:: Rai, here, refers to the male lead you've chosen. (Vansh/Vihaan)

05/06/24

• • •

'Dear Mr. Rai Singhania,

I'm tired of dealing with you. You've frustrated, disappointed and broken me in ways no one ever has. Being with you seems to be the biggest mistake I've ever made.

You may call your behaviour love, but it's not. It's just a show, for the world and your family. But I know the truth, I'm worth nothing in your life. Just a showpiece doll. You've never even respected my decisions.

I'm dead exhausted living with you, Mr. Rai Singhania. Don't cry, I know you have no remorse. Neither does your family. In a matter of months, they will get you married to a woman who wouldn't mind being your trophy. And I hope you treat that unfortunate woman better than you treated me.

I've signed the divorce papers and left them for you. Whether you sign them or not doesn't matter to me, because I'm never coming back.

Goodbye, Mr. Rai Singhania! I hope we never meet again.

Don't look for me.'

She stopped writing and read the letter once again. Contemplating whether she should add anything extra, she folded the letter and placed it on the table along with the divorce papers and her mangalsutra.

"I hate you, Rai. You're the worst." She whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. Except for some money, her ID, her ticket and her luggage, she left everything else behind.

"Should I call a taxi for you, madam?" The guard at the hotel asked.

"Airport taxi." She replied. With a nod, the man stepped into his cabin, dialled a number and within minutes, a taxi arrived at the gate.

"Thank you," she smiled a little at guard, giving him a fifty rupee note. Placing her luggage inside, she shut the door and drove away to her new life.

•••••

It was four in the morning. Her designated plane was minutes away from arriving.

She sat in the boarding area, her body trembling and heart thumping fast.

"Nervous?" An old man, with a smile, asked.

"Yes," she nodded. She was desperate, to be accurate. She knew Rai was a heavy sleeper, and wouldn't wake up before eight in the morning.

Yet, a strange fear settled in her heart. A fear that he'd find her and cut off her newly found wings before she could even flap them. A fearful tension knotted tightly in her stomach. Her palms were wet in sweat and her throat went dry in tension.

"Please, let me escape." She prayed feverishly. The old man kept talking to her, trying to ease her tension, which he assumed to be a common fear among first-time flyers.

Every moment was full of fear for her, a moment of anxiety and grief. With her flight took off, the tension began to steam off. She began to relax, and when she finally reached her destination, she could feel her new life welcoming her.

She was finally free!

•••••

He finally found her.

After searching for seven long years, he found her in a rural town, hidden from the maps of the world. Ever since he had first seen her note, he had lost it.

Don't look for me.

He scoffed. He was going to look for her, whether she liked it or not. He loves her, he told himself, and he was going to get her back.

Unfortunately for him, her words did come true. His family, after two years, got him married to Aahana, who was everything they wanted in a daughter-in-law. And a year later, they had a daughter, Vanya Rai Singhania.

Vanya was a bundle of joy in his life. But even she couldn't fill the void she had left behind. He yearned for her desperately every night, in his dreams. Although he seemed to be alright on the surface, his heart was turning to stone.

A tyrant was best to describe what he had become. For his family, for the world, for everyone except Vanya, he was a monster. For the little one, he was just a father.

The best father in the world.

And finally, after seven long years, he found hope. Vanya, stubborn from his upbringing post Aahana's death, accompanied him along. After three hours of resting in a hotel, they set out for the town where she was living.

Five minutes into the town, they found her in a field, surrounded by calves and puppies.

"Papa, that's her?"

"Yes, princess." He smiled. "Wait in the car until I call you, okay?"

"I'll wait only for ten minutes inside the car. I want to meet my new mumma also." Vanya answered with a giggle.

He stepped out of the car. "The entire world said you've died. Some said you've found a lover and happily settled abroad. But here you are, still waiting for me." He whispered, stepping closer to her.

Impatient by nature, and upbringing, Vanya hid behind the nearby bushes. The crunch of leaves made her look behind. "Duty over, Indigo?" She paused, her head tilted to the left when she saw him.

He froze.

He had lots to say, to scream and cry, to complain and apologize, but that came out was, "I love you."

With a look of innocence, she gave him a sardonic smile. "I hate you, Rai."

"Can I get a chance? Just one chance. What did I do wrong?" He pleaded.

"You did nothing wrong, Rai. I made the mistake, of trusting you, of marrying you. Even after knowing that you're just a selfish brat." She answered softly. "And about your one chance, I gave you a chance every-bloody-day I've lived with you, as your wife. You lost all of them, and I don't trust you to give you yet another chance."

"Do you even know how I've lived after you left?" He asked, clenching his fists. "I've lived like a corpse. I felt nothing, until it was for Vanya, my daughter. I've lived for her, and everything about her reminds me of you. For Vanya, I'm the best father in the world. But the world calls me a monster, a tyrant. And you know why? Because you left me. Ever since you left me, I've changed. If not for me, can you come back for Vanya, as her second mother?"

Vanya hid behind the bush, her heart beating in excitement.

"You've lived like that seven years, and are so exhausted. I've lived like that fifteen years, I should be dead by now." She answered calmly. "And, no. I will never come back in your life, even for your daughter. I know that you'll take good care of her because you cherish your blood more than you cherish outsiders, like me and your second wife."

Vanya's heart sank to the depths of her stomach. She jumped out of the bush and hugged her father tightly. "Papa, I want her as my new mumma. Please papa!" She cried.

"Princess," he sighed.

"Like father, like daughter." She said, looking away. "I guess it runs in your blood."

"What do you mean?" They asked, one in anger and the other in curiosity.

"You," she looked at Vanya, "are stubborn, just like your father. Infact, way worse than him. Just like now, you demanded for something beyond your control. You may be a child, but it doesn't give you the right to control everyone's life."

Meeting his gaze, she continued, "And you, are just like your father. Completely shameless! Infact, your father was a saint compared to you, atleast he respected your mother's last wish."

"Mind your tongue!" He said, seething in anger. "Vanya, go and inside the car."

Quietly, Vanya went away.

"Scared to admit the truth in front of your beloved daughter?" She teased.

He sighed. "You know how much I despise that man, yet you had to compare me with him!"

"So? He's your father, and you're walking in his footsteps. How is it wrong to compare you, a monster, with him?" She asked.

"How are we even the same? He's the reason mom left me!"

"Ajay uncle also treated your mother the way you treated me - a showpiece. A trophy wife, who he'd happily show off to everyone, but not even acknowledge in their own room.

Atleast aunty had the courage to speak up, to beg him to respect her decisions. To let her walk away from their crumbling marriage. Her last wish before leaving the house was not to be searched, and uncle obliged, as a sign of change."

She scoffed. "You, on the other hand, couldn't even respect my only wish of being left alone."

"Why didn't you try and talk it out with me?" He gulped.

"You never gave me a chance, Rai. All you did was scare me. You used your trauma as an excuse to chain me to you." She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You broke and destroyed me so badly, that I could never say anything to you. Neither good, nor bad."

"I was scared. I didn't want to be left behind, like Ma left me." He confessed. "I'm scared to be abandoned. How would you even know the pain of being abandoned?!"

"I do!" She whispered, gulping hard. "I know, the pain of being abandoned. My parents, relatives and grandparents, all of them disowned me when I was six. The reason? Even I haven't figured it out till date."

"What would you know, Rai? To be thrown to the streets at a young age. To see and experience things that would make anyone faint in fear. Only I know how I've survived all that and made it upto here. Are you still going to use your trauma as an excuse to justify your wrong behaviour?"

"I... I didn't know. I'm sorry,"

"How would you? You made everything about you, never giving someone else a chance to talk about their own worries. You were... forget it." She sighed.

"Please, give me a chance to fix it all."

"If you want a chance, then leave. I'm not coming with you."

"Please,"

She groaned at his persistence. "Do whatever you want, but I'm not coming back with someone like you. You cannot even raise your daughter properly with such a big family!"

He fell silent.

"Go, go and live with your people. Your blood." She said. "Looking at you makes me want to kill myself."

"Does your pain justify hurting others?" He asked.

"What I'm giving you now, is nothing compared to what you've given me all these years." She began to walk away.

"I hate you, Mr. Rai Singhania. I hate you more than my abusive family. I hate you, more than I've hated anyone else all my life."

"And I hate myself for trusting you," she whispered, wiping away her tears.

"Don't come after me anymore." She warned, walking away.

He watched, dumbfounded.

• THE END •

I'm not sure if there's going to be a part two for this, because I don't know what to write after this.

Sorry!

I hope you liked the chapter. Do leave lots of comments!!