Chapter 27

" Priya, it is high time now. I want to tell you a few things, please listen to me carefully, I just wanted to tell you that I..." There was a loud knock on the door of our bedroom. Rahul almost cursed at that and loosened his arms around me.



He started going to open the door but I stopped him, " Wait Rahul, you can't open the door as Rohit is sleeping in our room. If it is Mom on the door and if she sees him how would we explain to her about it? I don't want to give any tension to our parents. " He nodded and smiled. I went to open the door and went outside, closing the door behind me.



Mom was standing there looking a bit worried. She asked me, " Priya, is Rahul sleeping? Please wake him up and tell him that dad is calling him. I don't know what is wrong, but he is very angry right now. I need to wake up Rohit too."



" Oh mom ! Don't worry, I will wake Rohit too, you please go and tell dad to relax. Anxiety is not good for him."



She went downstairs and I came into the room. I told Rahul what mom said. Rohit was also awake by now. All three of us went to see dad.



My father was also there. I hugged him tight and kissed on my forehead. He also looked worried or a bit angry as he was glaring at Rahul.



What was the matter?



Dad asked mom and me to prepare breakfast, but the tension was so thick in the room that you could literally cut it with a knife. I think dad wanted us to leave the men alone.



We came to the kitchen to prepare breakfast but we were tense about what was happening in the study.

We made paper-thin cucumber sandwiches, American corn salad, And spicy vermicelli with lots of veggies. I also made some brownies.



After some time dad and Rohit came out of the study. Dad looked a bit relaxed now and Rohit was talking to him in hushed tones. Dad nodded and Rohit went outside and started making a few phone calls. He came back to dad and said, " We will have it within 2 hours. Trust us, dad."



My dad and Rahul were still in study. What was going on?



Both of them came out. The tension was still there though it had reduced a bit.

We all settled down to eat. I was sitting next to Rahul. He looked very gloomy. My dad said, " Priya I want you to come and stay with us for a few days. I am missing you a lot. Pack your bag you are going with me." I was surprised as I was with them for a long time and had just returned only 2 days back. Rahul caught my hand below the table. I looked at him, he was looking at me with pleading eyes. Then he looked at my dad with the same expression.



" But dad, it is my first day at the office and I am really looking forward to it. I don't want to miss it." I said.

" Ok beta, you can go to the office, but in the evening you will come home with me. You are staying with us for a few days and that is final. " Said my dad.



Rahul looked disappointed. We finished our food and I was about to leave when Rahul caught my hand and said, " Please wait for me, I will go and get ready in 2 minutes we will go together."



But dad said, " You better prove yourself son or you will lose it all. She is not going anywhere with you. She can go to the office with Rohit or me."



Rahul's POV

She tiptoed in our room and went to the washroom to get ready. I knew this as I could not sleep at all. I wanted to talk to her so I stood in front of the door. I pulled her in my arms, she tried to resist but I held her tightly.



I was kissing her and she was melting in my arms but I had to tell her how I felt about her.



I started telling her but someone knocked on the door. Priya opened and went out. I shook Rohit to wake him up. Priya came back and said, " Dad is calling both of you. Mom was saying that he was very tense. Please hurry up. "



We went to the study.

Kabir Uncle was also there, I greeted him but he seemed to be upset and didn't reply. My dad was glaring at me. He sent mom and Priya away. The moment they both left and the door was closed. Dad said, " What is the matter with you, Rahul? Are you determined to give me another heart attack? I didn't expect it from you. That girl eloped on the day of her wedding. It would have been so humiliated if Kabir had not come to our rescue. I am ashamed of you Rahul. How could you? Anuj showed the pics to us. How could you?

I can't even look into Kabir's eyes. How can you still have feelings for her? That is disgusting. You didn't even think about Priya? She is such a sweet girl. God bless her always. "



" Dad please let me explain..." I started speaking but he didn't let me continue.



" What is there to explain Rahul? I trusted you with my daughter. You were in love with someone else but still, I made her marry you as I thought that you are a good man and with the passage of time you both would be happy with each other. You are still involved with that girl? I will not let Priya suffer. She will not live with you now... You don't deserve her. I will get divorce paper ready, just sign them. I will rectify, whatever is wrong. I will find a nice boy and get her married to him, at least he will love her. " Kabir Uncle was shouting at me.



" Noooo!!! I didn't do anything wrong, Uncle. I don't have anything with Leena. I cut down all my connections with her. This all is fabricated. I was at the airport, when she came in front of me out of nowhere. I was just shocked to see her. I couldn't even utter a word and she threw herself at me and started hugging and kissing me. I was stunned. The moment I realised what was going on I pushed her and told her to stay away from me as I am a happily married man. Anuj must have taken a picture at that time." I said, he was listening.



" I never had any feelings for Leena, we were getting married to just getting off the hook. You were really after me to get married. It would have been a marriage of convenience. I am sorry to say this but, I always had feelings only for Priya. " I saw the look of surprise on their faces.



They were literally shocked with what I just said.

" I was scared to tell all of you about my feelings. I have always loved Priya. Uncle, you always treated me as your son and Priya is like a daughter to my parents. We are like a big family. So I thought it was unethical to have any feelings for her. I always suppressed them. I got ready to marry Leena under contract, as I could not get married to the love of my life. I did not want to get married to anyone else and I wanted to stop this issue forever."



"I swear I never had feelings for Leena, so how can I have them now when she jilted me in front of everyone. And above all, I am married to Priya, I love her for at least 10 years. I didn't even know the meaning of love at that time. Dad and Uncle, please I am sorry for that but I really love Priya. Please, don't take her away from me. I will keep her very happy. Please... " I pleaded.



Rohit cleared his throat and said, " I know that whatever bhai is saying is right. I know he has always loved her and I also know that even Priya has loved only and only Rahul. They had a crush on each other. If you separate them, none of them will ever be happy again. Anuj is after Priya for a long time, he was stalking her. He even tried to misbehave with her and was trying to convince her to leave Bhai." Dad and Uncle were listening very carefully but didn't say a word.



" He was there at the dance competition and tried talking to her..... told her many false stories. When I went to meet her she was crying. I punched him hard, he even said bad things about her character. I would have killed him, if Priya had not stopped me. I will prove it to you that it is not as it looks like. Give me some time, please. And last night he made us so angry that we had a fight. He said that he would spoil their marriage. Please don't let him... They love each other, dad. Uncle, I will prove that he has no feelings for Leena. You can test his feelings for Priya. " Rohit was handling the situation so well, he stood by me. He was really grown up.



love you, my brother... I looked at my father, he didn't say anything, but he got up and left the room with Rohit.



Uncle stared at me for a few mins. Then he finally said," Look Rahul, I will not tell both of you to take divorce, if you can prove that the pictures were planned. But she will not stay in this house till you prove that you really love her. Why didn't you tell us about your feelings for her? Everything would have been better. She would not have gotten married instantly. "



I nodded and said, " Uncle I thought that, she was a part of my family and hence I couldn't even think about her like that. I started avoiding and ignoring her. I thought that the relationship between you and dad may suffer, if you don't approve of the fact that I loved her. Uncle when I got married to her, I felt like I got everything. Please, don't take her away from me."



" Come on son, pull up your socks. You have to win her if you want her in your life. But she is staying with us till then." He said and left the study and I followed him.



We all had food, she sat beside me. Uncle asked her to stay with them for a few days. My heart started sinking. I held her hand in mine. Later on, We all went to work.