Discordance

Chapter Seven

"Touch you? Why the fuck would I want to touch you?" Abhimanyu was so angry at her insinuation that his vision was turning red. He reached out a hand to grab her and shake her, but she flinched so violently that she banged her hands and head on the wall.

"I have no interest in touching you like that, you psycho" he gritted out hoping that she would take his word for it but she seemed to be staring off into space.

Snapping his fingers in front of her face he tried to bring her out of her trance and when she jerked and looked at him with those irritatingly pretty eyes currently filled with tears he felt like his anger would claw out of his chest and burn his room down.

"I'm not going to touch you now or ever" he stated "What the fuck gave you the idea?"

He wasn't sure she would respond and so he turned his back to her, walking over to the bed. His entire body stilled when he heard her soft voice "You said...you said things will be bad here, I am in your space now."

Fuck. "Jesus Akshara, I meant that I'll make your life miserable here and keep you unhappy but not in THAT way. I'm not going to touch you so you can chill now." She was shaking badly and he wanted her to stop. He wanted her to go away and never return but since that was out of question, he chose the next best option.

"You will be taking the couch" she stared at him for long torturous moments before nodding slightly. "You can change after I do. Try to stay the fuck away from me today and for the rest of our lives, you got that?" he tacked on hoping that she would take the hint that he wanted nothing to do with her. Not waiting for a response Abhimanyu stepped into his ensuite bathroom and angrily grabbed his sehra and threw it on the floor. He stepped on it for good measure hoping to crush this reminder of his sham marriage.

How fucking dare she think that he would stoop down to that level and touch her without her consent? How dare she insinuate that he was that vile and pathetic of a man? His mind was churning as he tore the buttons of his kurta and threw his clothes on the floor before stepping into the cold shower. Once the icy cold blast of water had soaked him completely and his brain had stopped going at a thousand miles an hour, Abhimanyu felt like his sanity was returning to him in bits and pieces.

Maybe what she insinuated wasn't that crazy, she was young and probably had never lived with a man who wasn't her brother, so it was natural for her to be scared, he argued with himself. She had genuinely looked scared and while he knew she was a master manipulator, the fear seemed legit.

"Dammit" he smacked his fist on the shower tile but that raved up his anxiety especially when he clocked his own wedding ring on his finger. Fuck! Married, he was married. To her. He hated her.

But even Abhimanyu had to admit that something was amiss. Her tear when he filled hairline, that broke something in him and he was already broken to begin with. Maybe she wasn't as willing of a participant in this sham as he had thought her out to be.

His mom had warned him that Akshara's life wasn't what it seemed like but his anger had clouded his judgment, something that never ever happened. Abhimanyu hadn't meant to watch her closely during her bidaai ceremony, but it was almost like his eyes found her wherever she was, probably to catch her tripping in her own lie he told himself.

Akshara had a stony mask on throughout the bidaai and didin't even hug her bade papa. She gave small hugs to Kairav and Vansh and was about to do the same to Rishi but then he said something to her and it was like the dams had been broken, she cried so hard and so much that Abhimanyu was worried that he would have to insert a drip in her. Finally, her bade papa went and said something to her and it was almost like a switch went off and she was back to being stony faced. Abhimanyu hated that, he almost wished he could see her smile back .