HER TRUE SOULMATE

Laya? A Burden?

Raghuram Pasupuleti was surely a good father. He always strove for his family's and their children's well-being. Even though Laya was his second brother's daughter, he loved her like his own. She studied well, made him proud, and always aimed to stand on her own two feet. 

If it were his own daughters or sons, they would have asked about the property he had to give them. But she had remained silent for the past fifteen years, not asking for a single penny. Despite knowing that she would have more money than anyone else, she wasn't greedy or selfish. Laya could be a spoilt brat, but she never became one. 

Even though she was young, she had her strong values and boundaries. And most importantly she loves her pedananna and pedamma unconditionally. Maybe that was why Raghuram thought he could do anything to her as she was the most obedient one. 

She only took the monthly allowance, and if she needed more, she would call him and ask for it. However, she never mentioned why she needed the money, only requesting it for project work, shopping with friends, or paying fees. Raghuram often wondered why she wasn't his biological daughter, but it didn't change how much he cared for her.

Her smiles brightened his day. The way she called him "Dad" and his wife "Mom" always made his day. During her childhood, she would accompany him to the farm, and after they moved to Hyderabad, she accompanied him to the office. He laughed at the memories of her bossing around his servants for serving him the wrong tea. The servants were more afraid of Laya than of Raghuram. He smiled at those beautiful memories. But when he realized she was going to leave them, his eyes watered.

However, he couldn't afford to be soft. He had to be stern and stone-hearted about her goodness. "Laya, I know you don't like it, but the guy is a good man. He likes you, and your brother is their partner," Raghuram said.

Just like Raghuram, many fathers think that they were doing it for the good of their children. But... again... not everything they do will do them good. Children can very well make their own decisions. From time to time, parents should listen to them and let them make their own decisions. You won't know without seeing if your children were making a good or  bad decision unless you let them. 

"Dad, you're selling me off for my brother's business," Laya said in a small voice, making his eyes widen.

Raghuram never thought his words would be interpreted this way. He looked at her petite face and saw a tear rolling down her cheek. His heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. Raghuram wanted to tell her he wouldn't let the marriage happen, but he believed this was for her own good. She might cry for a few days, but eventually, everything would be fine. But was it really for her own good? Only he knew the answer.

"Laya, think whatever you want. This is my responsibility. I am fulfilling it. I can't look after you forever. If you were my daughter, I would have married you off when you were eighteen. I didn't want you to feel wronged, so I gave you time to study and do whatever you wanted for three years. Now, I've done what I had to do. It's your turn to fulfill your duties as a daughter," Raghuram said in an emotionless voice, shocking her.

Responsibility? A mere responsibility? 

Laya looked at him with her big almond-shaped eyes, filled with shock. She never thought her eldest uncle considered her a burden. She always believed there was no difference between her and his biological daughters. But now... everything feels so different. So, this was how everyone truly felt about her. In the end, she was an orphan. She felt as if a sharp knife was stabbing her heart. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Since she was a burden, she had to free them from it.

"I will marry," she said, trying her best not to choke on her words.

Laya was never in a relationship, not because she was ugly or something. She was an average looking girl. She was confessed to by guys once or twice. But she always thought her uncle would take care of her future husband's search. That was why she never let her heart waver for the guys who approached her. An arranged marriage was something she came to terms with. But what she didn't expect was to arrange marriage in this way. She had a feeling that these people were trying to get rid of her. Maybe she should just get lost if they don't want her. 

"That's good," Raghuram said, ignoring her sobs. "These boxes contain jewelry for you. Check them once," he said.

Laya stood there, not intending to check. If it was before this conversation, she would have been excited and would have checked the second he asked. But now... these things no longer entice her. What's the point of having jewelry when her happiness was being snatched away?

"Check!" he shouted, making her flinch in fear. Laya opened them with shaky hands and saw ornaments with rubies, pearls, red corals, green emeralds, yellow sapphires, diamonds, and blue sapphires. There were seven sets—one for each day of the week—and another complete set made entirely of gold.

Laya knew her family was rich, and her father's shares were one-third of the family business. She knew these were made from those shares. In the Pasupuleti family, she was the richest because she had never used a single penny from those savings. All her accounts were handled by her peddananna. Her youngest uncle had tried to launder money from her accounts but was caught by her peddananna.

"These are the documents for the shares that belonged to your father. I transferred them into your name. All the income earned from your father's shares is stored in this bank account. Even in the future, your shares will be transferred into that account itself. Here are the account details and the card for it. From that money, I bought a house for you in Banjara Hills. You can check it out when you have time.

"I bought it there because your soon-to-be husband's family requested it. Also, I am afraid they might take advantage of you after the marriage, so I made a deal. The dowry we agreed to give them will be registered in your name," he said as if he had done a great thing for her, pushing a stack of documents towards her.

But again... the word requested sent jolts into her body. Laya had a bad feeling when she heard the request of the groom's family. Indian grooms demand dowries as if the whole world owes them. She can already imagine a not-so-good married life. But when has her life been good? 

Laya wondered what had happened to her father. If he was afraid someone would take advantage of her, he should be afraid of himself. The moment he agreed to this marriage, he had already taken advantage of her. Now he was afraid of her being taken advantage of. It felt like a joke.

"You may leave," he said.

"Pedananna, you can keep these things. Take them as compensation for bearing with me all these years. Let's not owe each other anything anymore," Laya said, getting up from her seat and intending to leave the toxic room.