Siya felt tears prick behind her eyes. It felt like the air had turned to glass shards, slicing across her flesh. But Abhay’s arm around her anchored her in the storm raging within.
‘I love Siya with everything I am, and if that makes me weak in your eyes, then so be it. My wife will stay right here in my arms where she belongs.’
‘That’s you, but what about your parents?’ Sharda turned to them with a vicious smile. ‘Will you both be truly content living without a grandchild? Isn’t that a void in your life that cannot be erased by your son’s happiness and Siya’s talent?’
Her attention jerked to her parents-in-law, childishly hoping they’d say yes, but her hope shattered when Mihit’s face paled and Neena opened her mouth as if to say something but then looked away. Their silence stretched, thick and thunderous, and in that void, Siya heard the bitter truth. She wasn’t enough for them.
Her fingers trembled against her thighs as she thought of turning to look at Abhay but she couldn’t bring herself to do it from the fear of seeing the same answer reflected in his eyes.
She was tired of being vulnerable, peeled open under their gazes, and she’d had enough. Taking a deep breath, she held herself together. She’d managed to get through the toughest times of her life, and damn it, she would do it again.
‘I am enough for myself. If I am not a good enough daughter for you, or a good enough daughter-in-law for this family, then it’s your loss.’
With that, Siya turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance. When she walked out of the foyer, she snapped her fingers for the valet to throw her the keys. Her fingers shook as she got behind the wheel in Abhay’s car, and slammed the door shut with too much force.
The engine roared as she pulled out, and Abhay ran out just in time to see the tail lights fading down the driveway. His heart was lodged in his throat, sticky with fear. Pulling out his phone, he quickly dialled her number.
Again and again, it went unanswered. She’d taken his car, and his parents had sent their car home with the driver. In the time it’d take for Kishore to come back, he’d reach his place by cab.
Footsteps echoed behind him and he whipped around to see Dhruv run out after him.
‘Where is she?’ Dhruv asked, looking around.
Acting on wild impulse, Abhay grabbed him by the collar. He got up in his face and growled, ‘Now you fucking care abouther? What the hell happened to you in there? Cat got your tongue?’
Dhruv looked bewildered, but with concern. ‘I get it that you’re pissed off, but believe me, if I’d defended her, they would’ve doubled down on their abuse.’
‘Stop with your damn excuses!’
Dhruv said, ‘Fine. If you want to kick my ass for my father’s sins, do it tomorrow. WhereisSiya?’
The fog of anger lifted a little and Abhay could think straight. He shoved Dhruv away, and picked up his discarded phone from the ground. ‘She took off.’
‘Why the hell are you still here then?’
‘I love the hospitality. Why the hell do you think so? She took my car.’
Dhruv pushed his hand in his jean pocket and pulled out car keys. Throwing them at Abhay, he urged, ‘Take it. Just… just make sure she is okay.’
That’s what Abhay planned to do. He quickly got in the car and took off. His foot pressed harder on the pedal and the world narrowed to the route in front of him. His knuckles had turned white around the steering wheel.
Rage coursed through him, molten and roaring, as he thought of how Kartik and Sharda had finally pushed her enough to crack. The worddefectivetwisted inside his gut.
When he finally reached the entrance to his penthouse, he parked the car haphazardly. He leapt out of the car, and rushed to the elevator panel. A voice in his head was screaming at him to find her.
As the elevator doors opened into the penthouse hallway, Abhay noticed that the lights were on. ‘Siya?’ he called out her name, his voice hoarse with dread, but the echo came back lonely.
He barely registered the clatter of keys on the floor as he rushed up the stairs. He pushed her bedroom door open but froze at the edge when he saw the empty room.
She was gone. Her closet, usually cluttered with a chaos only she could navigate, now stood empty. The bedside drawers were left half-open and hangers were strewn across the bed.
His eye caught on the note tucked under a pen on the table. His heart hammered as he picked it up and read.
I need time. I need space. Please don’t come looking for me right now. I’m sorry.
The letters blurred before his eyes even as he clutched the paper like it might blow away if he let go. A sob broke in his chest, raw and ragged, and he collapsed onto the floor. The tears came fast, unrelenting in its anguish force. He pressed the note to his chest, inhaling the remnants of her perfume still lingering on it.
Abhay wanted to go back in time and rip her father apart for every cruel word he’d ever thrown at her and erase every insult from Sharda that’d wrecked her soul. White-hot fury blazed through him, directed at the people who had broken her down, one word at a time.
