The Duke's Forbidden Lover (Forbidden #1)

Chapter 2.

Hours had passed by, and Nalini stayed cooped up in her room, playing with the ring on her thumb that managed to soothe her.

She jumped slightly when the door to her room creaked open. The uneven footsteps of her grandpa, due to his limp, padded against the floor. He neared her rigid body.

"Nalini."

His voice was harsh and distant. Nalini tried to stay quiet, to show how mad she was at him, but guilt quickly took over and her shoulders sagged in defeat.

His lips were turned down into a frown as he studied Nalini's face.

"This is all very sudden for you, but Mahesh has been wanting to marry you since he started looking for a wife two years ago."

At the mention of Mahesh and marriage, any speck of happiness or hope vanished and she felt deflated. She averted her gaze away from her grandpa but allowed him to continue, even though she was a pinch close to bawling her eyes out.

"So what I'm saying is, don't do anything that will get him disinterested in you," he demanded. "And with what happened before—I suggest you learn to become a better woman, for Mahesh. Don't repeat what you did again."

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was supporting Mahesh when it was clearly his fault? Nalini bit her tongue, resisting the urge to say anything that stepped over the line.

If she said anything that angered her grandpa, then he would punish her by making her sleep outside for the night or lock her in the room.

She honestly thought he would lock her out and not give her dinner for what happened with Mahesh, but he didn't, to her luck.

Her grandpa was utterly cruel, but her mother's words always rung in her head whenever she wanted to scream at him.

'He's an old man—he'll say and do things that will anger you but you have to be the better and bigger person and forgive him. That's what God would want.'

And she couldn't agree more with those words, but sometimes, it was just hard to follow.

A clear of the throat caused her to look up. Her grandpa was looking down at her blankly. "You will marry him."

"I want to study," she said, trying to reason for the last time. She wanted him to calm down; though she didn't like it, she would do it. A part of her wanted to get married so she could get away from him, but a part of her didn't want to at all.

A big part of her didn't.

He shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes narrowing into a glare that burnt through her.

"You will get married, Nalini. I don't want to hear about your foolish dreams and such."

He spoke as if she was a burden and she could feel her hands tremble. Her future was being decided drastically by her grandpa because he hated her.

She didn't want things to happen like they were.

"Grandpa," she whispered, achingly, her own voice cracking, "I...understand."

I don't understand at all.

"Alright," he said softly in relief. He then chuckled a little, the sound raspy and choked from him, causing her eyes to swivel towards him, shocked.

He barely laughed, especially not in her presence. "If only you were like most modern youths these days and found love–it would have made things easier for me."