Chapter 3 The art of moving on

There were times when I wished for knights on white horses, princes with noble hearts, but now, I was really grounded by the true reality of life. To live means to endure the pain and love the flaws. I had aimed for perfection, caring with a whole heart, yet that was the teenager in me dreaming. I should have hated those who disrespected me, loathed Iyaz for treating me like a fool. Falling for someone isn't about only liking the good side of their personality, it is about eyeing the vices of one and figuring out if they are worthy of being appreciated. Iyaz's ruthless attitude wasn't.

Now wiping away my seldom tears, I jolted forward as our car stopped in front of a huge farmhouse. Pinky was sitting in the passenger seat while I was sitting in the back seat.

Turning around, Pinky smiled at me. "Ma''am, we are here." She

joked. | 2

"Okay," I nodded.

After having Pink's brother unload our luggage, Pinky began to walk beside me as we headed towards her home. Hardly being able to knock because of the luggage we were carrving in our hands, we waited as the door finally opened and an elderly woman stepped out.

"Oh, Tanvir," She cooed, immediately engulfing Pinky into a hug and patting her shoulders fondly. Oh, so her real name was Tanvir. I would still call her Pinky, though.

"Mama! Guest here," she whined, dropping her luggage, even though she looked quite happy to see his mother.

"Course," Her mother smiled, stepping away from her

"Ahh," a sympathetic look suddenly dawned on her mother's face as she turned towards me. "There, there," her mother gave me an understanding look. "My daughter has told me all about your qualms. This house is as much yours as it is hers. You are welcomed to stay here as long as you want." She consoled, making

. : g me beam at her in gratitude.

"Thank you, Ma''am. I promise not to be a burden for long," I assured.

"No, no, my dear," the women, at once, shook her head, "You are no burden. In fact, call me Sana. Now come inside. The storm will be here any minute." She moved away from the door, making me nod and head inside.

This was going to be the start

of my new life. I hadn't told my parents about this new change in my life. I didn't want to worry about them. In fact, the sticky note I had left behind actually consisted of details of what to tell my parents. I didn't want my parents to ever feel guilty about forcing me into this marriage, and I never wanted to disappoint

them

After packing a couple of boxes

of Chinese platter for his girl back home , Iyaz got up, watching

as Nadia and Shahmeer began waving him goodbye.

"Lunch again, tomorrow?" Nadia smiled, tilting her head slightly towards him

"Maybe," he rolled his eyes, absently ruffling Shahmeer's hair who was eating nuggets. This was Iyaz's mood after spending time with his first family. He loved his son, tolerated Nadia, but it was

adorably-sweet Mahira whom he really bothered about, he felt unsettled about not having lunch with her, instead.

Thus, deciding to treat her with some delicious box of food, Iyaz cancelled all of his meetings

of the day, walked out of the restaurant, snatching his car keys from the valet, and settled down in his black Royce Rolls. He didn't even bother buckling his seat belt as he pressed his foot against the race and went speeding out of the parking. He was a fast driver.

Upon reaching his mansion and having his 'personal' security guards open the main gate,

he revved his car down his driveway, jamming the brakes right in front of the entrance. He was looking forward to seeing Mahira''s reaction to him bringing boxes full of Chinese food for her, no matter how much it confused and surprised her .

Stepping inside his mansion's threshold, Iyaz grew slightly alert at the tangible feel of emptiness in the air.

"Mahira" he called out sternly. "Where are you?" He started rushing around his mansion, slamming open all of the doors. She was nowhere to be seen.

What on earth!

Feeling confusion and frustrated anger grow, he now stepped

inside the empty kitchen and

halted as his sharp eyes caught

sight of a pink sticky paper

pasted on the kitchen's fridge

door. What the heck! Snatching

the paper off the fridge, he let his narrowed eyes sway over it.

Iam sorry for being a burden

all these years. I am grateful

for all you have done for me,

but you and I both know that

there is no point in me holding

on, so I am finally letting you

go. And in return, I just want

one thing: Don't let my parents know about this. I will be really thankful. ©)

Good Luck for a new beginning.

P.S: Don't worry about me.

I didn't take a taxi. Pink is

with me: her brother is our ° designated driver.

Upon reaching the end of the note, scorching fury made lyaz clench his fists. He was literally fumed with anger and jealousy at this new found information. So

fumed with anger and jealousy at this new found information. So his wife, who asked his permission before everything, had decided to leave because she claimed to think of a burden? What rubbish! She couldn't, and he would be darned if Pinky

and her brother tried to take her away.

Also, some of his fuming anger

was directed towards his security guards. Where the heck were they when Mahira had tried escaping! They needed to be fired! Yet, Iyaz knew that he couldn't fully blame them. It was under his order that none of his guards could dare

to approach or even question

Mahira.

Now cracking his knuckles, lyaz let a small smirk appear as he threw away the page. Sweet,

little Mahira was mistaken if she thought she could leave. He was going to snatch her even from

the edge of this world and punish those who convinced her to leave. He didn't know why his adorable doe just decided to pick up her stuff and leave, but she wasn't going to make that same mistake

again.