📜SIDDHARTH📜
SHE'S HERE. SHE'S SAFE.
SHE'S HERE. SHE'S SAFE.
SHE'S HERE. SHE'S SAFE.
SHE'S HERE. SHE'S SAFE.
I repeated the words in my head as I held Mira tight.
Stains of blood. Skin showing bruises. Eyes wide with fear.
Her small frame quivered, and she seemed delicate, like something easily shattered.
"It's fine, Dhadkan," I whispered. "You're alright. You're safe."
She hid her face in my neck, her gentle cries tugging at my heart, squeezing it like a worn-out cloth. The ache of loss was a heavy presence in the room, as if she had slipped through my fingers.
"WHO. DID. THIS. TO. YOU?" My voice hardened. Fierce protectiveness burned in my chest.
I tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"M-my p-parents..." She breathed, her voice thick with unshed tears. My eyes grew dark. The jaw clenched.
I should have guessed it when I saw Mira and her parents missing from the ball. I fucking hate myself for leaving her all alone with those bastards. My anger flared again at the sight of her cuts and bruises, but I tamped it down.
Her hands clutched tightly against my blazer while she let out a small cry.
"Sshh. I am here, Jaan." I reassured her while carrying her in my arms. I didn't need anyone asking questions, so I took us through the back entrance up to our bedroom.
"How did you find me?" she asked when we were halfway to our room. Her voice was soft and quiet.
"I didn't catch a glimpse of you in the party hall after the speech." Even though I was trying to be mad at Mira, doesn't mean I can't look at her from time to time. Especially when she was looking like a diva in that pastel color dress. "So," I continued. "when I asked some housekeepers they informed me that you had made your way toward the lavatory but when you didn't join the party hall for another half an hour, I came myself to check on you but then-" My blood boiled before I could complete my sentence.
"You found me in this condition." She finished off my remaining statement while I nodded.
We stopped at our bedroom. The click of our bedroom door closing behind us.
Carefully, I placed her at the edge of our bed.
I'd almost lost her, and I needed her close.
I needed to see her, touch her, comfort her. To reassure myself that she was there and not a figment of my imagination.
Only then I could breathe.
"Are you still mad at me?" She asked, her voice low. She looked at me, her eyes full of tears.
I swallowed past a lump in my throat. I bent down at her level and took her hand in mine. "I can't be infuriated at you for even a second, dhadkan. And you need to know that." I said, caressing her cheeks.
She again broke down in front of me and I immediately hold her in my arms.
She'd gone through a traumatizing experience, and her actions now weren't indicative of her regular behavior.
"Stay with me." She softened the words into a request.
"Jaan, I can't even think of staying apart from you," I replied, my words muffled. "Let me just make a call to a doctor so that he can look at your injuries, okay?"
I reached for my phone and dialed the number of our royal doctor, Dr. Mehta. I explained Mira's condition, my voice tinged with worry and urgency. The doctor's reassurance that he would be right over brought a glimmer of hope to my heart.
When she gave a tiny nod I pressed a soft kiss on her forehead and made her lay on the bed and then went to call our royal doctor.
When I return to our bed, Mira was lost in her thoughts. Quietly, I lay beside her.
"Don't discuss anything with Papa or dadi-sa. I don't want them to be worrying about me." Her sentence was rough.
"But-"
"Please, Siddharth" Mira pleaded. I didn't argue any further as I don't want her to have any mental stress.
I nodded.
She half-faced me with one hand tucked beneath her cheek.
"Talk to me, Sweetheart. What's on your mind?"
She visibly swallowed. "Even after so many years of cruelty, I still believed them. I still hoped that one day they will accept me." Her breath hitched while I stroked her hand to continue. "But then tonight they crushed all my hopes and left me with disgust. I hate them so fucking much." She emitted while I mentally added another half an hour to my time with her parents.
"What did they say when you went to your parent's house?" Her eyes widened at my sudden question. I knew she was hiding something from me.
"And I want honest answers from you, Mira," I said, a low warning in my sentence.
She took a deep breath before answering "My younger brother, Viren started his own business last year. Everything was running smoothly until he invested his money in some fraudsters and soon after that my brother got himself into drinking and gambling which caused his business a great loss and now he doesn't have enough funds to pay his debts." She clarified.
"And now they want our company's help, don't they?" I spoke up, connecting the remaining dots.
"Yeah, sort of." She confirmed.
"You should have asked me then." It's not that I'm going to help those bastards but if that would take away Mira's suffering, I would gladly do anything.
"But I don't want to. What if your company supports them but Viren again starts gambling? Who'll take the responsibility?" Her voice hardened with anger.
I stared, my eyes glued at her, and before I could say something a whimper left her mouth as her hand touched the bruises.
My heart raced as I watch Mira.
Mira, her usually radiant face now pale and weary, had endured more than just a mild concussion. The bruise on her cheek and the sadness in her eyes told a painful story. It wasn't just the physical injury that worried me; it was the emotional toll that weighed heavily on my mind.
As I anxiously waited for the doctor's arrival, I sat beside Mira, holding her hand gently. I couldn't shake off the image of the pain her parents had caused her. I knew I had to be there for Mira, to provide the comfort and support she so desperately needed.
Finally, a knock on the door signaled the doctor's arrival. I opened the door to a man in a white coat. Dr. Mehta's warm smile immediately put me at ease. As the doctor examined Mira, my heart raced again, but this time with a mix of hope and fear. I watched the doctor's every move, every expression, hoping for positive signs.
After a thorough examination, Dr. Mehta turned to me with a reassuring nod. "She has a mild concussion, but there doesn't seem to be any serious internal damage," the doctor explained gently. "With some rest and proper care, she should recover well." a wave of relief wash over me, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. "Keep me informed if any complications arise. Though I don't expect any, here's my another number just in case."
I nodded at him.
As the doctor left, I turned my attention back to Mira. I gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face and whispered soothing words.
"You want anything?" I asked after the brief moment of silence.
She shook her head. "I just want a bath and a good sleep"
I nodded at her and proceeded to prepare her bathtub.
I and Mira took turns bathing.
After taking a bath, her face began to show a hint of color returning. It was as if the warm water had breathed life back into her cheeks. A soft, delicate blush painted her skin, it felt like the weight of weariness was lifted, replaced by a touch of freshness.
"Are you okay?" I questioned as she lay down on the bed.
"I don't know. I should have been habituated from their behavior but I don't know why there has always been a hope that they will love me. I just loathe myself for that." Her voice was barely soft.
"Because you are so pristine that you are unable to hate someone and they are just fucking jealous of that."
Her eyes shone. "Mr. Rajput, don't you think, you are cursing way too much these days? What if Papa gets to know?" A small smirk crept over her lips.
"Fuck, I didn't even think of that," I said with a dramatic sigh to ease her mood.
A rumble of laughter escaped from her throat while my whole world came to a halt to admire her.
After some moments her laughter gradually faded. "Siddharth."
I hummed in answer.
"I have my both parents but they never loved me. My father treated me like shit and my mother always wanted me to die." She closed her eyes and began further. "How did you endure the pain of losing your mother when she loved you from the bottom of her heart?"
I was quiet for a moment before I spoke again.
"I was ten when my mother passed away. At that time I didn't know what is death. Every day either I was at home or the hospital taking care of my mother. Papa and dadi-sa always comforted me saying that Maa is alright. She will be home soon but she never came back." A strange chunk formed in my throat. "When Papa came to my room late at night I knew something was off." I still remember every tiny detail of that night. Papa's eyes were swollen. His face was frail and pale.
"Honestly, I have never endured the pain. Whenever I think about her, my heart pangs. Her soft smile, her love for this family, and the way she has loved my father."
An unknown smile tugged over my face.
"Siddharth..." Mira spoke, her voice damped with emotions.
"It's not a sad story, Sweetheart. I know she's here, looking at us from somewhere and I love her and I will always be."
Mira held my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
"She must be a great soul."
"She was."
"I wished to have this kind of selfless love from my parents but they never loved me and after tonight's incident, my every keenness has been smashed," Mira said while my heart hurt for that innocent girl who have never wanted anything else rather than her parents' love.
"Because they don't know your worth, Dhadkan," I spoke up while interlacing my fingers with hers.
"I'm not saying I'm one hundred percent over what happened tonight," she said. "But I will try." Mira visibly swallowed.
"When they were beating me to the death, I could only think about you, Siddharth." She spoke softly. "And I missed you."
The compression in my chest loosened, and my mouth softened in a genuine smile.
"Um, well..." Her cheeks turned a warm shade of pink, and she looked down shyly. "I guess, maybe, it would be alright if, you know, you could give me a goodnight kiss."
A soft chuckle escaped me, and a gentle warmth filled the air. Her nervousness was so endearing, and it made my heart feel light.
I brought her nearer, and in a quiet voice, I told her, "I really missed you as well."
I placed a soft kiss on her lips. Kissing her felt so wonderful, but I managed to step back. This wasn't the right moment for a passionate and intense kissing session.
"That's all you'll have for now. You should get some rest."
Mira let out a sigh, her voice tinged with playful complaint. "You're such a tease."
I pulled her a little closer to my chest, feeling a rush of tenderness, and soon drifted into slumber. Tomorrow held so many plans, and my heart brimmed with anticipation.
The next morning I woke up early and got ready to manage 'some' business at my in-laws.
Before leaving my room, I pressed a light kiss on Mira's lips while stroking her hair.
As soon as I reached Rathore mansion, I knocked hard on the door and even rang the bell.
Just after a few minutes, the door opened and the sight of my father-in-law came into view. He raised his eyebrows before inviting me to his house.
"jamai-sa, what made you arrive here so early in the morning?" My mother-in-law asked while offering me a seat on a couch.
"Well, we didn't get enough time to chat last night," I said, my voice deepened with rage.
Mira's father's eyes narrowed with confusion.
"I came to talk here business."
An ugly sneer tugged on that bastard's lips. "I guess that shit bag told you about everything."
Before he could blink, I was out of his couch and around the coffee table, my one hand twisting her father's arm behind his back and the other hand holding his face down to the table by the neck. His wife gasped and made her way toward her douche husband.
"Her name," I leaned down to whisper, "is Mira. And she's my wife. My Queen." I smiled a cold, hard smile. "And she indeed told me about everything"
"Call her that one more time," I continued, "and what I did to you just now will look like a child's play compared to what I'll do to your family."
I twisted my father-in-law's arm harder, making him yelp in pain.
I slammed his head into the table, harshly pulling on his thumb, the crack was loud in the room and Mira's father yelled.
"Jamai-sa, please stop this." Mrs. Rathore begged but I ignored her.
"She's suffering from a fucking concussion because of you both and you think that I will leave you without giving any return gift," I said, gritting out my teeth.
He looked at me with venom in his eyes. I sat down on the edge of the table and leaned forward. "You are garbage, Chiranjeev Rathore."
I tilted his head to the side, holding his hand almost casually. "I have the time and patience to make you feel pain the likes of which you've never felt before. Pain that will make you wish you were dead. So, I'll make an offer to you. Stay away from my woman or else you will find yourself buried six feet under the ground and I am sure you won't like that. "
I straightened, throwing away the hand and turning to leave.
"You are doing all this for her?" Mrs. Rathore's voice caught my attention.
I turned toward her to get a proper look at her.
"This is nothing in comparison to what I am willing to do for her." I let out. " And Savitriji, I have records of your deeds too, and if you are thinking that I won't take any actions against you just because you are a woman then let me tell you that you are mistaken. I know how much you love your son so for now, just pray for him and his business." Her eyes dilated at my last sentence.
Turning on my heel, I walked to the door again, then stopped, pinning Chiranjeev with my brutal gaze.
"Stay away from her, old man," I warned my voice hard. "Hurt her again and I will hunt you down from the very corner of this world."