Unsuitable Proposal

Chapter 30: Spiteful Man

Lightning split the night sky and loud thunder roared outside my room's window. I clutched my blanket tighter and curled my knees to my stomach. I was laying in darkness, waiting for the sleep to come. Nights like this I felt lonelier than ever.

Tears were trickling down my eyes. They'd been falling non-stop since I got into bed. My mind was overwhelmed with sad thoughts: thoughts about Antarang and our unpleasant encounter today. Thoughts about my family and friends back home. Thoughts about my lonely, sad life, and where I was heading with it without my loved ones around. 

Again, the lightning flashed and the sky boomed loudly. I whimpered.

As a child I was afraid of thunderstorms -I guess I still was. Whenever the weather got bad, I hid under the blankets and cried. I was badly scared of the loud noise and had this childish fear of lightning falling over me. Papa used to hug me over the covers and sing lullaby to calm me.

"You're papa's strong girl, aren't you?" He used to say, gently trying to pry blanket off my face. "I won't let anything hurt you."

I'm hurting now, Papa. Where are you? 

Was this job, loneliness, money worth the love of my family? Was laying here alone and crying to myself worth it? Right now it was getting hard to hold on to the reason I had abandoned everything for.

*******

Antarang Bhatt

My throat burned as I gulped down the Jack Daniel's in one go. I poured myself another glass, wanting to find solace in golden-brown liquid. Clouds roared outside and rain pattered against the glass wall of my penthouse. It seemed weather was complementing the storm inside me. 

If my mother found me drowning bottles of liquor she'd have my head. Well, at least some good came out of leaving my home for a while. There was no one to nag. Though now I suspected Mom's fear wouldn't be unwarranted. With the way I was consuming bottles of different alcohol these days, I suspected I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic.

All because of one woman.

Kashvi Acharya.

My mother was right. That girl had cast some spell on me. From the first look I was enamored with her. Her soft voice, shy smile, her nose that unconsciously scrunched as she got angry, and her adorable blush whenever I teased her. I was smitten with her.

Little did I know she was going to be the cause of my suffering.

I remembered it like yesterday. I was smiling like a fool, standing with a varmala in my hand. I was impatiently waiting for the woman for whom I was ready to give it all. 

She was going to be clad in embroidered red lehenga- that my mother had gifted her- with gold jewelries covering her head, hand, neck and legs... Though it was little concerning if Kashvi would be uncomfortable carrying all this weight of her lehenga and jewelries. It was lot of work being a bride. In other functions too, Kashvi looked breathtaking in all her attires. I had mastered lots of self-control by resisting to grab her by her waist and have my way with her. She was that stunning.  

Instead of Kashvi, her uncle came with a tensed face.

"She's not in her room. We believe she ran away last night," he had whispered in my ear, "son, I want to apologize for that girl's shameful act. Please forgive us. She's no more our daughter after the stunt she pulled."

It took me some time to realize that it was no prank. Kashvi had really left. She had left me. Nothing made sense. I thought we were in love. How could she just leave like that? After all the promises, sweet talks, and our undeniable connection, she abandoned me just like that. I was numb.

Once everything dawned on me, it felt like someone had ripped open my chest and squeezed out my heart. It physically hurt. Kashvi was gone. My princess had left. All the dreams we had built together of our married life were shattered in a second.

I didn't remember much the commotion that followed afterwards. I had been too absorbed in my misery and self-pity to pay any heed to that. I suppose the angriest was my mother. She gave Kashvi's family an earful, and when she started threatening them with lawsuits my father had to step in before things got ugly. Her family didn't need to be dishonored because of her fault.

Eventually, the pain of her betrayal changed to anger. How dare that girl cross me like that?!

If she had married me, I would've given her all the happiness in the world. But no, she had to do something as outrageous as running away on our wedding eve. She not only hurt me, but our families too. Mom didn't sleep or eat properly for days, distressed for me and our family's name. Dad drowned himself in his work to avoid staying home for long, perhaps all the decorations in our home for Kashvi's arrival reminded him of his son's failed wedding.

I, too, followed my Dad. I wasn't the type to sit around and grieve. Unfortunately, Brillio couldn't keep me from thinking about her. That girl had her claws deep in me. 

She really is a witch, huh?

When HotWired's CTO and my mentor, Aadeel Kazmi, came to me with an offer to outsource my company's model's upscaling at a good price, I couldn't deny. I tried to forget about Kashvi, it didn't work. Wounds caused by her still ran deep. My princess had to pay for that.

I hand-picked her team and gave them the project. I knew it was going to be hard to face her after what she'd done. But the rush of taking my revenge on her was too tempting to pass on.

The first time I saw her after two excruciatingly long months, I was knocked out. Her dressing style had changed to more modern and her then long hair was cut short to shoulders. I wish I could say I hated it. But like always, that woman pulled it off. The desire to grab her by waist and kiss the life out of her was strong as ever. I had to remind myself that she was the one who ruined me.

Today, when she had confronted me after Aadeel left us, I had almost given in. Her dark eyes begged me to forgive her, to take her. The fact they still made me weak...- I hated that woman with all my heart! I hate her!

I was a spiteful man right now. And Kashvi Acharya was going to take back all the venom that she had infused in me. 

*******

Varmala- Garlands that are made for wedding ritual. Bride and groom exchange them during ceremony.

lehenga- Hindu bridal gown.

You guys wanted Antarang's pov. Here it is!!!! I don't know how it was. My first time writing man's pov... Yeahhh.

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