A cup of warm coffee rested untouched on the table beside her. Every now and then, sunlight caught the rim of her glasses. She appeared completely absorbed in her reading.
To anyone passing by....It would have seemed as though the entire world had disappeared, leaving only Maya and the book in her hands.
Soft footsteps echoed from the grand staircase. Fahim appeared, already dressed impeccably despite the early hour.
His glasses rested on the bridge of his nose and a tablet was tucked beneath one arm,he glanced around the living room, "Good morning, little sis."
Without looking up immediately, Maya finished the line she was reading before closing the book around one finger to keep her place. ".... Good morning, Mr. Fahim."
He acknowledged it with a nod before sitting down in an armchair. Within a short time, the once-quiet living room had filled with familiar faces.
The gentle murmur of conversation gradually settled. A moment later, measured footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Mahim entered the living room. He was already dressed for the day, his expression relaxed as his eyes swept across the room. "....Good morning, everyone. "
"Good morning." The family greeted him almost in unison.
Mahim took a seat in the large armchair opposite the sofas. He accepted the cup of tea a servant quietly placed before him. "There is something, I should tell all of you."
The room grew attentive.
"Anik is coming to the mansion, he contacted me yesterday evening. He said he'd like to come and see everyone. If everything goes as planned..."
He checked the time on his wristwatch."He should be here within ten minutes."
"Anik is coming?" A wide grin spread across Fahan's face,
"It's been ages since I've seen him. Finally, finally I ... was beginning to think he had forgotten this mansion existed."
Fahim adjusted his glasses.
"He mentioned several months ago that his schedule would become considerably lighter after completing his current projects."
Ohi smiled, "Even so taking time away from work isn't easy for him — Well — he's finally escaping. Let's hope he doesn't bring work with him."
Across the room, Maya listened in silence. Then she reopened her book. The distant sound of a car engine drifted through the open windows. A servant walking past the entrance hall paused before speaking.
"Sir." He bowed respectfully. "A vehicle has just entered the front gates."
Fahan rose from the sofa and crossed to the tall windows that overlooked the front driveway. "I was starting to think he'd gotten lost on the way."
Faha joined him a moment later, hands in his pockets, peering over his brother's shoulder. "He is not lost,he's just late. It's part of his charm."
"It's part of his schedule," Fahim corrected from his armchair, without looking up from his tablet. "He runs Two Companies. Being late is a side effect of being important."
Ohi, who had been leaning against the arm of the sofa with his phone in hand, "Let's see how long he stays this time. Last visit, he was here for exactly forty minutes before his phone rang and he disappeared."
Naya murmur-ed,settling deeper into her seat.
"That's because his father called, you don't ignore a call from the Ashrafi patriarch."
In the entrance hall, two servants moved into position near the main doors. Another stepped forward to pull the heavy mahogany door open.
And through the doorway came the early morning light and the man who followed it.
He was tall and he carried himself with the kind of quiet confidence that came not from ego, but from certainty. He wore a light gray suit, with the jacket open and the shirt beneath it a soft white.
His features were sharp and even, making him look younger than his twenty-two years.
"Anik." Mahim rose from his chair. His voice was calm.
Anik bowed his head slightly. "Good morning General uncle. Thank you for having me."
"You're always welcome here. You know that."
"I'm sorry it's been so long."
Fahad extended his hand. "Fahad."
"Anik. Long time no see."
"You look well," Anik said.
"I look the same, you haven't changed either, still saying exactly the right thing at exactly the right time."
"It's a skill."
"It's a strategy."
Fahim stepped forward next, offering a brief nod. "Anik. I trust the merger went through?"
"It did. Last week."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." Anik's gaze flickered toward Fahim's tablet. "Still working on a holiday?"
"Reading. Not working."
"Same thing with you."
Fahim's lips twitched — the closest thing he ever came to a smile. "Perhaps."
Fahan didn't bother with the handshake at all. He pulled Anik into a brief, one-armed embrace.
"Anik, you absolute ghost. Two years. Two years, and you show up looking like you stepped out of a magazine."
"I was busy."
"You were hiding."
"That too."
Faha laughed and joined them. "Busy hiding. That's a new one."
Anik turned toward him with a grin. "Faha. Still performing?"
"Always. Still working?"
"Always."
"Then we're both doomed."
Anik nodded as though that settled something.
"Anik. You look well. That's rare for someone who never sleeps."
"I sleep."
"You close your eyes for four hours and call it sleep."
"That's what sleep is."
"That's what survival is."
Anik laughed — low, the kind of laugh that came from somewhere real. "I've missed you."
"You've missed everyone. You just don't visit."
"I'll visit more."
"You always say that."
"And I always mean it."
He tilted his head, studying him. "We'll see."
Anik's smile didn't falter. "We will."
Then his gaze moved past him, past Fahad, past Fahim and finally, it landed on the far corner of the room.
Maya.
She was sitting in the chair, the book open in her lap. She hadn't even looked up from the page as though the conversation taking place across the room had nothing to do with her.
Anik noticed the gloves immediately, his dark brown eyes lingered on them for a moment before he looked back at Mahim.
"I didn't know you had a guest, General Uncle."
"She isn't a guest, Anik."
Anik's brow furrowed slightly. "Then who is she?"
Mahim calmly set his cup down on the table."She is my daughter."
"Your daughter," Anik repeated as though testing the words.
"Yes." A brief silence followed.
"You found your daughter?" Mahim gave a small nod. Anik stared at him. "Your daughter?"
"Yes."
"The girl you have been looking for years? And the girl Auntie ….." His voice trailed off. "That's her?"
"Yes, Anik."
"When?"
"Two days ago."
"Two days? And you're telling me now, Uncle? "
"I wasn't planning to announce it." Mahim replied evenly.
"I thought it would be better if we first took some time to properly get to know each other. She has spent enough of her life surrounded by strangers.
I didn't want to bring everyone into her life before she had the chance to know her own family first."
His voice cut through the quiet of the living room. "Maya."
Maya turned toward him. "Yes, Mr. Mahim? " she replied , adjusting her glasses as she looked at him.
Mahim gestured toward Anik, who stood a few steps away with his hands clasped behind his back. "Maya, I want you to meet someone. This is Anik Ashrafi."
Maya's eyes shifted toward the man. She looked at him the way she looked at everything, without judgment, without giving anything away.
"He is the only son of one of my closest friends. His father and I have known each other for many years. "
He paused for a moment before adding,
"And he is a very close friend of your big brother also.They studied together, spent years in the same academic circle and have remained close ever since. "
Maya inclined her head. It was the same gesture she gave everyone,polite and utterly unrevealing. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Anik."
"Hello, Miss Maya. I'm Anik Ashrafi. It's nice to meet you. I hope you'll forgive the interruption," Anik said quietly.
"I didn't know General uncle had found his lost daughter. If I had, I would have come sooner. "
"Ohhh ... I see, Mr. Ashrafi."
Mahim nodded with satisfaction. "There. Now you've properly introduced yourselves."
Maya looked toward him. "Yes, Mr. Mahim."
Anik had been listening to their conversation, one particular detail caught his attention. Maya had addressed her own father as "Mr. Mahim."
For a brief moment, Anik looked at her with mild surprise. He had known the Sunayana family for years and he was familiar with their close-knit relationships.
His eyes briefly shifted toward Mahim, then returned to Maya. "Miss Maya."
Maya looked at him. "Yes?? " Anik gave a faint, curious smile."You call your father 'Mr. Mahim'?"
Maya adjusted her glasses and answered simply,
"Yes, Mr. Anik."
There was no embarrassment in her voice. No hesitation. She said it as naturally as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Anik glanced at Mahim.
Mahim merely smiled. There was no surprise in his expression, no confusion and certainly no concern. If anything, he looked almost amused—as though Anik's reaction was exactly what he had expected.
"Oh, that's Maya for you."
Anik looked at him.
"She's a little different from others."
"A little?" Anik repeated, almost incredulously.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Mahim's lips. "All right ..... All right. Perhaps more than a little. She doesn't react the way most people do."
Anik could not help but smile. "You mean — she just doesn't feel the need to show everyone what she's thinking."
"Exactly."
Maya said nothing. She didn't look up from her book either as though the conversation had never interrupted her reading in the first place.
And somehow, that small detail made Anik even more curious about her. He inclined his head politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Maya."
"Likewise, Mr. Anik. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." She offered him a polite nod before adding, "I've heard your name a few times before. It's nice to finally meet you in person."
"I'm glad to hear that, Miss Maya. "
That should have been the end of it. A simple introduction. Yet ... something in Anik's mind refused to move on.
He had spent years studying people, reading body language. People fascinated him because they were usually predictable.
But This girl was not. His analytical mind, usually so disciplined, began assembling questions on its own.
Why...why is she so composed? Why does every movement seem so economical? She's unlike anyone I've ever met...She's fascinating.
He recognized the feeling immediately, it was not admiration, It was intellectual fixation. The same irresistible curiosity a researcher — feels upon discovering an anomaly.
He watched Maya for another second. Then, he finally looked away. "She is really very different, uncle."
Mahim, who had been watching Anik from the corner of his eye, gave a faint, knowing smile. "She is. You've noticed that finally."
His expression became a little more thoughtful. "There are many things about her that even we are still trying to understand."
Anik glanced at him. "Even you?"
Mahim nodded slightly. "Even me."
"I see."
"Don't try to figure her out too quickly."
Anik raised an eyebrow slightly,"I wasn't planning to."
A faint smile touched Mahim's face. "Good."
Nahi, who had been observing the exchange, let out a small laugh. "I .... I was starting to think we'd have to send someone to drag you back. Or file a missing person's report."
Anik shook his head with a chuckle. " I suppose disappearing without a word wasn't exactly my best decision."
Nahi raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Oh, so you admit it? That's a surprise. I was prepared to hear a ten-minute excuse."
Anik laughed softly. "Trust me, Nahi, if I started making excuses, you'd probably regret asking."
"Fair enough. Then let's just pretend you were never missing and move on before this gets any more dramatic."
Anik nodded, smiling. "Deal. I think I've already caused enough trouble for one morning."
[ FIVE MINUTES LATER ]
Anik had crossed the room and settled into the armchair beside Mahim, accepting a cup of tea from a servant with a quiet nod of thanks.
Faha was the first to complain, "Do you know how difficult it is to contact you?"
"That sounds exaggerated."
Faha leaned back dramatically, "We send messages. You reply three days later."
Anik gave a guilty smile. "I was busy."
"Everyone says that but with you, 'busy' means disappearing into another world."
"True,at this point we should consider scheduling an appointment just to talk to you."
"I didn't realize I had become that difficult to reach."
"You did."
"Fahish." Anik's voice softened. "I read your book."
Fahish blinked — caught off guard. "You did?"
"Twice."
"Twice?"
"The ending. I wanted to make sure I understood it correctly."
Fahish stared at him for a moment. Then, quietly, "And did you?"
"I think so. The void isn't empty. That's the point, isn't it? It's full of everything the character refuses to look at."
Fahish's expression shifted, a flicker of being seen. "Yes, that's exactly what it is."
Anik nodded as though that settled something.
Nahi was sitting beside Anik, quietly listening to the conversations around them.
There were several people talking at once. Some were discussing ordinary things ... While others were exchanging light remarks and occasionally laughing.
Anik was participating in the conversation as well. He listened and occasionally added a comment of his own.
To anyone else, he seemed perfectly engaged with everyone around him but Nahi was sitting close enough to notice something that most people probably wouldn't.
Anik was in the middle of listening to someone when his gaze shifted from the conversation.
Toward Maya. It lasted only a moment. Then he looked back and continued listening as though nothing had happened.
Nahi's attention sharpened. Anik was listening to the conversation beside him. Then unconscious -ly his gaze moved toward Maya once more.
That was enough. A small, amused expression appeared on his face. He leaned slightly toward Anik, lowering his voice until it was barely more than a whisper.
Careful enough to make sure none of the others could overhear them. "Listen to me before you get any ideas. And whatever you think you have noticed, don't jump to conclusions. "
Anik slowly turned his head toward him, eyebrow lifting in curiosity. "What exactly are you talking about? About what? "
Nahi glanced across the room, his eyes settling on the far corner where Maya sat alone with her book. "About Maya."
"What about her?"
"Watch her, actually watch her. Don't just look at her the way everyone else does. I telling you this because you don't know her yet. None of us do, really.
But there are things you should know," his voice becoming quieter and more serious.
"She doesn't talk much to anyone. Not unless she actually wants to but that's not the part that bothers me, the part that bothers me is that she is always on guard."
Anik finally looked at him. "On guard?"
"Yes, always. She sits with her back to the light so no one can read her face, she does not even sit unless someone tells her to.
She acts like .... she is waiting for something. Like she's waiting for one of us to say the wrong thing. Like she's already decided we will hurt her."
Anik turned his head slowly toward Nahi. "You are telling me strange things to scare me. Don't you??"
Nahi blinked. "What? I'm not trying to scare you."
"Then what are you trying to do?"
Nahi opened his mouth. Closed it. For once, he didn't have a quick answer.
"You just told me she acts like she's waiting for — someone to hurt her. You told me she's always on guard. Do you know how that sounds?"
Nahi's jaw tightened. "That's not—" He let out a breath, a sigh of pure irritation. And ran a hand through his hair messing it up further than it already was and muttered under his breath.
"Watch her. Really watch the way she sits. She looks calm but she isn't relaxed, not even for a second.
Her hands remain neatly folded in her lap, almost as if she's deliberately trying to appear harmless. But look at her eyes, they never stay in one place for long. They're constantly moving.
Every sound catches her attention. Even the —smallest change in someone's position doesn't escape her — she never turns her whole head unless she needs to.
She is sitting like someone who has learned that the moment you stop paying attention — is the moment something happens.
Whatever she's been through, it taught her one thing very well. Never relax."
Anik looked at her again. This time, he noticed it, the small details he had missed at first. The way Maya's shoulders were angled ever so slightly toward the door.
The way she seemed completely absorbed in her book yet the way her hand was positioned near her lap, where it could move quickly if it needed to.
The way she had chosen the only chair in the room that gave her a view of both the windows and the entrance.
His eyes narrowed slightly. How had he never noticed that before?
"She doesn't trust us. She was with us on the first morning, said maybe ten words the whole time.
And every single one of them was 'Mr.' this and 'Miss' that. Like she is standing at a counter somewhere."
He paused. "Even the servants get more warmth from her than we do." The words hung in the air between them.
"I'm not saying this to scare you off, I'm saying this because I don't want you to walk over there and say something stupid and make her shut down even more."
Anik's lips curved — just slightly. "You think I'd say something stupid?"
"I think everyone says something stupid around her. She has that effect."
Anik let out a quiet breath—almost a laugh but not quite. "Alright, thank you."
Nahi nodded once. Then he pulled back, settling against the sofa again, his notebook back on his knee. He picked up his pen and resumed writing, as though the conversation had never happened.
Anik watched Maya for one more second—just one and then he turned his attention back to the room.