120.

After Faraaz and Alana left and Uncle Hashim was already on his way to the bedroom to get his beauty sleep. Taliya stood up, catching Murad's attention.

"Where are you going?" he asked softly, his voice calm but laced with concern.

Taliya paused, fixing him with a blank stare before muttering, "To my apartment."

Murad's expression tightened. "We already talked about this. You're not safe there. Besides, what will you do all alone?" His tone remained composed—he knew better than to let his frustration show; Taliya didn’t respond well to his temper.

"Murad," she began, her voice firm yet weary, "your father has eyes on us twenty-four seven. We can't just… be together like this." She adjusted the strap of her bag, her movements deliberate but betraying her unease.

Murad frowned. Something wasn’t right. He could sense the tension radiating off her like a silent scream she didn’t want him to hear. It wasn’t just discomfort—something deeper weighed on her.

"Is something troubling you?" His voice was gentle but insistent.

She quickly shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. But in a blink, he was standing right in front of her, close enough that her breath hitched.

Pinching her chin tenderly between his thumb and forefinger, he lifted her face toward him. Her eyes, usually so guarded, now glistened with unshed tears.

"Why are you crying?" he ground out, his brows knitting together, concern etched deeply in his features.

Taliya's lips wobbled as she struggled to speak. "I don’t want to lose us," she finally stammered, her voice fragile, trembling like a leaf caught in the wind.

Murad’s chest tightened at her words.

"Whatever I did earlier… it was my mistake," she whispered, shaking her head as if trying to erase the memory. "But now that I realize everything... I just—I don’t want to lose you." Her voice broke, betraying the emotions she tried so hard to suppress.

Murad’s expression softened. "Oh, Taliya," he murmured, his voice a mixture of tenderness and quiet regret. He reached out, pulling her gently into his arms. As he cradled her to his chest, he ran soothing circles across her back, feeling the tension in her shoulders slowly ease under his touch.

"You’ll never lose me, Taliya," he said, his voice steady and full of promise. "Never."

For the first time in a long while, she allowed herself to believe those words.

Suddenly, the sound of the front door creaking open broke the silence. Faraaz and Alana entered the house once again, startling Taliya and Murad.

"Someone punctured our car. We couldn’t drive back," Faraaz growled, his tone sharp and edged with frustration.

Alana flinched instinctively, taking a step back, but Faraaz quickly softened. Without missing a beat, he rounded his arm protectively around her waist, pulling her close as if to reassure her that his anger wasn’t directed at her.

"That means someone’s keeping tabs on us," Murad said, his voice calm but grave, stating what was already obvious to them all. Taliya turned her gaze toward the couple, concern etched across her face, her brows drawn into a worried frown.

Before anyone could say more, Uncle Hashim burst into the living room, his hurried footsteps reverberating across the room. He scanned the faces of the two couples before speaking, his voice clipped and certain.

"Must be none other than your father, Ibrahim," Uncle Hashim declared, his words hanging heavy in the air like an ominous cloud.

For a beat, the room fell silent. The tension was palpable as the four exchanged glances. Finally, Faraaz broke the silence, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

"God, one day that old man is going to die, and I’ll kill him with my bare hands," he ground out, his teeth gritting in raw frustration.

Murad chuckled dryly, though there was no humor in his voice. "You can’t be the only one doing that," he muttered, shaking his head.

But beneath their dark words, a heavy truth weighed on them both—one they wouldn’t admit aloud. No matter how much they despised Ibrahim, no matter how cruel and manipulative he was, he was still their father. The man whose blood ran through their veins. The man who was, in an unshakable way, the reason they existed.

The thought unsettled them both, leaving the room to fall back into an uneasy silence.

"Now what are we going to do?" Taliya asked, her voice low and resigned, as if she already knew the answer. There wasn’t any going back from here.

They were stuck.

Murad exhaled sharply, a determined look crossing his face. "I could use my car. We’ll figure something out." He started toward the door, but Faraaz quickly stepped in his path.

"Murad, stop. All the cars, including Uncle Hashim’s, are punctured." His words landed heavily in the room like stones, snuffing out any lingering hope.

"We’re stuck," Alana and Taliya said at the same time, their voices overlapping in perfect, horrified unison. They turned to look at each other, sharing a moment of silent dread.

Taliya clenched her fists, her mind racing. She was no stranger to the Sheikh family’s tactics—this was their way of control, of intimidation. But as her gaze shifted to Alana, she saw how differently it was affecting her. For Alana, this was new—a world she hadn’t prepared for.

Tears shimmered in Alana’s eyes as she turned to Faraaz, her voice trembling as she whispered his name. "Faraaz…"

Instantly, his expression softened, and he wrapped her in his arms, pulling her close. His voice, though low and steady, carried an unshakable promise. "Shh, everything’s going to be just fine," he murmured against her hair. "I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever."

Alana clung to him tightly, her fear melting into the safety of his embrace. But the reality loomed large, pressing on all of them like an invisible weight.

Taliya’s eyes flickered toward Murad, who stood by the window, his jaw tense as he looked out into the night. His shoulders squared with resolve, but she could see it—the flicker of frustration, the silent storm building behind his calm exterior.

Uncle Hashim sighed, his deep voice breaking the quiet. "We need to stay put. For now, that’s all we can do."

The room fell into a tense stillness, the air thick with unspoken fears. Outside, the world seemed unnervingly quiet, as if watching and waiting for what would come next.

"How is the family time going on?" A cold voice reverberated in the living room, freezing everyone to their roots.