~•} C H A P T E R|30 {•~
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With rumpled hairs falling on his forehead, he turned towards her and for a moment his eyes met hers.
She was able to see that he was controlling himself so hard from losing his calm and tried his best to look composed but she could see his real feelings trying to surface.
Mostly anger, regret, and a bit of vulnerability.
It was emotionally hurting him to recall all those.
She breathed out softly shifting her gaze towards her hands kept on her lap. She didn't want regret to trap her and make her feel guilty for making him go through what she assumed worst memories?
Well, this was important.
She wanted to find out or else her mind would go crazy from all the heavy assumptions it had been brewing since early morning.
Aakarsh closed his eyes shut hard as he took a deep breath to calm his erupting emotions.
This is going to be fine. He told himself as he feared that in-between or at the end of this conversation, he might lose control over his raging emotions.
She was the one who had suffered all the time due to their past. Due to his past. She had every freaking right to know!
But only if it was that easy...
Tilting his head up, for a long minute he calmly gazed at the patterns engraved on the white ceiling.
"Raina," he began and Raina jerked her head towards him instantly but he continued looking at the ceiling.
After a minute of deafening silence occupied by the sound of their soft breathing and racing heart he finally turned to look into her dark eyes which were contradictory to the bright light in the room but somehow complemented the atmosphere altogether.
Whereas his dark brown eyes seemed brighter in sunlight giving him a fulgent personality.
After what felt like an eternity they came out of their staring session as he passed her a dazzling smile this time.
The smile was just like the calm before the storm.
"So let's start from somewhere... But before beginning I just want you to know what you are getting yourself into. The past exactly isn't much pleasant for me so I might lose control over my anger reminiscing those dark memories... I won't hurt you but please don't be scared if I..." He paused for a second.
Looking away he cleared his throat and mumbled, "...if I broke ...four-five things... okay?"
Raina nodded her head with a stunned face being a witness to his anger issues.
But right now her concern was on far more important things than being scared.
She saw Adam's apple move as he swallowed to drench his parched throat.
Inhaling sharply Aakarsh started,
"The world is well aware that Singhanias are Rathores rivals. But, it is a fact that you don't become rivals in a single day. Day after day, incidents after incidents led you to develop such feelings. And especially when we are talking about two famous names in the business world." He turned towards her, stopping for a second to which Raina blinked to continue.
"You know what Raina, the story isn't that brutal like you might assume... We didn't kill each other relatives or snatched an important thing. We were on very good terms at the start! The three classy families; Rathore, Singhania, and Oberoi were actually good friends, and our mothers were very good friends. The richie and classy shit friendships you know..."
Raina looked at him exceptionally when he stopped. She saw him take a deep breath before beginning again,
"Well, in other words, there was no rivalry between us. And then the next generation grew up. We weren't great friends with the Singhania brothers but we were okay. Until..." And then he stopped again making a curious Raina frustrated.
"For God's sake Aakarsh you aren't a writer to stop and pause on interesting part as if leaving on cliffhangers!" She accused narrowing her eyes at him to which he shrugged and sighed.
"This isn't as easy as you think Raina..." He scoffed running his hands through his face making Raina guilty.
She was supposed to be patient.
"I'm sorry." She murmured softly looking at him to which he just smiled back in return.
Though she knew that this was a fake smile.
Clearing his throat he began once again,
"So, I was saying that we were okay with each other's presence until Yuvraj Bhai took over the company after dad. Singhanias were on top at that time. He was a newcomer but a company that was in so much loss due to dad's illness started to rise once again in the business world and became equal to Singhania Enterprises!"
"What was the problem in this when both families were on good terms?" Raina questioned furrowing her brows to which he smiled.
A bitter and painful smile.
"Not all people are forever good Raina. Some are good to you until you are below them and the same happened with Singhanias." He replied and she felt that deeply. This sentence spoke depth itself.
She lifted her eyelashes to look at him and their eyes connected, she could feel. Feel the way he was restraining his flooding emotions.
The way his feet were rubbing against each other in a matter to calm himself down didn't go unnoticed by her sharp eyes.
Taking a deep breath she hesitantly forwarded her hands towards his which was lying on the bed plainly.
Their fingers touched and he almost flinched violently, turning towards her to find her staring at him in a way to calm him down. And it did work.
Her black eyes seemed to drown all his anger for a moment.
As he slowly interlaced his fingers with hers in an attempt to bask in strength to let out those memories which always made him go to a dark place of mind.
Letting out a deep breath, he craned his neck up and told,
"The relationship between the younger generation became worst when both my mom and Mrs. Aparna Singhania sent Yuvraj Bhai and Udgam's proposal for the only child of Oberois, Mahira Oberoi. It was a coincidence but both had motives behind it. Mom wanted to do the richie shit and wanted rich connections, and relatives while Aparna Singhania was greedy for Oberois property as it would, at last, be handed to their son-in-law."
"Will property melt or turn into the fire under a female's hand?" Raina interrupted and let her detest visible in her tone.
Duh, the patriarchal world and society!
Aakarsh let out a deep chuckle at her remark.
She gets offended too. He thought making a mental note not to say something like that in the future. Even though he wasn't a patriarchal male and firmly believed in equality.
Shrugging his shoulders he answered, "No, it doesn't turn into fire Raina but you can't force someone to work. The same was the thing with their daughter. Being the only child, Oberois left no stone unturned to spoil her which lead them not to force her into things which Mahira wasn't interested in as she wasn't the serious type to handle businesses."
She hummed acknowledging his answer and approving it whereas he continued,
"But the Oberois splashed cold water on Mrs. Singhania's greedy dreams announcing that they would give their property into charity once they wouldn't be able to take care of it. They also mentioned that they took this decision so that their daughter gets married for what she is and not their money. A very good decision from their side, I might add. We all thought that now Singhanias would pull back their proposal but surprisingly they didn't as their eldest son was genuinely interested in marrying Mahira."
"What about Yuvraj Bhai?" Raina asked.
Aakarsh sighed, "Yuvraj Bhai was fine with everything. He was at that time just focussing on business and being a good son. To be honest we all didn't have many hopes for this proposal as we were expecting a denial from Mahira's side. Afterall she was a carefree and happy girl just opposite of my serious and workaholic brother. Also, Mahira was the best friend of Udgam's sister... So, we all were hoping for a 'No' for Yuvraj bhai's proposal."
Raina nodded in understanding even though he wasn't able to see it as he was facing the ceiling above.
"But Mahira surprised everyone by denying Udgam's proposal and accepting Yuvraj bhai's proposal. It came out as a shock to everyone including us but Mom was very happy and this was a huge blow to Singhanias ego. Marriage was done in haste and still, everyone was wondering the reason behind Mahira's decision of marrying Yuvraj Bhai and not Udgam... The Singhania Enterprises was very stable at that time unlike The Rathore Empire and so was the condition of us..." He closed his eyes for a brief second as if reminding those days,
"Whatever the reason was... Marriage to us felt like a fairytale where two opposite poles, the dark and bright interconnected. We all were very happy as she was just the opposite of our brother. We were sure they would make a power couple with her being all classy and bright and Bhai being his usual serious self... Everything was going pretty well but, Sometimes two people are just not made for each other."
Raina's eyes widened at the statement he made. She turned towards him and found him still staring at the ceiling above with a faraway look.
Her train of thoughts ran in all directions and stopped on certain names, Mahira and Udgam.
Licking her dry lips, she breathed in softly and let out those offensive words, "Did Mahira cheat?"
She felt him chuckle again. This time, not a playful one but a dry and bitter chuckle accompanied by a painful smile.
"Only if she did then I wouldn't be this guilty for being one of the reasons why her and Yuvraj bhai's relationship withered apart." He murmured turning towards her.
Raina's brows elevated as her eyes widened being stunned.
"How could you be the reason for their relationship getting dampened?"
She heard him run his hand tiredly through his face as he sighed for the umpteenth time today, "Because I rejected the marriage proposal of Shreshtha Singhania. The only female heir of Singhanias and the only best friend of Mahira Oberoi."
Shreshtha Singhania. The name felt familiar to Raina. And then Ishani's wording rang inside her mind, 'The relationship between two families is rocky and the reason is suspected as Shreshtha Singhania'
Whoever the woman was. For sure had a great impact otherwise Aakarsh wouldn't mention her in their conversation.
But why would Aakarsh deny that proposal? She had seen Shreshtha at a party and she was the woman who turned heads due to her elegance, grace, and beauty. Well, marrying Shreshtha was far better than marrying her, right?
"Why would you do that? I mean I know you hate women—" Raina was cut-off between her wording by Aakarsh,
"No, at that time I didn't hate women. But for sure hated that vile, awful, and disgusting lady! I would've agreed to marry a fucking pig even but not her. Not HER!"
Raina's face burned with embarrassment as she gazed at the man in front of her who was now fuming in rage...
Well, he mentioned that it was better to marry a pig than Shreshtha... So was she a pig?
She couldn't contain the insecure thoughts from invading her mind.
But I'm not even that fat.
But still.
Maybe...
As if guessing her thoughts, Aakarsh turned towards her and tightened the hold on her hand making her turn to face him.
"Don't assume things, Raina. You're the best. More than a man like me ever deserved."
Those words... Those weren't a compliment but still, her heart skipped a beat at his words.
Someone wasn't disappointed when she was at their side excluding her sister. This was what she ever wanted and it made her happy from inside.
Clearing her throat, she murmured, "Continue,"
Aakarsh thought for a moment, remembering where he ended and started again,
"So I refused to marry Shreshtha and Mahira was disappointed. She argued with Bhai even when she was well aware of what her so-called best friend did but for her Shreshtha was innocent and she tried to force Bhai to make me marry Shreshtha but Bhai denied."
"What did Shreshtha do and were you the only reason Yuvraj Bhai and Mahira fought?" Raina couldn't help but question her concern. She felt him take a deep breath.
"There were other reasons too Raina and about Shreshtha's doing. I don't think I'm eligible to answer all this. I can't tell you these things because this isn't my past and my story to tell. If it was mine, I would've told you..." He trailed off and Raina hummed in understanding.
She would try to know the things he would tell her! And she was sure that she was the first daughter-in-law to even know this much. Unfortunately, the brothers were very reserved and kept the past and secrets buried under the ground without any trace.
"So after all this proposal thing, the relationship between the two families was not good of course. And then after Yuvika was born, the company again started going down due to many unexplainable reasons. There was so much loss. I and Aadarsh had to join the company as Yuvraj Bhai was getting too stressed in between all this. There wasn't any problem because Aadarsh and I were already planning to join in the same year but when things got even worst Vardhaan had to join too leaving his art, his passion. For which Yuvraj Bhai is still guilty but we all know Vardhaan never held him responsible."
Raina did notice the way he jumped from a certain part to another not letting her know what happened. But chose to ignore as he wasn't going to tell her those things he made clear.
"After Vardhaan joined, then things started getting better. The things which the most educationally qualified people like Yuvraj Bhai weren't able to do, he was able to do. His creative mind and ideas improved the architecture to a great extent. Which lead to another branch being opened in Rathore Empire which solely focuses on the best designs of resorts, hotels, and restaurants. Now our company is famous for its architecture more than anything." Once he ended she could feel the way his jaw was clenched and tension on his neck chords was visible.
She frowned not understanding if all this was so much? Mahira's proposal, Shreshtha's proposal, and enmity. That's it?
"Just two proposals led to enmity Aakarsh?" She questioned.
"They weren't just two proposals! There was a lot that happened in between which you are not aware of because I wasn't able to tell you. These Singhanias are very vile! Whether it be Udgam, Vikram, or Shreshtha! All of them have played their roles in destroying our lives. You don't know. They're emphatic, emotionless with a heart made of stone. They have the guts to still come here and sprinkle salt on the wounds which never healed. They still come here to have their share of fun even after knowing what they did with us. They are disgusting humans..." He stood up from bed jerking away from her hand.
There he lose control over his raging emotions and she could see it. The way he was breathing heavily in anger or the way his hands were fisted so tight and shaking in anger. He had lost control over his anger. The beautiful brown flower vase was broken into pieces in next second.
She swallowed hard to drench her dried throat and stood up. She didn't know what to do. She just wanted him to calm down at the moment because his anger took the worst out of him.
Knowing his language of comfort, hesitantly she kept her hands on his shoulder to which he abruptly turned.
She was rooted in her place seeing the same look in his eyes that made her terrified during their initial days of marriage and still does. She saw him take a deep breath as he clutched her shoulders in his hold, not too tight but not too softly either. The next she knew was that he leaned his forehead on hers trying to catch his calm and control his anger.
Her dark eyes connected with his as he breathed softly trying to calm himself and the hold on her shoulders loosened as he gently held her cheeks this time. He closed his eyes while she continued to stare at him with a racing heart.
His brown eyes opened and locked with hers as he smiled softly in her direction. A sign that his anger was under his control now making her release a breath she didn't know she was holding till now. They continued to look at each other with their forehead connected but still a good amount of gap in between their bodies.
Slowly he pulled back and left the room to continue with the list of tasks he made to complete.
While she was standing in the doorway looking at his retreating back with her hands clutching her cheeks, the same place his hands caressed seconds ago.
Her mind was just collecting the information he gave her and trying to join all the loose ends...
Probably she would be able to find more but slowly...
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Can u connect the loose ends?
Do you think there is more to Yuvraj and Mahira's withered relationship?
Aakarsh?
Raina?
Take Care❤️
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