Part 2
Aiport - Bhopal - Continued
"I will surely take some days off, but I have a few
important meetings I will probably have to attend myself".
"Why don't you just send
your Boy scout'?"
As soon as she said it, she regretted it. WHY had she mentioned
him? What was wrong with her?
"Boyscout...? Who?...Oh...you mean... REHAN"??
"Yes", said Seher, beating herself up mentally for bringing
him up! "Don't be silly Seher" she reprimanded herself. "How are you going to
lay your ghosts, if you cant even face a casual discussion about him? Get a
grip".
"Bhaijaan is in Mumbai", said Haya, before Aahil could
respond.
"Of course...Bhaijaan", thought Seher. Sometimes she forgot
that Rehan was Haya's brother. She should remember that whenever she was
tempted to make sarcastic remarks. She loved Haya, and she really liked Faiz,
and she didn't want to affect her relationship with them in any way because of
how she felt about Rehan!
"Yeah...these days Rehan is in Mumbai at a conference. He will
be back on Saturday", said Aahil.
Seher's mind went back to nearly 4 years ago, when she had first arrived in Bhopal.
4 Years Ago - Bhopal
Not long into her stay in Bhopal, she had met Razia Begum.
Well, she had come to meet her. Seher
had found out from her that she was Sanam's sister. She had told her that the
family abandoned her when the house burned and that her grandmother had moved
to Punjab with her sister and cousin, but had just presumed her to be dead and
never bothered checking. She had told her that her parents, aunt and
grandfather had died in the fire. Little did she know that Razia was playing
her. She had wanted to use her to revenge herself on Tanveer. She had wanted
her to impersonate Sanam and write her half of the property to Razia. That way,
she would be able to throw Tanveer out of the house.
But before that could happen, Dilshaad had woken up in the
hospital and revealed everything to Sanam. The truth was that she thought she
was talking to Sanam, but it was actually Seher she was talking to. Seher had
gone to see her out of sheer curiosity. She had never met a relative of her's
and she wanted to see what her Badi Ammi looked like. So she had gone to see
her. That is when she had regained consciousness and started to get really
upset. She told her that she needed to stay away from Tanveer and her son. (Meaning
Aahil). She didn't know that Sanam was already married to Aahil. She thought she was Sanam and had told her the
most unbelievable story. She had told her that Tanveer killed her family and
that she had run to Punjab with Sanam and Haya when she realised it was not
safe for them to stay in Bhopal. She said how she had discreetly made inquiries
to know if a child had been found, or a body or anything. But was told by Police, no one had been found.
She had had to accept that Seher was dead.
The truth was that Seher herself didn't remember what had
happened. All she remembered was hiding behind a big tree in the garden and
looking at a burning house. She remembered running out of the gates at one
point, and in the commotion of people and smoke, no one had seen her. She had
been walking around a street when an older women had come and taken her away
from there. Her next memories were of being with a lot of children in a crowded
sort of place. Not at all what her normal surroundings had been like. She
vaguely remembered crying for her Mother. But her memories of her mother had
been very vague. But even as a child she had thought of a "shadow", like she
knew that she was used to seeing someone who looks like her not just in the
mirror but outside as well. As time went on the memories had faded, and she had
adjusted to life in the orphanage. She had been intelligent, and got good marks
in school, but she had never been that interested in being bogged down and
studying to become a "Doctor" or a "Lawyer" or something boring like that. She
always remembered thinking she wanted to be independent and not have like a
regular job. She was a sort of "Jack of All trades". She had always wanted to travel the world and
see exciting places. She had always loved computers and mobile phones and
anything related to technology. She had almost instinctively gravitated towards
such things.
Now she knew she got all that from her Mother. She had found
out that her sister was not at all tech savy. She was like their Dad. Quiet,
intense, passionate. Very focused and goal oriented. She was in short, serious.
But she was an amazing person. No wonder Aahil loved her so much. She was like
this steadying force. Whenever Seher was around Sanam, or in touch with her,
she always felt grounded. She felt centred. Sanam was her centre of gravity.
The thing she had missed all her life. She had always had a feeling that there
was something out there for her, someone of her own that she had a connection
to. When she met Sanam she had realised who that unknown shadow had been. That
had been Sanam. She knew people said to the love of their life "You complete
me". But in her case, it was her sister who had done that. Completed her
identity for her. Sanam also told her that she did the same for her. She
finally felt whole after meeting her. After leaving the Orphanage at 18, she had had
to support herself. She found out that 9 to 5 jobs where not for her after
trying a few. Then one day she had conned a guy out of giving her money. She
had felt a high like she had never felt before. That had got her interested in
being a con artist. She knew her job was morally ambiguous. It was not the best
choice. So she had always tried to con people she thought would not miss the
money. It paid the rent and she only worked every few weeks. In a city like
Mumbai, a girl alone didn't have a lot of options. She had done the best she
could with the circumstances handed to her.
Seher had told Dilshaad who she was, because she had found
she just could not lie to this women. Dilshaad had told her that she can't
trust Razia. But she had told her to pretend to go along with her, until they
can expose Tanveer. Now that Sanam was married to that house, they had to be
very careful. Dilshaad had no idea what sort of man Aahil was, and she didn't
know if she could approach him and tell him all this about his Mother? So they
had decided to play it safe. Dilshaad had called Sanam over and introduced her
to Seher. She had also told Sanam the truth about their parent's death, and
that Tanveer was the one who did it. Sanam had been devastated. She didn't know
what to do, because Aahil loved and trusted Tanveer so much. By this time,
Sanam was in love with Aahil, and she had found out he was in love with her too.
They had just embarked on a real
relationship. She didn't know how to tell her husband his mother was a
murderer. Dilshaad had wanted Sanam to leave Aahil's house immediately. But
Sanam had refused. She had told Dilshaad that she can't live without Aahil and
whatever her fate was with him, she was ready for it. Dilshaad had been beside
herself with worry, because Tanveer was living in that house with Sanam. So Dilshaad had told Sanam that she will
accept her staying in that house, as long as her sister lived there too. Sanam
had not known what to do? Dilshaad had told Sanam that she needed to tell Aahil
and Tanveer that she had met her long lost twin, and get her to come and live
with them. That way Dilshaad knew there was someone in that house watching
Sanam's back, in case Tanveer got too smart. As long as Tanveer didn't know
Sanam and Seher knew the truth about her, it was all fine. They did all this, so that they can buy time
to get enough evidence against Tanveer to convince Aahil that she was a
murderer.
Dilshaad had also told Seher to make sure that Sanam was
happy with Aahil and that she was not just pretending in front of her. The only
way to do all this was for Seher to go to the Ibrahim house up front. Once
Seher had come to the Ibrahim house, Sanam had introduced her as her long lost
twin, who was living in Mumbai. She had
also pretended to Razia that she had come to the house to gain everyone's
trust, and that if she was in the inside and was able to learn more about Sanam
and the Ibrahim family, she would be able to con them at the right time more
effectively. Razia had initially been
reticent about her plan. But she had convinced her that impersonating Sanam
will be easier for her, if she actually spent time with her and got to know
her? That way, she would be able to impersonate her so well that no one would
ever suspect that she was not her. Razia had finally accepted that maybe this
was a good strategy.
She had soon hit it off with her brother in law and also
other people in the family, like Asma and Latiff. There was someone else she
had hit it off with too. It was Rehan. The truth was that they had not got on
at the start. He had initially been a bit stand offish with her.(She later
found out that it was because he had had feelings for her twin before). She had
been no less with him. Giving him the full on "Suneheri Attitude". But days had turned to weeks and she had
started to spend a lot of her free time with him. Whenever she was not with Badi Ammi talking strategy,
or spending time with Sanam, she was with Rehan. She herself had not realised
that she was doing this, till she had started to look forward to seeing him in
the evenings. This was very new to her, because she had never had any special
feelings for a guy before. Yes she had had crushes in school, and had even gone
on dates and clubbing with several guys when she lived in Mumbai. But for some
reason, she had always kept a certain distance from them. She had never wanted
to get them too involved in her life. Good to time pass but nothing more!
However, Rehan was different. He was a
lot more serious and intense than she was, and this foil to her outgoing
personality was actually quite refreshing.
Whenever she knew the people in the house were distracted
with other things, she had explored the house, hoping to find clues regarding
her parent's life and consequent death in this house. Sanam had told her about
an old room that she and Rehan had found. She had managed to get back into it,
and she had found a lot of things that used to belong to her parents. She had
realised that this was their parent's room, when they had lived in this house.
She had wanted to confide in Rehan regarding Tanveer, but her Badi Ammi had
given her strict instructions that no one other than herself and Sanam should
know anything about Tanveer.
She had spent all her time getting every bit of proof she
could find together. Soon they had enough evidence to support the fact that her
parents had lived in this house. She had gone to the old land register and
found the old deeds of the house that proved that the house had originally
belonged to a Gaffur Ahemed Siddiqui, her Mother's father, and then to Asad
Ahemed Khan, her father, before a number of years later the house was purchased
from their family trust by a Nawab Raza Ibrahim. The Ahemed Khan family trust
was still being run by her father's lawyers. Dilshaad had told her that she had
kept no contact with them after selling the Khan Villa to Munisa's family,
because she didn't want anyone in Bhopal to know where she lived. She said she just didn't trust anyone after
what happened. Seher found out that the proceeds of sale for this house and
also the rents from developments her father's company had in the city were all
still being held in trust by the lawyers. She had found out that she and Sanam
were actually loaded. SHE who had conned
rich people out of money was actually rich herself.
One other thing she had also managed to find about Tanveer
were the prison records from when she went to jail for killing her grandfather
Rashid Ahemed Khan. A murder she had confessed to unwittingly. The file on the
case had all the facts. Another interesting fact she had found out while digging
into Tanveer's past was that she had spent time in a Mental Asylum. The records
indicated that she had been pregnant at the time and had given birth to a boy,
before eventually being discharged. As far as the records indicated, the child
was sent to an Orphanage. She was unable to find out anything more. After her
stint in the Mental Asylum, she had married her grandfather Gaffur Siddiqui by blackmailing
him regarding the identity of his daughter, her Mother Zoya. After killing
Rashid and going to jail and eventually escaping and killing her family,Tanveer
had re-invented herself. She had then met and conned Nawab Raza Ibrahim into
falling for her and marrying her. She
had got Raza Ibrahim to purchase the Ahemed Khan house for her, and re-invented
herself once again as the "Begum of Bhopal".
She finally had everything she needed to confront Tanveer
and Aahil. She had told Dilshaad that they had enough proof of Tanveer's past
and also the fact that their family used to own the Ibrahim Mansion and a lot
of proof also regarding Tanveer's connection with her parents and the Ahemed
Khan and Siddiqui families.
After finding out the names of her other relatives from
Dilshaad, Seher had done a lot of searching online and found out where her
Ayaan Chacha and Nikhat Bua lived in London and also regarding her uncle Haider
in Dubai. Once she knew their names and details about them, finding them online
on social networking platforms had been easy enough. She had not contacted any
of them, but had their information handy in case she needed to contact them to corroborate
facts regarding Tanveer, in case Aahil didn't believe them.
Finally when everything was set, Dilshaad had called Rahat
and told him everything. He had come over with two Army officers and two Police officers he knew. Dilshaad had come to the Ibrahim house with
them and revealed it all, and Tanveer had called her a liar. But Seher had all
the proof she had collected, and Razia
Begum had corroborated Dilshaad's story, (when she realised that Tanveer was
caught. She wanted to back the winning side). She told the police that Tanveer
had confessed to her that she killed the Ahemed Khan famiy and she knew that Tanveer
had killer her husband Gaffur Sidiqqui as well, who had come that day to visit
his daughter in this house. Dilshaad and
Razia had told the Police that Tanveer
had come back for revenge from the Ahemed Khan's after escaping jail for killing Rashid Ahemed Khan, a murder
she herself had confessed to and was serving a sentence for. Tanveer had lost it then and started to rant
and rave about how she did everything for her son Rehan. To secure his future.
How she had killed Aahil's father because he found out she had married him for
his money and she had a son growing up in an orphanage that she didn't tell him
about. She had gone to Rehan and told
him to save her from everyone, because she did everything out of her love for
him. To say that everyone had been shocked was an understatement. Tanveer had
been arrested.
A week into her arrest, she had tried to escape from prison
using her many contacts. One of the guards had been paid off by her to smuggle
her out of the prison when some prisoners were being moved. However, while the
transfer was taking place, she had been discovered. A scuffle had ensued and
she had stabbed one of the guards with a knife she had with her, given by
whoever was conspiring with her. At this point one of the Gurads had shot her.
She had died in hospital 2 days later. It had been a horrible time, and Aahil
had been beside himself. He had been devastated to know the women he thought
loved him like a Mother, was actually a cold blooded killer. Not only a killer
but a killer who framed him for killing his father. Yes, she had taken the
sentence, but she had given him the punishment. The punishment of thinking that
HE had been the one to kill his Father. He had lived with the guilt and
despised himself. She had ruined Aahil's life for her own selfish purposes. A
women like her deserved to die a slow and painful death. In Seher's opinion,
the death she got was too merciful for a women like Tanveer.
After it was revealed that Tanveer was Rehan's Mother and
that she was the one who killed Sanam's parents, things had really hit rock
bottom. Seher had looked at him like she hated him. Because he had known all
this time that Tanveer was his Mother and he had hidden it from the Ibrahim's
and them. Whatever feelings she had for him she had killed that day. She
herself had not wanted to admit that she had fallen for him. She had let her
guard down and now she was paying for it.
Rehan had been oblivious to the fact that his Mother had
killed Sanam and Seher's parents, their grandfather and Haya's Mother. Rehan had tried to talk to her, to explain
why he had kept his Mother's confidence. He had said that he felt like he owed
it to her to keep her secret. She had accused him of knowing that Tanveer was a
killer, but he had vehemently denied it. He had said that he would NEVER have
kept quiet if he had known this. However, Seher had been adamant that she cannot
forgive him. Rehan had decided to leave the Ibrahim House. Aahil had not
stopped him. Aahil had asked him to work for their Mumbai office and handle things there. Rehan
had refused, but Aahil had told him that he was not going to punish him for who
his Mother was, because we don't choose our parents! To this day, Seher didn't know
how Aahil had done it. On that day, her respect for her Brother in law had gone
sky high and she had seen why Sanam had fallen in love with him. He actually
was quite a special guy.
Rehan had moved to Mumbai. But it was revealed by Razia
before he left that he was the son of Imran Qureshi, her aunt Najma's husband.
This meant that he was Haya's brother. Therefore, they had even more reason to
try to move past who his Mother was. But Seher had not been able to forget that
he had betrayed her. She had trusted him implicitly, something she had never
done with anyone, and she had been shown what a huge mistake she had made. She
had felt terribly betrayed and she was not able to move past it. Her Uncle
Ayaan, Aunt Nikhat and Uncle Haider had come to Bhopal. The family
trust money had been split between her and Sanam and also a protion had gone to
Haya. They had done Haya's operation and the lawyers had said that the three
girls will always have a monthly income from the Trust, from the proceeds of
sale and rent etc of the properties and developments that were owned by the
Ahmed Khan Family Trust. So financially they had been set.
Seher had decided she needed a fresh start,
and when her Uncle Ayaan had asked her to come to London with them, she had
agreed. Sanam who had seen how badly effected Seher had been by everything had
agreed. So had Dilshaad, who had accompanied her to London and stayed for some
months before returning to India. However, since leaving over 3 years ago, Seher had never been able to bring herself to return to India. She had found out that 6 months ago, Rehan had moved back to Bhopal. But she could not let that stop her from coming here. Like Nikhat Bua said, you cant lay your ghosts if you dont confront them. Also, she was not going to let what happened with Rehan stop her from being with her Badi Ammi and her sister. She would not give him and his murdering Mother that satisfaction of separating her family from her again!
To this day, non of her family knew. Not even Sanam, that
she had been in love with Rehan.
Ok folks, that was part two of my new SS. This was Seher's back story and I thought it was important to say it for the rest of the story to fall into place! This one was heavy, but I promise there will be a lot of light moments in the coming chapters with a lot of SAHIL as well!
Please do leave comments and let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Mandy
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Edited by MrDarcyfan - 9 years ago
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