Chapter 6: A Confrontation
582 Words
Wareesha wasn’t one to stay silent. She had never been. If there was one thing she inherited from her grandmother, it was her stubbornness.
So, that night, she went to her father’s study.
She found him sitting at his desk, his fingers pressed together, deep in thought. For the first time, he didn’t look like the loving father she had always known. He looked... calculating.
“You lied to me.”
Her voice was steady, but inside, she was unraveling.
Her father lifted his gaze, not surprised to see her standing there. Instead of anger or guilt, there was indifference.
“About what?”
Wareesha stepped forward. “I heard you. You said I must never know the truth.”
His jaw tightened. For the first time in her life, she saw something she had never seen in his eyes before. Fear.
“Leave it alone, Wareesha.”
Her stomach twisted. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Her father stood up, his presence towering. “You are my daughter, and I know what’s best for you.”
She took a step back. The words were normal, ones she had heard all her life. But this time, they felt like a command, not reassurance.
Before she could say anything, a knock interrupted them.
The door opened, and Zaraar stepped inside.
His gaze moved between them, taking in the tension in the room. He didn’t say anything—he didn’t need to.
Her father sighed and looked at Zaraar. “Take her out of here.”
Wareesha’s eyes widened. Take her out? Like she was a problem that needed to be removed?
Zaraar’s gaze met hers. His expression gave nothing away.
“Let’s go,” he said simply.
Wareesha clenched her fists. “I’m not done talking.”
Her father’s voice was sharp. “Yes, you are.”
She had never felt this powerless before.
And what made it worse?
Zaraar, standing there, silently watching. Like he already knew something she didn’t.
And that terrified her the most.
---
A Silent Drive
Zaraar drove through the dark, empty roads of Ilham Nagar, his grip firm on the steering wheel.
Wareesha stared out the window, her mind spinning.
He hadn’t asked her where she wanted to go. He was just driving.
She finally spoke. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere you can breathe.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “How ironic, considering you’re the reason I can’t.”
Zaraar didn’t react. His jaw was tight, his eyes locked on the road.
After a long silence, he finally spoke. “You need to stop asking questions, Wareesha.”
She turned to him sharply. “Why? Because I might not like the answers?”
His grip on the wheel tightened. “Because the answers might destroy you.”
She hated how easily his words affected her.
But she wasn’t backing down.
“I don’t need your protection, Zaraar.”
For the first time, his gaze met hers—intense, unreadable. “That’s exactly where you’re wrong.”
The car came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. The silence between them was suffocating.
Wareesha’s voice was barely a whisper.
“What do you know?”
Zaraar exhaled, resting his hands on the steering wheel.
And then, in a voice so low it almost sent shivers down her spine, he said:
“More than you can handle.”
Wareesha’s world was already shaking.
But she knew this was just the beginning.
---
- Writer
