Kyra (Complete)

Chapter Thirteen

“I'm not staying in a marriage that you forced me into!” Kyra spoke through clenched teeth, fighting the overwhelming desire to yell.

She had been forced to stand by while her father lied to the entire world that her mother had died in a car crash. Kyra didn't think she could go on living. She could feel the weight of the world settle on her shoulders and she knew the only way she could get away from her lying father was leaving India behind —and that included Vihaan.

The news of her desire to divorce him would bring great pleasure his way. She didn't even want to think of the look of relief he'd have in his eyes. She just needed to leave. She needed to escape.

“Is this why you dragged me out here, Kyra? To tell me you want a divorce from Vihaan? Then you must have lost your mind!” Her father said tersely.

“Just because you managed to convince the world that Mother died in a car accident does not mean I do not know the truth!” She growled.

“Do you? As far as I know, you have suffered from mental illness since you were born!”

His words were like a bitter slap to her face, momentarily knocking the air out of her lungs.

“What?!” She managed, stunned.

“The ability to dream up stories, fully believing them to be real. I have the medical reports to prove it.” He said, his eyes threatening her. “I will convince the entire world that you, Kyra, are mad. Then when I'm done, I'll have you locked up in a mental institution!”

For a second, she stood barely breathing, her eyelids bulging as her mind fought to comprehend his threat. Then, just as quickly, she understood and understanding led to an uncomfortable fury and an undeniable desire to wipe the smug look off of his face.

Without pausing to think, she reached for his face, wanting to rip him apart with her fists. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the monster that stood before her. She knew he was much more than capable of his threat.

He reached forward and captured her wrist, pushing her hard against the railing and grabbing her jaw. Trapped, she was powerless to fight back. For a moment, she saw herself dying. She imagined dying and going to be with her mother. She imagined the look of disappointment on her mother's face and she knew she couldn't die. Not yet. Not until her mother got the justice she deserved.

Kyra leaned forward, her arms wrapped around herself as she sat alone in the garden of the Sodhi family that evening, the conversation she had with her father earlier at her mother's funeral, playing over and over in her mind.

A sense of guilt and shame washed over her —she shouldn't have stayed away from Anja for that long. She shouldn't have agreed to marry Vihaan.

Her lips fell open, a loud wail escaping. Here she sat, alone in the cold world, without her mother. Anja had been reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes because Kyra had agreed to be separated from her. If only she had seen this coming! If only she had known that a day would come when her mother would be ripped from her arms!

She fell to her knees, surrounded by flowers and darkness and a cold world that seemed to be drowning her. Her fingers gripped the grass that shrouded her knees, digging into the cold soil beneath her. Lifting her head to the gray sky above that stood empty without a star in sight, Kyra cried out again. She was as barren as the sky above —dark, lonely, cold. She was the emptiness that echoed in the garden around her. She was the pain that dug into her knees as it felt the brunt of supporting her entire body mass. She was the sun that blazed on a hot afternoon; powerful enough to consume the entire world with its heat, yet restricted to the sky above. Her anger was restricted to her heart. It was powerful enough to consume her father but restricted to the fear that clutched her heart when she thought of what he was capable of doing.