Episode 3

Part 1 – The Search

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Armeena couldn’t understand why Ali had come home at that exact moment. He was out of breath—it was clear he had chased that man, but the man had escaped.

Within the next five minutes, Ali had read Anmol’s letter to Sadia and Sajjad. Meanwhile, Armeena was in her room.

“It’s all our fault. We should never have given the women of our house so much freedom.”

Ali was speaking to Sajjad, who sat lifelessly on a chair.

“Leave me alone, Ali. Go away.”

Sajjad said weakly. Ali left the room.

“Forgive me, Sajjad Sahab… I couldn’t raise your children well.”

Sadia Begum had given up. She felt defeated.

“No, Sadia Begum… This is our fate. Maybe this is a punishment for some great sin—and we received that punishment in the form of Anmol.”

Sajjad seemed completely broken.

No one knew what time of night it was when Armeena suddenly woke up. She had only fallen asleep 15 minutes ago.

Everything had changed.

Her brother, who had always trusted her blindly, now doubted her.

Her father—whose eyes she had never seen tear up—now had tears that refused to fall.

And Anmol…

Armeena suddenly sat up.

Yes. Now it was all starting to make sense.

She quickly got up and walked out of her room. The letter that Ali had thrown away was still there. She picked it up, went back to her room, and took out some tape from her drawer.

She began piecing together the torn letter.

There was one line in the letter that seemed completely out of place:

“Armeena, I told you... running away from home isn’t foolish—writing a letter after running away is foolish.”

This line didn’t make sense. Why was it in the letter?

Then she remembered.

Once, she and Anmol were watching a drama where the girl runs away from home and leaves a letter behind. Anmol had said:

“If God forbid I were in that girl’s place, I wouldn’t leave a letter behind. That’s just stupid.”

Anmol hated being called foolish.

So why would she write something like that?

That’s when Armeena realized—Anmol didn’t write that letter willingly.

She was made to write it.

Her sister was in trouble. And now she needed Armeena’s help.

Armeena picked up her phone and dialed a number.

“Hello?”

It was Ahmad. He answered the call in his sleep without even checking.

“Hello Ahmad, this is Armeena. I really need to talk to you.”

Her voice woke him up immediately.

He checked the time—3 a.m.

“What happened, Meena? Are you okay?” he asked, clearly worried.

“Nothing is okay, Ahmad. Meet me tomorrow. I’ll send you the time and location.”

Ahmad was now wide awake. All he could do was wait for the morning.

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Written by: Arooj_writes

At 6 a.m., the house was completely silent. Islamabad’s December cold was freezing.

Armeena wore a white coat over her black shalwar kameez, put her phone in her pocket, and left the house.

It was early—everyone was still asleep since they'd stayed up all night.

She got out of a rickshaw near the park and walked in. On a bench, she saw Ahmad. He stood up as soon as he saw her.

She sat next to him, keeping a bit of distance.

After a long silence, Ahmad finally spoke:

“Meena, what’s wrong? You can tell me.”

Her silence was hurting him.

“Ahmad… Everything is over.

My dreams, my family, my trust, my love—everything is gone.”

Ahmad was the only person she couldn’t hide anything from. So she told him everything.

He sat there silently, unsure what to say.

“Anmol doesn’t seem like that type of girl… Do you know any of her friends? Maybe someone can help.”

Ahmad’s suggestion suddenly sparked an idea in Armeena’s mind.

“Yes! Why didn’t I think of that? I have her friend’s address. I’ll go right now.”

As she stood up, Ahmad grabbed her hand.

“Wait—I’m coming with you.”

He picked up his car keys, and they left together.

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30 minutes later, they were standing in front of a house.

Rania opened the door. She knew Armeena but was a bit surprised to see Ahmad with her. Still, she moved aside and let them in.

As soon as they were inside, Armeena explained everything in detail.

Rania was shocked—and worried. Anmol was a very close friend.

Ahmad asked,

“Do you know where Anmol might be? Or anything that could help?”

Rania replied:

“Actually… there was this Christian guy named Mike who was bothering her. She had told him many times that she wasn’t interested, but he was obsessive.

Anmol was really upset because of him.

Then one day, he crossed the line—he touched her. She slapped him.

After that, I never saw that guy again.

The last time I saw Anmol, she was completely fine. I had gone out to get food, and when I came back, she was gone.

I haven’t seen her since.”

Rania told them everything she knew.

“Thank you. If we need anything else, we’ll come back.”

Ahmad said, as they got up to leave.

Armeena followed him silently to the car.

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To be continued...

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