𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔇𝔲𝔰𝔨: 𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔢 𝔄𝔡 𝔙𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔲𝔪
A man to save, a dynasty to break and a love to die for.
Come dive into a modern and desi retelling of a beloved classic, Beauty and the Beast, part two of 'The Legacy Duet', Taimoor's story.
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"𝕲hazanfar?" Ghazanfar Khan Bilour, first-cousin extraordinaire, stood on the front porch, an enormous bouquet of flowers nearly tumbling out of his hands. A crest of jagged black hair hung over his eyes, and his skin gleamed like porcelain. He flashed me a smile that was whiter than the snowcapped mountains. Ugh.
"Hey, Daania," almost robotically, as if my hand was not an extension of my body, my fingers reached out to take the flowers as I stepped back to let him in. It was only after he was across the threshold that I came to my senses. Why was he here? And what did he see?
"Auntie! How are you? It's been a very long time!" he boomed, and Mama threw a distracted glance at him, her worried eyes searching for her husband. Ghazanfar's smile became a touch less warm. "It's so good to see all of you. I was coming to Islamabad for a conference and thought I'd drop by."
No doubt to check in on us.
"That was very sweet of you beta."
"Bibi was asking after all of you, especially you Daania," Nazia glared at him and he sneered. Not this again. As rich, privileged, and smart as he was, he could not control his own face when it counted. It took him a beat to turn his lips into a polite smile for my benefit, but it was back in place when he turned his, much raved about, green eyes on me. He moved closer, edging into my personal space, and lowered his voice. "You know how much she loves you."
I knew no such thing and I refrained from pointing out that particular piece of information.
"Well it was nice seeing you Ghazanfar bhai, but we've got -" Nazia crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to mentally usher him towards the door. He grinned, his face almost splitting into two.
"Plans? Splendid!"
If nothing else, the past four hours had graced me with the ability to fake a smile while my sister bristled and my mother hid in the kitchen. "It's an all-girls thing. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be a part of it."
His eyes swung between Fariha and me. "That's fine. That works out great actually. I could spend some time with Aka. It's been a while since we've caught up. How is his work? Has he created something new? You know how much I enjoy talking about his hobby."
His. Hobby.
Baba was going to flay him alive.
"No," I said, my voice breaking on the word, hating the obvious crack. My emotions were too near the surface. He seemed so sincere at the moment, and I was so close to crumbling. Taimoor Ali Haider Mughal had torn down all my defences, and I hadn't had the time to rebuild them.
His expression morphed into wariness, catching onto the unintended vulnerability. "Has he wandered off somewhere again? You guys need to keep a check on him," I shook my head, lips trembling. Two more days. What was going to happen to us in two more days? "Let me tell Bibi, she'll talk to him and sort this right up. Maybe she'll convince you to move, I know you've been against that in the past, but Peshawar isn't that bad! We'll let Nazia go to school there, we're very liberal, I'm sure Ammi will let you work if you'd like, although I don't know why you'd want to."
