Hey, my lovely readers.

How are you all?

Are you all enjoying the book so far?

So my dearies, what're your hobbies, apart from reading books of course cause I would like to know my readers.

A song dedicated to Siya from her dear author.

Also, India won the prestigious Miss Universe pageant after 21 years. It's such a proud moment for all of us. Believe me, I had tears in my eyes while watching the crowning moment.

Also, I would like to wish a very happy belated birthday to my dear reader pihu_drdz

May god fulfil all your wishes and showers you with lots of love.

Let's begin with the chapter now.

Akash's POV

Everyone went to their respective rooms after lunch, but I remained seated with Jannet.

I was discussing the library layout with Mark and Jannet when Siya walked back into my study.

She was a little sleepy, but maybe she was bored and wanted to be around me.

"Akash," she said as she stood beside me.

As I worked on my laptop with my right hand, wrapping my left hand around her waist, I said, "Yeah baby, tell me!".

Looking at the laptop over my shoulder, she asked, "Are you busy?".

"No baby, not for you. Tell me" I said and looked at her.

She had a frown on her face and I chuckled looking at her.

"What happened?" I asked, flicking her nose.

She rubbed her nose and said, "why do you work on MacBook?"

I smiled and said "why? Shouldn't I work on MacBook?"

"Umm...I don't know. Isn't it a little..." she said and trailed off.

"Difficult to operate?" I completed it for her.

"Yeah. Isn't it a little difficult to operate?" she asked.

"No baby, it isn't. Do you want to try?" I asked and shifted my MacBook to her.

She took a chair and sat beside me while trying to operate it.

I was just looking at her with a soft smile.

She scrunched her nose in confusion then looked at me.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I can't do it," she said.

Chuckling, I said, "you can do it, baby, it's just that you don't want to do it."

She thought for a minute and then said "maybe because I was comfortable with using the Windows operating system."

"Maybe," I said and caressed her cheeks.

"You weren't sleepy?" I asked.

"I was but I rested for so many hours that I don't feel like sleeping now," she said and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Okay, then why don't you watch something on TV?" I asked.

"I don't want to" she mumbled.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked, caressing her hair gently.

"Umm...I just want to stay, like this" she said.

"Okay, if that's what you want," I said.

I was signing the papers when she suddenly woke up from my shoulder and eyeing the pen in my hand, said "you still have this pen?"

"Of course I've it," I said and signed the papers.

Once done with the signing, I looked at her to see that she was already looking at me with a soft face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I gave it to you," she said.

"Correction, my darling. You gifted it to me" I said, kissing her nose.

I heard a throat clearing and when I looked at the source, Jannet was giving me a mischievous smile.

"Sir, we'll be outside," she said and went out with Mark but not before winking at me.

Shaking my head when I looked at Siya, she was already looking at me with so much love.

"What happened?" I asked, caressing her cheeks, again.

She leaned into my touch and said "I never thought you'd keep it."

"And why wouldn't I keep it?" I asked, stroking her cheeks.

"I thought you'd break every tie with me," she said in a low voice.

"I only broke ties with you thinking about your family Siya which I know was wrong on my part. I know you haven't forgiven me yet for that and I am ready to do anything for your forgiveness. As far as this pen is concerned how could I not keep it with me when it was gifted by someone whose name is written all over my mind, soul, and body" I said.

"Even though we were apart, I wanted to stick to every memory of yours, your laughter, your cute antics, your gifts, everything," I said.

Her eyes welled up with tears and she immediately hugged me.

I hugged her back and kissed her hair.

"Shhh shhh, please don't cry baby," I said and I heard her sniffing.

"Why didn't you come back Akash?" she mumbled against my chest.

"I know I did a grave mistake, Siya. I should've come to see you, at least once but if I had any idea about the future, I wouldn't have thought of your family even once when we met at your flat for a discussion on our marriage. Believe me or not, I would've taken you with me but the only thought stopping me was...separating the love of my life from her family." I said.

"I know they never treated you well but somewhere I had a hope that if I left you and you get married to someone of your parent's choice, they would treat you the way you always wanted them to," I said.

Cradling her in my arms, I said "I always thought that parents can never be this harsh to their children. I thought that your mother was treating you that way only because of me and I always knew that you wanted her to treat you well. I thought that if I sacrifice my love, you'd get the motherly love from your mother that you always craved for. "

"I think I was in a delusion that if she sees you sacrificing your love for her, it would melt her heart but I guess, some people never change and in the process of pleasing them, we hurt someone dear to us," I said with a sad smile.

"I've always tried to protect you Siya. I've always kept you above everything and everyone but the only time I didn't, you had to suffer when in reality it should've been me. I did the mistake and you had to suffer because of my actions" I said and she looked up at me.

"I can never forget what I had to go through. The constant reminders of being called those names...it still haunts me" she said and a tear slipped her eyes.

"I know it'll take time, Siya but you shouldn't be thinking about those people who don't matter to you. This world is full of people who'll judge you without even knowing you well because they don't have anything better to do. If you keep thinking about them and waste your time on them, it won't take you anywhere" I said.

"You remember when we were in college and I asked you to do everything you want because life's too short for regrets?" I asked and she nodded.

"I don't want you to regret anything in life Siya. Stop thinking about people who don't care for you. The people who called you names, did you even know them properly?" I asked and she shook her head.

"The only people's opinions that should matter to you are the ones who're close to you and I am sure people who're close to you or care for you would never call you names or hurt you intentionally," I said.

"There'll be many people who'll try to bring you down, Siya. There'll be many who would try to disrupt your peace of mind but at the end of the day, just think about it, is it worth it?" I asked.

"Moreover the photos for which they mocked you, had nothing to be ashamed of. You were being intimate with someone you love, with me. Is it wrong to be intimate with someone you love?" I asked.

"But they weren't private once they got leaked. It was shown to the world, without our consent" she said.

"Yes, they were but then it was just you and me, showing love to each other. I know some things are supposed to be private between couples and you being sensitive about it never wanted that to happen but it happened, anyways. We always don't get what we want or things don't always work out the way we want, Siya but for our peace of mind, we should try that those things should never affect you or living will become difficult" I said and kissed her forehead.

"Weren't you affected by our leaked pictures?" she asked, looking at me so innocently.

We were having this conversation for the first time since the pictures got leaked in the media.

I had always wanted to discuss these things with her but then, we never got a chance because when the pictures were leaked, Siya was too disturbed to talk about it and when she came back from home where she had to face all her mother's tortures, she cut her ties with me and broke up.

After meeting with her in the office and when I came to know about the actual reason when she had broken up with me, I didn't want to bring that topic between us because her mother's brutal torture would haunt her, and I didn't want that to happen.

So, I never had a conversation with her about it but I guess, this conversation was inevitable now and we needed it for her peace of mind.

"To be frank, I was but then I had much more important things to do like taking care of you and bringing the situation under control. As I said, I always try to focus on things that are important rather than thinking over spilled milk" I said.

"I wish I would have a mind like you," she said.

"Life is a never-ending lesson, Siya. It will always teach you lessons on how to handle yourself. How to act on it is up to you but I think in the end you can only have two options, either cry over spilled milk or just focus on things that would make you stronger. In the end, it's for you to decide who you want to be" I said.

"You think I can overcome my fears?" she asked, barely a whisper, and kept her head on my shoulder.

"You think it's your fear, baby, but in reality, it isn't. You're not afraid, you've just locked up yourself in some corner where you never wanted to be. My Siya hasn't gone anywhere. She's somewhere still there, just hidden behind this Siya with a mask and I know she's strong enough to come out of her shell. My Siya wasn't afraid of anything and I know once she's back, she can and she'll conquer the world" I said.

"I don't want to be a celebrity," she said.

"But my darling, you already are," I said, flicking her nose.

"How?" she asked.

"Since the day I decided to marry you," I said.

"What if I don't want to marry you?" she said and my heart stopped beating for a second.

Her words felt like they were slicing my heart and as if someone threw a bucket of cold water on me.

Unknowingly tears welled up in my eyes.

"You...you don't want to marry me?" I asked and she shook her head.

I gulped hard and blink back my tears.

"You left me when I needed you the most, what if you leave me alone, again?" she asked.

I closed my eyes.

Of course, she won't trust me.

What have I done?

If she doesn't want to marry me, I can't say anything, I don't have the right to say anything.

I guess that's the punishment I'll have to bear for leaving her alone and taking the wrong decision which cost me, my love.

If that's the punishment I've to bear, so be it.

"I'll take any and every punishment you give me Siya and if you don't want to marry me, I am willing to take it, with all my heart," I said, opening my eyes but only I knew how hard it was for me to say those words.

She looked at me for a minute like keenly observing me.

"I don't want you to do anything against your wish and I understand if you don't trust me but at least, let me help you recover. Please don't snatch this right from me" I said, more like pleaded to her.

"You came here with your will, right? Or did I force you this time as well? I know I asked you this before but I just want to ask this again, for my peace of mind" I asked her, again.

My heart was feeling so heavy having this conversation with her but I knew, one day or the other this had to happen but her denying to marry me was something that I never expected.

I felt a lump in my throat again and I knew, it was because I was still unable to brace the fact that she is denying marrying me.

The most dreaded thought of my life, Siya refusing to marry me was here but did I have any choice?

No.

When I didn't give her a choice last time when I left her, did I have the right to ask her to reconsider her decision of not marrying me?

The answer was clear.

No.

"I did come here with my will because I wanted to come here," she said.

Oh thank god, there's something I didn't force her to do. I was a little relieved.

Before I could say anything further, Kriti barged in with a huge smile on her face with her laptop.

She sat on the couch with her laptop with a very excited face.

"Why're you so excited?" I asked, trying to hide the pain in my heart behind my smile because I didn't have any other choice other than pretending that I am fine when in reality, it is quite the opposite.

I can not be selfish. I reminded my heart, I can't be.

I love her and I just want her to be fine. Expecting her to do something that she doesn't want is like showing that I am selfish, that I am expecting something from her in return for my efforts.

My love isn't selfish, for her. It has never been.

I'll take whatever she gives me with a smile, without any complaints, without any demands, even if it's her hatred, for my whole life.

I just want my old Siya back, please heart, please co-operate with me, I reminded my heart.

"Oh, I just shortlisted some laptops for Siya online. See" she said and kept her laptop on my study table.

"Which one do you like?" she asked, looking at Siya.

"Wh..why are you showing me these?" she asked her.

"How're you going to work if you don't have a laptop, Siya?" she asked in a duh tone.

"So this is what you've been doing all the while and not studying?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

She gasped dramatically and said "Of course bhaiya I was studying but then the thought of Siya agreeing to work for something which she has been ardently dreaming since she was a teen just didn't let me concentrate on studying. I was so excited that made a list of things that she requires and I am arranging everything."

"Laptop being the first one but there were so many, I didn't know which one's good so I thought why not ask the princess herself," she said and winked at Siya.

"I...I don't think it's necessary" she said.

"Then how are you going to work?" she asked, keeping her hands on her chest.

She was eyeing her laptop when she said "don't even look at my laptop girl. I won't give it to you. No nada."

"But I don't think buying a new laptop altogether is necessary," she said.

"Well it is, especially when you're going to start something that would be the first step towards making your dream of being a writer," Kriti said.

"I...I don't have the money" Siya said and looked down.

"Oh come on girl. Do you even think that I would take money from you, especially when it's a gift from me?" Kriti said, still looking at her laptop's screen.

"But" Siya was about to say but she was interrupted by Kriti "if you're thinking that the money is by my idiot of a boyfriend or Akash bhaiya or my family, then it isn't. I've been doing a part-time job for a while now and I've saved enough from it to gift you a laptop," she said, hovering the mouse on her mouse pad and was keenly concentrating on the screen.

When I looked at Siya, she had tears in her eyes.

Though Kriti's gesture is small but I think that's what's important for Siya and that's all that matters to her.

I adore their friendship. If not for the incident, I am sure Siya would've never been this distant with Kriti.

"Oh please, don't start with your waterworks and be a crybaby. Now, quickly tell me, which laptop do you want," she said and turned Siya's face to her laptop's screen.

After their brainstorming for about half an hour, the order was placed and it said that it would be here by tomorrow.

When I looked at Siya, she had a smile on her face.

"Where did you learn the Chinese language from?" Siya asked out of the blue making me and Kriti confused.

Then the realization hit her.

"Oh, the stunt I pulled with Sid?" she asked and Siya nodded.

"Oh girl, I just learned some basics of it as a part of my course," she said waving it off and giving a wicked smile.

"Whenever I don't want Sid to know that I am cussing him, I talk in Chinese and he gets frustrated. I can't tell you how soothing it's to my heart to see him angry and irritated" she said with a grin and Siya laughed.

Oh god, my friend has got a devil of a girl but no one can deny the fact that she's the best for him.

How did the chapter come out?

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Till next chapter, tk cr bbyee

Tadas.