“Papa would’ve done the same, Arya. Mama was already doing it. And I would’ve been stuck in a crappy marriage had they succeeded.Yousaved me.”
I search her eyes, whispering, “So, you don’t blame me? Hate me?”
“God no.” Smiling brightly, she says, “You’re the reason I found the love of my life, who taught me how to be brave and bea hopeless romantic again. Everything happens for a reason. My only regret is losing you and for making you feel like you couldn’t be a part of my life, even in secret. I know how Papa can be. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I hated you all these years.”
With each word, the heaviness lifts off my chest. I cry, unable to hold in the flurry of emotions. Leaning forward, I throw my arms around her. “I m-missed you s-so much, Bee. Everything I did was for nothing. I lost you for no reason. The guilt of it eats me alive.”
“Shush,” she sighs, wrapping me in a tight hug. Her voice trembles like mine as she utters, “I missed you loads too. I kept hoping you’d call one day, even if it was to yell at me for abandoning you.”
“I didn’t want to disrupt your life,” I admit, pulling back. Blinking away tears, I whisper, “I think I was also scared of upsetting Papa by reaching out to you. He forbade me from ever talking to you, Bee.”
The way he had loomed over me and menacingly said it in his home office had left me frightened. Never had I seen him so livid. I had shrunk into a little ball like a child.
“I kept waiting for his anger to die down, but it never did.” I don’t tell Bianca how he’d once slapped me across the face after I accidentally said her name at dinner. I sat stunned at the table, unable to believe he had raised his hand on me. “I hoped once I got out from under his thumb after my marriage, I would try to fix our relationship. But I never got the chance.”
My parents’ hatred of her doesn’t make sense to me.
What is it about her falling in love with a man who worships her that is such a reprehensible crime in their eyes?
I understand it began as a fake arrangement and brought us into bad limelight after being leaked to the public. Instead of protecting her and trying to understand why she did it, my father left her alone to fend for herself.
To my parents, she’s dead.
How can they be so cold?
But I acted no differently toward her, under duress or not. I should’ve been braver and stood up to them. The way Bianca did.
I mean, look at her now. She’s so lively and happy.
“You don’t have to explain,” she assures me, anxiety flashing in her eyes. “I think you made the right call by not going against him.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve always been the apple of his eye. I wouldn’t want to be the reason to change that. I’ve accepted the truth that I could never live up to his expectations. I was content that he was proud of your choices because you gave him everything I couldn’t.”
Is that what she thinks? I breathe out a humorless laugh. “You’re so wrong, Bee.”
“Our parents cherish you, Arya. You’ve always been their favorite child.”
“Well, it might have been true in the past,” I utter dryly. “I’m nothing but an embarrassment now.”
She freezes, fear and pain twisting her features. “Have they not been treating you well because of your canceled wedding?”
I stay quiet.
“Oh, baby,” she cries, pulling me into another hug. “Did he yell at you? Blame you?”
“Both.”
A jolt passes through her body. Looking into my eyes, she cradles my face. “He’s wrong. It wasn’t your fault, you know that, right?”
“It took me months to realize that.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve been there for you.” Jaw tightening with fury, she growls, “I wanted to kill Aryan as soon as I found out. God, I still do. If I ever see him…”
“I’ll help you bury the body,” I say, chuckling and rubbing away my tears. My makeup must be ruined by now.
“My friends and Dash will help too.” Sighing low, she says, “I wish you had come to me, Arya.” Sitting straighter in a flash, she suggests, “Leave them and stay with me for a while. Sooner or later, he’ll try to fix you up with a man of his choice. I’m not scared of him anymore. I can protect you.”
