Loving HIM Unconditionally

What's hurting you, Biwi?

Devyani's pov - 

The voice belonged to Dev, and I quickly wiped away my tears, turning to face him.

His eyes searched mine, sensing the turmoil within. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should ask him about what I had discovered.

"What's bothering you, Biwi?" he asked again, entering in our room.

"I-I was just..." I stuttered. "You were just?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and waiting for me to continue.

I avoided looking at him, knowing that if I did, tears would well up in my eyes.

"I was just missing my parents," I said, unable to meet his gaze.

"Liar," he said instantly, and my eyes shot towards him.

"You know, Biwi, you're usually very brave, but you have one weakness. Do you know what it is?" he asked.

I shook my head, signaling him to continue.

"You, my dear little wife, can't lie. You don't have the ability to lie to someone's face. So, it's better if you tell me what's bothering you now," he said, growing impatient.

"I already told you I was just missing my parents; that's why I was sad," I repeated.

"Really? If you missed them so much, you could have just called or gone to see them. No one in the house would have stopped you.

"Why were you crying? It's not like your tears will lessen the longing for them," he said.

"I wasn't crying," I said, turning away from him and pretending to do some work in our room.

"Again, a lie. Your eyes are all red and swollen. I can clearly see that you were crying," he said, grabbing my left arm and pulling me towards him. His grip on my arm was tight, but not tight enough to hurt me.

Tears welled up in my eyes immediately. "Dev, let go of my hand," I told him. But his grip on my arm only tightened.

"You weren't crying? Okay, fine, I'll believe you, but only if you say it looking into my eyes," he said, touching my chin and making me meet his gaze.

"Why do you care, Dev?" I asked, looking into his grey eyes.

As I looked at him, memories of sketches featuring Dev and Diya flashed in my mind. I fought back my tears, determined not to let them fall.

"Sorry?" he said, clearly not expecting me to question him like this. Undeterred, I repeated my question.

"I'm asking you, why do you care, Dev? As far as I remember, you've said that you only got into this marriage for your family."

"You told me not to expect anything from this marriage or from you."

"You don't like me, and you don't like my presence in your life. So why do you care if I'm crying or if my eyes are all red and swollen?" I confronted him, looking directly into his eyes this time.

His grip on my arm immediately loosened, and he turned away, avoiding eye contact. He remained silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the floor.

I kept waiting for him to say something, even if it was just acknowledging that things had changed between us, even a little bit – that something had shifted.

He might not want me as his lover, but perhaps he sees me as a good friend at least.

But you know what he did? He didn't say anything. He stayed silent and I got my answers.

"As expected, you don't have any answer, right?" I said laughing a little.

Dev's silence hung in the air, heavy and palpable. The room felt smaller, suffocating, as if the unspoken words were crowding the space between us.