To all the lovely readers from my beloved country - Happy independence day 🇮🇳

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat 🇮🇳

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SHREYA'S POV

After a minute he pulled away, looked here and there, and went to the bathroom. After having a shower he went out of the room without uttering a single word. You know as I said I don't understand him. A few minutes ago he was confessing his love towards me and now he is acting like he doesn't even know me. He said that he loves me but I think it is just infatuation which will end soon. He didn't return to the room that night.

But I decided to know why he reacts that way whenever he sees his stepmother and Shaurya. Because I cannot live with a mysterious man.

It is been 1 month to that incident and I am still not able to know even a little about him. Neither he nor Madhu Masi answers my questions. I tried to search for the keys of that room too but failed completely.

How could I get any information about him when he is my CCTV camera 24/7.

I was sitting in his cabin with him doing paperwork. From the day I have rejoined this office his condition is that I will not leave his cabin.

He never let me go alone anywhere. Don't know what he is afraid of like someone is going to eat me out. He is overprotective and over-possessive which I don't like because I feel like someone has caged me. And I always wanted to fly free.

My chain of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in" he ordered

"Maine disturb to nahi kiya na?" (I hope I haven't disturbed you) Prem entered the cabin with his teasing remark.

Mr. Kukkad looked up angrily. His eyes were tired. These days he is working a lot.

"Ok, ok. Here are the files just go through them once. And if you want to work then you can do it for the whole night. I don't care. I have my wife and kid too who waits for me at home. So this is my last day working this long" saying this he left.

I have come to know they are business partners and he is the owner of 25% of the business. He works as the manager of Mr. Kukkad and he is with him from his childhood.

PREM!

Oh, God Prem! How can I be so stupid? He can help me in knowing the things about him.

I immediately stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Umm....umm..cafeteria?" It came out as a question. I can't even lie properly.

"Why?"

"To grab a coffee,"

"Sit here, we will leave soon" he ordered

"I know your soon. You are a machine but I am not. I am tired you know. I need coffee right now or I will sleep right away, right here" I said angrily.

"Ok" he chuckles and without arguing further I just left for Prem's cabin before he leaves the office.

I knocked and he permitted

"Oh, Shreya, what made you come here?" He asked while packing his things.

"I want to ask you something,"

"Go ahead," he said while coming to me.

I moistened my lips and opened my mouth but then closed it.

"You can share with me if you have any problem. Consider me as your elder brother " he said while putting his hands on my shoulders.

I looked down. I was not getting from where to start.

"Actually, I want to know about Atharva. Why is he like that?" I asked

"I am sorry Shreya, but I can't tell you this. This is for you to find out"

"But he never tells me anything. Neither he answers my questions"

"He will not because you have never asked him as a wife. Have you ever treated him as your husband? Have you ever let him love you or have you ever loved him? You don't even give him proper food to eat but he never complains." he said looking into my eyes.

He was making me feel guilty.

"You even have any idea how much that man loves you?"

"Love? He has loved many women in his life I guess"

"They were the ones who were behind him for money. I accept that he used to sleep with women because of his loneliness but he has never forced himself on anyone. He has not been with a girl for more than 2 months. And he is with you from the past 1 year" he said and my eyes widened.

"One year? But I know him from 6 months only" I said

"But he knows you from 1 year. Sorry, this was not my part to tell you. But yes, he saw you in a club one year ago. And believe me, Shreya after that he has not even looked at any girl that way. He loves you so much that he is ready to lose even a single penny for you"

He paused

"Can I ask you a question?" He said

I nodded.

"Why do you hate him?"

I took a deep breath.

"How could I forgive the person who had almost killed my father. I can forget everything but I cannot forget that." I looked down

"This is where you are wrong Shreya, this is where you are wrong," he said and I looked up.

"You can hate him for forcing you to work with him, you can hate him the things he has done with Rahul, you can hate him for his nature but not for this. You are punishing him for the crime which he hasn't committed," he said and my eyebrows knitted.

"This is true. He is not a culprit" he said

"Then who?" I was able to say just these two words.

"Shaurya and his mother," he said and I was shocked.

"But why would they do that. They are not my enemy"

"This is your misconception. The moment you entered Atharva's life all his enemies became yours" he said

"And you know what, that accident was not meant for your father. That was meant for you. They wanted to kill you. But don't know why they changed there to plan and attacked your father. They wanted to kill him but fortunately, Atharva saved his life." I can feel my eyes tearing up.

"How could you say this so sure?" I asked in a very low voice.

" Hahaha" he started to laugh but it was a fake one.

"Mai un logo ki rag rag me waqif hu (I am very well aware of those people)"

I was just looking at him.

"And my bad luck is that I cannot abuse that woman no matter how much I want to because I am under her debt," he said

"Debt?"

"Debt of giving me birth, the debt of her milk," he said and my eyes became wide and I was shocked beyond words. It took me a minute to register his words.

"Yes, unfortunately, that woman is my biological mother," he said and the ground beneath me slipped.

"You, you are his brother," I said

"Yes, but he doesn't like to call me his brother because it will connect me to that woman," he said

"Why do you loath her so much?"

"There is not even a single thing for which I should love her," he said

He started telling me things and I was just silently listening to him.

"She gave me a birth but I don't know about my father. Hell, she doesn't know about my father. She was a model. The only thing that she cared is about her beauty and her body. I was just 4 years old when she married Atharva's father and he was 2 years old at that time. I was too small to understand how she met his father or what she did to make him fall in her web. He accepted her and me for the sake of Atharva because he loved him so much and he cannot trust nannies"

He paused for a minute and again continued with a smile on his lips and little tears in his eyes.

"I was 4 years old when I met him. I was very happy that I got someone to play with. He was a lively child. His eyes shine bright whenever he smiles. But he was a cry baby too, used to cry on small little things. He always remained enthusiastic and energetic to learn new things but he was scared of darkness and loneliness. In a year we became very good friends. We used to sleep together, eat together, play together, study together, and even fight together on little things" he chuckled and continued.

"And then that Shaurya came to our life. He was very much jealous of Atharva because Mr. Singhania used to love Atharva more than him. And that thing was not digested by him and his mother. They started to beat him, punish him by locking him in the dark rooms for the things he has never done. She even stopped giving him lunch because at that time his father was not present at the house. Sometimes I or Madhu aunty used to give him food"

"Years went like this and we grew up. I was always with him no matter what and we shared a very good bond. He used to cry on my shoulders whenever he was scared. Both of them have filled so much fear in his heart. But our bond too was not digestible to them. She sent me to a boarding school when I was 10 years old. No matter how much I and Atharva pleaded to her but she didn't listen. Atharva's father remained silent in this case because she said that I am her son and she will do whatever she wants. When I shifted abroad we lost all the contacts. I was happy with my new life because I got so many new people to live with but he was all alone there. I don't know what she and her son was doing to him."

I felt like someone has squeezed out my energy. My knees started to wobble and I was not able to stand properly.

"But why he murdered his father?" I asked with a little amount of energy left in me.

"As I said, she destroyed each and every way of our contact so I don't know about that. The only thing I know is that when at the age of 18 he came back from the juvenile home, he was not the same person whom I first met. I came to know that I have lost my brother and he was now different who was heartless and who don't care about anyone. My cry baby turned into a stone heart man. He has never shed even a single tear no matter how much hurt he is. But I know his heart is filled with pain. I tried to change him but he didn't let me and always pushed me out of his life" he paused again and came to me.

"But you know the day you have entered his life I have got a ray of hope that I can get my brother back. He has started to care at least for you. The man who doesn't know the meaning of the word patience is having patience with you. The man who was not ready to bring anyone in his life is ready to spend his whole life with you" he said.

"He was too young when his mother died and "

We heard a sound at the door and found him standing there. We were shocked. We don't know how long he is standing there. His face was expressionless.

When we looked at him he immediately turned and left from there.

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Rest of the story will be told in next part.

Tab tak k liye bye... Have a nice day.

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