I stood still holding on to Maria aunties hand as he walked up to me from the dining room. As he walked up the hall standing right in front of me. He raised his hand as in that moment I instantly raised my hands up to guard myself from any harm he could cause me again. I waited but didn't feel anything as he just stood there and stared at me with a scowl. Maria aunty moved out of his way, giving him more space while keeping her head down.

A few seconds later he grabbed on to my upper arm and dragged me towards the dining room, pushing me near the table. I grabbed onto the chair making sure I didn't fall. He walked up to me grabbing my hair from my back pulling at it harshly.

"I warned you, didn't I?" He asked. "Looks like I have to teach you how to obey my orders" He said, pulling at my hair more roughly. "I'm sorry, I'll listen please. Let me go please" I cried. He let my hair go and said "this is your last warning or else I won't be easy on you" he said looking straight into my eyes; because of his strong gaze I immediately looked down not wanting to look into them. I was scared to look at them and him because he brings fear in me. I moved away from him a little to create some space between us.

He moved away and walked over to his armchair at the head of the table, sitting back down resuming his breakfast as I stood nearby the chair next to him. He signaled me to sit, so I pulled the chair out and sat next to him looking down at my trembling hands. He kept eating as I just sat there quietly waiting patiently for him to finish.

"Last night......" he said continued eating. "I mean.... About last, just forget whatever happened. We both can just pretend like it never happened and we won't speak about it, alright" he asked, looking me straight in the eye with a warning. "Okay" I said, looking away from him and onto the table, tears surfacing my eyes again. This brought back all the memories from last night and what he tried to do.

"I hope by now you probably know that I didn't want this marriage so don't expect anything from me, something that I can never give" he said sternly and I listened carefully. "So I thought that it's better off that I let you know beforehand." "What I am trying to say is that we will only be husband and wife to the outside world but here we won't be a married couple, just two mere strangers bound by a simple Nikah and nothing else. Don't expect me to be a loving and caring husband at all because that I sure will not be '' he states.

"Then why didn't you reject me? Why didn't you say no?" I snapped without looking at him, clearly showing my anger. "You have no right to ask me that" he replied back with a scowl and proceeded.

"Now that we are married, you'll be living at my house and under my rules." "I don't want you anywhere near me or around me, just stay out of my way. Don't meddle or intervene in my business and I won't in yours, this way we both can go about our lives. I don't care what you do, where you go, who you see or anything, it's none of my concern. I'll inform Maria to set up the second bedroom for you before I leave so you don't need to bother. ......We just have to act like a happy and loving couple, right?" He said. I nodded my head assuring him that I understood everything he meant as he got up, finished his breakfast and left.

I sat still in my chair staring at the empty plate in front of me as tears streamed down my face the second he left the table. What has my freaking like come to? Is this all a freaking dream I thought. How can he just ask me to act all happy when inside I'm already all broken because of him and my family, more specifically by this whole marriage. I never wanted all this, it was all forced down on me.

If he never wanted this marriage then why the hell did he agree to it I thought, he could've simply just said no and I would've been spared. Why did he have to ruin my life? I sobbed, resting my arms on the table and covering my face with my hands.

"Zara my darling, are you alright?" Maria aunty came walking in with another tray of breakfast and her daughter tagging along behind her. I quickly tried to wipe my tears away and relax, making sure she doesn't see me crying again. "Darling are you crying again?" She asked worriedly. "I'm alright, everything's fine" I said with a heavy heart.

"Okay" she said, looking at me suspiciously as she set out the food for me on the table. "Now that Mr. Shah left for the hospital, I brought you your breakfast. I didn't know what you would like so I just made some pancakes and eggs for you" she said, making me a plate with a smile on her face. Her daughter came up by my side and sat next to me with a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, I'm Bella but you could call me Bell for short" she said excitedly, like she's been waiting on to speak with me. "Hi I'm Zara" I said, trying to smile as best as I could.

"I've been waiting to talk to you since yesterday when my mother notified me about Mr. Shah bringing a bride home, since Mrs. Shah kept bragging and complimenting about her sons soon to be wife to my lovely mother. Now that I finally met you I have to agree you're really pretty as she said" she said. I smiled and looked down, thanking her and Maria aunty as they kept on throwing compliments at me. I knew they were trying to ease my pain by distracting me from my miseries.

"Bella, stop Annoying her. She has to finish her breakfast because she has an appointment at the parlor with the makeup artists after this to get ready for the reception, remember?" She said, This reminded me of the reception which I completely forgot about. Shoot I have to call Noor and Kate to come with me I thought.

"Mr. Shah will be back from the hospital about an hour or two before the reception starts to get ready, so you don't have to worry. You both will be attending the event together. Nazri madam has instructed me to inform you" she said. "Okay" I said starting with my breakfast and made a note to myself to call both of my useless friends. As I ate, me and Bella would have small talks here and then. I got to know that she's just two years younger than me and is still in high school. She is very outgoing and loves to meet new people, make new friends and have fun.

When I was done with my breakfast I asked Maria aunty if she knew where my phone was. She told me that she placed it on the nightstand in the room where I changed today because Haider had instructed her to keep my belongings there as that would be my permanent room.

I walked up the stairs to the second floor and into the room on the right, which was mine now like he said. We would be living together in the same house but like strangers instead of a married couple. I still can't believe I am married now, a relationship that both of us were not fond of. He still hasn't told why he didn't say no to this but I guess I'll have to see and try to get it out of him. I need to know what his reason was for destroying my life and bringing me in this mess, I can't let it go that easily I thought.

I walked into the room and found my phone right where Maria aunty said it would be. I checked my phone and saw that there were already missed calls from Ami and Armaan bhai. I called Ami but she didn't pick up so I then called Armaan bhai. He picked right up like he was waiting for my call.

"Thank god you called Zara, I was so worried" he said in one breath. "Armaan bhai, How are you?" I asked, It felt like forever since I talked to him when it's only been a few hours since my rukhsati I thought. "I'm good gaulle (flower). Tell me now, how are you? Did you adjust well?" He was concerned about my well being.

"Allahumdulliah bhai, everything's good and yeah I've adjusted well" I said as a solemn tear fell down my cheek. I tried not to cry as much as I could so he wouldn't hear me crying, I covered my mouth with my hand as I tried to breath steady and slow.

"Thank god, I was worried sick so I thought about checking up on you" he said. I thank Allah so much for giving me the most amazing and caring brother ever, without them I would've never made it through life. They are constantly always looking out for my needs and safety and for that I'm always thankful.

"Thanks for worrying bhai but I'm good. Ami called me before you, do you know why?" I asked, trying to change up the subject. "Yeah she wanted to ask when you'll be leaving for the salon with Kate and Noor to get ready for the reception, she can't wait to see you also" he said laughing. "Yeah I'm about to call them and we'll probably be leaving in the next hour or thirty minutes and that's if they get here on time to pick me up" I said.

"Okay I'll let Ami know and I guess I'll see you there then." "Okay bhai, khuda hafiz (god be with you or bye)" I said as he also said goodbye and hung up. I looked at the time oh shoot it was already getting late. I won't have enough time to get ready then.

I called Kate but she didn't pick up. I called a second time but she still didn't pick up the call and went on voicemail. "Why the hell is she not picking up my call?" I said out loud. I then decided on calling Noor instead and she picked right up on the second ring.

"Hello gorgeous" she said as she picked up. "Hello, you guys are coming, right?" I asked her. Actually it had been planned that on my reception day that I would go to the salon with Kate and Noor, only us and get ready together but it seems like these two forgot again. It wasn't even my idea but Kate's and now she's the one not even picnicking my phone calls. This always happens, whenever one of us plans something out like spending more time together or having some fun something has to happen and once we all agree on it at the end we never end up doing what we planned. It's either that we get too lazy or most of the time we forget and the person that forgets is Kate. She's so irresponsible, always late to everything.

"Um... hell yeah I'm coming. Why isn't Kate picking up my phone calls though?" She asked. "I was just about to ask you that," I said. "Let me put her on the call and see if she picks up this time," she said. She added her on to our call and she finally picked up on the fourth ring as Noor immediately interrupted as I was about to say something "look who decides to pick up." "You finally picked up" I rolled my eyes. "Seems like you girls really missed me" she said proudly.

"Kate you forgot again , are you serious? The salon?" I screamed into the phone. "Ouch... OMG! Zara you blew my ears out. Are you mad?" She whined. "Wait.... What are you talking about though? Parlor? Oh shit, I'm so sorry I forgot. I'm I late?" She asked. I rolled my eyes again, she was so careless I thought.

"No, not really though because you're lucky that we remembered on time to remind you. I'm coming to pick you up now, hurry the hell up and we'll be having some quality time to ourselves as Zee tells us all about her spicy wedding night, with all the details of course" Noor said laughing along with Kate. "Oh I can't wait for that and all the details. You better not leave anything behind" Kate warned.

Shoot what I'm going to say to them. Tell them that he didn't want this marriage either, that he tried to force himself on me as a punishment for agreeing to this marriage, that he abused me on our first night, and that I had to spend the night in our closet because of his beatings. Haider had warned me that I couldn't tell anyone that our relationship is nothing like a normal couple or it won't be good for me, not even Kate and Noor. I guess I would have to lie now, I have no other choice I thought.

"We'll See about that, hurry up I'm waiting and we don't have much time" I said saying goodbye to both of them and hung up. Both of them arrived about thirty minutes later to pick me up and we drove to the salon where Nazri aunty had booked me for an appointment with one of the best makeup artists in town.

***********************************************

We were at the salon now where I was getting ready. I was almost done as Kate and Noor were still getting their hair done by the hairstylist's. Thank god both of them didn't see the mark caused by Haider on my face and neck as they were too busy on their phones as we talked. Even though my makeup artist did notice them, I stayed quiet and pleaded with her not to say anything about it and just get it over with before they notice anything.

They both asked me about last night and I just randomly made things up about how loving and caring Haider was. Though they wanted every detail, I didn't dare to say anything else as I felt like everything would slip out of my mouth if I said anything else so I stayed quiet. Thank god they believed everything I said or else it would've been a pain in the ass if they caught anything suspicious about it.

Once we were all ready they both drove back home with me because I was supposed to arrive at Basher uncle and Nazri aunties house with Haider, and yes the reception was being held at their house. Our parents decided on it to be a small and intimate occasion only between close friends and family. Once I got back home Kate and Noor helped me walk back in as my dress was too heavy and I couldn't really walk fast or freely in it.

Once we're inside and walked in we met Haider who sat on the sofa with a frown. Oh shoot I'm done for, he's probably been waiting here forever I thought. "Look who's waiting so patiently for his wife.... Of course who else other than our handsome behnoi (brother-in-law)" said Noor with a huge grin on her face.

She really has to go talk with her big mouth now, making the whole situation worse for me I thought. "Of course I was waiting for my lovely wife to arrive. Now if you'll excuse us we have to be at our reception and we don't want to be late" he asked them. "Of course go ahead we never stopped you two love birds, we'll see there" of course Kate had to add. They both left leaving me with a raging monster behind, I surely am done for now.

"I don't want to be fucking late so let's go and we will talk about this later" he said walking out as I followed him to his car. Once we arrived at the reception everyone congratulated us on marriage, and gave compliments on how we're such a good looking couple. Even to the point where some aunties joked about us having kids and how lucky they would be for having such good genes.

I didn't really pay much attention to all of this as I was too busy worrying about what will happen after this, he did warn me. I mean I didn't even know he was home waiting on me and plus he never informed me when he'll be home. This is so not fair I thought. "Did you miss us?" Hamdan and Azaan bhai said at once, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Of course I did," I said as I hugged them both at the same time. Both of them gave me a kiss on my forehead as we still hugged. "Actually I'm happy because I'll finally be able to build a gym for myself in your room now that you're married and start building these muscles at home you see" Hamdan bhai said pointing at his upper arm to show me his muscles.

"Excuse me, even though I'm married doesn't mean I'm gone forever, that room still belongs to me and don't you dare touch any of my stuff" I said furiously, hitting him on his arm. Why are brothers sometimes so annoying, I thought. "Forget about this idiot gaulle (flower), now tell us everything's good right?" Azaan bhai asked, holding on to my hands.

"Y-yeah, e-everything's alright bhai" I said crookedly nodding my head to assure them. Azaan bhai held on to my hand more tightly as he looked down and stared at it with a concerned look. I shit, I forgot to tell the makeup artist to cover up the scratch marks on my hands and arms. "Zara what is this? Where did you get these marks from?" He asked, holding up my hands.

Now what I'm going to say, I can't tell them what exactly happened last night as they would go crazy if I tell them the truth. "Zara, tell us now. If there's a problem, speak now please, nothing will happen. We're with you and no one will dare to do anything. Come on, apne bhaiyon ko batao, hum hai na tum hare saath (tell your brother's, we're here with you) Hamdan bhai said worriedly as he looked at my hands also.

"B-bhai j-jaan woh m-main Ha....." I tried to speak but stopped right in the middle of my sentence when I looked behind my brothers and saw him.