She came out after few minutes and started packing her bag. Jenna came to her room and was confused to see her sister getting ready to leave.
"What's going on?"
"Paula called me, she said she wants to meet me urgently. I will come back after few days"
Her sister knows about their friendship so she agreed without doubting her. Zara drove to Paula's house and knocked on the door.
"Hey Zara, Paula didn't tell me you were coming"
Richard welcomed her and offered her water.
"Where is she?"
Zara threw her bag on the sofa and started searching for Paula.
"She is in the office"
Richard was confused at Zara's actions. Didn't she leave two days ago? Why is she here again and she looked so worried.
Richard owns many supermarkets in the city. He spent most of the days at home doing chores and Paula works at a software company. Zara hit her forehead in frustration, how can she forget about that.
"What happened Zara?"
Richard asked taking her luggage and put it down. Zara drank the water in one go.
"I am doomed Richard"
"I am all ears"
He is good friend to Zara and always supported her in every way. Zara looked at him and told everything that happened with Sebastian. After twenty minutes Richard stared at Zara with a 'you are in a deep shit Zara' look
"Tell your parents that you love someone. What's the big deal?"
"You don't know about my dad"
Zara leaned back on the sofa. clutching her hair.
"Paula told me that your family's a bit complicated. Care to tell"
Richard freed her hair from her hands and held them in his. He didn't want Zara to miss her loved one because of her family. Zara stayed silent for a few minutes before opening her mouth.
"My family is religious and traditional. My dad inherited all of that. He believes that children should listen and obey their parents whoever rebel they are sinners. I grew up in that kind of environment" said Zara thinking about her childhood.
"I also used to believe that and always thought my dad's right. I strongly believed children should not raise their voices at Elders. But when I am a teenager my thoughts changed a bit.
I can understand his protectiveness as a father of two daughters but he's extreme. We got tired of his rules. The worst part is he hates when we talk to boys
Jenna was so fed up and went against him having lot of friends in boys which angered my dad. He started being more tough on us. Even breathing felt suffocating for us in our home." at this point Zara started crying remembering her days.
"Jenna didn't want to be like my parents, she wanted to be with someone who can make her feel her freedom. She wants to be a free bird and she found one. When she introduced Kai as her boyfriend, he blew up.
He never hit us but on that day he almost tempted to slap her and he called her an abomination. He said she is shameless to love someone before marriage. He stopped talking to Jenna and after months of persuasion he let her get married with Kai Turner" Zara smiled talking about her sister. She is happy that her sister found her match.
"Whenever I feel low I would call Paula and she was my best stress reliever. She would make me happy and cheer me up. She encourages me to fight for my freedom. And yes after my sister's marriage I started rebelling" Richard let her lean on his shoulders.
"My dad cares about others opinions a lot than us and after Jenna's marriage he became more hard on me. He was scared that I would be like Jenna. He wanted us to marry the guy he chose but Jenna chose her life partner. He restricted me from going out . He even stopped me from talking to Paula.
I have lot of goals and dreams. I want to earn lot of money, live my life just the way I wanted but he thinks such independent girls are useless. He feels girls should be under men's protection. And I hate his thoughts so I wanted to study hard and be independent" Zara sat straight and faced Richard.
"I wanted to prove him being independent means not being characterless and women are capable enough to protect themselves. I don't want anyone to control me. I want to be myself. I love my dad but I don't want him to think bad about us.
I told my dad about my decision to study in abroad. He said I will change after getting used to foreign life. I assured him many times that I will never betray his trust and that I would return safe.
We quarrelled for months and after trying and trying he agreed but asked me to promise him one thing and that is my marriage. I am not fan of love and never interested to be in relationship, so I promised him" Zara sobbed after saying these words.
She wanted her dad to change his way of thinking but if he knows about her past with her Bash he would kill her for sure.
"Why did you do that if you are sacred of your dad?"
"I don't know, I….I just lost myself at that moment. I never let anyone near me but with Bash I let my guard down"
Zara wiped her tears which fell without her notice.
"What do you want to do now?"
"I will stay silent. He don't know anything about me not even my name"
Zara hoped that this is the end for them. She didn't want him in her life and wished a happy life for him.
"Don't worry, we are with you"
Richard rubbed her hair lovingly and hugged her to his chest.
Zara slept after eating the food cooked by Richard. He actually forced her to eat it. She knows Selina won't tell about her even if Sebastian asked about her. She trusts Selina.
She prayed god to sort out her messy life by the time she wake up from her sleep.