Anguish & Affection

Part 15

Pranav's eyes filled with tears as he desperately tried to keep his voice steady. "Hey! How are you?" he asked, barely able to choke out the words as waves of grief crashed over him. He wished with all his heart that he could take away Diya's pain and suffering, but try as he might, there was nothing that he could do.

The riches, fame and power of Atharv Singh Chauhan's family were like a noose that slowly strangled him. He bitterly lamented the futility of their pursuit to preserve those fading vices which shackled Diya for years, unable to escape his clutches.

Diya's eyes burned with rage, the anger boiling within her like hot magma. She clenched her fists as she vented her emotions, "I don't know what to feel anymore, Pranav! That man, Atharv... he behaves like a monster and is nothing close to the lanky boy that I left behind all those years ago. My parents have been hiding so much from us, and even now he is keeping secrets from me!" Her voice trembled with emotion as she stared out of her window at him in disgust.

Pranav's voice rose to a fevered pitch as he shouted, "Do you think whatever they have kept secret from you is what caused the abduction? I saw the guilty stares between them when it happened; they both had some idea of the danger Atharv would bring you." He could feel his anger seeping out with every word, filling the room like hot steam.

Diya replied, leaning her back against the wall near the window. "Atharv's sister, Aditi Di, is in the hospital with an immunodeficiency from something that happened a while ago. Neither of his parents are alive anymore. As far as I know, my parents and Atharv are the only ones who know what really happened. Unless we learn the truth, it'll be hard for us to get the better of him since whatever it is, my dad will probably let me stay with him rather than exposing it." Her gaze was now filled with mixed emotions along with determination towards the man she had been watching, though he had moved away from her line of sight.

"I am certain someone else out there knows the truth, Diya. I will not rest until I find out who it is," he said earnestly, his mind working to determine how to unearth the facts which made Sujith give up his daughter.

"Your time is up!" Atharv said, stopping in front of her door and respecting her decision not to let him into her room.

"What do you mean? You said I could speak to anyone for as long as I wanted," she exclaimed, realizing that the call had ended on its own. She frowned at him when she looked up from her screen, angry that he had lied to her.

Atharv's answer was casual, yet he could sense the doubt that had slowly crept in her voice, "Well, anyone except for Pranav–he's the exception."

"Wow!" She rebutted, incredulous. "I didn't know you were so insecure. Setting a time limit on conversations is like a new level of insecurity," she said as she threw her phone across the bed and crossed her arms. The part of her heart that had opened up to him had gone completely cold after hearing his words.

"It's not a matter of insecurity—that man was engaged to my partner! I think it's understandable that I have reservations about him," he commented while shoving his hands in his pockets and positioning himself in the doorway.

"He is one of my closest companions. And, don't forget what you said last night: that marriage is only marriage because you view it as such. I don't, and that changes everything," she retaliated as she tried to dial Pranav's number, but to no avail. His IT team had evidently surpassed expectations.

"I don't remember that marriage; I was just a small child when my family moved to another country and have no idea what happened all those years ago. Are you aware that I was the only one in this entire situation without any choice? You admitted yourself that you agreed to marry me because you liked me, but did I ever get an opportunity to give my opinion?" She stepped towards him, summoning every bit of bravery she had.

Atharv's features tightened with unbidden anger as he heard her words, yet no matter the strength of his conviction to castigate her, his heart melted. He could never condemn the carefree sixteen-year old she used to be, nor the suspicious and betrayed twenty-seven year old she had become. His intense emotions triumphed and made him powerless against her.

His eyes lowered as the guilt of hurting her overcame the satisfaction of his revenge. "I realize that my opinion in your eyes is lower now, than it was before. I acknowledge that you should have had a choice and yet I denied it to you. Similarly, there were many factors which were taken from me that I deserved- and perhaps you understand now that this is about justice, not just vengeance," he declared, folding his arms across his chest.

"You were once my closest companion, my first love, the person I compared everyone else to before deciding to date them, the one I missed at every happy or sad occasion - yet you did not deserve that honor and my decision to give it to you was the worst mistake of my life. Guilt will eat away at your conscience now that you know what your actions have brought about."

His arms dropped heavily, weighted with her confession. As the clouds of confusion started to drift away, he could see in her eyes what he had missed for so long. It was not hatred that lingered there, but a deep well of pain from betrayal and a heartache that made him take several steps back. Her courage was not triumph or resilience, but a desperate attempt to cling onto what she had felt before he destroyed it like a storm blowing away any trace of her affection for him.

Love and war were two intertwined forces of nature, blinding all who chose one or the other. Atharv was forced to make a choice that would alter his destiny forever, between a path of agony or misery; love or war. He felt himself standing on a tightrope, teetering in uncertainty as he balanced precariously between the two.