Anguish & Affection

Part 21

Instantly, Aditi realized the situation. She sprinted to the room and pounded on the door.

"What's going on? Let me in!" she bellowed angrily. At the sound of her voice, Atharv was brought back to reality from his state of rage. He opened the door, throwing one final angry look at Diya.

"Yes?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "What is it, Di?"

"Is Diya in there?" Aditi asked, even though she could tell Atharv was scolding her. She wanted confirmation.

"Yeah," Atharv replied flippantly, trying to keep his temper in check at the sight of his beloved Di still worried about his spouse.

"Were you yelling at her?" Aditi questioned without any of the usual terms of endearment, catching Atharv's attention and making him aware of her displeasure with him.

"Yes, Aditi" replied Atharv in a brief response that triggered the more serious and determined side of her. She gave Diya little time to respond with an unwavering expression as she looked over him to inspect how Diya was doing. "Explain," Aditi commanded firmly.

Diya fell to the ground, her sorrow bursting from her like a torrent of rain. Her entire world had been built on lies, from why they had left their homeland so quickly, to how her parents had arranged her future with Atharv without her knowledge. Realization dawned like a thunderbolt - they were responsible for the death of his parents all those years ago.

She desperately wanted to ignore the truth that he was right in his rage against her parents, but the ballooning anger within her refused to be contained. He had absolutely no proof that she had any involvement in the despicable deed her family committed and yet he chose to unleash a wrathful vengeance on her without hesitation. She could feel the venomous heat climbing through her body.

"How could you do that to her? Just because I asked you to bring her back into your life?" Aditi's voice was raised. As a woman, she empathized with Diya and the pain she must be experiencing due to Atharv's inhumane actions. Aditi wanted to be there for Diya; she was the reason for Atharv's behavior, and Aditi couldn't stand by and watch it happen.

"No, Di. Not because you pleaded with me to give that relationship another chance. But because it was the perfect opportunity to settle things with Sujith Singh Shekhawat."

"And Diya?" Aditi inquired, her expression full of contemptuous disbelief. "Just collateral damage to you? Or do you detest Sujith Shekhawat so much you can label his blameless daughter as a criminal?"

Atharv's teeth ground together and he bowed his head. The blissful recollections of the days spent playing together as children were tarnished and tainted by the sorrowful visuals from his parents' funeral. This painful scene seemed to cast an oppressive shadow over all other memories.

"It was a chance to make them feel the agony that we had been put through. Di, it was the perfect plan - she was the perfect one to use. There would be no better way to make those villains comprehend the desolateness and powerless state we had experienced."

Atharv declared that his heart was broken and he no longer felt emotion, but before the words had even fully left his mouth a burning sensation spread across his face. He pressed his palm against his cheek in an effort to soothe it, but all he could do was stare at his Di who glared back in anger.

Aditi Singh Chauhan, the furious sister of Atharv Singh Chauhan, exclaimed in disbelief, "I'm ashamed to call you my brother. Who are you even? I won't let you ruin Diya's life!"

Atharv replied with a hint of trembling in his voice, "Alright, Di. If you want us to leave, we'll go back to the farmhouse right away."

Aditi was dumbfounded when she discovered her brother's callousness and his obsession with exacting his revenge at all costs. She had not expected him to abandon her just to get even.

She was perplexed as to why Atharv directed his anger at Diya, who had never done anything to hurt their family. While he was unaware of the entire situation, Aditi knew for sure that Diya was in no way responsible for the tragedy that struck their lives.

Aditi shouted at her brother, Atharv Singh Chauhan,"Do you understand what you're saying? When did revenge become so important to you that you no longer value me?"

Atharv replied, "When it became the only way for me to have a second chance of something I would never be able to get otherwise." He left his sister behind as he strode quickly and confidently towards Diya's room. His steps were too big for Aditi to keep up with; she was forced to jog in an attempt to catch up.

Aditi screamed "Atharv, stop immediately!" yet he was less and less troubled by her words as time went on. He pushed open the door in such a violent motion that it bounced back into his face. But it wasn't strong enough to awaken Diya from her trance-like condition. She was tangled in her family's web of lies, the crushing burden of guilt consuming her, preventing her from taking action against someone she used to love dearly, who had become a stranger.

An invisible force seemed to be strangling her, tormenting her with the decision of whether she should give in to her unbearable guilt over the consequences her parents had caused or if she should put up a desperate fight against the injustice thrown at her.

Her parents had taken away his family, while her best friend had abducted her and forced himself into her life. Dark despair engulfed her, snuffing out any glimmer of hope as she was swallowed by an inescapable entanglement of suffering.

The look of distress on her face, stained with dried-up tears, devastated him, but the wrath in his heart wouldn't let his compassion take over. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her along; Diya trailed him obediently, too exhausted from the events that had transpired and what she had just found out to even attempt to fight him. She knew there was no point in trying—he wouldn't give her a chance to win.

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The sun, a beacon of light and hope, had figuratively extinguished in her life. With darkness descending like a curtain on the pitch-black night, she felt engulfed by a void of helplessness and hopelessness threatening to consume her very soul.

Her uncharacteristic silence planted doubt into his mind. Instead of the expected shouting and slapping, he got the silent treatment from her. Overwhelmed with worry rather than hatred, he wondered if he had shattered her too much in his quest for revenge.

Atharv looked at Diya from the corner of his eye, asking her if she was alright. He already knew that the answer would be far from okay. After all, what had happened during the past few hours? He couldn't help but chuckle inwardly - did he really expect her to be okay after he had declared his undying hatred for her?

"How on earth could I possibly be okay after all you have done?" She almost spat out. But she refused to make eye contact with him; she didn't want to break down in front of him.

"It's probably better if we don't talk. Neither one of us are in the right state of mind," Atharv said, but Diya shot him a sardonic smile and asked, "Oh, that would be you, Atharv? Why do you care if I'm okay?"

"Of course I care," he started to say before she cut him off with, "Leave me here."

Atharv turned his head sharply towards her. "What? Are you crazy?"

"You heard me," she replied coldly.

The car came to a grinding halt in the middle of the street, but his heart kept racing. His pride wouldn't let him realize reason, and left his ego beaten and bleeding.

She stepped out from the car with a mighty thud that reverberated through the air and seemed to shatter more than just the glass - it shattered his hopes and dreams into tiny shards. He felt her gaze pierce through his skin, freezing his blood and paralyzing his limbs with fear. The sound of the engine breaking the silence filled the void in his soul as he sped away from the depths of darkness.

Diya collapsed onto the pavement below, her skin too numb to feel the sharp pain piercing her knees. Tears of torment erupted from her eyes, mingling with the rain pouring down from Heaven above.

Her fond memories of playing joyfully in the rain with the man she once adored were now nothing but a distant dream. The same man who had made her love the rain, was now the very same person that caused it to burn like fire on her skin, as if reminding her of his betrayal. It was no wonder that he could charm his way into her heart only to rip it apart.

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