Now, moving ahead!
Zara had already reached the pond in silence. The moment she saw the flowers in front of her, her eyes lit up.
“It is your beauty that keeps pulling me all the way here.”
She reached out her hand, touched the flowers, and plucked one.
“Hey, chorni.”
Zara was startled by the voice. She turned her neck nd saw someone coming straight toward her.
Zara’s heart was terribly frightened. “I’m sorry...” She quickly took the flower in her hand and started running from there.
“ chorni chuhiya, stop! You know what the punishment for stealing is, don’t you?”
She did not stop. The splashes of water from her footsteps reached Shehryar’s face.
“pagal chorni...” He stopped right there. Then it occurred to him what he was doing.
He quickly looked around. When he found no one around, he ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
He came and sat in his Thar and drove away from there. After covering some distance, Shehryar suddenly applied the brakes. The flower was lying in front of him, the same flower which, according to him, the thief had just taken.
He got out, picked it up, and looked around. A little distance away, a slipper was lying there. Shehryar looked at it. It was still wet from the water and covered in mud.
“Help...”
He shouted involuntarily, “Where are you?”
Shehryar clenched his fist and adjusted the shawl around his shoulder before moving forward. Beyond the fields, someone was dragging a girl away.
“Who has the audacity to misbehave like this in our territory?”
“Hamare ilaake mein aisi badlihazi karne ki himmat kiski hui?”
He ran toward them and reached the thatched hut. The girl's voice could be heard coming from inside. Shehryar immediately opened the door with a jerk.
Ifra had gone out for a walk. From the other side, she saw Haider. He was talking to someone on the phone.
“Yes, Ammi. What happened? Where did Gudiya go? I’ll check. You look around the haveli.”
Standing in the field, Ifra said, “What happened, Ghazi Sahab? Did someone get lost?”
Haider replied without even looking at her, “If you want to stay safe, then keep your mouth shut.”
"Apni khairiyat chahti hain, tab munh ko band rakhein."
“If your sister has run away somewhere...”
"Kya tumhari bahan bhaag gayi hai?"
“Control your tongue, or I’ll pull it out of your throat.”
Haider cheekha, " apni zubaan ko lagaam do varna halak se khinch lunga."
Ifra’s smile disappeared.
“Is it really a serious matter?”
A man came running toward them.
“Haider Bhai, two men were taking Zara Bibi toward their territory. Someone saw them.”
Haider said, “Bring my gun. Today I’ll make those Jahangirs...”
Ifra shouted, “Control your tongue! You cannot make accusations like that!”
“Why are you coming this way? Have you lost your mind?”
Meanwhile, Shehryar had looked inside through the doorway. The girl was sitting curled up in fear, while two men with their faces covered stood in front of her.
“Let me go. My brother will kill you.”
Shehryar said, “How dare you commit such a crime?”
Hearing someone's voice, Zara felt a little relief return to her. “Please save me,” she pleaded.
Shehryar rushed inside and struck one of the men.
“What were you doing?”
The other man ran away and locked the door from outside.
“Wait! Open it!”
The girl was banging on the door.
Shehryar beat the man so badly that he was barely conscious. He stepped forward and covered the girl with his shawl, extending his hands to bring its end around her.
At that very moment, the door opened from outside.
Haider was standing there.
He saw the trembling girl. It was none other than Zara. Shehryar’s hands were on either side of her.
“Damn you! How dare you—”
The moment Haider fired, Ifra came from behind and grabbed his hand, pushing it upward.
“Bhai Jaan!”
Zara clung to his chest.
Hearing that, Shehryar was stunned. He looked at the unconscious man behind him, then at his sister trembling in Haider’s arms.
“Gudiya... Gudiya, what happened? How did you come here? Tell me.”
A large number of people had already gathered there. The news had reached the havelis.
Looking at Shehryar, Haider said, “So this is the way you found to take revenge on our family?”
Shehryar shouted, “I came here to save her!”
“It was obvious what you had come here to do. You came to take revenge for your enmity.”
“Think whatever you want to think.”
Haider said, “I won’t think even once before taking your life.”
He moved Zara aside and stepped forward, punching Shehryar in the face. Shehryar’s men came forward, but Haider showed them no mercy.
Shehryar also charged at him. Soon, the sound of gunshots echoed through the area.
Haider placed his gun against Shehryar’s forehead.
“You looked in the wrong direction, Shehryar Jahangir. Your death is written at Haider’s hands.”
Shehryar pressed his dagger against Haider’s stomach.
“You could not protect the woman of your own house, so don’t blame me.”
"Tum apne ghar ki aurat ki hifazat na kar sake, ilzaam mujhe mat do."
Haider stared at him with bloodshot eyes. His entire body was burning with rage.
“Bhai Jaan.”
Haider turned his eyes toward the voice.
Ifra had a gun pressed against Zara’s throat.
“Stay away from my brother, or I will kill this sister of yours with my own hands.”
“My Gudiya is innocent. Unlike you people, she is not cunning and deceitful.”
Ifra could feel Zara’s trembling body. She said, “I’m feeling sorry for your innocent Gudiya. If you want her life to be spared, then stay away from my brother.”
Haider threw his gun away and struck Ifra’s hand. Ifra cried out, but her grip did not loosen.
Shehryar said, “Ifra, let her go. That girl will die of fear.”
Ifra removed the gun from Zara’s throat and hugged her.
“Calm down. Tell me what happened here.”
Haider pulled Zara toward himself.
At that very moment, a voice came from outside.
“What is happening here?”
Ifra said, “Baba Sai, a mad elephant has entered our territory.”
Yaqub stepped forward.
“What is happening? Haider, what are you doing here?”
“I have come to take your nephew’s breath away.”
Sher Mohammad said, “Control your tongue, boy.”
Haider looked straight into Yaqub’s eyes.
“What you did, your nephew is doing the same. He kidnapped my sister and brought her here into this room. My honor tells me to tear him into six pieces.”
“Jo aapne kiya tha, wahi aapka bhatija kar raha tha, meri behen ko agwa karke yahan is kamre mein laya. Meri gairat kehti hai ki uske chhe tukde karun.”
Yaqub looked at Shehryar.
“My upbringing tells me that this is an accusation, and it is false.”
“Your father’s upbringing lost in front of you because you were consumed by the obsession for revenge.”
Haider fired.
This time, the bullet struck Shehryar in the shoulder.
“Ammi...”
Ifra screamed, “You animal! The girl is terrified!”
Abbas Ghazi had arrived there.
“Haider, what happened?”
A little later...
Baba Sai said, “The person this incident happened to will tell us herself what she was doing in this territory. If my grandson is wrong, then I will put the sword in your hands. Bring witnesses and evidence.”
Haider said, “She is not in a condition to tell you anything. She does not understand these territories. She knows nothing about all this.”
Sher Mohammad said, “It is your fault that you could not make her familiar with all this, Haider Abbas Ghazi.”
Yaqub brought the man there.
Shehryar said, “There were two men who dragged your sister here. Look, she is wrapped in my shawl. Ask her who saved her.”
Haider grabbed the man by his hair and slammed his face into the ground.
“Haalat dekho ladki ki, jo jaisa karta hai uske saath waisa hi hota hai. Dekho, kya izzat reh gayi hai iski, abroo par haath dala hai kisi ne. Arey, inke karam saamne aaye hain.”
Everyone turned their faces away. At that moment, Haider looked no less than a devil. Anyone who came in his path, he was violently confronting them.
“Tell me, is what Shehryar Jahangir is saying true?”
The man shook his head.
“No. They themselves ordered me to bring Haider’s sister here.”
Shehryar stepped toward him angrily.
“You’re out of your mind! I’ll kill you!”
The man said, “They told me that if their name ever came to my lips, they would kill me. Please save me.”
Shehryar’s head started spinning. He began beating the man.
The situation there had deteriorated so badly that no one could hear or understand anything anymore. Amid those voices, Zara had fainted.
“Shehryar, stop.”
At Baba Sai’s command, Shehryar stopped.
Haider moved forward to take Shehryar’s life.
Ifra was still there. Leaving Zara, she placed her gun against Haider’s chest.
Abbas Ghazi said, “Control your girl’s hands, Sher.”
“Bhai Jaan...”
At the sound of that voice, Haider immediately came to Zara.
Yaqub was suddenly reminded of everything that had happened years ago. He could see himself in Haider.
Supporting Zara, Haider said, “Gudiya, tell me, how did you come here? You don’t know the way here, do you?”
Shehryar said, “Ask her what she came here to do...”
Zara looked at him with wide eyes.
Shehryar fell silent.
Looking at Zara, he understood what he should not say.
Haider kissed her forehead.
“Tell me, what happened?”
Zara said, “Two... two men were...”
Her voice was trembling terribly. She could not say anything more.
Yaqub stepped forward.
“Gudiya, look here. You are safe. Just tell me one thing. This man standing in front of you, did he do anything wrong to you, or did he save you? Did he protect your honor?”
“Those two filthy men dragged me here. He saved me.”
She collapsed against Haider.
“Look at the condition of the girl. What goes around comes around. Look what has happened to her honor. Someone has laid hands on her dignity. Their deeds have finally come to light.”
Zara lowered her head and listened to what everyone was saying.
Haider roared, “Silence!”
Yaqub looked at Shehryar and then at Zara.
“The one who gave her his shawl would be better off taking her under the protection of his own shawl.”
Shehryar looked at Yaqub in disbelief.
Yaqub looked at Haider and said,
“Haider, she must not become another Rukhsar.”
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