A Part, Yet Apart

Chapter 106- Rekindled Feelings

Tara's POV:

"Aryaman!" I saw him sitting on the sofa alone when I reached home. There was pin drop silence and he didn't even looked at me. Atthamma came straight out of the kitchen but she didn't speak too. I sat beside him hoping he would talk. "Aryaman" I called out his name again but he gestured his hand at me in a way to stop me. "Kuch mat bolo! I asked you not to go but still you went" he said and it broke my heart to see him like this. Aryaman was never angry with me. "Just because main tumhare peeche peeche paaglon ki tarah ghumta rehta hu, that doesn't mean you can go against me all the time and I wouldn't say anything" he said, his voice stern and cold. "I didn't want to disobey you but that was a kind of emergency" I tried to put forth my reasons. "Tara, please don't let Manik and Nandini's relation spoil your relation with Aryaman" Atthamma intervened. "Main bhi wahi chahti hu, I don't want their relation to come in between us! Why do they matter to you so much? They're living their life on their terms and yaha sab log wahi 2 saal purane baatein par atak gaye" I said it.

"Manik and Nandini have lied to us and hid the truth from all of us, isn't the reason enough to stay away from them. We almost lost mom when we discovered the truth" Aryaman said pointing to atthamma. Aryaman, I wish I could say the truth about your mom to you but I'm bound to her promise. "Tho kya kare! Humesha aise hi rahe! They've already moved on and when will we move on from them?" I asked him but he seemed adamant. "I barely know Nandini but I could relate with her emotions, she will lose her home forever if I hadn't informed today" I said. "Tara, hume bhi bura lag raha hai iske liye par hum kya kar sakte hai?" atthamma really surprises me sometimes. I went to my room and came back after a couple of minutes. "Ye sab kya hai?" atthamma asked. "My gold jewellery. I can atleast help her in this way by giving financial support. Dad said Nandini had to pay money to get her home back" I said. Before she could say anything, I reminded her that this gold was gifted by my dad and not touched any of the jewellery pieces she or Aryaman gifted me. 

"Tara, ye sab leke andar jao" Aryaman said in an authoritative voice which I didn't like. "I won't go" I snapped back at him. He himself took it all and placed the bag back in our room and came back. "Aryaman samjhao Tara ko!" atthamma said. How could she possibly instigate Aryaman against me. Suddenly I found myself in a saas bahu typical drama out of nowhere. Atthamma was ever supporting and caring since the time I've been married to Aryaman. She never treated me as a bahu but as a beti of her own. Aryaman even told me that she considered even Nandini as her daughter. Why could she possibly turn this cold towards Manik, her own son and Nandini. Realizing the heat of the moment, Aryaman seemed to calm down as he forced me into our room before I lose my temper. "What do you and your mom think! You can stop me just like that!" I asked him. 

"Tara, what's wrong? Tum mom se aise baat nahi kar sakti ho. Was there a day when someone has stopped you from doing something here? No, none of us have ever done something which you didn't like. Mom, dad, Mukti, Abhimanyu koi nahi. We've all gave that respect as a bahu of our house, but now you're like ye gold papa ne gift kiya tum log nahi and all!!" he said. I sat on the bed weighing the tension. "Then stop doing it now! Kya problem hai tumhara if I go to Nandini" I asked really wanting to know the reason behind his anger. He probably had no reason rather than his ego. I hugged him like there's no tomorrow. He is dying in his ego and I can't see that. Is he the same man who always compared himself to both Lakshman and Bharath if Manik is his Ram. He always said that a part of him will always stay with Manik no matter wherever he is and his duty is to guard his father's empire being Bharath. I know he exceled both roles undoubtedly and now, he is acting not even like a human. 

"Do you remember Aryaman! how Manik convinced me, my father, my entire family and even cancelled my marriage just because you loved me. Usne tumhare liye itna kuch kiya, bina kuch boley. You didn't even tell him that you loved me, I never loved you until Manik came home that day, dad got convinced when Manik asked one chance for you! Agar Manik nahi hote, we wouldn't be together today. But do you still think he will make a wrong choice by marrying Nandini?" I asked him looking into his eyes. "Wo shaadi bhi nahi hai, that's a...." I didn't let me speak. "I know it was a contract marriage, but did you atleast think of why he had to do it? If it was wrong, why would Nandini agree? Can you imagine the kind of pressure that they had before taking such a drastic step" I urged him to think coming out his calculations.