Chapter 31

Diya turned to look at Ajay. Ajay felt his rage increase when he saw her tear-filled eyes. "Go, now." he gently pushed her into the wardroom and turned to Balu.

Facing Ajay, Balu took a few steps back in fear. The gentle expression Ajay had when facing Diya was all gone. "Do you know why I'm even bothering to talk to you when I can simply ruin you? Because you're Diya's family. She won't be able to bear to see her family in pain and I would never be the cause of her getting hurt.".

"But, disrespecting my wife is something that can't be ignored." he took out his phone and dialed a number; passing it to Balu once it was picked up. Balu stared at the phone momentarily and grabbed it from him.

"Hello?" the next moment Balu was on his knees. "Yes, sir! I'm extremely sorry. Please don't fire me. Yes, I will." he stood up and gave the phone back to Ajay; feeling embarrassed.

Ajay thanked the person on the other line and hung up. He calmly stared at Balu; waiting for him to talk. Balu's flared nostrils and clenched fists clearly showed that he didn't want to do what he was ordered to do by his employer.

"Sorry.". Ajay let out a mocking laugh at his try. "First, I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to. Second, be sincere. The next call won't end with just a warning.". Balu glared at him and hesitantly entered the wardroom.

Diya and Mala were shocked to see Balu. Diya opened her mouth to tell him to get out but stopped when she saw Ajay entering behind him. Ajay signaled him to start. Balu faced Mala after internally struggling for a few seconds and said, "I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I won't repeat any of my wrongdoings ever again." then he turned to Diya.

"I shouldn't have forced you to marry just because others talked bad about me and I'm sorry for calling you names.". Balu was so embarrassed and angry that his face was bright red so he hurriedly left but not before giving Ajay a dirty look on his way out.

Diya and Mala looked at the retreating figure in disbelief. Balu only blamed others or denied doing anything wrong and never apologized, so they didn't expect this day to come.

"How did you manage to do it?" Diya asked Ajay on their way back to the mansion. "Not much. I explained how it's not a good way to treat one's family and that he'll regret acting this way once he was all alone like me.".

Diya didn't believe him at all. She understood her father very well and he was not someone to give in just for some emotional talks. She was just glad that Ajay somehow made him apologize to Mala so she didn't probe more into it. But something he said didn't feel right with her.

"Why are you all alone? You have Veer and Karl, don't you? Yes, you guys are always bickering, but I can see your care for each other." Diya could see a slight smile on his face. "And now... you have me too.". Ajay felt an indescribable feeling; hearing her saying that. 'Is this what people call getting butterflies?'.

He turned to look at her; his smile a little brighter and said, "Yeah. I have you now.". Diya smiled back at him; a blush warming her face.