"Wh-what do you mean I was gifted to you?"
I asked as I entered the room. Everyone turned their attention to me and stopped talking. I took some steps forward and stopped in front of Yuvaan who was sitting on a table with a bottle of alcohol in his right hand.
Shaurya and Advait were sitting on a couch beside a pool table, and rummy cards were strewn across the centre table accompanied with few wine glasses and some cigarettes.
I glanced at all of them awaiting a reply but none of them said anything. Yuvaan just ignored me and continued drinking. I went a little closer to him and mustered up every bit of courage I had.
"What do you mean I was gifted to you?" I repeated while stressing each word.
Yuvaan fixed me with his blazing gaze and took a swig from the bottle. "It is not good to eavesdrop, but you heard it right. You are a gift that was forcefully imposed on me."
"Wh-what? Are you serious?" My voice cracked.
"Yes, Reyna Bakshi. Your own father gave you away like an object."
"You are lying!" I accused. "Dad will never do that. He can't....."
Yuvaan let out a deep laugh and shook his head. He got up from the table and stepped in front of me. He brought up his left hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
I shivered when his long fingers touched my skin, and I didn't know why, but I wanted him to do that again. He was angry at the moment and I could only think of his touch.
What was happening to me?
"You know what? Gift is a very fancy term for you. 'Trash' suits you better," he mocked and began laughing.
"We all know what happened. So you can drop the act, Reyna," Shaurya said and I looked at him.
"You think I am acting? I don't even know what you guys are talking about!" I retorted.
Yuvaan grabbed my face and turned it towards him. He squeezed my cheeks harshly and stared directly in my eyes; hatred clouding my reflection in his black orbs. His face was morphed with rage and I felt my body trembling under his cold touch.
"Enough with this bullshit. You want us to believe that you are innocent? Just because you cover yourself with full clothes, bow down to everyone and smile everytime like an idiot, you think you will fool us?" he seethed and increased his hold.
Advait commented that I was a gold digger and helped dad in making Yuvaan agree to the marriage. Shaurya added that there was no way that a girl would agree to marry someone she hardly knew within two weeks.
"But you yourself said that you showed interest in me and that's how this whole arrangement happened," I replied; my voice getting choked in the end.
"I lied," Yuvaan stated without any emotion.
I looked at him like he had grown two heads. He showed no remorse and continued staring at me like he would murder me any minute. I stepped away from him and he removed his hand from my face.
"Why would you lie?" I asked.
"Why are you asking me? Your father lied to me first, and I just returned the favour." He winked in derision.
His friends looked at me in disgust and I felt like hiding myself in a hole. Shaurya told me that Dad had scammed them and forced Yuvaan to marry me in order to sign the deal. He accused that dad pulled a very cheap trick at the end of the negotiation and they had no choice than to agree.
"Why are you still behaving like you didn't know your dad's plans? You are getting on my nerves now," Advait cursed and I looked down in shame.
"You could.... you could have refused. You are far rich than dad. What kind of deal was it that you had to marry me?" I questioned without looking at any of them.
"Still going with that? Fucking bitch! I am not obliged to answer you. Why don't you go and ask your daddy if you are so curious?" Yuvaan spat and threw the alcohol bottle on the ground.
"That will be better. Don't waste our time," Shaurya said bitterly and I missed how he used to talk with me politely before my marriage.
Advait also shared the same views as his friends and I felt like I was getting convicted of a crime I didn't commit.
Just what the fuck dad do this time?
I didn't waste any more time and ran out of there. I went outside the house and asked one of the drivers to take me home. He nodded and took out a car from the garage. I got in the back seat and the driver drove off.
Throughout the ride, I kept cursing in my mind and wondered how dad would react when he would see me. I hoped all of the accusations against him were false and he would solve the matter.
The moment I reached my house, I got out of the car and ran inside. I rang the door bell and one of the maids opened the doors. She greeted me but I was too lost in my thoughts to answer her.
"Dad!" I yelled at the top of my voice and walked towards his study room.
"Reyna? When did you come?" Mom shouted from upstairs and I glanced at her.
She put a palm over her mouth and ran downstairs. She engulfed me in a hug and asked me what happened. I broke the hug and asked her where dad was. She confirmed that he was in his study room, so I knocked loudly on the door.
She kept asking me what was the matter but I didn't respond. "Dad! Open the door!" I demanded.
After a few minutes, the door opened and I trudged inside with mom following behind me. Dad went back to sit on his chair and motioned for me to take a seat.
I glared at him but he looked unaffected. He was calm and it only made my blood boil in anger. Mom stood beside me and kept glancing between me and dad.
"Care to explain why Yuvaan hates me?" I asked.
Dad took a deep breath and looked out of the window. He knitted his eyebrows and turned down his mouth in a frown. "So, you got to know?"
"Yes, I did. You said Yuvaan agreed to the marriage on his own, but you forced him? Why dad? Why did you do that?"
"First of all, keep your voice low. I am your father. You don't get to raise your voice at me!" he thundered.
"What happened, Reyna?" Mom interjected and I looked at her in accusation.
"You knew it too, didn't you?" I pointed a finger at her.
That's when I noticed a sparkling diamond and ruby necklace around her neck, paired with matching earrings adorning her ears. She was dressed in a party gown and had done full makeup on her face.
"Don't drag your mother in this," dad scolded.
"Why shouldn't I? Both of you forced me to marry Yuvaan and what did you say? That it was the best for me and you only wanted me to be happy?" I cried.
None of them replied. Mom looked down in shame while dad continued shooting daggers at me. I fisted my hands and understood what was going on.
"How could you be so greedy to sell off your own daughter?!" I yelled.
Slap!
Dad smacked me across the face and mom gasped in shock. She moved towards me but I stepped away from her. She looked at me as tears rolled down her cheeks but I didn't sympathise with her. She knew everything and still she agreed with dad. I trusted her.
"What an ungrateful child! I got you married to one of the richest men and this is how you show your gratitude?" Dad accused and shook his head.
"You made a deal, dad! You were not thinking about me, you were only looking at how you could make more money."
"Calm down, Reyna. You are overreacting," Mom said and I shot her a death glare.
"Overreacting? You think I am overreacting?!" I pushed everything on dad's table to the side and threw one of his trophies on the floor.
"REYNA!" he shouted but I continued throwing things randomly.
"You know what Yuvaan did on our wedding night? He almost shot me to death!" I kicked the globe which had fallen on the floor.
"What?" Mom expressed her surprise.
Before I could say anything else, dad moved past her and grabbed my hand. He pulled me out of his room and took me in the hall. Mom ran behind him and told him not to do anything drastic.
"Listen carefully, Reyna. You are no longer our responsibility. You are married to Yuvaan now and we have nothing to do with you. You should be thankful that I didn't marry you off to a beggar," Dad said through gritted teeth.
"Dinesh! What the hell are you saying?!" Mom shouted at him and hugged me.
"You shut up, Rupa. You don't know how much I worked hard and how many strings I had to pull to get Yuvaan Raichand to sign that deal. If I hadn't, we would have gone bankrupt by now. And then what about Arman?" he asked and then pointed towards me. "This wench completed her studies but what about our son? You want him to suffer?"
Mom loosened her grip on me and I glanced at her. She looked deep in thought and I broke out crying. When dad kept talking about Arman's future and how his career would have gotten affected if dad hadn't made Yuvaan to sign that contract, mom slowly moved away from me.
"What did I do wrong? I only thought about our kids' future, I always have, but look at her. Accusing me of ruining her life and treating me like a villain," dad added and mom looked at me sadly.
"But why did you arrange my marriage with Yuvaan? You could have simply gotten him to sign the deal," I said as I cried my heart out.
"I wanted to get rid of you. Happy?" he replied plainly.
"Am I so bad? Don't you consider me your daughter?" I asked as my cheeks got soaked with tears.
"You are my daughter, Reyna-unfortunately. Nothing good has ever happened since the day you were born. I lost my job when your Mom gave birth to you, I got in an accident when I was coming to see you in the hospital, and after that, everything went downhill.
"Only when Arman was born did our life got back on track. You should be thankful that we took care of you even when others told us to drop you at an orphanage. We let you study the field of your own choice even after you made our lives hell, fed you all these years, never expected anything in return and this is how you repay us? If you don't care about us, then atleast think about your brother!"
Arman, my baby brother. Was I so selfish to ignore him?
"Arman loves you-no, he literally worships you and you want to destroy his future? You are married now and have your own home. He is yet to stand on his own feet and I will not let anyone ruin my son's life. Not even you, Reyna. We have already suffered enough and it was time to let off unnecessary load," dad said without a hint of guilt in his voice.
I just looked at him, my words dying in my throat. Mom was staring at her feet and even though I expected her to take my side, I knew she would never do that; not when it came to her son.
They always put Arman before me, afterall they had him after a lot of complications. He was the apple of their eyes. I knew they preferred him over me but I loved my brother a lot. I didn't care if I got discriminated; my brother had no fault in it.
I was aware that dad was not that much fond of me, but today I realised how much he hated my existence. I also hated him but I didn't do that since my birth. Even though Mom always said that she loved both of her kids equally, I knew it was a big fat lie. It was always Arman for them while I was just an extra child-and unwanted.
"Are you going to stay here all day? I have lots of work to do and I think I have explained everything. If you still have complaints, then I am sorry, I can't do anything about it. You now belong to your husband and this is not your house anymore. You are a guest and it is better if guests leave before their presence starts getting troublesome," Dad stated and walked away.
"Reyna..... please don't mind what your dad said. He is just worried about Arman and whatever he did was for your own sake, beta. Don't hate him," Mom said in a low voice.
Now she thought of speaking up? What more did I expect?
"Why did you give birth to me?" I questioned her and wiped away my tears.
"Don't talk like that, Reyna. You know I love you." She stepped towards me.
I put my palm up and stopped her from coming any closer. "You are getting late for your party, mom. I will not hold you back any longer. Afterall, I was just a liability."
"Reyna!" she cried and for the first time in my life, I realised that moms could fake love too.
"Don't worry. I will never trouble you guys ever again. Live happily with your only son." I moved my feet and didn't respond to her calls.
I wiped my face with my handkerchief and exited the house. I sensed dad looking at me from his room's window and I looked over my shoulder. He was staring at me with furrowed eyebrows and I glanced away. I got in my car and told the driver to take me back home.
Home? I had no home.
My own parents refused to accept me now that I was no longer their responsibility and my own husband didn't think that I was his wife. There was only one person who loved me and I didn't want to become a burden on him.
Don't worry, Aru. I will do anything to keep you safe. You can trust your big sister; always.
How was the chapter? What do you think Reyna will do now?
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