Her Deviant Husband | [✓]

Chapter 32

Athira's pov.

I slammed the door behind me, my breath ragged as the weight of the day pressed down on me.

The sound of the door echoed in the vast emptiness of the mansion, mocking the silence that threatened to swallow me whole. My legs gave out beneath me as I stumbled into the nearest room, sinking to the cold marble floor.

I curled into a tight ball, arms wrapped around my knees like they were the only things holding me together, though I felt like I was falling apart with every second that passed.

And then, it hit me.

The dam I had been holding up all day, the walls I had fortified with anger, hatred, and sheer stubbornness, cracked and crumbled. Everything I'd been holding in—the fear, the hopelessness, the guilt—came rushing out all at once, clawing its way to the surface with a force I couldn't contain. My chest heaved as I gasped for air, the first tear spilling down my cheek before I could stop it. And then another. And another.

The sobs came unbidden, wracking my body with a violence that scared me.

But at least I didn't cry in front of Reyansh.
I'm proud of that.
I will never give him the satisfaction of knowing he broke me completely into bits and pieces.

Even now, when my tears blurred my vision, and my chest burned with the force of my sobs, I clung to that one small victory.

Papa, Maa, Dadi, Dadu, Evansh... My family their faces flashed in my mind, vivid and haunting. I could still hear Papa's voice trembling as he begged me not to do this, not to marry the man who had ripped our lives apart. The memory of his voice, so strong and unwavering all my life, now broken and desperate, tore at my heart.

"I didn't give birth to watch you sacrifice yourself!" he had shouted, his voice cracking with emotion.

And Maa, her hands clutching at Papa's arm, her eyes wide and filled with tears as she whispered broken prayers to a God who wasn't listening.

"My baby," she had sobbed, her voice trembling.
"Atharva, do something... my baby... my Athira."

And then there was Dadu.

My unshakable, unbreakable Dadu. I could see the fear in his eyes, the trembling of his hands as they gripped Dadi so tightly his knuckles turned white. He had looked powerless in the face of Reyansh's threats all because of me.

I was their weakness!

"Stay where you are, Mr. Roy," Reyansh had said, his voice calm and detached, like he wasn't holding a gun to the people I loved most in the world. "You wouldn't want this to escalate."

Escalate.

The word echoed in my mind, sharp and mocking.

What could possibly be worse than watching your family stare down the barrel of a gun?

What could be worse than being forced to stand there, helpless, as the man who you thought could be trusted orchestrated your destruction with a smug, unyielding smile on his face?

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood. The pain was sharp, grounding me for a fleeting moment. But it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough to dull the ache in my chest, the hollow, gnawing emptiness that Reyansh had carved into my soul.

And then, like a venomous serpent slithering through my mind, a sickening thought took hold of me.

I had started to like him.

My stomach turned, nausea rising so quickly that I pressed a trembling hand against my mouth to keep from retching. The realization struck like a physical blow, leaving me gasping for air. Somewhere along the way—amidst the bickering, the fiery glares, and the venomous words—there had been moments.