Grave (Ashes sequel) #2|18+ (LL Series) ✓

104~ Revealing past

Adhiraj's POV
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[33 years ago]

"Dharni."

I mumbled and closed my eyes, her innocent eyes swirling in my mind.

It's been months, and I'm trying to get her out of my head, but she stubbornly holds her place.

I really want her, but the thought of ruining her innocence scares me.

I know I can strip her, fuck her, mark her mine but can never marry her and the fucking thought hurts.

She is so fragile to be a part of my dark world, yet she attracts me like a moth to a flame.

I glanced at the bedside table, and the picture of my engagement caught my attention. The girl beside me was extremely beautiful, yet something felt off.

Even in her face, the only one I could imagine was my Dharni.

"Mine, Dharni..." It sounds so arousing and good to my ears.

I adopted her village, including the nearby ones, and decided to provide all the necessary facilities to those tribal communities.

Hospitals, schools—everything they need to come out of poverty and do something for themselves.

They could live a better life and understand the importance of living a truly good life.

I know I'm not a saint; thinking about people's welfare isn't really my thing. I'm doing it all for her, hoping she'll notice me at least once.

I even learned sign language, so if she ever decides to talk to me, I can make her my friend.

It's silly of me. I've bedded countless girls, and yet, for the first time, I'm looking forward to mere friendship with a girl half of my age.

For the past month, I've been visiting that village, stalking her helplessly as she plays with kids, roams around, and takes buffaloes and cows to feed them nearby forest.

My heart pierces seeing her walk barefoot in the hot sun, but I haven't tried to meet her face to face.

She looks so fragile, and I'm sure if she got scared of me, I wouldn't be able to earn her trust.

I want to win her trust, to make her believe in me, and to befriend me. Tomorrow is the day I decided to take my first step.

I can't forget her, and I don't think I ever will. Just hearing her name makes me feel something vacant inside, as if she's the only one who can fill that missing part of me.

I closed my eyes and decided to visit her village tomorrow, this time with a permanent solution to my restlessness.

The next morning, I picked up Shailaja for shopping and asked her to buy ladies' sandals and slippers that could be used on farms and in fields.

I made an excuse that I wanted to gift them to my distant cousin sister, but I was sure she didn't believe me.

Still, the eagerness of seeing Dharni made me too ignorant to even notice my fiancée's suspicious eyes.

After dropping Shailaja off, I bought a bouquet of roses and drove directly to Dharni's village. I knew she loved flowers from observing her over the past few days.

She had so many plants in the back of her house, and I'd seen her spending a lot of time there.

"Dharni... will she understand my language? Even in signs, hopefully, she can understand."

I drove toward the nearby river, and as expected, she was there with the buffaloes.

Draped in a white long fabric and with a stick in her hand, she was smiling as always, foolishly muttering something under her breath.