Aariz's pov:

I wake up to see this pagal ladki (crazy girl) hugging me so tight I can't even move slightly! 

Seriously? First, she hits me with a jhadu and blackmails me into sharing the bed with her and now this? Not to mention the bit where she keeps calling me a cockroach!

I'm so different from a cockroach! I'm way more handsome than those creatures!

"Aariz! Noor! Are any of you awake yet?" I hear Ma's voice from outside. 

"Areh Mumma! Don't disturb them. They surely had such a long night. Let them rest a bit more!" Aryan's voice was heard right after.

Iss kutte ko to mein aaj mar hi dalunga! (I will seriously kill this dog today!)

"Ma! I'm awake why what happened?" I say before Aryan could spit out any other nonsense.

"Accha (okay) then wake Noor up and both of you come join all of us in the dining hall," she says.

I hear her mumbling something to Aryan as they walked away from the door.

Now. How the hell am I supposed to wake this bossy queen up?

"Noo-" before I could even say her whole name, she moved a little which made me relieved as I thought she would let go of me.

But then she squeezed into me even tighter!

Areh koi hatao isko. (Somebody, please move her)

I tried to break free from her squeezed hug when I notice her face for the first time today. 

She looked so gorgeous and carefree like this. Like all her worries had disappeared, making her the happiest person on the planet. She always looked beautiful. But there was something utterly different in her morning face.

Aariz Raihan. What is wrong with you? Snap out of it!

I try to break free again but it was all in vain.

"Noor? Noor! Noor!" no sign of movement from her.

"Are biwi ji uthjao ab! I'm going to snap because of how tight you're squishing me!" (Wifey! Wake up now.)

There was a small movement but still no sign of waking up. How can someone be such a deep sleeper?

"Your Highness. Please bless me with your awake presence and wake up!" I say a bit louder this time.

Noor mumbles something.

"Areh, since when did I sign up to be your cuddling bear? Wake up!" I say annoyed this time. Even cuddling bears get paid- or I think they do- and here, I'm stuck with her who would probably chase me with a jhadu anytime I do something that annoys her!

"What happened?" she jolts upwards in a second. "Is Aliyah okay?" she said with a worried face.

Now where did Aliyah come from?

"Wo to pta nhi. But I am definitely not okay." (I don't know about that)

"Oh. Why is the cockroach disturbing me from my beauty sleep then?" she said annoyed.

The audacity!

"Kya? Firstly, I'm not a cockroach! And secondly, you ruined my sleep first! You squished me like I'm your cuddling bear! I couldn't even break free with all my strength!" (What?)

"Oh that. That's umm my sleeping habit," she says with a sly smile.

"And also! Ma called us and told us to go down to the dining hall for breakfast." I change the topic as it was pointless to argue with her.

"Oh okay." she runs off to the bathroom without another word.

A few minutes later, she comes out wearing another dress which was a bit more formal than what she was wearing before.

"Chalo."(let's go) She started walking towards the door. 

"I didn't even freshen up yet!"

"Well hurry up!" she says like she didn't just occupy the bathroom the whole time after I was able to finally move.

I don't bother to reply and go to the bathroom to freshen up.

.

We come down to the dining room and see that everyone else was waiting for us.

There were two free chairs on one side where Noor and I went and sat down.

In front of me, Aryan was sitting and smirking at me. Iss kamine ko to main aaj kat kar bhediya ko khila dunga! (I will kill this bastard and feed him to the wolves!)

We sat and ate in silence before Dad stood up.

"Noor beta (child), you are officially a part of our family now and we are very grateful to have you."

"Think of us as your second parents now, okay?" Ma says after him.

"Okay," Noor says shyly. 

I could feel Ahaan and Azaan bhai scoffing in their minds thinking something like, 'A second parents to her and still nothing much to us yet?'

All of us finish our food at around the same time. Dadi instructs us all to go to the leisure hall to spend some time with one another. 

As it was her, there was no arguing so we all went to the leisure hall together. No one else was there so she probably booked it just for us.

The elders went to the corner and started chatting, leaving me, Noor, Ahaan, Azaan, Aryan, Aliyah, Nafisa and Karya here.

"Bhabi, kyesi rahi aap dono ki first night?" Aryan says in a teasing voice. (Bhabi, how was both of your first night?)

Before Noor could respond, I grabbed his collar from the side. "Saale! Tu apna first night dekhna chahta hain kya? Ab marega to sab kuch clearly vision mein ayega. Dikha du tujhe?" (You brat! Want to see your first night? If you die now, you'll see it in a vision. Should I show you?)

"Are are bhaia! Maine kya kiya?" (But what did I do?) he said innocently like he doesn't know anything.

"Kya kiya Matlab? Tune kya nhi kiya wo puch!" I say while pulling into a corner. (What do you mean by 'what did I do'? Ask what you didn't do?)

"Accha, maine kya nhi kiya?" he says while laughing. This bastard! (Okay, what didn't I do?)

"Tune kya gift kiya? Aeisi cheez koi gift karta hai kya?" (What the hell did you give as a gift? Who gives that as a gift?)

"Are bhaia, first night na? What I gifted is very useful!"

"Tujhe to mein-" Before I could continue, Aryan's phone started ringing. He takes his phone out and looks at the caller ID. (I will seriously-)

"Gotta take it." he leaves as he is answering the call.

Normally, I would've thought he said that to escape me. But his expression turned serious as soon as he saw the caller ID. 

Who could've called him?

Aryan's pov:

All the photos were gone!

Even yesterday there were photos of Aliyah Rahsin together with her family. Now she is not in any photos! It's just Mahir Rahman with his son and wife now. 

That means the files Ifran sent me from his anonymous email were true. Something happened between Aliyah Rahsin and the Rashids that even split her from her family.

This means there is no way Aliyah is here to gather any information as she and her family are not on good terms.

But what could it be? Greed? Aliyah doesn't look like she has any. What else could it be?

And why was Karya so sensitive about it? Was it something really bad?

I need to talk to Aliyah about this. I know Karya has warned me already, but I have to.

If I just ask her briefly, it should be fine right? I mean, if she doesn't like her family, she would help take them down, right?

I start walking back to the group where I noticed Aliyah wasn't there. The elders got up and started walking out as the rest of us followed. 

We planned to visit the catacombs as a whole big group as dadi was very excited about it. 

"Wait, Aliyah is in the bathroom. She might take some time as well. Someone needs to stay here to later show her the way." Nafisa says in worry.

"I know the way. I'll stay." I offer

Opportunity. It was a big one.

With others not there, it will be easier to get information out.

I started walking out when I felt someone grab my hand. 

"If you dare say anything about the stupid things you assumed, then I'd never forgive you." Karya says when I turn back.

"I won't. I know the truth now don't worry." I say. Karya was stunned. She wanted to say something else but Noor bhabi called her so she left.

I would not ask Aliyah anything related to what I assumed. I just need to ask her what happened. What happened with her and her family. What happened to her and the Rashids. And why are all the pictures gone.

Maybe I won't directly ask her these. As that would be very rude. But obviously something along those lines. 

--

After about half an hour, Aliyah comes out of the bathroom and then made a confused face when she sees me alone.

"The others left early for the catacomb tour. I stayed to show you the way after you come out." I say to clear any confusion.

"Oh. Sorry. Let's go then." she starts walking.

"Aliyah Rahsin is your name right?" Not how I wanted to start the conversation but oh well.

"Yeah, why?"

Might as well say whatever comes to my mind now. "Daughter of Mahir Rahman and Zarin Rahsin?"

Her face went pale. No No No. "How do you know that?" she said barely loud enough for me to hear.

"I'll be honest, if you don't lie as well." I offer. It kinda became a habit of me to say this as I said it to many in the court.

She nods.

"The Rashids. As you probably know, they are our Rivals. That's the public view. But they are more than rivals. Our family has been enemies with them for many generations. We can't stand them. They've been trying to ruin us illegally for ages. Meanwhile, we're trying to take them down legally." I explain the truth. 

She looked like a sensible person who would understand.

"And I've been trying to take them down using any records or anything but everything was clear. They and the Rahmans as well. As I think you'd obviously know. The Rahmans and the Rashids are both against us. I scrolled through Mahir Rahman's profile and found you with Zarif Rahman and also found your mother there." I admit. 

"And it was a photo that was taken a long time ago. And after that there were no news or anything about you. And then later, my assistant found out that you went to the police station once a long time ago and started writing something about Fahad Rashid but it was not finished. What I guessed is that your family didn't let you finish writing the statement. I just need to know what happened. What did you want to write in that statement?"

Her eyes were wide in shock. "I-" she started in a shaky voice.

"What is happening here?" Ahaan bhai's voice was heard.

"Bhai what are you doing here?" I ask in surprise.

"Out," he orders.

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion.

"Azaan is waiting for you outside. Go now," he says.

I look back at Aliyah. She was barely standing. I know I shouldn't bring anything else up anymore but I have to. I can't risk the fact that Karya might not forgive me. "Please don't tell Karya about this." I say and then leave the room.

Aliyah's pov:

I crashed down as soon as Aryan left the room.

Everything Aryan told me just now and then what my mother said right before. All of it was just too much.

I didn't even realise who it was before but now Ahaan's face was right in front of mine.

"Aliyah, are you okay?" he asks looking concerned. Which almost made me laugh. Like he isn't the person who keeps calling me a Nightmare and then bickers with me any time possible.

"I'm fine." I manage to let out. Thankfully, it wasn't a panic attack. Just a small shock.

"Are you able to walk?" he asks with the same look of concern.

"Yes. I said I'm fine." I say while getting up.

I'm everything but fine.

He stares at me silently for some seconds. "Let's go then." he starts leading out and I follow him.

My mother's threats and Aryan's confirmation ran through my mind.

Flashback*

I was chatting with the girls when I got a call from my so-called mother. The last time we had any kind of conversation was probably 5 years ago.

I go to the girl's bathroom to take the call as it was the only empty place.

"Marry someone quickly," she said as soon as I answered.

The fuck? 

She always comes straight to the point as we try to have as less conversations as possible but what kind of a point was this?

"I hope I won't have to repeat myself?" she says when I don't respond.

"Why should I?" I ask back.

"We don't want to have any contact with you. In fact, I hope this is the last time we talk. It would be the last time if you just change your last name really quick by marrying someone."

Oh so that's why, now it makes sense. But still, not a very valid reason for me to throw my life under the bus.

"To change my last name? You're telling me to marry because of that stupid last name?" 

Rahsin was a stupid surname anyway.

"That's my family history young lady. Watch your mouth. And yes. You don't deserve to have that name. So get married by the end of the year. Or we'll have to take you down ourselves. That would be a shame. The best option is to get married so you better take it."

She hangs up.

Just then, I get emailed that all my photos with my 'family' got removed from all social media. 

And that I should not introduce myself as a Rahsin anymore.

I take some time to process the information and come out of the bathroom, keeping my face as neutral as possible.

Flashback ends*

"Aliyah?" Ahaan's voice brings me back to where I actually am.

He was holding out a drink towards me.

"You haven't poisoned it right?" I try and start an argument. I don't want to think about my ~soon to be not~ family right now.

"Don't worry nightmare. I can't kill you in public anyway."

I take it and drink a bit.

Caramel Milk Tea. 

My favourite.

"Didn't know the angry bird was such a big fan of mine that he is even stalking me."

"You wish. You drink it all the time in the hospital. It would be hard to not notice it."

He wasn't wrong. But who cares? 

"Keep telling yourself that." I boast.

"You're such a nightmare." he glares at me.

"And you're such an angry bird." I reply confidently.

"Stop calling me that."

"Then stop calling me Nightmare."

"Not happening."

"Then I won't stop as well."

"You're so annoying!" he says giving up.

"You're more annoying."

"You're even more-" he stops as he hears the announcement of the next station.

Which made me realise, we were in the subway. I forgot about that.

"Lucky you, we got to the station." he says and gets up and I get up as well.

We walked silently for about 10 minutes and arrived at the catacombs where the rest already arrived probably half an hour ago.

It was only us here so they probably even booked this for the whole day.

I noticed Aryan was talking to Karya. She looked pissed.

She runs up to me as soon as she sees me. 

"Oh my gosh. Are you okay? Did anything happen?" She says looking worried.

Ahaan walked off leaving me and her alone in the entrance.

"Yes. I'm fine don't worry." I'll tell her about what my mother said later. She already looks really worried.

"Did Aryan say anything? Or ask you anything? Anything about, you know..." 

Aryan's request about not telling Karya flashes into my mind. He genuinely looked very guilty.

I mean, the reason he knows all this is a very valid and good reason. Even if it made me a little uncomfortable. 

But Karya probably knows that Aryan knows. From her question, it seems like he told her first. 

And then Karya probably told him not to talk about it which he didn't listen to.

The way he requested, it seemed Karya maybe threatened him.

"Aloo?" Karya snaps her fingers.

"Huh? No, he didn't say anything. I didn't even come with him as well!" I felt bad for lying to her for the first bit. But I also feel bad for Aryan.

"Okay. You sure you're fine?" she asks again as we walk our way to the rest of the group.

"Are haan yarr! Don't worry too much!" (Oh my god. Yes!) I say again. I don't like it when others worry about me. Even my bestfriends. I can handle myself. I've done it for a long time.

"Okay okay. So, where did you get that from?" she points at the drink I was holding. "I smell caramel." she indeed was right of course.

"Yeah. The angry bird gave it to me. Just in case, if I die in the next 48 hours, it's his fault!" she chuckles but then glares at Aryan when he comes near us.

"Aloo! Thank goodness you're here! Karu and Noorie keep making weird noises ever since I told them this place is creeping me out!" Nafu runs up to us.

"Bhabi. Apne to bataya nhi. Ap dono ke first night kaisi rhi." Aryan changes the topic to that. (Bhabi, you didn't tell us yet about how your first night went.)

Me, Nafisa and Karya started laughing as Noor went red with embarrassment. 

"Aryan. Kabhi kisine tumko hanger lekar bhagaya kya?" Noor asks calmly. (Did anyone ever chase you with a hanger?)

"Nhi bhabi." (No bhabi) 

"If you want to keep it like that then shut up." Noor glares at Aryan as she holds one of the hangers which had the directions hung in it.

"That's my wife," Aariz says surprising everyone in the group. 

But then we saw the elders coming to us so none of us questioned him.

We roamed around the catacomb and then came out of the place.

The elders were still chatting about how happy they were to be a big family now.

Some were disappointed that we would leave Paris tomorrow. 

I couldn't wait to go back. 

As much as I loved spending time with my girls, my patient's surgeries all went back because of this.

He wasn't an emergency patient, but I hated when others might have inconveniences because of me.

All of us sat in the subway together to go back to the hotel. We started laughing about Aariz's statement as the elders sat a bit away from us.

I get a text in my phone from an unknown number which surprised me.

But when I see the text, my throat goes dry.

I try to keep my expressions normal but I don't think I could.

'Hey sparkle. Come back.'

--

Thank you for reading<3