His Arranged Bride

Chapter 47

Nitya

As I sit across from Prathamji, waiting for him to tell me everything about Sandhya and his relationship, I can feel my heart pounding, a mix of dread and curiosity churning in my stomach.

I try to steady my breath, but I can't stop the nervous energy from making my fingers tremble. I clutch them together in my lap, bracing myself for what he's about to say when I see him open his mouth.

"Sandhya and I met at the university in London. She was my batchmate," he starts, his eyes distant as if he's looking back into another time. "I was fascinated by her when we first met. She was smart, beautiful, confident, and I was charmed by her."

His words sting, and I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Yet, I nod a him, urging him to continue.

"Our bond blossomed quickly, the beginning of our relationship intense and passionate," he pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing, "But as time went on, I started to see things I hadn't noticed before. Perhaps I didn't see them in the beginning because I was too enamored by her personality, or should I say the personality she pretended to show me. Because when I got to know her closely, I realized she was nothing like how she had portrayed herself to me in the beginning.

"Her controlling and manipulating behavior started to suffocate me. I tried to talk with her, tried to work through it in the beginning because I really didn't want to give up on our relationship without fighting for it even once. But when she didn't make any effort to understand what was bothering me, I felt like I was the only one carrying the weight of our relationship. That I was the only one trying to save it. I gave it my all until I could, but then I had to let go when I finally realized she was not worth it."

I could feel the tension in his words, the frustration that still lingered from the past.

"Soon after that realization, I broke up with her. It was too messy, and she didn't take it well." He runs a hand through his hair. "She kept shouting I can't leave her because I had promised to never leave her. I tried to reason with her, but when she didn't listen, I walked away from her.

"She also followed me, crossing the road blindly to get to me. But before she could reach me, she was hit by a car. I hurriedly got to her and rushed her to the hospital, but it was already too late. The doctors there gave me the news of her death."

I gasp loudly, shocked by the revelation. "Sandhya died? How? I had seen her with you that day. How is it possible?"

Prathamji sighs. "I too was unable to believe it, Nitya. When she returned suddenly, I had hard time believing it was really her. But she told me things about her that only she knew and also the things about us which no other person knew except the two of us.

"I don't know why she was announced dead all those months back and how she came back alive, and I don't want to know too." Standing up, he walks to me and sits beside me on the sofa. "I no longer want to live in the past. I want to move on with you."

I swallow hard, trying to process everything he's saying. "That day, when you told me you were going through so much grief when you were forced to marry me, did you mean you were dealing with Sandhya's death?"

"Yes, I was devastated by her death because I felt I was responsible for it," he replies. "It was because she was trying to reach me that she was blindly crossing the road and got hit by the car." He shakes his head, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. "I was so distraught by her death that, on her funeral, I promised I would repent by not letting anyone else come to my life. That she would only be the girl in my life even though she was no longer alive."

"You mean to say you promised forever to her after her death because you felt guilty?" I ask, wanting to confirm if what I've understood is correct. "You no longer had feelings for Sandhya, yet you vowed you would not let anyone else come into your life because you thought that car accident which killed her was your fault?"