eighth episode
306 Words
“I don’t. You’re imagining.”
Laiba didn’t argue, but she knew.
No matter how much Zarnab tried to hide, her heart betrayed her in small ways — the softness in her eyes, the pause in her breath, the hesitation in her voice.
And then came the moment that shook her.
Aimal stopped her in the corridor one day.
“Zarnab… can I ask you something?”
Her heart stopped. Completely.
He waited a second, as if choosing his words carefully.
“Are you upset with me?”
She blinked.
“Upset? Why would I be?”
“Well… you don’t talk to me like before. I thought maybe I said something wrong.”
Zarnab felt her throat tighten.
If only he knew the real reason — she spoke less not because she was upset, but because she was scared that her heart would spill out if she spoke too much.
She forced a tiny smile.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just been… busy.”
Aimal looked at her with an expression she couldn’t decode — a little confused, a little hurt, a little hopeful.
“Okay,” he said softly. “Just making sure.”
He gave her a small smile — the kind that reached his eyes — and walked away.
Zarnab stood there for a few seconds, frozen.
Everything inside her felt fragile, like one wrong move would shatter her whole secret.
She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and whispered to herself:
“How long can I hide this?”
Maybe forever.
Maybe not.
But deep inside, beneath all the silence and fear, one truth sparkled like a quiet flame:
Zarnab was in love. Truly. Deeply. Quietly.
And sometimes, the quietest love is the strongest — because it survives entirely inside the heart, without expecting anything in return.
- Writer
