Shradha stood on the porch of the safety manor house where she'd grown up on the outskirts of the city. The sheer white walls stretched above her, leaving her more lonely than she had ever been. The pillars on either side of her seemed like a cage that was trapping her in.

Raindrops fell down, leaving the pavement muddy and wet. She took a step forward, stepping out of her shoes, before climbing up the stairs to her home.

Home. That felt weird to say.

She had finished college and was back after four years. She hadn’t looked back when she’d left this place. Hadn’t wanted to look back. She was a prisoner here and returning felt like putting the shackles back on. She sobbed histerically into the arms of the only friend she was allowed to have. She didn't want to leave her, but Shradha knew that her duty as a friend was done. Her father might have paid the girl as well.

Still it broke Shradha's heart to leave the only friend she ever made. But her whole life had been a series of letting go.

When the guard opened the door, she immediately felt like running away back. This house horrified her. It contained parts and bits of her life that she feared the most. And it also contained people that hurt her the most.

Shradha found her mother standing right in the front, with a smile that she  was uneasy about. But still when the woman opened her arms wide open, inviting her for a hug, Shradha jumped in. It was flesh and blood, and it was her mother, no matter what she had done to her.

"Look at you, all grown."

"How are you Ma?" Shradha asked pulling away but the woman only passed her a knowing look.

"You know how I am in this place Shradha. Go meet your father before he gets into a bad mood." With that her mother urged her into her father's study like she wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.

Inside,two men sat by the fire with a bottle of port between them on the coffee table. Shradha's heart started beating harder at the sight of them. One was her father, and the other older man was her worst nightmare.

As soon as he saw her, his dirty eyes scanned her like a hawk while he smiled wickedly at her. She stared at her father in horror while he nodded at her.

"Shradha, the time has come."

She didn't pay attention to what else he said. All she heard was, "Mr.Kapoor has come to take his part of the deal."

Shradha opened her eyes wide, breathing heavily at the dream she just had. Immediately a hand wrapped around her, holding her down.  She did not know for how long she stayed there in the arms of her husband, but thoughts of her final day in her house were finally leaving her.

Her mind cleared up and she relaxed. Only then had he let her go out of his grasp. She rolled to the other side, turning her back to him, while pulling the blankets up to cover her naked frame. Tears sprung down her eyes, and she refused to cry for something that had already happened.

But the pain of betrayal still haunted her to this day.

Even after her parents' death, it stayed with her. She refused to attend their funeral but for her mother, she went. But she couldn't see their lifeless bodies without having to relive the misery she went through them every single day in that house. So she turned away and let her husband handle the formalities.

And indeed he did.

"I want to meet my mother." She asked still not facing him but she knew he was awake and staring at the ceiling like he always did.

"No." Came his reply like it always did.

"Why not?" By now tears were streaming down her eyes heavily. More at the thought of her parents who have been nothing but cruel to her, and a bit at the thought of having to ask her husband to meet her own mother. What kind of life was she living?

"Because I said so." His voice was stern and fixed, like it was a final decision that he wouldn't ever change.

That angered Shradha. She immediately sat up straight on the bed not caring if the blanket had slid of her chests and she was naked to him. Facing him, she asked, "Why can't I meet my own mother?"

He didn't say anything other than glance at her teary eyes. Sitting up straight, his hands caressed her hair which were a tangling mess from the session they had a while ago. Smoothening them down, his other hand wiped away her tears.

"Go back to sleep. It was just a dream."

Shradha shrugged his hands away from her and laughed, "Just a dream? It was not just a dream to me. It was my freaking life!"

"Do you have any idea how it feels to have no choice ever in your life? When everything you have done or might do is decided by the people around you? How would you feel if your parents decide to sell you to someone that scares you the most?"

She was breathing harder from raising her voice but she needed to let it out. For once she wanted to be heard. And he was listening to it. Word by word.

"I want to see her. To ask her why she let that happen to me. She was the only person that cared for me in that house." She hiccuped and fell into his chest, tired and drained. Both mentally and physically.

He hugged her tight, stroking her head gently as she calmed down.
"Shradha, you can't meet her."

She stilled under his hold, immediately wanting to get out of his hold in protest but he held her head, never letting her leave his grasp. "You just can't alright? I'm doing it for your own good."

She clawed at his chest to let her go, but that made him tighten his hold on her. He grunted at the pain and she knew that she had his blood on her hands, but for once she wanted to be the one hurting him. When nothing seemed to work, she trashed against him, taking out her frustration at him while she sobbed histerically.

"Stop."

She didn't.

"Shradha stop."

She kept on hitting his chest.

"I fucking said STOP!" She stilled as his voice thundered around the room. He took her hands in his, and looked down. She carefully lifted her chin up, to meet his eyes. Dark and raged. He was fighting his own demons.

"When I say something is not right for you, it's for your own safety."

"But-"

"Don't you trust me?"

Shradha stilled at that question. Did she trust him? She trusted him with her body. She trusted him with her life. But did she trust him with her emotions?

No, of course not!

She refused to answer that question.

"You can't take away my right to see my own mother. . .how would you feel if I restricted you from seeing any of your parents?"

Aditya knitted his eyebrows in confusion and then let out a laugh. "This is not about taking your right or any shit away. This is for you woman! Why can't you seem to understand it?"

"Then tell me. I swear I'll understand if you just tell me the reason. Don't leave me in the dark." She begged desperately holding onto his hands. She saw in his eyes that for a moment he was thinking about it, but he was good at masking his emotions.

"There are some things that do not have a reason." He sighed before looking away.

"I swear I'll listen to you. I promise I won't ever ask to meet her again. Have I ever been this difficult to you? So please I . . . I need to know why . . . why did you say that it's for my safety? I know my mother, she will not harm me—" Shradha was cut off by a knowing look from him and she gasped in shock.

No, No, No!

"No, she will not. She is not like that. You are wrong!" Realisation dawned on her. It can't be true. Her mother is not dangerous. Tears of the bitter truth rained down her eyes while she stilled, not moving an inch. She looked at him dead in the eye while her tears streamed down.

"But. . . but she loves me." Shradha whispered to herself. It was rather a confirmation to her own self as her heart felt like they were being ripped open. Nausea built up her and she felt like her whole world was spinning. Inside the dark room, golden dots danced her eyes.

Immediately she held onto him for support. Their naked chests collided and she silently sobbed into his arms. She could not tell if he was being annoyed or not, but for once she imagined him to be the man who loved her. A man she loved. Someone she called her own even though to him it was only on papers. It didn't matter tonight who he was or what type of relationship they shared.

Tonight, she sobbed into the last betrayal she will ever have from her family. She wanted to forget the existence of such a thing after tonight and she vowed to herself that she would never ever think about them after tonight.

Aditya was right. Some things do not have a reason. She just needed to let go.

This was her new life. With him, around these four walls. Things of the past only hurt her.

But the realisation that no one ever really loved her in this world hurt her and tore her to bits. Parents who saw her as a liability. Friends who befriended her because her father assigned and paid them.  Everyone wanted something from her and showed affection and care only because they got something in return.

Even the man who she was crying into now. 

The truth crushed her but she accepted it with open arms like every other thing she did. Her purpose of living was to give and she expected nothing but love in return. She realised that she will never ever get it. Even when she was selfless.

Maybe that's all she was.

A body to be used and discarded after she has served her purpose. But this time she would escape. She would fight and put an end to the misery.

With that her vision blurred out and she fell into a deep slumber.

Not edited. Point out any mistakes if any. Thank You