Page 188 of Since You Stole My Heart

Guilt cut deep, regret cut deeper. But beneath both, fragile hope flickered to life. ‘Am I… still your sister?’

Her eyes shone as Siya gently cupped her cheek and said firmly, ‘Even when I’m angry, even when I’m hurt, you are my sister.’

A sob tore free from Kashvi, and she stepped forward, throwing her arms around Siya. All these years, her sister had been the one person she had feared losing most.

‘Please don’t hate me, Di. Please don’t hate me.’

‘I could never hate you, pagal. You’re my baby sister, and nothing will ever change that. I’ll always love you,’ Siya said, gently cradling the back of her head.

Kashvi let out a broken sob and held on tighter. ‘I fucked up, Di. I just… I couldn’t…’

Siya stroked her hair. ‘Shh, bas. You’ll make yourself sick.’

Kashvi’s tears seeped into her sister’s kurti as she choked out, ‘I fucked up, Di.’

‘Yes, you did. And so did I, in many ways.’

Siya drew back just enough to look at her, then flicked a glance at Dhruv. ‘Look at us, Kashu. We’re all fucked up because of what he did to us.’

Dhruv slipped his hands into his pockets with a sigh. ‘She’s right. We spent our lives craving his love, and he used that against us. We were all just pawns in his game.’

Kashvi swallowed past the ache in her throat. ‘I’ve told myself that a thousand times, but I still don’t know how to live with the thought that Maa might have died believing I wanted to kill her.’

Swayam’s hand moved slowly over her back. ‘Just before the crash, you told her your dad who made you do it, right? She had to know you never meant to hurt her.’

‘And I know she forgives you,’ Siya said softly.

Kashvi shook her head, averting her gaze. ‘You can’t know that.’

‘I can, because I forgive you,’ Siya said with a sad smile. ‘I hate that we lost Maa, and that’s something we’ll always have to live with. But I don’t want to lose you too.’

Swayam said quietly, ‘I can’t even begin to imagine what the three of you have lived through, but I do know one thing. If we want to get past this and move forward, we do it together.’

Abhay gave his back a light thump. ‘Your husband is smart, Kashu.’

‘I try,’ Swayam said with a small chuckle. Then he looked at Siya. ‘But why didn’t you tell us your plan earlier?’

Abhay answered for her. ‘Siya only had an hour to come up with it. If Karthik sensed even the slightest crack in our story, he would never have believed he was in danger.

Siya turned back to her sister. ‘There were a lot of reasons I couldn’t tell you, but the biggest one was that I needed to give you a chance to confront Dad. He kept us afraid. That was his power. You had to face the monster in him, and you could only do that if you believed you had nothing left to lose.’

As always, her sister was right. For once, she had stood in front of her father without letting fear rule her.

‘But both he and Viraj are gone now,’ Dhruv cut in, smug satisfaction curling into his voice. ‘It’s over.’

Siya nodded, relief softening her face. ‘And I’ll do everything I can to keep Dad away from all of us.’

Swayam brushed his thumb over Kashvi’s cheek. ‘Your father got what he deserved. I’d like to think your mother is at peace seeing that. Maybe it’s time you cast off his ghost too.’

Then he added lightly, ‘If you want, I’m available to be your exorcist.’

Siya snorted. ‘You do have the face for it.’

Swayam took the dig with an apologetic smile. ‘Siya, I shouldn’t have snapped at you earlier. The second you said you’d call the police, all I could think about was Kash trapped in there, and it messed with my head. But I still should’ve trusted you. I’m sorry.’

Siya studied him for a moment, then a soft smile touched her lips. ‘Don’t be. Honestly, knowing you have her back is the only thing that helps me sleep a little better at night.’

‘Not me,’ Kashvi muttered, nudging Swayam lightly.