UNWILLINGLY HIS

Shattered trust

**Samaira's pov**

The air in the study was thick, too heavy to breathe. I stood there in the doorway, watching them—Advait and my father. The tension between them was palpable, like a storm about to break. I had heard enough, and yet, I couldn’t tear myself away. My mind raced, every word they exchanged cutting deeper into me than I could have ever imagined.

Advait noticed me first, his sharp gaze sweeping over me. His face tightened for a moment, and then, with his usual controlled calm, he asked, “How long were you standing there?”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breath, but it felt impossible. The whirlwind of emotions in my chest was too much, too overwhelming. My voice, when I finally spoke, sounded distant, almost foreign to me. “Long enough to know that everyone I trusted did nothing but betray me. Long enough to know that the person I loved the most and the person I hated the most were from the beginning on the same team.”

The words hung in the air, thick with the bitterness I couldn’t hide. The man I had once thought I could trust with everything—Advait, the one I had loved, the one who had shattered me—was standing there with my father, and I knew then that nothing had been as it seemed. Not with him. Not with anyone.

Advait’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing slightly, but he didn’t say anything for a moment. I could see the shift in him—he wasn’t surprised, but something else flickered in his eyes. Regret? Guilt? It was hard to say. But at this point, I didn’t care anymore. I had learned that looking for meaning in his eyes only left me feeling emptier than before.

“I didn’t want you to know this way,” he said quietly, his tone softer than I had expected.

I scoffed, the sound bitter and full of hurt. “Did you think I’d never find out? Did you think I wouldn’t put the pieces together? You married me to protect me, but what protection is there when my heart is shattered? How do you protect me when you’re the one who left me broken?”

His eyes darkened, and for a moment, I thought he might say something. But the words never came.

I could feel the walls inside me crumbling. On one hand, I understood his reasons. He had done everything he could to keep me safe from the dangers outside. He had protected me from the world, from the unknown. But what good was that protection when it was built on a lie? How could I accept his so-called “protection” when it was him who had left me bleeding inside, forcing me to marry him under false pretenses?

I thought about it for a moment, the idea briefly flickering through my mind. Maybe I should ask for a divorce. Maybe it was time to walk away from all of this—the lies, the manipulations, the control. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was impossible. Advait wouldn’t let me go. He had controlled every part of my life, and now, with my father involved, there was no escape. I was trapped—just like I always had been.

The room was quiet for a long moment, the only sound being the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears. I could feel the tears threatening to spill, but I held them back. I wouldn’t let him see me like this. Not again.

“I understand,” I said, my voice almost hollow, the words escaping my lips with a heaviness I couldn’t hide. “I understand that everything you both did was for my protection. But did you ever once stop to think if I needed it? Did you ever think that maybe I could handle things on my own?”

I let the words fall, and they seemed to hit their mark. Advait’s gaze softened, but his expression remained unreadable. He didn’t answer right away, and I didn’t expect him to. He had never really thought about what I needed, what I wanted. It had always been about what was best for him, for his mission, for his goals.

“I did what you both thought was right,” I continued, feeling the bitterness rise in my throat. “But for one moment—just one—did you ever think to tell me the truth? Did you ever think to give me a chance to decide for myself?”

The question hung in the air, unanswered. My eyes searched Advait’s face, looking for any sign of regret, of understanding. But there was none.

"Samaira, you have to understand," Advait began, his voice low, but steady. “Everything I did, everything I’ve done, I did it because I thought it was the only way to protect you. I couldn’t let you marry someone like Aarav. You’re right. You were never given a choice. But you have to understand that I did what I thought was best for you.”

“No,” I interjected sharply, cutting him off. “You did what was best for you—for your plans, for your mission. You never once stopped to think that I was a person too. That I had a right to know the truth, that I had a right to choose my own path.”

Advait didn’t respond immediately. His eyes softened, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of the man I had once loved. But it was gone just as quickly.

I turned my gaze to my father, hoping to find some semblance of comfort, but all I saw was someone who had been complicit in this—who had allowed it to happen. He had been the one to agree to the marriage, to let it happen. And now he stood there, silent, like he had no part in this.

“You knew all along,” I said, my voice barely a whisper, my heart sinking even further. “You knew what he was doing to me, and you didn’t stop him. How could you? How could you let him hurt me like this?”

Rajveer looked away, guilt flashing across his face for the briefest of moments. “Samaira,” he started, his voice thick with regret, “I did what I thought was best. I did what needed to be done.”

I shook my head, the weight of it all becoming too much to bear. “Best? For whom, Father? Best for you? Best for Advait? What about me? What about what I needed?”

Advait’s expression hardened, but it was Rajveer’s next words that made my heart shatter completely.

“Samaira,” Rajveer said, his voice low and firm, “You don’t understand the dangers. You don’t know everything. This isn’t just about you. There’s more at stake here.”

I couldn’t listen anymore. I felt like I was suffocating, the weight of their words crushing me from every direction.

Without saying another word, I turned sharply and walked toward the door. Every step felt like a hundred, my legs heavy as though I were carrying the weight of the world. As I reached for the doorknob, I heard Advait’s voice behind me.

“Samaira, wait—”

But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. I needed to get out of that room, away from him, away from my father, away from the lies that had consumed me for far too long.

Without uttering another word, I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. The anger, the betrayal, the heartbreak—everything surged inside me, and I didn’t know where it would take me. But I knew one thing for sure: I wasn’t going to stand there and let them keep lying to me anymore.