Present

It was time for the ceremony as the family gathered in the garden with umbrellas. But there was no sign of the bride and groom.

"Urooj jao or dekho Farha tyaar hui ya nhi. Late ho rha hai," Shahna instructed.

"Ji tayi ammi." Urooj climbed up the stairs and knocked softly on the door.

"Farha api," she called out.

Sensing no response, she twisted the knob and opened the door, only to come face to face with a clean, empty room. There were no traces of Farha, even her luggage was nowhere to be found.

Urooj stepped toward the bathroom, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach. "Farha api," she called out again before opening the door.

It was empty.

She rushed downstairs where everybody was gathered.

With one look at her face, Reshma asked, "Kya hua Urooj?"

"Woh... woh Farha api kamre mai nhi hai."

The words left Urooj's mouth and the entire hall fell silent. For a moment, nobody reacted.

Yamna frowned. "Kya matlab kamre mai nahi hai?"

"Tayi ammi sach..." Urooj's voice trembled. "Kamra khali hai. Farha api ka saman bhi nahi hai."

A nervous laugh escaped Yamna. "Tumne dhang se dekha nhi hoga. Washroom mai hogi."

"Dekha hai."

The smile disappeared from Yamna's face. Without another word she hurried upstairs, Tahir following immediately. The rest of the family wasn't far behind. The moment Yamna entered the room, her steps faltered.

Empty.

The room was completely empty. The bridal dress that had been hanging by the wardrobe was gone. The jewelry boxes were gone. The suitcases were gone. Everything was gone, as if Farha had erased every trace of herself.

"No..." Yamna whispered.

She rushed to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. Nothing. She checked the bathroom. Nothing.

"Farha!" she shouted. "FARHA!"

Her voice echoed through the room. No answer came.

Outside, thunder growled across the dark sky, and the first gust of cold wind rattled the windows.

Tahir immediately pulled out his phone and dialed. Everyone watched. The call connected, then disconnected. He called again. Switched off. A horrible silence descended.

Yamna stared at him. "Tahir?"

He didn't say anything. Instead he called again. And again. And again. Every call met the same response ...switched off.

The blood drained from Yamna's face. "No..."

Downstairs, guests had started noticing the delay. Whispers were spreading beneath the decorated canopy.

"Abhi tak dulhan nahi ayi?"

"Kya hua?"

"Koi masla hai kya?"

The rumors were beginning, and once rumors started, they never stopped.

Halima Begum's face had become frighteningly still. 

Zarim was sitting in his room when the commotion outside finally caught his attention. For the past few minutes he had heard hurried footsteps echoing through the corridors, doors opening and closing, voices rising and falling in panic. Something was clearly wrong.

Frowning, he stepped out into the hallway, just in time to see Arsalan practically running down the corridor.

"Arsal."

Arsalan stopped abruptly. "Kya hua?"

"Woh bhai... Farha api gayab hain."

Zarim blinked. "Matlab?"

"Mil nahi rahi. Kamra khali hai. Phone band hai."

"What do you mean mil nahi rahi?"

"Pata nahi. Sab log unhe dhoond rahe hain."

When Zarim entered the main hall, he found the entire family gathered there. The atmosphere was suffocating. Gone were the sounds of laughter and wedding preparations that had filled the haveli only an hour ago now there was only fear and silence.

Shahna stood near the center of the room, her face completely pale, with Fatima beside her gripping her arm as if trying to steady her. Naziya and Reshma remained close on the other side, exchanging worried glances. Nobody knew what to say.

A few feet away, Yamna sat on the sofa with tears streaming down her face, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she stared at the floor. "My beti." she whispered repeatedly. "Meri Farha..."

Tahir stood nearby, looking as though the weight of the entire world had landed on his shoulders, his phone still in his hand as he continued making call after call. Each one went unanswered, and the frustration and worry on his face grew with every passing second.

"Phone off hai," he muttered, ending another call.

"Tahir kuch karo," Yamna said.

"Main kar raha hoon!" Tahir snapped, running a hand through his hair.

The tension in the room became unbearable. Across the room, Shahmeer was rapidly losing his patience.

"Kya bakwas hai ye?" He ran a hand through his hair before turning toward Tahir. "How does someone just disappear from a house full of people?"

"We're trying to find her," Tahir snapped back.

"Trying?" Shahmeer repeated. "Guests are sitting outside waiting for the nikkah and we're still saying 'trying'?" The tension immediately rose. Nearby, Illias looked equally furious.

Mahnoor and Eda were still in their room when Urooj barged in.

"Kya hua Urooj?" Mahnoor asked. One look at her face was enough to know something was wrong....very, very wrong.

"Farha api gayab hai."

"Kya?"

"Tum jldi neeche chlo."

The moment Mahnoor and Urooj entered the hall, the sound hit them first... voices overlapping, sharp and uncontrolled, as if the entire house had split into panic. Mahnoor's eyes moved slowly across the room, trying to understand the shape of the crisis.

Then suddenly a phone chimed. The sound was small, yet in the silence, it felt deafening.

Everyone froze.

Yamna looked down at her phone, and her breath caught. "Farha. Farha ka message hai."

Tahir immediately moved beside her. "Kya likha hai?"

With trembling fingers, Yamna opened the message. For a second she simply stared at the screen, and then the color drained from her face. Her phone slipped from her hands, had Tahir not caught it, it would have crashed to the floor.

"Yamna?"

She shook her head, tears instantly filling her eyes. "No..."

"Yamna, kya likha hai?" Her lips trembled. Unable to speak, she handed the phone to Tahir.

Everyone watched as he read the message. His face turned stone cold.

The message was painfully short.

I am not coming back.

The room erupted.

"KYA?!"

"Ya Allah!"

"Nahi!"

Yamna broke down completely, her sob echoing through the hall. Halima Begum closed her eyes briefly. Even Shahna looked stunned. There was no misunderstanding now, Farha had left by choice, and she wasn't coming back.

Across the room, Zarim stood silently. Everyone expected anger, humiliation, some visible reaction. But none came, because the truth was his first emotion wasn't heartbreak.

It was relief.

A relief so sharp it almost shocked him. The marriage that had felt wrong for weeks was suddenly gone, vanished with a single text message. But the relief lasted only seconds, because reality quickly followed.

Outside sat hundreds of guests. The bride had run away. The family reputation was hanging by a thread. Zarim's jaw tightened as he could already see the disaster unfolding before them, with no way to stop it.

Halima Begum, who had remained silent through all the chaos, finally raised her hand.

"Tahir aur Yamna, behtar yahi hoga ke tum log apna boriya bistar baandho aur yahan se chale jao."

"Khala..."

"Bas." The single word was enough to silence him.

Then her gaze shifted towards Mahnoor.

"Aur Mahnoor." Her voice was firm and unwavering. "Tum jaakar tayyar ho jao."

Every head in the room turned towards her. Mahnoor felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath her feet.

"Kya?"

"Fatima aur Shahna, Mahnoor ko tayyar kijiye. Waqt nikalta ja raha hai."

 Then Halima Begum delivered the final blow.

"Zarim ka nikkah Mahnoor se hoga."

The hall fell into complete silence. Only moments ago it had been filled with panic, arguments, and hurried voices, but now not a single person spoke.

"NO."

The word escaped Mahnoor's lips before she could stop it.

Her horrified eyes immediately found Zarim. He stood a few feet away, rigid and expressionless. For one desperate second she searched his face for something..anything. Some sign that he would object. That he would stop this madness. That he would tell everyone how ridiculous this was. But all she found was silence, a cold, suffocating silence. And somehow that hurt more than anything else. One look into his eyes was enough for her to understand he wasn't going to help her. Perhaps, Zarim Pasha likes to make her suffer. Whatever the reason was, he stood there without saying a word.

Mahnoor felt something inside her break. Shaking her head, she turned around and walked away on unsteady legs before anyone could stop her.

Halima Begum didn't need to repeat herself.

Fatima and Shahna exchanged a glance before following her upstairs.

By the time they reached Mahnoor's room, loud sobs could already be heard from behind the door.

Fatima's heart clenched painfully. No matter what anyone said, that was still her daughter crying inside. Beside her, Shahna gently squeezed her shoulder, silently trying to reassure her that everything would somehow be alright.

When they entered, they found Mahnoor lying face-down on the bed, her face buried in a pillow as her shoulders shook violently with each sob.

"Mahnoor," Shahna called softly.

There was no response.

"Mahnoor... meri baat suno."

Slowly, she sat up.

The sight was enough to break anyone's heart.

Her hair had come loose, dark strands falling around her tear-stained face. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her cheeks glistened with fresh tears.

"Mami..." she choked out before throwing herself into Shahna's arms. "Mujhe nahi karni shaadi."

A fresh wave of sobs overtook her. Shahna wrapped her arms around her and gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"Mahnoor..."

"Mujhe nahi karni," she cried again, clutching her desperately. "Please."

Fatima looked away for a moment, blinking back her own tears. "Beta..." she finally said softly. "Zarim bahut achha ladka hai."

Mahnoor immediately began shaking her head. "Nahi... nahi, nahi, nahi."

Painful hiccups tore through her chest, "Aap meri ammi hain..." she whispered brokenly, looking at Fatima through tear-filled eyes. "Aap toh samjhein na."

The plea in her voice nearly shattered Fatima's resolve. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to pull her daughter into her arms and tell her none of this would happen.

But she couldn't.

"Beta..." Fatima said quietly, her voice trembling. "Bahar sab intezar kar rahe hain."

The words landed like a death sentence. Mahnoor stared at her mother in disbelief.  Slowly, the last fragile piece of hope inside her began to crumble.

Desperate, she turned towards Shahna.

"Tum mujhe apni maa jaisa maanti ho na?" Shahna said gently as she cupped her face. "Toh meri baat maan lo, meri beti."

And that was it. The final door closed.

Mahnoor lowered her eyes.

No one was coming to save her.

Not her mother.

Not Shahna.

And certainly not Zarim.

For the second time in her life, she had lost.

And deep down, she already knew what would happen next. And she wasn't ready.