Dua’s POV

"Momin, you know my best friend Labiba?" Maham suddenly pulled his attention toward her.

"Yeah, I know. She’s your best friend. What about her?" Momin replied, sipping his milkshake.

"Friday is her birthday. Can you take me to her home? And on our way, we’ll buy something for her," Maham said.

"You can go with Rafay," I quickly said before Momin could respond.

"Rafay is a kid, Dua. You’re basically telling me to go with a driver," Maham snapped.

"So, what’s the problem in going with a driver?"

"You know I never go alone with a driver anywhere."

"But you have no problem going with Momin alone?"

"You always go with him alone."

"Because he is mine…"

"Stop it, guys! Why are you both backfiring like this?" Momin chuckled, interrupting us. "And Maham, don’t worry. I will drop you."

I stared at him, but he was busy asking something to Maham. He laughed at something while looking at her phone. She was showing him something, but my head and heart felt restless.

"It’s really funny! Your friend is something, Maham."

Momin then looked at me, his brows furrowed. "What happened, Dua? Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"I think you won’t miss me after I leave. You have nice company," I said, looking at Maham. She frowned.

"Oh, of course. Maham is really good company. I won’t be bored after you leave," Momin said genuinely. I knew he didn’t mean it in a wrong way, but I still felt a stinging pain in my chest. Standing up, I walked out of the room, ignoring his gaze.

---

"Wait!" A girl was running when someone yelled for her to stop. She froze, showing her back. A guy stepped out of the dark—it was Momin. He held that girl’s wrist and pulled her toward him. Her back collided with his chest.

"You can’t run away from me."

"I’m angry with you," the girl said.

"I’m sorry, baby. I won’t do that again," Momin whispered, snuggling her hair. She shook her head, feigning anger.

"You always say that, and still, you go near her."

"I won’t go, I promise."

"Stay away from her, Momin. I don’t like it."

"I will, my love. You know how much I love you," he whispered, hugging her tightly from behind.

"I love you too," the girl finally said.

"Then marry me."

He turned the girl around, and she was—Maham.

Momin kneeled in front of her, holding a rose in his hand. "Say, Maham, will you marry me?" he asked with happiness in his eyes. Maham smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I will," she exclaimed, taking the rose. Momin stood up, and they hugged each other. After that, they intertwined their hands and began walking away.

"No!!!"

"No!!! Momin, don’t leave me!"

"Momin!!"

"Momin!" I screamed and jolted up in bed. Sweat dripped down my forehead, tears fell freely, my heart pounded abnormally, and my breath grew heavy.

"Calm down, Dua. Calm down. It was just a nightmare. Momin could never love someone else. He only loves you since childhood. He is head over heels in love with you," I tried to comfort myself.

"But who knows? Momin could develop feelings for Maham in my absence. She is beautiful, polite, and kind. Everyone likes her soft nature. All those years he couldn’t think about another girl because I was always with him—but after I leave, who will stop him from developing feelings for Maham?" my subconscious whispered.

Then don’t leave, Dua. Don’t leave your Momin, my heart spoke.

"I can’t abandon my dream."

But you’re ready to lose your Momin.

"No, I won’t lose him. I will do something—and I will have both. Maham said she could have Momin, and I can have only one thing—my dream or Momin. But I will prove her wrong. I will have both."

Fear consumed me. I climbed out of bed and ran to Momin’s room, still trembling with tears in my eyes.

---

Momin’s POV

I woke up to a loud bang on my door. Getting out of bed, I walked toward it and opened it. What I saw made my heart sink. Dua stood there—her face red, her nose red, her eyes swollen and filled with tears.

"Dua…" She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.

"Dua, meri jaan (my love). What happened?" I asked in panic. Seeing her crying clenched my heart painfully.

"Momin…" she sobbed. I stroked her back soothingly.

"Calm down." I took her inside the room, made her sit on the bed, and sat beside her. "Kya hua, baby? (What happened, baby?)" I asked softly, cupping her face.

"I had a bad dream. A nightmare. I was scared. I saw you leaving me," she mumbled as more tears escaped. I wiped them, shaking my head.

"It was only a nightmare. You know I will never leave you," I said in a convincing tone.

"I know… I know you will never leave me. But what if someone takes you away from me? What if we are forced to be separated?" she asked with pure fear in her eyes. My heart hurt and swelled at the same time. Seeing her fear of losing me made me believe that not only me—but she too was crazy for me. We would both die if anyone tried to separate us.

"Only death can separate us, Dua."

"I don’t believe it. I can’t trust anyone—not even my family. I want assurance. Momin, please do something which can assure me that no one could ever separate us," she pleaded.

"Okay, okay. Tell me—what can I do to assure you?" I asked. She cupped my face, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Marry me," she said. I frowned.

"I will marry you after—"

"Marry me now. Today." My eyes widened.

"What!" I got up from the bed.

"Yes! Marry me, Momin."

"Dua, your parents will never agree to this. They already made it clear that before their children’s graduation, they won’t marry them off," I said, trying to make her understand.

"I don’t need their agreement. I know they will refuse. So there is no use in asking them," she said firmly, standing up.

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I could already see what was going on inside her mind.

"I want to do nikah with you. We’ll do it without informing anyone." My eyes widened.

"Are you out of your mind? You want us to betray your family? No way, Dua. I won’t do this," I declared in a final tone.

"You have to. You have to marry me!" she exclaimed stubbornly. I sighed and moved closer to her.

"I can’t do this, Dua. And I won’t let you do anything like this. We can’t betray them—they are our family," I said softly.

"You said I’m your first priority. Then you should think about my happiness, not theirs!" she almost yelled.

"Baby, relax. You just had a nightmare which caused you to think like this."

"It’s not about a nightmare—it’s Mah…" She stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just do all the preparation for our nikah as soon as possible," she ordered me. If she had demanded anything else, I would be damned to let her down—but not this. I couldn’t betray her parents. Dua was immature. She was only 18; she couldn’t think maturely. I had to be the mature one.

"Sorry, jaan, but I can’t do this," I declared. Her eyes widened in shock—probably because I had never said no to her.

"You’re saying no! You’re rejecting me?!" she shouted in anger.

"No! No, Dua! You know I could never. You know how much I love you."

"Then marry me. Prove to me that you truly love me!" She grabbed my collar and pulled me toward her.

I stared at her desperation, battling with myself, but I couldn’t bring myself to agree.

"We will talk in the morning. Please go and sleep for now." Wiping her tears, I leaned to kiss her forehead, but she pushed me away.

"If you don’t agree to marry me, then I won’t talk to you!" With that, she ran out of the room.

A stinging pain spread through my chest. She had never behaved like this. Yes, we argued sometimes and had small fights—but never like this.

Because you never say no to her.

And maybe that was the reason she behaved like this. I sighed, lying back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I just hoped she would forget about this by morning.

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

Momin’s POV

"Dua, jaan, please open the door," I begged again. But she refused to listen.

It had been two days since Dua refused to talk to me—neither wanting to see me nor hear my voice. My heart clenched painfully. I had never endured her anger for this long. I always gave in, always made it up to her before even a single day passed. But this time, I couldn’t give in. I couldn’t fulfill her demand. I couldn’t betray her parents.

But I can’t hurt my Dua.

My heart and soul couldn’t bear to hurt her. She was everything I had. When I couldn’t see her, couldn’t talk to her, my entire world became colorless.

After a few more desperate knocks, I finally went downstairs. At the breakfast table, Hana aunty wore a worried look.

"What happened, aunty?" I asked. She looked at me, and suddenly everyone’s attention shifted toward her.

"I don’t know what happened to Dua. She hasn’t eaten anything for two days."

"What!" I was already on my feet, shocked. I didn’t know she was starving herself. I thought she was just ignoring me, mad at me—that’s why she didn’t come out of her room whenever I was home.

"But why? Is she okay?" Rumaan uncle asked, just as alarmed. He also stood up.

"I don’t know, Maan. I tried, but she refused to eat. I thought maybe she was in a bad mood or something and would tell us soon, but she remained silent. I even kept fruits in her room yesterday, but in the morning when I went to check, the plate was still there—untouched."

"You should have told me before, Hana! She’s starving herself and you’re telling me now!" Rumaan uncle yelled in frustration, then quickly filled a plate with food and rushed upstairs without listening to Hana aunty’s explanation.

I stood there, holding myself back with every ounce of willpower. My heart was screaming at me to give in, to run to her, but my loyalty to this family chained me in place. With trembling hands, I grabbed my keys and left the house, praying in silence that Rumaan uncle would somehow make her eat something.

---

Maham’s POV

"Dua, please have something," I pleaded softly. But she shook her head stubbornly and looked away.

We had no idea what happened to her so suddenly. All of us were trying to make her eat. Papa even begged her—and when he couldn’t convince her, he told me to try. So here I was, trying again, but she remained adamant.

Her face had turned pale. She looked completely drained, like she could lose consciousness at any moment. We all knew Dua couldn’t bear hunger. Then why was she doing this?

"What do you want? Tell me. I will ask Papa. Even he said he would give you whatever you want," I said softly, holding her chin and making her look at me. No matter how much I hated her sometimes, she was still my sister. Momin’s love was one thing, but Dua—my sister—was another.

"Nothing, Maham," she whispered, then got up and walked toward the bed.

"Dua, please don’t be stubborn. You haven’t eaten anything for two days," I said, following her. She sat on the bed and held her head.

"Dua…" I called, placing my hand on her shoulder. But suddenly, she collapsed onto the bed, her eyes closing.

"Dua!" I began shaking her, patting her cheeks. Panic gripped me. "Mama! Papa!" I screamed, my eyes filling with tears.

*********