ratvidyantari
I had always been determined to prove herself. Growing up in a family that struggled to make ends meet, I knew that nothing in my life would come easy. I spent my high school years focused on one thing: success. Every day was an uphill climb, but I knew the only way forward was to keep going.
Never in my life I think of anything other than success, until...Ramesh decided to be a part of my life. Well, we've known each other since junior high school actually. However, we never really talked.
In a city that was never part of the plan, my path crossed with his again even though we used to barely talk, even though all we really knew of each other were only each other's name. Loving him felt easy, like he was the one person I could always be myself around.
However, the hard part came to approach me. His family never made me feel welcome. From the very beginning, it was like I was on the outside looking in. I thought 'Oh, maybe things are going to be better if i just stay silent and be respectful to them.' It turns out worse. Far more worse. They had their own ideas of who he should be with, and I didn't fit that picture. I tried. God, I tried so hard. I went to all the gatherings, smiled, and attempted to make a conversation, but they always have something to judge me on.
And the hardest part, the part that really gets to me, was that he never seemed to truly get it. Everytime his family talked bad about me or even said something that I've never did once, he'd tell me they were just misunderstood. He'd say he loved me, and I believed he meant it, but he never stood in my shoes. He never had to feel the cold shoulders or the pointed comments. He'd go back to his family to be their only son, their brother, while I was left carrying the weight of being an outsider.
When I was finally asked to marry him, part of me started to wonder if I really deserve this or there's something better waiting for me.