Broken By Love [COMPLETED]

Chapter 16

Sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Third Person's POV

Dragging Sikha to her room, Dhruv pushes her to the bed, causing her to land roughly on the edge of the bed.

Clutching the blanket on the bed, Sikha tries to reduce the trembling fear that shakes her entire body. She keeps looking down to the floor, not wanting to look at Dhruv's raging face.

"I had told you clearly that you would not be leaving me, hadn't I, Sikha?"

Sikha hears the question and also hears the anger in Dhruv's voice. She squeezes her eyes shut, her tremble increasing as she recounts the punishments Dhruv gave her when he used to get angry with her before knowing the truth about her innocence.

She gasps loudly and bites down her sob when Dhruv suddenly walks to the bed and clutches her arms tightly.

"Answer me, dammit. How many times do I have to tell you never to ignore my questions?" Dhruv tells her, but Sikha still refuses to look up at him.

She tries to block the painful memories from her mind, but they keep coming back. His cruel words, his beatings, him forcing himself on her.

Everything flashes beneath her closed eyes.

"P...pll..easse, Ss.s..irrr. D..donn'tt pp..punnishh m..me," Sikha stutters, and Dhruv immediately leaves her arms.

It is then that he properly looks at her demeanor and feels a crushing pain in his chest.

Her head is hung, eyes closed, whole body trembling in fear.

'In my fear. She is scared of me.' That thought brings another pang of hurt in Dhruv's heart.

Raking his hand through his hair, Dhruv paces in the room for a while, trying to calm his anger.

After some time, when he calms down a bit, he starts speaking. "I had told you, Sikha. I will never harm you. You do not need to be afraid of me anymore. Please."

Sikha wants to say she does not trust him, but she feels too shaken to stand up to him or argue with him.

Just a few hours back, he had said he would not harm her, but only a few minutes ago, he roughly dragged her to bring her back to his prison. And the way he clutched her arms while doing that.....

Sikha rubs her arms, trying to lessen the painful throb she feels there.

Dhruv closes his eyes in guilt as he sees Sikha rubbing her arms. He realizes that he again maltreated her.

'Why do I always end up hurting her?' he thinks, blinking back his tears of remorse.

"I am sorry for hurting you again, Sikha. I promise I will be more careful from now on," he tells her. "But there is one thing you need to keep in your mind. I am your husband, Sikha, and you belong with me here.

"So, take the thought of running away out of your mind. I have promised never to hurt you again, but if you keep trying to get away, I don't know for how long I will be able to keep that promise." Dhruv clenches his jaw, angry at himself for threatening Sikha, but he does not have any other choice too. He does not want to lose her.

Sikha fists her hands, her fear taking a step back in the shadow of her anger that was slowly building inside her.

"Did you hear me, Sikha? You are not going to leave me. You belong here with me," Dhruv repeats, and those sentences she hears from him are enough for her to finally snap.