was for the best.

Alizeh came to her cabin deep in thought. Should she talk to Shehryar? But it was way too early to react on all this. But as far as she had noticed Samia and Shehryar were not on good talking terms. First she would have to know how far things had gone bad between the two. Yes! She would talk to Shehryar about this and then if she found it okay she would disclose this new development to him.

________________________________________________________

Night

Alizeh was sitting on the bed lost in her thoughts when Shehryar came inside after finishing a call. He smiled at her and walked towards the closet.

"Shehryar."

"Hun?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay. What is it?"

He said sitting on the other side of the bed. Alizeh secretly liked this fact that whenever she demanded his attention he would never refuse no matter how much busy he was. This was surely a change. Last time when they were together, ignoring her had become a habit of his. But not anymore.

"Promise me you won't shut me out."

"I won't, you know that. What it is?"

"What happened here after I left? I mean Imran...Samia.."

She completed quite hesitantly. Shehryar stared at her face and then took a deep breath.

"Well. Aapa wanted a divorce. I started the process with the help of my lawyer. We didn't face any problem because unknown to us all, Imran had got quite a history. He was involved with many women behind Aapa's back and was using Aapa's as the money bank. Nothing else."

Shehryar stopped looking at nothing particular. Alizeh reached his side and held his hand in hers.

"And how Samia took all this?"

"It was certainly difficult for her. She didn't go hysterical or something but she started blaming others for her life, Alizeh. She chose the easiest way that was playing the blame game. I don't find it absurd though. She had lost so much and any kind of reaction was expected out of her. But the most painful thing was when she started keeping a distance from me. You know we had so many problems before all that Imran fiasco happened. I knew that time that somewhere our marriage wasn't working. But after all that if one thing I was sure about was that you had nothing to do with Imran. I tried explaining it to Aapa but she took it wrong. She blamed me saying I was taking your side because I was planning to get my normal life back when my own sister's life was in ruins. We had few major showdowns and after that I stopped talking to her. Whenever we tried to converse she would start digging up in the past blaming you, blaming us. How our marriage was a failure. How we were never compatible. How we both took such an immature decision. She used to forget all what she did. She also trusted a wrong man. But she never talked about it. All she remembered was our failed marriage."

Shehryar cupped her face while his thumb was caressing her cheeks wiping the remnants of the tears from her face in the process.

"It was entirely my fault. I should have made it clear to her that she had no right to bring us in all that. Trust me I did try but all the mess I had created in my marriage gave her the opportunity to say what she wanted to say. She wasn't like that before. I don't even know what happened to her. Guess I couldn't keep my family together. You were gone. My marriage was done. Mom was in pain. Dado was like always taunting me. And Aapa! She became a stranger. I didn't know how to bring all this back to normal."

Her heart went out for him. He was just a young boy that time and a heavy burden was on his shoulders. He had to take care of so many things. The messed up situation had taken away the normalcy from their life and she would always find it painful that they both lost those beautiful year of their they could've had.

"I stopped paying heed to all this. That was my escape. I stopped searching for you. I stopped talking to Aapa and Dado. Mom was the only person who was concerned about me and I use to find a little peace in her presence only. I was running away from everything. I was tired of trying but with the passage of time things started making sense. I learnt running away won't give me anything. I wasn't sure of my feeling for you Alizeh. I guess I didn't get a chance to explore how deep they were. But seeing you at my office that too demanding a divorce. It did something to me which I can't even describe. I was mad knowing you have someone in your life. And I started doing what I thought would stop you. And when I came to know about your depression and what you have to go through I knew running away had to be stopped. I would have to right all the wrongs and I'm still trying. The people in my life have faced so much because of me. I couldn't keep you happy. I couldn't keep Aapa happy. I'm a successful businessman whom people envy but what a failure I'm, only I know."

Alizeh shook her head and hugged him tight caressing his back. She could see anything but not him this torn and shattered.

"You tried. And see where we are today. I'm with you. Perfectly all right. No traces of the depression I went through once. And Shehryar it wasn't only you. My own problems were enough to push me in the pit of darkness. But it is in past now. Your relation with my family and your Dado is back to normal. It's only Samia now. "

"Aapa will never budge Alizeh. She will keep on pushing me away."