Bound by Law

Bound by Law || 22- Startling Revelations

To say I was shocked was an understatement. My mouth hung open as I stared at a stoic-faced Jai.

"An apology?" I echoed incredulously. "Since when do you feel remorse?"

It was certainly the last thing I was expecting. But what I didn't understand was what made him apologise so quickly.

It didn't seem genuine.

"Since I realised I was a human being," he said, sarcastically. I frowned and he let out a sigh.

"Look, I—" He ran a restless hand through his hair again, sighing. "—I'm sorry about that, too. I was out of line with everything. And the whole divorce thing was me being stupid. I didn't mean the shit I said."

I said nothing and just let my eyes travel up from the floor and to his face. His earnest expression and soft tone almost scared me.

"I was just mad and annoyed at myself that I took it out on you. I realized that I was too harsh with my words after I had calmed down, so, yeah...I'm sorry."

"Why are you like this?"

He seemed to be taken aback at my question, but he quickly collected himself and stared at me for a couple of minutes before dragging his contemplative gaze away.

"Look," he said, the word pushed out of his mouth almost forcefully, "it's a long story, and the last thing you want is for me to–"

"I have time," I spoke up softly, giving him a look that I hoped would express reassurance.

His gaze from me didn't waver, but then he blinked, as if coming back to reality and turned his head away, running a hasty hand through his tousled hair. Jai's resistance in responding made me realize that he probably didn't want to tell me.

"Oh, um, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He snorted, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to." His words were harsh but his facial expression was contradictory, puzzling me.

The awkward silence had surrounded us and I stood there, fumbling with my shawl when an important thought came to me.

I was uncomfortable and afraid to voice out my curiosity in case I found out about something I didn't want to hear.

Why am I so scared about something that isn't true? Aman was a good man and I'll always stand by that.

"Can you at least tell me a little bit about Aman?"

At my request, a stunned Jai stared at me, his eyes changing from astonishment to irritation to pure fury.

"Why the hell do you want to know about Aman?" He scoffed, spitting out the words in utter disgust. "I thought you already knew everything about him," he said, his tone mocking me.

I furrowed my eyebrows, mouth tilted down into a frown. "Sanaya said something about Aman and...I don't know if I should believe her or not."

Jai raised an eyebrow at me, truly dumb-founded. "Sanaya said something?" He genuinely looked like he didn't know about Sanaya having that chat with me the other night and so instead of filling him in, I tore my gaze away, nodding.

"I just want some closure, but," Looking up at Jai who already had his eyes glued on me, I said with determination, "I know for sure he's a good man."

There was a pause before Jai stood up and strode towards me with purpose and determination. He leaned down, his back hunching towards me because of our large height difference.