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Chapter Fifteen ➳ The Consumption of Darkness

Shaurya

"I'm... I'm going to go use the bathroom," Nathan mutters under his breath as he acknowledges the harsh look shared between me and father. Before I can stop him from leaving, he's already dashed towards the bathroom. God, why did he just leave like that?!

"Who are you?" Anika's father hisses at me, crossing his bulgy arms across his chest. I feel my heart rate fasten and I genuinely realize how scary her father looks. I thought he only sounded intimidating, not looked as well! 

My blood starts to boil as I also realize that he may have been the reason Anika was put in the hospital, or maybe even the reason for her attempted suicide. I take a deep breath as it dawns upon me that I cannot possibly strangle this man due to my hatred for him. Dammit.

"I'm..." I sigh to myself and puff my chest out a little to make myself seem a little bit more 'masculine.' I am not gonna make myself seem small to this man! He's the reason why Anika's been upset lately, hurting herself lately, and downing herself and demeaning upon herself. He's the reason why life has been hell for her lately.

Summarizing with all the facts she had given me on her father, I guess it's safe to say that she wasn't over exaggerating by how terrifying he looks. His dark brown eyes raging with storm. His frown that creates a huge pit in my stomach. His bulky arms that make me feel a hundred times smaller. 

He reminds me of my father.

Anika's father may have been physically abusive, but my father has been mentally abusing. I've dealt with my father pressuring me to become something I'm not, become a businessman while all I've been dreaming about is to become an artist. Sometimes I spent my free time doodling in my notebook, creating masterpieces instead of finding the differences between macro and microeconomics. But then, my father would barge inside my room, tear the page apart, the one with the doodles, making me feel upset and... unworthy of my dreams.

I sometimes get mad at myself for not standing up to him. Like, he's Neil Roy! Billionaire businessman that has taken over Western California. And his son just standing up to him and ruining his reputation for him by not following in his footsteps and becoming an artist to pursue his own dreams? What an actual shame.

I take a deep breath. I will not make myself seem small for some man that ruins other people. "I'm Shaurya Roy," I breathe out, feeling my heart hammer against my chest. "Anika's friend."

"Anika's fr--" he stops his sentence midway. He then walks towards me, his lips sealed together in a tight line as he clenches his fists in anger. Afterwards, he points a strong finger at me and grits through his teeth, "Stay away from my daughter. You hear me? I don't need you walking into her life, distracting her from her studies. Trust me, she doesn't need a guy like you in her life."

"How can you just assume that I'm a bad guy?" I blurt out. "You know nothing about me. And doesn't it say that I'm a good person if I come here, to the hospital, to check up on her? What bold assumptions you're making, Mr. Desai," I snort.

"Hey," his voice wavers with anger. "Don't use that tone with me, or you will regret it."

I shake my head, feeling my lips curl into a frown. "Why did she attempt to commit suicide?"

"That's none of your business," he almost immediately answers. 

"Of course it's my business," I hiss. "She's my friend, I care about her! Unlike you," I add under my breath.

"Excuse me?" he growls. "What did you say?"

My lips tremble from fear as I respond back. "I said that you don't really care about her," I mutter under my breath. "At least by the things she has told me, though, I'm assuming."