Amayra Miraya Singhania's POV
It's been a day, that I've stayed in Abhimanyu's penthouse. Honestly, I am scared of Abhimanyu. He says he is my brother, and I would be a fool to not believe him; he has my eyes, my hair. But I can't help but doubt him. I still don't know how he found me; I was running away.
It's obvious, that he doesn't like my presence, the way he acts are enough proof to that. I can't help but feel extremely terrified to live with him. And I have my reasons to not trust him.
I remember everything as clear as anything, like it just happened yesterday.
When I was three years old, I remember my small self playing in the garden of the orphanage, away from everyone else. The owner of the orphanage was a very kind and loving lady; Riya.
She was a lady in her mid thirties, managing everything in the orphanage, caring for everyone like her own. She would feed me, bathe me, put me to sleep when I got a nightmare.
Then a couple arrived, wanting to adopt me. I didn't want to; I loved Riya, and I didn't want to leave her.
But they did adopt me. They were a very nice and lovely couple, doing everything for me. I started to grow attached to them, and I loved them like my own parents. In just a span of three months, they became my parents.
That's when it went all wrong, until I ruined everything. It was a Sunday evening, and I was adamant on going for a ride.
My father, whom I called uncle, was driving on the empty highway, and I was screaming at him to increase the speed.
Flashback
" Uncle Subham! Drive fast!", I yelled at him, causing a laugh to from escape him.
" My little fairy, you need to sit down!", he spoke back to me, focusing on the road, as he increased the speed.
A fit of giggles escaped my mouth, as a gust of wind ruffled my hair.
" Sit down baby, you're gonna hurt yourself!", someone chided from beside, holding me down.
" Aunt Priya! Pwease!", a whine escaped me.
" Noooo!", I laughed out loud, as she tickled me.
" Which icecream do you want little girl?", uncle Subham asked, looking at me from the front view mirror.
" I want blueberry ice-cweam---", before I could complete my sentence, a loud crash was heard and the car turned over, the glass windows broke, piercing my skin. Rolling over a few times, the car came to a halt; upside-down.
I was squished to the side, as I turned my scared gaze towards aunt Priya; she was dead, a glass piece has pierced her neck.
And that's when a voice caught my attention, " Baby, here, l-look at me...", uncle Subham whispered, blood was trickling down his forehead. My teary eyes met his, as he smiled at me lovingly.
" Y-You need to get out of the car and run away...", he told me, his breaths heavy.
I shook my head, as tears rolled down my cheeks.
" No, you need to run away...okay? For me....just for me...", he was panting out these words, as I sobbed, nodding my head.
I pushed myself out of the window, and looked at him; he was still smiling.
" Run away baby...", he said as I stood there sobbing.
" I love you my little fairy...", he whispered out, and I knew I couldn't save him.
" I love you too....dad.", I said, as he gave me a smile, as tears flew from his eyes; finally closing them forever.
And then I ran, I ran far away, and saw the car explode, leaving me sobbing on the middle of the road, screaming in pain.
Back to the Present:
It was then, when I realized, I was really a curse. I was waiting to call him my dad, see his reaction, because he earned that position. I wanted to forget I was an orphan, give them a chance, give my life a chance.
But life proved me; I was an orphan. The happiness that reflected his eyes when I called him dad, even when he was on the verge of dying told me how happy he felt. I wish I could have called him dad earlier. I wish we could've made more memories.
I wish I wouldn't have been so adamant for going on a ride that day...
If only I could go back in time and change everything. Why didn't I die that day. I wish I could have died along with them, but they saved me. They fulfilled their responsibility as parents even when they were dying, I failed even when I am alive. I failed as a daughter. After what they did for me, I repayed them by being responsible for their death. And I will always be responsible for it.
After that day, Subham uncle's brother, Daksh, became my legal guardian. The person who abused me from the first day he entered my life till the day I ran away from him.
He was a sadist. He abused his wife, and when he got my guardianship, his wife pushed me in front of him to torture me. Though she apologized everytime and treated my wounds, that still didn't justify her actions.
I was a very rebellious kid, I used to scream at him; ask him why he was doing it. But he would never answer, he would just continue hitting me harder. But the day he answered my question, left me ceasing my efforts to defend myself; he was punishing me, for killing his brother.
He was a liar, but he never lied to me about that particular reason. He absolutely loved his brother, he loved him too much. And that made me drown in guilt, for I was the reason he lost his brother. So after that day, I never defended myself, just took every punishment silently.
An year later, when I was four, his wife ran away. And I also tried to do so, after she succeeded; thinking I would be able to escape him.
Oh how wrong was I.
When he found me out, he locked me in an underground cell. That was the last time I saw myself in a mirror. He had chained my wrists and ankles to the wall, and guess what, he filed a missing complaint against me. This way, the inspectors from the child services would never have to come and inspect my living conditions. And he just vanished; leaving me with them.
His sons, Nikhil and Neel...
They were my supposed brothers. And they were the ones who broke me; completely. They were the ones who had tortured me on hours end, abusing me, starving me, molesting me. They never raped me, but the humiliation and degradation I felt when they molested me, used me for their pleasure, always haunted me.
They controlled me, they crushed my rebellion, my confidence and my voice in just an year, I was five that time. That was the last time I spoke, and probably the last time I ever will.
The tortured me until a week before I escaped from Daksh. I had returned to the house where my guardian lived just a week before I knocked two people down and ran away.
They kept in the cell for eight years. Eight years of not being able to see the sunshine, the outer world. The torture they gave me, taught me to endure and to mask my emotions, control myself.
It would happen eventually, I just need to endure it. That's it.
Maybe brothers are supposed to act like that. I don't know, as much as it seemed wrong, I never had a brother. And they told me that's how brothers act with their sisters; I believed them.
And I just learned, learned to endure it up and not rebel, learned whatever they told me. Whenever they would complete punishing me, thay would say that I was a good sister, letting them treat me nicely like brothers do.
That was just the reason I don't want to live with Abhimanyu.
He was a stranger.
He was a man.
He was my brother.
And now when I see him in front me, handing me this beautiful little basket of sweet cotton candies, I could not help but think if he was acting.
Why wasn't he punishing me?
Why is he acting like that?
Isn't he supposed to act like a brother?
That was when I decided to ask him, my doubts, my questions and I scribbled on my notebook with shaky hands.
How did you find me?
" I didn't find you, my--- our cousin brother did. He found you and kept you in his friend's place, and I took you back from there.", Abhimanyu told me, all the gentleness leaving his eyes, he was stone cold again. I nodded.
Do I have parents?
He squinted his eyes, reading carefully," Yes, you do.", he nodded.
I could see he was going to ask me something, his expressions told me. And when he did, I was caught off guard.
" Who has hurt you Amayra?"
Amayra's POV
"Who has hurt you Amayra?"
The way this question rolled off his tongue so casually and nonchalantly, took me off guard.
How did he know?
Yeah, it's not like you are sitting in front of him with bruises on your body and a fractured knee...
He looked at me, as if peeking through my soul, as if he already knew the answer, as if he can see through me, all of me. His gaze made me so uncomfortable, so vulnerable. It felt as if he was seeing me bare, unguarded. His blank and emotionless gaze pinned me under it's powerful stare, leaving me stiff on the spot.
It felt as if I cannot think anymore.
Who has hurt me?
Who has not?
And before I knew it, I signal him to give a glass of water, and he lifted up the glass from the bedside table and handed it to me.
I took a few sips of water, very slowly, trying to think of ways to avoid this question, or to make up a believable lie.
" I asked you something.", he shook me off my thoughts, as he spoke calmly.
I gulped down a last sip from the glass, before handing it to him, and I watched, as he kept the glass back gracefully.
I got into an accident.
That was the only thing I could think of, which was clearly unbelievable. And the blank face he put on after I scribbled these words, was a clear proof.
" I won't ask again.", his tone changed completely, it was harsh, rigid, distant and dark.
And it told me, by saying he wouldn't ask again, he meant he would not repeat himself. And I will have to face the consequences if I would lie again.
And me, I just stared at him in the eye, my gaze as blank as his. If he wants to have a fight, be it. He could not force me. He is my brother, and he would eventually act like one right. He would hurt me, hit me the same way, it's not like it's something new for me.
And he is my real brother. He will definitely be worse, right?
" Being like this would not get you anywhere, Amayra.", he told me in a clipped tone.
And then, I decided something. I cannot argue with him, but I can turn over the conversation right. So, I took my notepad and wrote him something.
I have my questions too...mind answering them?
After he read my words, I didn't need to write anything anymore, because he knew what was coming.
" You were unconscious on the highway, your cousin brother Dhruv and his friend Vikram found you, took you to the hospital and after that kept you in Vikram's house. And when I visited there, I saw you and the rest, you know, don't you?", he nodded at me.
It took me few minutes to process what he just told me.
They took me to a hospital?
Almost immediately, I whipped my head in his direction, and saw him looking intensely into my eyes. He looked like he knew, he knew everything and he was waiting for me to give him a reaction. He anticipated my reaction, he already expected my reaction.
At this point, my fingertips felt numb and cold chills ran down my spine.
" Yes I know.", he nodded to me, his eyes never leaving mine.
He knows.
" Now...care to tell me. Who?", he spat out these words with so much venom, as if all he wanted was to hunt those people down.
And guess what I did? I just simply covered myself with the comforter and lied down, shutting my eyes tightly.
A few seconds passed in silence and then I heard his deep voice, "Amayra, you can take your time, but you can't hide from me forever. Remember that. It's already eight in the evening, take some rest and call me if you need anything.", and then I felt his weight lifting off from the bed and footsteps fading away. And I drifted into a dreamless sleep, feeling drowsy all of a sudden.
---
Author's POV
" Dhruv, I want all the details of Amayra's condition and the doctor who treated her by tomorrow.", Abhimanyu rasped on his phone, instructing Dhruv.
It was ten past eleven at the night and he had just finished working. Amayra was fast asleep in her, technically his room, all thanks to the tablets he mixed in her water.
" Okay bhai, I will send the medical reports. Anything else?", Dhruv said, emphasizing on the word medical reports, trying to correct Abhimanyu's typical vocabulary.
Abhimanyu disconnected the call, ignoring his words.
---
" Boss, Adhiraj Singhania has decided to announce his heir to the world, and his wife and kids are coming back this Sunday.", a person spoke to the man seated on the big chair present before him, who was lighting a cigarette. The whole room was dark, with a single bulb illuminating the whole room.
Loud laughter resonated in the room, echoing through the room, making the people present in the room shiver. It was a laugh full of evilness, vengeance.
" A-And there is no news upon Abhimanyu Singhania sir...", the man stuttered, a drop of sweat trickling down his forehead.
And in a blink of an eye, a painful scream pierced the thick silence, as the informer fell down, clutching his left knee.
The boss has shot him.
" Tsk. Such a useless piece of shit. Can't you find where a person is in all these years? Take him away!", he barked at his men, who followed his orders silently.
The boss smirked cruelly, " Adhiraj Singhania! Oh, how much I love to make you suffer. This time, you will be ruined. Just wait and watch. The game's on!"
---
It was the next day, and Abhimanyu has appointed the female for Amayra, one of the doctors who has treated her the previous time, and a nurse to take care of her. He told Andrew to provide her with food time to time and left for his work. Amayra has woken up that day, and she was somewhere upset that Abhimanyu decided to just leave.
He was going to remain with Amayra in the penthouse for a week, but he had to leave, because the 150th anniversary of Singhania groups was coming near and he knew he will have to complete the current project by then.
The Singhania Manor
The Singhania family was sitting on the dining table, ready to eat their breakfast when Adhiraj entered the dinning hall. A chorus of greetings were heard before silence filled the room.
" Adhiraj bhai, you need to bring Amayra home.", Swati Singhania's cheerful voice reached their ears.
A couple of agreements were heard before Adhiraj spoke, " Yes, she will be home, don't worry. I will speak to Abhimanyu about it."
When Adhiraj came to know about Amayra being found, he was over the moon and drove to Abhimanyu's penthouse. But the guards present there strictly prohibited the entry of any member of the Singhania family and the Rajputs. He tried to call Abhimanyu, but he never picked up.
He refused to sleep the last night, clearly too happy in his own little world. And he came to a conclusion; he will bring Amayra home with him, along with Abhimanyu.
Rishabh added thoughtfully, " Do you think he will let you, bade-papa?"
" Oh, he will son, don't worry. ", Adhiraj spoke, determined.
---
It was afternoon, and Abhimanyu decided to complete all his work in the office and reach home early. Even if he doesn't admit, he wants to be there to look after Amayra. She was hurt, and he needed to make sure that she was alright. He was signing some important documents, as a thought crossed his mind.
She was molested...
He smashed his pen in frustration and raked his hands through his hair, as he recalled Vikram's words.
How can someone molest a little girl?
Any brother in this world, cannot see his sister like this. No brother wants his sister to fall a prey to some perverts, let alone be touched by them.
He felt his anger rising, but before he could do anything, a knock interrupted him.
" Come in.", he ordered in a gruff tone.
As soon as he saw the faces of the people entering his cabin, he smirked internally as he leaned back in his swivel chair.
" Good afternoon bhai!", Karan chirped, and Abhimanyu nodded at him mockingly.
" Can we sit?", Mihir added nervously.
" Yes of course!", Abhimanyu exclaims in a fake courteous manner.
As soon as he spoke those words, Prithviraj chuckled as Adhiraj, Mihir, Shyam and Karan took their seats on the big couch.
Abhimanyu stood up, and walked towards the side of his table, facing them and leaned back, crossing his arms.
" Why are you all here?", he asked them coldly.
" Can't we come here witho---"
" Oh, cut the crap! Tell me why are you all here, to meet a person who is not even your family?", he taunted.
Guilt appeared on their faces as they heard his words.
" And enlighten me someone...", he nodded in exaggeration, " When I told you all to stay away from a street dog like me, why don't you?", and this time, he surely pierced their hearts with his words.
Does he care? No.
It was their own words after all, it should not hurt coming out of him, right?
Finally having enough of Abhimanyu's words, Adhiraj spoke, "I want to meet my daughter."
The vulnerability in his voice was too much to not not notice. Abhimanyu can swear he felt a pinch in his heart as he heard him, but it was gone as soon as it came.
Whatever happened between them, was nowhere Amayra's fault. And even if Adhiraj did not trust him, Abhimanyu could bet on his life that he was the best father.
She deserves a family Abhimanyu. If you can't have one, give her one.
He could never agree more with his conscience. She needs a family.
" No.", he replied flatly.
" What do you mean no? Abhimanyu, I know we've hurted you son, but please don't punish him like this. She is his daughter!", Shyam exclaimed worriedly.
" She is my sister too. If you don't want me to take her somewhere you could never find her, you need to stop these demands.", he deadpanned.
He will let them meet her, but she has not recovered yet, he will make her meet them when she recovers fully. No one except Rajput family, Dhruv and Abhimanyu know the truth of her being tortured, and it should remain that way.
It was inevitable for them to not know, but after that, she has the right to tell others if she wants. He saw her reaction, and he can bet on everything he has, that she does not want anyone to know.
" I want to see her, she is my child. Let me see her, otherwise I have to take strict actions!", Adhiraj Singhania never pleaded anyone in his life till now, and he never will. He loves everyone in his family equally, but no one can take his daughter's place. He can go to any lengths for his daughter, and nothing can stop him from getting her.
Even if Adhiraj and Abhimanyu have their own differences, no one could deny that they both are the carbon copies of each other. The attitude, the charisma, the agression, the coldness, everything in them matched each other. Apart from their eyes and hair, their face structure literally even appear the same. They both have known to be the most stubborn of men, and it remains the same.
Amusement flashed in his green eyes as Abhimanyu spoke coldly, " Father, you need to know you're not in the position to demand anything from me. When I say no, it will remain as a no."
" And before you could say something, you need to throw that trash you call your other daughter. I do not want her to wander anywhere near my sister.", Abhimanyu him calmly.
" She is your own biological sister Abhimanyu! She is our own blood!", Shyam could not help but defend her.
A dark chuckle escaped Abhimanyu, sending chills down everyone's spine, " She is blood, not family..."
" She may have our blood, but she can never be my family, she can never be my sister. I have only one sister, and that's Amayra.", he completed his sentence, venom dripping off his voice.
Trisha Singhania, the elder daughter and known triplet to Ahaan and Armaan, is the person who Abhimanyu loathes, and he never tried to hide it.
" She is my daughter too Abhimanyu, and I am not going to send her away.", Adhiraj replied calmly.
Abhimanyu nodded, " Of course! Don't send her away, I already told you right? Either you send her away, or stay away from Amayra. You chose the latter, no problem, you can go!", he shrugged nonchalantly.
" Abhim---"
" Mehra! Show them the way!", he ordered harshly and Mehra bowed, following the command.
" Mr. Singhania, please!", he urged them politely, and the others gave up, moving out of the room.
Adhiraj stared at Abhimanyu expressionlessly, and started moving out of the cabin, but before he could head out of the door, Abhimanyu's voice interrupted him," If you want her..."
" You've got to pay the price, father. "