Oberoi's Ardhangini

CH | 40

Gazing at him, she wanted to vent out all the pain that had bottled up inside her every nerve from so many years.

Taking a deep breath, "Some people used to beat me when I was a kid back then." She said while her expression turned painful as if she was holding herself not to burst because, until today, no one knew about it.

Though Shreya and Aarushi knew that Mrs. Mehta didn't like her and used to slap her, but she never bothered to reveal the life in her orphanage and the unfavorable incidents she faced to have these scars on her body until she became the daughter of Mehta's to them .

She's a lonely child who yearned for a little love and care but never got them. People weren't even used to talking with her in an affectionate tone. They always treated her like she was scum and used to beat her when she made the slightest mistake.

Her eyes turned blurry with tears, her face turned red, and her body shuddered in anxiety involuntarily, remembering those dreadful memories that were buried safely in her heart.

Peeping at her after hearing what she said, anger rose in him with force. "How dare they beat her? Who the fu'k did that?" He thought while an oppressive aura lingered around him. His demeanor roared to kill those who hurt her brutally.

He sat upright and took her in his embrace to give her the warmth she needed. Her head was buried in his warm chest while her tears fell on him and he caressed her softly as if she was made of glass.

"Who did this to you? Who...? Mehta's?" He asked while suppressing his rage to find all the people and to see the end of them.

She shook her head in denial upon hearing Mehta's name. Though they never gave her happiness, she's grateful since she's now leading this life because of Mr. Mehta's mercy on her when she was a child.

"Then who?" Jwalin queried, his tone sharp and she understood that sharpness wasn't directed at her.

She mumbled while sniffing, "When I was a child, I didn't live with Mehta's. I used to live somewhere far from here."

"Where is that?" He instantly asked, eager to find every detail.

"Jaipur. Please don't ask why!" She exclaimed while her grasp on him tightened further.

He hummed, sensing her struggle, and decided not to corner her further. Pranavi opening up about her deeply hidden secret to him was a big step for both of them and he didn't want to spoil it.

In fact, he felt happy that she trusted him enough to open up to him and he knew he would never betray her trust!

"So why did they hit you?" He asked while placing soft kisses on her shoulder blades.

"They didn't like me and used to find faults in everything I do." She muttered as she reminisced about those horrible days in her orphanage.

He hummed as a signal for her to go on while his caresses didn't stop.

"When I was six years old, for the first time, I was whipped with a stick until it broke," Pranavi revealed, the pain laced in her voice was so evident that his insides churned.

Listening to that, his heart grieved for her. How can a mere six-year-old girl bear that cruelty?

With her clenched hands, "I'm new over there, and I don't know the rules properly. Moreover, I'm heavily depressed about my loss back then, and I don't even know why I'm away from my family." She sniffed heavily while her naked body was covered in goosebumps.

He gazed at her while her eyes were swollen, but still, the tears weren't stopping, and he did the thing he'd never do. He kissed her tears and wiped them for her affectionately.