Redemption of Royals (Royal #1: Book 3) | ✔

33

-• are you my wife? •-

Taranya

I was in the wrong.

But I couldn't admit it in front of him. I couldn't tell him all that I said to Niharika meant nothing to me. It was all empty words. The moment he asked if I meant what I said, I felt weak, seen, almost naked. Because I didn't need to think of an answer. I know the truth. And I was afraid to acknowledge it. I was trying to protect myself, my heart, my trust. Unfortunately, I ended up hurting him.

During the two months we spent as husband and wife, I have benefited more as a wife than him. And to think he wanted to marry me.

While I barely even glance at him, he bends over backward to make sure I'm happy and comfortable. Those nightly cuddles that I pretend to hate, I cannot fall asleep without them anymore. The I love yous I pretend to have grown tired of, my day feels incomplete if I don't hear them once. I wait for him to come back home just so I can tell him about my day, because he has made it into a habit to ask me about it and listens to me attentively. I don't even bother to ask if he had eaten anything throughout the day.

I had no right to say he suffocates me. He's the only person in this cold palace that makes me feel warm. I long for his presence. Without him, I feel absolutely alone and stranded.

Everything I said to Niharika was a lie, and I knew that. I knew it when she confronted me, I knew it when I said all that bullshit, and I knew it when Shourya asked me whether it was true.

It wasn't.

The door to the bathroom opens and he walks out. I step forward, my lips falling apart to call his name, but he enters the closet and slams the door close. I sigh in defeat. He's angry right now. Rightfully so. I should give him some time to calm down.

I take a shower and get ready for the office. He doesn't wait for me to join him for breakfast downstairs. Hence, I run a little behind the schedule. By the time I make it to the dining hall, he's getting up from his chair and putting it back in its place, excusing himself from the Chairman and Virendra Pratap. Then he walks past me as if I wasn't standing right in front of him.

The two men at the table stare at me perplexed. Shourya always kisses me on the forehead before heading for his office. I hated it. Or I thought I did, because now I miss it.

"Good morning," I wish the men timidly.

"Good morning, Bahu." The Chairman nods with a smile.

"Good morning," Virendra says half-heartedly. "I'm done. I'll see you later, Papa." His chair screeches back and in less than a minute, he's walking out of the dining hall.

The Chairman gets done with his breakfast soon after. He takes the last sip of his coffee and grabs his cane from the side, standing up using the support. "Have a great day ahead, Bahu,"

I force a smile at the man. "You too, Your Majesty,"

The door falls close with his exit.

I look down at the bowl of soup in front of me and mindlessly stir the spoon until it stops releasing steam. Picking up the bowl, I drink the soup quickly and pat the corners of my mouth with the tissue before grabbing my phone from the table. I put the chair back in its place and swing my handbag over my shoulder, leaving the dining hall to reach the car waiting for me outside the palace. The valet hands me my keys. I thank him and settle in. The rich leather smell emanates. I press the pump of air freshener and start the car, driving out of palace premises.

At the first red light, I get a call from Agastya. I lean in and accept the call. "Yes, Agastya,"

"Should I just become a pilot?"