Chapter 4. Grey Eyes

"What?!" Her eyes widened. "Send me the details of the hospital. I'm coming." She cut off the phone and rushed out of the building towards the hospital.

Upon reaching there, she came to know that Amna was in the ICU. The doctors were not giving any clear answers regarding her situation.

"I reached there, and she was... she was sitting on the bed. I thought she was asleep... but when I fixed the comforter, her arm fell as if she were some dead body. They are saying the left ventricle is not working due to the cancer," Ahmed sobbed while explaining the situation to Sheharzaad, who was already in tears. Her eyes were red and constantly spilling tears, yet her lips didn't utter a word. She was in shock, on the verge of collapsing.

The doctor came out of the ICU, and both of them moved towards her.

"Doctor Ali, please don't give us bad news," Sheharzaad pleaded.

Doctor Ali had been dealing with Amna's case for a while.

"Her left ventricle is not working properly. Her heartbeat had gotten so low that the blood supply to her body almost diminished, but Ahmed brought her in on time. Now she is out of danger. We need to start her cancer treatment ASAP, Sheharzaad. If we don't, the working condition of her heart will become unrecoverable. Start the treatment before it’s too late. She is out of danger. Take care of her diet. She is still unconscious. We've given her anesthetics. We're keeping her under observation. You can take her home within a day or two," he stated. An alarm was clear in his voice.

Ahmed sighed in relief, thanking the doctor, but Sheharzaad’s mind kept repeating the same sentence.

"Start the treatment before it’s too late."

For how long would she be able to postpone it? For how long would she keep on just gathering money and not initiating the treatment?

It was then she recalled her job interview.

She needed that job!

With that, she got out of the hospital and rushed back to the company.

The sky was blue already, and the birds were returning to their respective abodes.

Shehryaar, who was witnessing the slow and gradual changing of the day through his window, was delved into millions of thoughts. His grey eyes observed the worry of the inhabitants of the city, Lahore, but his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere far. Somewhere stuck in his past.

That particular scene was carved in his mind.

That particular scene made him despise all womankind.

He considered them objects through which he could gain pleasure.

For him, they were weaklings and nothing else.

Most of them would want to be under him so they could feed him some money for extracting pleasure.

They deceive and attract men by showing that they are innocent, but usually, they are just in it for money.

Every woman can bear a child, but not every woman can be a mother.

Every woman is alike. They only know how to betray and backstab.

And if you love and trust a woman, you surely are doomed.

These were his views regarding women. A sexist, who didn't trust womankind and despised them from the core of his heart. He didn't believe in love. Love was just like a fairytale to him. A fairytale he didn’t believe in.

Over the years, his beliefs got stronger and stronger. He was adamant about what he believed in. Every woman who came into his life reinforced his beliefs. He was sure that what he believed in was nothing but the truth. He took women as playthings and nothing else.

He thought no woman existed in this world who could change his views about her kind.

As he was unaware of her, yet.

"Sir," the wooden door was knocked. And once the permission was granted, Hammad entered his office 

"Yes, Hammad?" His dark and brooding voice demanded that immediately made a shiver travel down Hammad's spine. Everyone feared him. 

"That fifth candidate has come. She said her friend was rushed to the hospital, and she needed to be there, so she could not be at the interview on time."

"Okay, so?" he said nonchalantly without turning around. He sounded as if he didn't care.

 And why would he?

"Sir... the interview," Hammad stammered.

He turned around, his cold eyes staring straight into Hammad's, making him stare down. "You got my answer?"

"Yes, sir."

"I don't like to repeat myself, Hammad," he stated in a low voice, making Hammad remember that the second time he says something is not through words but by a bullet.

"As you say, sir," Hammad left the office and came across Sheharzaad, who was in the waiting room.

"I'm sorry. He is not ready to take your interview, Sheharzaad."

"But I need this job, sir."

"There is nothing in my hands. I can't convince him."

After listening to his verdict, tears filled her eyes.

"Please, can't you do something?" Her shoulders squared, and her head fell. Her throat constricted with pain and guilt. The guilt of not being able to save her friend's life.

"I'm sorry," he apologized and left the waiting area.

She had failed herself!

Failed her friend!

And failed everyone around her!

Now, she wouldn't be able to save her life. She would send her friend to death by her own hands.

Biting her shivering lower lip, she gathered the files that she had left before rushing to the hospital and walking towards the lift. Her head was held down.

She was crumbled. She didn't know where she was going, only following the path where her instincts led.

She could physically feel a pain in her heart. A pain of anxiety, a pain of failure, and a pain of fear for the future.

She kept on moving when she collided with someone's chest, and her things fell. She looked up and her eyes met a pair of similar grey eyes staring directly at her.

Little did she know, those grey eyes were going to be her destruction.