26. She Forgives and she forgives not.

Arjun ~

I have not prayed in a long time and one of those reasons for me to stop was Vani, the woman who first made me believe that love was all I needed and then she became the very reason for me to stop believing at all in anyone but myself but right now, in this moment, if there is a god listening to me, I want all of Siya's emotions. I want to feel what she is feeling so that I can fix this because she won't talk to me.

Siya, on the other hand makes me want to believe in everything that I have been against for a long time now. She makes me want to look at her and give her everything she wishes for. Her wishes have become mine now and she is unaware about it.

Vani cheated on me with my elder brother, my confidante and I lied to Siya. I did not give her the truth and honesty which she deserved and I will beg for her forgiveness every single day for the rest of my life if I have to, to earn it.

I was going to tell her the whole truth tonight and I was prepared to be hated by her but this is not how I wanted things to turn out. She deserved my moment of honesty, not Vani's taunts.

" Arjun." I heard mom call out for me and I turned around to face her.

" Come with me." She said but before I could ask her to leave me alone for a while, she held my hand and started walking towards the Throne Room.

" Mom what is it?" I asked her as she made me sit on the throne and stood by me.

" You are the King Arjun, our king and Siya is heartbroken and betrayed because of all of us. I know she will not forgive us and ideally, she shouldn't but right now, and if she wishes to be alone, let her be. I am going to go to her and beg her to forgive her parents first and then forgive us because her relationship with her family is about to get ruined because of us. But you, my son, have to be strong like never before right now. I know you loathe Vani but no matter what, don't let her get to Siya's head." She told me as a tear escaped her eye.

" Stop crying, mom. My wife is hurting because of me and there is no way I am going to let her go through it alone despite being the reason for her being here in the very first place. I need you to do one thing. Keep Vani away from Siya when I am not around, not because I don't trust Siya to hold her ground but because I don't think I want to deal with Vani who will be thoroughly humiliated once Siya is done with her." I asked her, standing up and she nodded her head.

" Your Dad is with Siya right now, bringing her dinner. You come with me." She asked, keeping a hand on my head and pulling me in for a hug.

" Everything will turn out to be just fine, Arjun. Trust me." Her words, bringing some amount of comfort to me were the ones I wanted to trust because I was here, barely hanging by a thread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

Siya ~

" Why couldn't I get myself away from him when he leaned in to kiss me?" I asked myself, pulling the comforter back to my face, groaning. I absolutely hated this feeling!

" Why did they all have to hide the truth from me? Not that I could do anything about it! Then why hide?" Was the second question I found myself asking.

" Why am I talking to myself when I could be going home and screaming at my family?" I threw myself out of the bed again and decided to get ready to go back home and honestly just eat their ears off but a knock on the door stopped me.

" It's open." I replied and found Dad walking in with a plate of dinner in his hands.

" I am not hungry Dad." I told him, turning away from him. He betrayed me too! He did not tell me the truth despite of all the ice-cream we steal together from the kitchens.

" You are angry at all of us beta and taking it out on food is not the way to go. Please?" He asked as he kept the plate on the table and stood in front of me. I averted my eyes again.

" Siya, beta my family has made a lot of mistakes and taken a lot of selfish decisions, I know. I also know that getting you married like this to Arjun was wrong of us....." He started but I had to cut him off.

" Dad what is done is done. I am married to Arjun. I am his wife but what about all this? Why wasn't I told about Vani and Amar and this whole fiasco and why did my parents refuse me the truth? I am not even that mad at you all. I need answers from my family and I want them now." I had made up my mind.

I needed answers to have a closure because the problems lying ahead of us were huge. Vani and Amar. They were here for a reason and I needed my full attention on them and for that, I needed to close this chapter first.

Apart from that, I had my whole life lying ahead of me to deal with Arjun.

" I cannot come in between your family and you Siya but they did what they did out of a sense of loyalty to me. I know it is a lot to ask but don't blame them for this. Vineet and Nupur have been incredibly loyal....." His words brought tears into my eyes and I spoke out again.

" What about their loyalty towards me Dad? Did that not mean anything? I need to talk to them now. Now." I replied and stormed into the washroom to change and leave for home.

As I got out, dad was still here, sitting on the chair and got up as he saw me.

" I will take you." He offered but I shook my head in a no.

" I will go on my own. I don't need any favours from anybody anymore. I have already seen how repaying favours can turn out to be." I wiped my eyes and ran out of the bedroom.I couldn't stand anyone right now, no one.

Siya's Look ~

I heard Dad calling out for me and jogging behind me but I was too reluctant to stop. I had to get away when I bumped into a chest and I immediately know who it was.

" Siya." He placed a hand on the back of my head to pacify me but I threw my arms around trying to get away from him.

" Let me go Ranaji! I have to go." I screamed at him and thankfully, he let me take a few steps away.

" Where do you want to go?" He asked, defeated.

" To my parents. To my family. Now and before you offer to take me, I refuse. I will not go anywhere with you or in your car or with any transport you arrange. If you have ever respected me one ounce, you will not try to persuade me for anything I don't want." I barked at him and gave him an ultimatum and he let me walk away.

I left the premises of the Palace and continued walking towards my parent's home when I felt a pair of eyes on me and a sensation that I was being followed. I looked back, only to find nothing and then shook my head before continuing ahead.

I was about ten minutes away when I felt the same sensation return. Had someone been following me with the intention to annoy me, they would have made their presence known which was not the case. This literally only meant one thing.

" Ranaji has anyone told you that you have stalker like tendencies?" I asked without turning around and rolled my eyes.

" I was not going to let you walk alone at the middle of the night Siya." Came his reply. Pathetic. He did not even try to deny his presence by keeping silent. He was walking a few steps behind me.

" Oh yeah. I almost forgot that you are very well aware of your husband duties since you're doing this for the second time." I immediately regretted the words coming out of my mouth because even for me, this was plain cruel.

I stopped in my tracks and dared to turn around to look at him but his face gave away nothing.

" I am sorry, I didn't mean it that way." I quickly apologised and waited for him to say something but there was no reply I received but he continued to look at me.

" What for?" He spat bitterly. He wasn't mad at me, more at himself and oddly, I felt someone stab my heart when I realised that.

" Go home. I don't need your help." I turned around and started walking again, taking a deep breath.

" I know you don't need my help Little Flower. It is I who need your help." His words rang in my ears but I chose not to respond to them.

" Leave me alone Ranaji." I asked him again but he did not respond to that which made me mad as I turned around and bumped into his chest again, stumbling but his hands wrapped around my waist, not letting me fall.

" Were you ever planning on telling me the truth?" I couldn't resist myself from taking. This was what was wrong with me. I just could never stop talking and trying to be mad and stay mad!

" I was about to tell you the truth after Papa's birthday on our date." He confessed and I could see that honesty in his eyes and that is when everything started to come back to me. His depressing words, his determination to tell me what he had to and last night when I asked him to tell me what he wanted to over the call, he refused.

" Arjun, what made you think that the topic was a first date conversation?" I asked him and freed myself, jerking his hands away from me.

" I wanted to give you the whole truth Siya. I still do, if you are willing to listen." He tried to hold my hands but I took various steps away again.

" I am not an unreasonable person Arjun. I will hear you but I need to settle things with my family first. Also, I did promise you that no matter what, you will always find me by your side, didn't I? So how does it matter if I forgive you or not?" I asked shrugging my shoulders and crossing my arms, letting my tears away, openly, without even trying to stop them now.

" It matters a big deal Siya. I still don't see hatred in your eyes towards me and that gives me hope that there is still a chance for me to hold on to you, to not let you go. I have always wanted your thoughts, now, I will earn them. Earn every second of your attention because you deserve that and not this." His voice broke and a tear escaped his eye before he looked away.

I came back to him, held his hands in mine and then, I did not expect what I did from myself. I hugged him. I threw my arms around his neck and sighed.

" You have no idea how much you confuse me Ranaji. This hug does not mean that I forgive you. I needed this as much as you do." I confessed, still not getting away from him. The heat from his body gave me a weird sense of comfort and his hands wrapped around my waist made me feel anchored in the midst to this storm.

" Siya, please talk to your parents when you have yourself under control because right now, you will say things to them and regret them later." He asked me which made me break the hug.

" No. They will answer me and they will answer me now and if I speak some harsh words, they will deserve that too. They did not treat me with kindness and I refuse them my kindness too." I replied to him and started again, this time only to stop in front of the main gate of the bungalow.

" Go home Arjun. I am doing this alone. I need to do this on my own." I requested him this time to which he reluctantly agreed and let me go in, still rooted to his spot.

As I made my way to the living room, I found Hansika bhabhi and Rohit bhai sitting there with mumma and papa. Papa was sitting on the floor and his cheeks had tears as I fought my first and perhaps the strongest instinct to go and give him a tight hug and tell him that it's okay. Everything is okay.

" Siya?" Bhai asked, getting up and immediately coming to stand in front of me.

" Go and call Karan bhai and Tanaya bhabhi. I need to talk to you all." I asked him and he immediately left to fetch them.

Papa stood up back on his feet but did not come to me as we looked at each other. Him in shame and I, with a million accusations.

" Sit down, all of you." I asked as Karan bhai, Rohit bhai and Tanaya bhabhi made their way back.

They obliged.

" Why?" Was the only thing I asked them and then looked at each of their faces as they one by one, hung down.

" Nothing? Nothing at all?" I asked again, looking around and shrugged my shoulders.

" Siya...." Mumma tried to stand up to come to me but I did not allow that.

" Sit down mumma. I am not done yet." I shouted and she let tears flow away as he took her seat.

" Was it this easy? To lie to me? To make a fool out of me? Were you all that desperate to somehow please Arjun's family that you refused to care about your own?" I questioned them, trying the best to not cry but one look at Mumma and I sat down on the floor, breaking down.

" You are right Siya. You are right beta. I betrayed you, my own daughter. I stood next to Ranaji when I should have stood next to you. I hid the truth when I should have been the first person to inform you about that. I am the man who has wronged you in every way. It is a father's duty to protect his daughter and I failed that too. I failed you. But I will be lying if I say that I regret the decision of getting you married to Ranaji." Papa sat next to me on the floor, holding my hands as we cried together.

" You did Papa. You did fail me this time and I don't know what to do about this fact." I accused him and then put my head on his chest, grabbing his arm, crying to get a hold on my emotions and to stop crying but his words were only burning me deeper and I wanted it to stop.

" I am so sorry Siya. I am so sorry." He was crying just as bad as me.

" I wish I had it in me to hate you all, hate Arjun and his family but I don't know why I can't do it! Why can't I hate you all?" I found myself asking him.

" Because of your heart Siya. Because that's who you are. You have too much love inside you to let any seed of hatred grow there. That's why." He told me as the rest of my family came to me, sitting near me and I finally managed to control myself.

" It's pretty late. off to bed everyone." I said, standing up and wiping my tears away.

" Forgive me Siya, forgive me." Papa, who was still sitting on the floor asked me.

" I need time Papa. I need time but I also know that you all are my home. My safe place and even if I do thousands of wrongs, you will eventually forgive. That's how I know that I will too." I told him honestly, getting him to stand up and then hugging him again.

" Siya...." Rohit bhai started but I pulled both my brothers for a hug too.

" We will be fine. I just need time." I told them before forcing them to go to bed while I climbed the stairs to the balcony for some fresh air. I stood by the railing, taking a deep breath and when I looked down, I saw a familiar silhouette sitting on a huge rock with his head in his arms.

" Arjun?" I spoke up and rushed down the stairs in a hurry and ran to him.

" Ranaji?" I grabbed his attention, opening the main gate and crossed the road.

" Siya." Was all he said as he got up and made his way to me.

" What are you still doing here?" I asked and my eyebrows furrowed at the look on his face. He looked so vulnerable that it was breaking my heart and I took his hand in mine.

" Just in case you wanted to return to Palace." Was all he said and I couldn't believe this man.

He was the King and here he was, at 2 in the night, waiting outside my house just to make sure that I don't travel alone at this time.

We had a lot to figure out but this was not the time for that, nor the place.

" Come with me Arjun." I whispered as we walked back to my home and sat on the couch.

" I am going to get some food for you." I said after a minute, getting up when he held my hand to stop me.

" I don't want it." He said and I rolled my eyes.

" Ranaji, I am hungry and I know that you haven't eaten anything either." I freed my hand and made my way to the kitchen, only to find all the food as it was.

No one had eaten either.

I took the huge plate and a large serving spoon and got into the middle of the room, banging the two together to made noise.

" What are you doing Siya!?" Arjun tried to grab the utensils from my hands but I dodged him and stood on the couch, getting out of his reach.

One of the many ways to make people suffer was waking them from sleep and I was just going to enjoy my misery and theirs.

" Just trying to make everyone's lives miserable." I told him, smirking and for the second time today, his expressions looked defeated as he placed a hand on his head, pressing his lips into a thin line.

He then suddenly scooped me into his arms and placed me back on my feet on the floor but I climbed back on, still banging the plate and slowly, everyone started to walk out of their rooms, looking confused as hell.

To unlock the next one, 1800 votes are what I seek on this Chapter. Hope you liked it. Until next time.