Chapter - 46
Hello, beautiful people! ??
Don't forget to vote and comment—your support means the world to me! ?
If you haven't done it for the previous chapter yet, please take a moment to do so now. It won't take much time, but it really helps and keeps me motivated to write more! ??
Also, I'd love to hear your feedback—every thought, opinion, or emoji counts! ????
Avi gently wiped my tears. He kissed my forehead softly, again and again...
His hand kept rubbing my back, calm and steady... like he was telling me he's here.
He didn't say anything.
He just let me speak.
He let me pour it all out.
"I don't have any memory before the accident..." I whispered. "Nothing."
I took another breath, shakier this time.
I just remember... when I opened my eyes in the hospital, I was alone. There was no one beside me. No one holding my hand. I didn't even remember why I was there."
"I didn't even remember my own name. Didn't know who I was, Avi... nothing. Just a blank space where my life should've been."
"I can still feel it, Avi... that cold hospital bed against my skin, the deafening silence of the room, only interrupted by the sharp beeping of machines I didn't understand."
"Then... after a few hours, a man came. He said he was my Tauji. He told me my name was Siya."
My throat felt tight. I gripped Avi harder, like I was scared I'd lose him too.
"I asked him about my parents... but he didn't say anything. He just said, 'I'll take you home.' And I was too lost not to believe him."
Tears welled up in my eyes again.
"But it wasn't home, Avi. He didn't take me home. He took me to some village. An old woman was there — he said she was my Dadi." (Dadi - Grandmother)
I looked up at Avi's chest and whispered, "I asked him again... where are my parents? He said... they left me. They would never come back. They were gone forever."
My voice broke as I continued, "Then he just... left me there. Like I was nothing. Like I didn't matter."
I could still remember how scared I was. So small, so lost.
"I was crying, Avi... crying for my parents—whose face, name, voice... nothing I remembered."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"I didn't talk after that. Not for days. I just... stayed quiet."
I felt him tighten his arms around me like he was trying to hold every broken piece of me together.
"My Daadi... she took care of me. She was the only one who made me feel safe. She would make me sleep in her lap... feed me... hold me when I cried."
I smiled sadly, then looked up at Aarav with teary eyes.
"But she... she also left me, Avi. After six months, she died."
My voice broke again, and I couldn't hold it anymore—I buried my face in his chest.
His arms wrapped around me instantly, warm and protective.
"And then Tauji took me with him... and everything changed. That was the start of the silence I never knew how to break—until now."
Avi didn't say anything, but the way he held me... it told me I wasn't alone anymore.
I swallowed hard, trying to push back the tears that kept falling.
"When I entered the house with Tauji... no one welcomed me, Avi."
The memory hit me hard.
"They gave me a room. But it didn't have a bed. It looked like no one had used it in months. It was full of dust and cobwebs... dirty, dark."
I looked down, my fingers fidgeting with his shirt.
"I asked Taiji if I could get another room... if someone could clean it. But instead, she slapped me."
I could still feel that sting on my cheek.
Avi's hand stilled for a second on my back, then softly started rubbing again.
"She said, 'I'm already being too kind giving you a roof to live under. You don't deserve anything else.'"
I took a breath, voice small.
"I went back into that room... and I tried to clean it. I really did. But I was just a child... and it was too much. I couldn't do it properly."
I blinked away the tears.
"She didn't give me enough food. If I asked for more... she slapped me again. She said, 'It's enough for a burden like you.'"
My heart clenched as I said it.
"After that, I stopped asking. I learned to stay quiet."
Avi gently kissed the top of my head, his hands not leaving my back even once. He was silent... but I could feel how much he hated hearing this.
"She didn't let Natasha come near me either. Said I was... a bad omen."
My voice cracked.
"I didn't even know what that meant back then, Avi... but it felt like something terrible. Like I was wrong for just being alive."
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
"This went on for months... five or six months."
"Then... Dev Bhai came."
A faint smile touched my lips.
"He... he loved me, Avi. He brought chocolates for me. He used to sit with me, talk to me, make me laugh."
I could feel Aarav's grip around me tighten just a little, like he was silently thanking Dev Bhai.
"But Taiji didn't like it. She told him to stay away from me. She made me feel... like I was an outsider."
"She always said... 'You're a burden, Siya. A mistake we're forced to carry.'"
I closed my eyes.
"And slowly... I started believing it too."
"A few weeks later... Dev Bhai was sent to a hostel, far from home. Taiji said it was for his studies, but deep down, I knew the truth. She didn't want him around me. She didn't want anyone to love me."
I felt Aarav gently cup the back of my head, pulling me closer to his heart. I could hear it beating, steady... strong. For me.
"Tauji admitted me to school. Taiji was against it. She said I didn't need it. That I was useless."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"She even said... 'If you had died with your parents, we wouldn't have to tolerate you now.'"
A sob escaped me before I could stop it.
Avi still didn't say a word. But the way he held me—his hand in my hair, his other arm across my back—was more comforting than anything anyone had ever said to me.
"But Tauji said it was needed. That's the only reason I was allowed to go."
I took another shaky breath.
"I used to wonder, Avi... what did I do so wrong that even existing felt like a punishment?"
My voice broke completely.
"But now... with you... I feel like I'm allowed to exist."
Avi finally leaned down, pressed his forehead gently against mine, and whispered,
"You are not a burden, Siya. You are my angel."
And in that moment... for the first time in years... I believed it.
Not because someone said it...
But because he did.
I held onto Avi's shirt tightly, like it was the only thing keeping me from falling apart. His silence was louder than words, and his touch—soft, warm, always gentle—made me feel safe enough to keep going. So I did.
"I grew up listening to the same things again and again, Avi... 'You're a burden.' 'You're useless.' 'A bad omen.' 'If you had died with your parents, our life would've been better.'"
My voice trembled as I said those words out loud. Words that used to echo inside my head in the dark, when no one else could hear them.
"But... I never complained, Avi. Not even once."
Avi pulled me even closer, his hand now gently brushing through my hair, trying to calm the storm inside me. I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent—it was the only thing that made me feel like I could breathe right now.
"While Natasha got tutors and new books... I was told to study from torn pages. My uniforms were always old and faded. No birthday celebrations, no sweets on festivals. I used to watch them laugh together from far away... like I didn't exist."
I could feel my heart hurting with every word I let out.
""Natasha fell sick, Taiji stayed by her side the whole night. But if I fell sick... no one even noticed. I just lay there, quietly, hoping the fever would leave me the way everyone else did. And when I started walking again, Taiji made me do all the housework like nothing happened."
Avi gently kissed my forehead, not saying anything, but his eyes... they were full of pain—for me.
"All I ever wanted was... love."
I sniffled.
"But Tauji said... 'We feed you, that's enough. Don't expect love too.'"
My voice cracked again.
"So I stopped expecting anything—no love, no kindness, not even dreams."
His thumb wiped away my tears, but they just kept falling.
"But do you know what hurt me the most?"
I looked up at him, my voice barely a whisper.
"They forgot the day my parents died."
Avi's jaw clenched, but he didn't speak. He just kept rubbing my back slowly, making me feel like I mattered.
"My dad was Tauji's younger brother... and he forgot the day he died, Avi."
I choked on my own breath.
"I went to the temple alone to pray for them. And Tauji... Taiji... Natasha... they were out enjoying that day. Eating from outside. Sometimes even partying."
I laughed bitterly, wiping my face, though it didn't help much.
"They never took me anywhere, Avi. Never made me feel like I was part of their family. I wasn't even allowed to have friends. They said I would bring shame."
I looked down again, ashamed of things I never did.
"They didn't just hurt me emotionally, Avi. They hurt me... physically too."
Avi stiffened beside me, but his hands never left me. One stayed on my waist, the other resting protectively on my head.
"When Taiji was angry... she slapped me. If anything went wrong in the house... she slapped me. If Natasha made a mistake... she slapped me."
My voice was cold now, distant. Like I was watching those memories from far away.
"Sometimes I think... maybe she just looked for reasons to slap me."
A tear slid down, followed by another.
"She used to lock me in the storeroom without food or water for hours... sometimes a whole day. And Tauji... he never said a word. Not even once."
Avi's hand tightened gently, grounding me again, making me feel his quiet anger. But his eyes stayed soft—for me.
"The day before Maa and everyone went to see Natasha's proposal... Taiji... she beat me with Tauji's belt."
My body shivered at the memory, and Avi's arms immediately pulled me closer.
"All because I wore a suit that Bhabhi had gifted me."
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand.
"She locked me in the store again. She was planning to keep me there for days, Avi. One meal a day and water... that's all."
I looked into his eyes, barely able to finish.
"But then... they got the call about Natasha's proposal. She opened the storeroom, gave me painkillers... and made me work like nothing happened."
I broke down again, my face hidden in his chest.
Aarav held me close, his arms wrapped protectively around me like he was trying to shield me from everything—even the past. I felt the warmth of his touch, steady and quiet. He hadn't said anything since I stopped speaking earlier. He just... stayed.
But now, his voice broke the silence—low, filled with something I couldn't describe.
"Siya... what happened that day... the day you went for Pag Phera?"
I froze for a second. My chest tightened. I looked away, but his grip around me didn't loosen.
"Siya..." he said gently, and I knew he already had a feeling. I took a shaky breath and nodded slowly.
"Taiji... she slapped me, Aarav."
His hold became firmer, but still gentle—like he was scared I'd break. Maybe I already had.
"She said horrible things... like always. But that day—she was different. Angrier. She said I don't deserve you, or this life, or love. That I'm just... unwanted baggage."
My fingers clutched the edge of his shirt. My voice was trembling.
"And then..." I paused, the memory stinging my heart, "she ripped the necklace from my neck. She said I'm not worthy of wearing royal things... that her daughter deserves it, not me."
I looked down, ashamed of something I didn't even do.
"I... I know I lied to you the next day."
I looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"When you asked about the marks—I said I pulled the necklace. I shouldn't have lied, Avi. I'm sorry."
He didn't say anything. Just rested his chin on my head, his arms tightening around me. My voice cracked as I continued.
"I wanted to tell you. Really. But I didn't know how to say it. And I was scared."
A lump formed in my throat again.
"Scared because Tauji... he threatened me, Avi. When I said I didn't want to marry you... he blackmailed me."
I pulled away just slightly to look at his face, though I couldn't meet his eyes.
"He said... if I didn't marry you, he would sell my father's house. The only thing I have left of them. The place where I used to live... even if I don't remember much of it. It's still theirs... it's mine, Avi. And I couldn't lose that too."
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I didn't even try to stop them this time.
"They never did anything good for me all these years. Nothing. Not once. And yet... they used that one thing to control me. Because they knew it was all I cared about."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"I thought maybe... maybe if I just stayed quiet, I could protect what's left of my parents."
Aarav still hadn't said a word. But I felt his hand gently wiping my tears—one by one, with so much care, like he was trying to erase the pain written on my face. And then, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
So gentle.
So warm.
It made my chest ache in a way I couldn't explain.
I closed my eyes. His arms around me felt like the only place I was safe.
I took a small breath and whispered, my voice barely a sound,
"I was alone my whole life, Avi. And I always asked Shivji why he took my parents and left me here... alone? Why?"
My throat tightened as I continued,
"Why didn't he take me too? If he just..."
Before I could finish, Aarav suddenly pulled back—not away, just enough to look at me.
"That's enough, Siya."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was firm. I blinked up at him, a little shocked... and scared that I had said too much. My words always got me in trouble before. But his eyes...
They were burning. Not with anger.
With pain.
With care.
With something so fierce, it made my heart skip.
"Don't ever say that again," he said softly but seriously, his hand cupping my cheek.
"You're not alone."
His thumb brushed away the fresh tear that escaped.
"Not anymore."
He pulled me close again, tighter this time, like he was scared I might disappear.
"I won't let you be."
And just like that...
I believed him.
Because he didn't say those words to make me feel better.
He meant them.
He didn't try to fix me. He didn't give me promises of a perfect life.
He just stayed.
Held me.
Listened to me when no one ever had.
In that moment, I knew...
Maybe the pain wouldn't go away today. Maybe the memories would still hurt.
But I wasn't carrying them alone anymore.
Aarav was there.
And that...
That changed everything.