My Ruination

Chapter 28.

~Maahira~

In the last chapter, Maahira was at her father's place who had organised a dinner party at their place and Zaeden showed up unannounced, demanding to take her back home.

"I will be back before you realize I have been gone." I hugged my brother tight, holding him even as he resists, a sign of his disapproval of me leaving. There was a whole argument that ensued between Rudra and Zaeden, the latter being mostly silent with a death glare. Needless to say, Rudra couldn't win this round and I didn't push him to. I didn't want Zaeden to repeat what he did to get us married all over again.

"I will miss you so much, you shouldn't even be allowed to leave." Rudra finally relented, hugging me back and breathing deeply. Since he has returned, Rudra has been acting kind of weird, like a helicopter parent to me. He resumed our self-defense classes, not caring about opening his stitches, increased the general security around the mansion and often asked Markov about the safety measures around me. And he has never behaved like this before, infact, he was always behind all of my bad, unplanned decisions.

I detached myself from him, looking him in the eyes and said, "Rudra, is everything alright? I feel there is something eating you up on the inside. You can tell me, you know. And I promise I will listen." His expressions were a little melancholic or maybe it was just the fading bluish mark of bruises but he didn't seem lively at all.

"Dad has been preparing me to take over the family and business for some time now and taking care of you was one of my top priority." He gave me a very wonky smile, "Your marriage was a shock and now, the fact you are not going to be here anymore is just catching up to me. That's all." His eyes softened and sparkled with unshed tears and that makes me tear up too.

"We might be not living in the same house anymore but we are still siblings, infact, you and Athira are my only family. I will always be your first child and I will be here to tell that to your second child." I patted his arm as we both burst out laughing and wiping our cheeks just incase a tear escaped. "Now, man up before father finds you like this and gives you an hour long speech on how powerful men shouldn't show emotions." I took a step back, moving to head out of his study and going to my room to get my stuff, letting Rudra have a private moment before he sees me off. Rudra couldn't fool me with that speech though, I am now confirmed that something is definitely wrong.

I walked back into my room, closing the door and leaning against it to take a deep breath. The saree is scratching at my skin now, the heels bruising my feet and my hair weighing down my head by 3 pounds but nothing compared to the jumpscare I received at his voice filtering through the semi-darkness, "Why are your suitcases already packed?" I gasped, turning the lights on as I find Zaeden seated on my childhood bed, a carton next to him which held all of my invaluable trinkets and memories. He had stripped my room of me, leaving behind a generic bedroom with showpieces and paintings no one cared about.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" I said accusatorily but I might as well be accusing the wall because it bounced off of him as he said, "That is not the answer to my question. Why were your bags packed?" He sounded angry, betrayed even, with his eyes blazing across the room, lighting a fire to my essence without any gasoline. I felt extremely scrutinized and bared down to my soul right now but he had no business intimidating me like that while uprooting my plans.

"Because if you hadn't shown up, me and my brother would have been on a flight to Belgium now." I answered, exasperated as his broad shoulders relaxed a little and so did the rampant rage burning in his eyes. "So your brother changed your escape location from Scotland to Belgium now?"

"What? No. We were just going on a three-day trip to watch the Euros cup finale plus attend Tomorrowland. Besides Markov was going with me, genius." I walked over to my bed, snatching the box from his side and closing the lid. I wouldn't remove them but I wasn't going to take something so personal and intimate with me either.

"You didn't have to invade my privacy like this and touch my stuff. I am not going to carry this box with me." I announced, trying to tape the lid shut but Zaeden was already on his feet, snatching the box back with a strong grip, "I could have this whole room demolished and the debris carried to our mansion so be fucking grateful it's only a box of your personal items and quit sassing me."

"And here I thought, you missed my sass so you showed up 4 days prior to the given date." I said, severely mocking him at this point because no one has invaded my personal space like this before and it's not just about the room. It's about everything I might have adored when I was a hopeless lovesick teenager but now I had built this comfortable cocoon around myself. And Zaeden had taken a chainsaw against my shell, breaking down my walls. He does not understand that I built them for a reason and I will never understand a reason good enough to leave that cocoon by myself.

"I have different ways to show you how much I missed your sass but you're not prepared for that, Ruya." He said, his breath hot on my neck and his voice suddenly husky or maybe I am the one who thinks it has become husky with the closeness. Markov knocked at my door at this moment as Zaeden let him take the suitcases, while carrying the box himself. It seemed more like a victory march for him to personally carry the last of my remains from this house and rub it in my brother's face. I wouldn't be wiped out of here, obviously but these little thing were the ones that mattered the most.

We walked down the stairs together and hasty goodbyes were said just to my brother, sister-in-law and my father. My father was unbelievably quite during this whole predicament, his mind preoccupied just like Rudra's and he didn't try provoking Zaeden in any way. I got into the passenger side of the car because apparently, Zaeden was driving today and watched until my brother become a small dot in the rear view mirror as we pulled out of the driveway and away from my father's house.

I didn't look at him for half of the entire ride, being bitter and everything, keeping my head craned sideways until the overwhelming emotions seemed to settle, exhausting me completely. "Maahira, you need to stay awake if you want to fight for your own room because if I carry you, you better be assured that I will carry you to my bed." Zaeden said, his voice even though powerful and penetrating, sounded like it was coming from a distance.

"That's okay. You can just leave me in the car if I fall asleep." I said, resting my head against the door, watching the lights from the street lamps appear and disappear along with the lights from some 24/7 shops and bus stops. The car stopped at a red light and I was faintly aware of hands on my feet and my heels coming off but I didn't bother checking because my emotional exhaustion plus the several wines in my system were really trying hard to knock me out.

After that green light and between the time frame of me being in Zaeden's arms as he carried me up the stairs, I remembered nothing. Nil nada. My neck was a little sore now as Zaeden opened the door and laid me down on a bed, positioning the pillow under my head. I knew whose bed was I exactly sleeping in but it's not like once I slept here, I couldn't go back again. I will go back to my room, possibly by midnight or latest by dawn tomorrow.

"Do you still want to go to Belgium?" He questioned, fingers combing through my hair as I tucked my fist under my chin, my eyelids sticking to my waterline. "I don't see the point of that question when you sabotaged my plan in the first place." He kept silent for sometime but the weight and the warmth from beside me did not disappear.

"Answer my question, Maahira. Do you want to go to Belgium?" His voice was softer, gentler with an added layer of empathy, something only my sleep-drunk could think of and in this minute, I made a tiny mistake, something I might regret later on.

"It was not about the destination, it was just about the company and ritual." I yawned, tucking myself in deeper as my lips barely moved, "My father took his family on a vacation every year and I was left behind with the housekeepers. My brother felt the injustice deep in his bones so he started planning a yearly vacation for the both of us since I was 15. I never complained but he took care of everything, passports, visas, itinerary and made sure we had fun. It was the..." The words died in my mouth as everything darkened.

Author's note- I understand that this chapter could feel a little underwhelming but in order to prepare for bigger things, I had to keep this simple+to fight my writer's block. Thank you for your patience.