Slowly wiping her tear-stained cheek, Preeta looked grimly at her husband. For hundredth time, she noticed his frustrated glare at her and she couldn't do anything to end this moment.
She swallowed hard. "I had kind intentions. I did nothing wrong. Its not my fault that she has misunderstood my efforts."
She saw the twitch at the corner of his lips as he leaned ahead on the couch and crossed his hands. Putting his elbows on his knees, he smiled humorlessly.
"Helping her was right. Humiliating her wasn't."
Preeta closed her eyes and sighed. She got up from bed and ignored his heated gaze on her. From past hour, they had been arguing because two hours ago Kritika had helplessly confessed everything to her brother.
Pawan's friends had encircled Kritika and taunted her of arrogant ways at how she got him threatened by her relatives. Even her friends misunderstood the situation as no one knew the truth about Pawan and humiliated her by calling her names and boycotting her.
Feeling utterly upset and realising it all happened because Preeta was the one to take action, Kritika couldn't control the anger she felt at her. She couldn't control the urge to reach her brother and complain about how his wife had ruined her school life.
Preeta had returned home just after thanking Kabir for his support. For two whole hours, she waited for Kritika to tell her about how she rescued her from that stupid boy. But unexpectedly, Kritika gave her a blank stare and entered her room without another glance.
Being worried, Preeta waited for Karan and even asked Kabir, if Pawan could contact Kritika by any means. They had reported him to cops and with Kabir's report, they took undertaking from Pawan. He contracted that he won't disturb the girl again. Kabir had comfortingly assured her that now, everything was fine. All she needed was to give Kritika some space.
So she did.
After an hour, her husband arrived and getting scolded by him wasn't what she had expected. Karan had unnecessarily accused her of insulting Kritika, lowering her image in Kabir's eyes.
Saying that Karan was angry, was an understatement. He was furious, crazy to kill that Pawan who dared to play with his sister. Moreover, he was angry on Kritika too. But his little sister's tears and nonsensical accusations had manipulated his mind.
Preeta breathed heavily. She walked around the bed to get to the balcony ahead of their room, so she could freshen up her mind. She was disappointed at Kritika, for misunderstanding her and angry at Karan, for not trusting her.
Did he really think that she had done all this to lower his sister's image? For what she could remember, she herself hid it from him so he could not know of his sister's deeds.
She shook her head in thought and was about to step ahead when she was pulled in a hard chest. Her back hit Karan's broad front and she looked away tiredly.
"Don't ever walk away from me again." He muttered coldly while pulling her close.
Preeta let out a heavy breathe and sniffled to control her emotions. "I don't care. I am not afraid of you, anymore."
She felt his hands wrapping around her waist and she couldn't stop the sob that erupted in overwhelming actions. "Karan, leave me. I hate it. I hate all of this. I did all of this to save her. I thought you would be happy. But again, you just noticed that I took Kabir's help instead of yours..."
She turned around, pushed in his chest and looked straight in his eyes. "... Do you know why I couldn't share it with you? Because I thought, it would affect your bonding with her. You would be angry on her when she was already so stressed. The matter would have reached mom-dad's ears. It would have become so big. I did what I thought at that time..."
