Chapter 216

“I wonder what he must be putting Alizeh through,” Moosa said more to himself, his voice low and rough with a mix of guilt and helpless anger that seemed to settle deep in his bones. The guilt in his voice was a weight he had been carrying for months, and it was beginning to bend him. The words hung in the quiet hallway outside the study, barely louder than a breath, but they carried the weight of every nightmare he had imagined since learning his sister was trapped in Burhan’s world.

Roshanay had already inferred that Burhan was wrong in this whole situation, that his actions had crossed lines no family ties could fully excuse, that the pain he had caused rippled far beyond what anyone deserved. But killing him? The thought struck her like ice water, freezing her in place for a long moment. She could not allow that, could not stand by while the man who had raised her, protected her in his own flawed way, was marked for death over choices that had spiraled out of control. The