Chapter 3. A Visit to Past

Here she stood again, yet this time not with her husband but with her only daughter. She never in a million years thought that one day she'd have to return to the same place that had abandoned her husband simply because of marrying her.

***

[Flashback]

"Mujtaba, I am nervous. I don't think your father will accept me," she confessed outside the haveli gates, ready to enter.

"I am with you, Ammara. You need not worry," he assured her.

"But he asked you not to marry me. Why would he accept me now?"

"Ammara, you are a virtuous and upright woman. He does not know you yet, but when he recognizes the real you, he will accept you," he comforted her, gently caressing her hand.

"Now come on, we should go inside."

They moved towards the haveli gates, which opened to let them in. As they stepped inside, Ammara looked around, amazed by the lavishness of the haveli. Its posh exterior left her in awe, with its breathtakingly beautiful lawn adorned with lush green grass, trees, and heavenly flowers like roses, lilies, daisies, and tulips. The scorching sun radiantly shining on the greenery, ornamental trees, and beautiful flowers with a fountain in the middle amazed her.

But amidst the grandeur, she felt out of place. She could understand why Mujtaba's father did not want to accept her as his daughter-in-law. She belonged to a lower-middle-class family, and his father might have thought of her as a gold digger.

Her parents passed away when she was 18, and her elder sister, already married, supported her. A year later, when she got a scholarship at a university in Islamabad, she met the love of her life, Mujtaba.

Love happens in the most incomprehensible ways, and so does theirs. They both felt an unusual and unknown attraction between them whenever they were together.

They realized it was love.

Despite Mujtaba's father being a strict mafia don, who laid the rule that every member of their family must marry within the family, Mujtaba defied him and married Ammara. They shifted to Lahore after their marriage, but his father's displeasure with him didn't sit well. Mujtaba then decided to seek his father's approval and now stood before him, seeking his blessings.

Ammara kept examining the haveli, its interior more opulent than its exterior. As they entered his father's study, his anger knew no bounds.

"Why are you here?!" he snapped.

"Agha Jaan, we are here to seek your blessings," Mujtaba said humbly.

"Did you seek my blessings when you got married?" his father retorted.

"I am sorry, Agha Jaan, bu—"

"I do not want to see your face again! Get out of my sight!" his father interrupted, his anger palpable.

"Please, Agha Jaan, at least give us a chance," Mujtaba pleaded.

"Did you listen to me when I asked you not to marry this woman? Didn't I forbid you from marrying her? And now you ask me for a chance? If you cannot respect my decisions, why should I listen to you now?"

"I have always obeyed you, but this time I decided against your orders. Do I not have the right to decide whom I marry?"

"This woman," pointing towards Ammara, "has led you astray. You've displeased me. You chose her over me!"

"No, Agha Jaan, I never chose anyone over you. No one can take your place in my heart. But I have the right to decide whom I marry! I love her!"

"Love! Don't you love your father? Leave my house along with your gold digger wife before I throw you out."

"If you want me to forgive you, then divorce this girl right now," his father demanded, leaving Ammara bewildered.

Ammara's eyes widened in disbelief. She had borne humiliation for her husband, but the demand for a divorce left her shattered.

"Ammara is honest and innocent. You will accept her when you know her. I can't divorce her," Mujtaba declared.

"If you can't divorce her, then you are no longer my son. Leave my house and never return," his father disowned him.

With that, Mujtaba left the haveli, forever.

[End of flashback]

***

'Don't show me your face even if you're dead'—his father's words echoed in her ears.

'Ammara, never inform my father of my death'—her husband's last words. He had respect for his father until the end, always complying with his orders.

"I am sorry, Mujtaba. I couldn't fulfill your wish. I have nowhere to go. Our home has been taken away. We're on the streets. This is the last place where I could seek shelter," she silently apologized to her husband.

Before a tear could escape her eyes, her daughter's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Mama, I'm nervous. They won't accept us," Zahra expressed her fear.

They stood five feet away from the haveli gates, holding all their belongings.

"Let's hope for the best. We should go inside now," Ammara stated sternly, trying to maintain composure, though she felt broken inside. But she knew she had to be strong for her daughter. If it weren't for Zahra, she would never have returned to this place.

"Let's go," she started to move towards the gates, but a tug on her arm halted her.

"Mama, I don't think he will let us in. He abandoned my father; why would he accept us?" Zahra voiced her doubts.

"If he won't allow us to stay, I'll ask Haider to give us a place to live."

Haider, Mujtaba's elder brother, still maintained contact with him despite their father cutting ties. Zahra questioned how Haider could help them without their father's consent.

"I know, Zahra, but we can hope that he has passed on his position as 'head' to one of his sons or grandsons. Then we might have a chance to stay," Ammara reassured her.

"Even so, he's still the eldest; how can someone go against him?"

"Being the eldest and being the head are two different things. If the head approves it, regardless of the eldest's consent, it will happen," she explained.

"Hope he's not the head anymore. I'm really afraid to face them, Mama," Zahra admitted.

"There's no need to be afraid. Your mother is with you, and Allah is there. Believe in Him; what He does will be the best for us," she comforted her daughter, though she was a nervous wreck.

For the past 20 years, she had no idea about the haveli or its inhabitants. She had never talked about his father with Mujtaba after that incident, and the only person she knew here was Haider. She didn't even know if Mujtaba's father was alive.

She was worried for Zahra. If she were alone, she would have gone to an old age home, but now she had her daughter, who had every right to this place. She could only hope that his father could let them live in this haveli, if she had to she'd work as a maid only for her daughter.