I can't abandon her

Kunal held her hand and walked towards the bench. He made her sit on it and sat beside her. They both sat in complete silence looking at the clear sky and the stars. It was a peaceful and a beautiful night with only sounds of some insects and birds in their nests. After a few minutes of enjoying the cold breeze which is touching their faces and pale skin, Sony was the first one to break the silence and asked the man beside her "Why are you out at this time of the day and that to alone ?"

Kunal replied while looking still at the peaceful night sky "I came out to meet Pumpkin".

When Sony heard the name Pumpkin her heart skipped a bit. She didn't fail to notice the change in his tone when he talked about the girl and he always addressed her with her nickname.

Kunal always hated girls and he despised them deep in his heart for some unknown reason. He barely involved with any women and never entertained them, but him being gentle to a girl, that means she must be very important to him. Thinking abiut this Sony's heart sank.

She just gave a light "Hmm" and he turned to look at her and saw her expression and noticed that it was gloomy.

He guessed what she might be thinking and asked with the same indifferent tone "Aren't you going to ask me about my relationship with pumpkin ?"

Sony also turned her head to look at him and seeing him all cool, she asked with a grim expression "I am afraid I am not in a position to ask that, we aren't in love or in a relationship, we are just trying. Aren't we ?".

Kunal could hear the saracism in her tone and a smile painted on his lips. He asked with a teasing smile "Are you jealous?"

Sony sneered at him "So what if I am ?"

Kunal couldn't help but smile seeing her angered face. He held her wrists and pulled her into his arms and said "You look cute when you are jealous." He then pinched her nose tip with his fingers.

Sony never saw this version of Kunal. He always has a cold expression on his face and remains indifferent to others But his caring and smiling face, it was definitely a sight to watch.

He then held her face in his hands and said "Pumpkin is my sister".

Sony looked at him with confusion and he said "Her name is Reshika and she is my father's daughter. He gas her with another woman, not my mom".

Sony was truly shocked now and she looked at him with her eyes wide open. He moved back and leaned against the wall of the bench. He knew what she was thinking and gave her some time to understand.

Sony looked at him and sensing her gaze at him and the question behind her gaze, he sighed. He continued looking at the clear sky and said "In our family, men keeps other woman beside their wives. My mom and dad got married because of their family businesses. But my dad always had other woman beisde him and my mom was also aware of it, but never cared much."

"But my dad never let those women have children but Pumpkin's mom always wanted to become a part of the Rajput family. So when she got pregnant, she decided to have the baby and didn't let my dad know about it for a while."

Sony was silent and heard each and every word with full concentration. She never heard before about these extra marital affairs and stuff. She didn't even know that people get married just because of business, purely for business".

Kunal continued "She thought she will have a boy but later she found it was a girl. So she told my dad and first he was furious. But he always wanted a baby girl because he already had two boys and my mom couldn't bear any more children. So he let her have the baby."

Sony just gave out an "ohh" sound and he asked "That's it ?".

She looked at him in a daze and after a moment she asked "After that what happened?".

Kunal looked away from her and stared at the sky again and said "My grandpa didn't want to let some random person to enter into the Mansion or into the family. He didn't allow this to happen but because of that woman's stupidity and greed, she was expelled from the city after she gave birth, but he let the baby grow up at our grandpa's second wife's place".

Sony just listened and her face became pale hearing to his story. He continued but his words were a lot less audible than before.

"My grandpa didn't want to let pumpkin into our Palace but he provided her with everything she needs except for his surname. But she lacked the love and care from her family and also a proper identity. The people in our family will talk to her once in a while but her identity is a secret from the world".

Sony was a pure and innocent girl who doesn't know anything about these kind of matters. So she asked with curiosity " Wirh whom does she stay with now ?".

Kunal said with a depressed smile "She stays with my grandma now and takes care of her as my second grandma is old and alone now. If they need anything we will provide them that."

There was a sudden depression in his words and also the atmosphere around him. He said "She can't come or attend any of the family functions and she isn't allowed to talk to any men in the family".

Sony looked at him and said "But you meet her every now and then".

Kunal looked at her and she smiled at him reassuringly. He said "Grandpa ordered us not to meet her or involve with her. But I can't abandon my sister."

He looked at her and said "I feel ashamed of myself, I am not even able to protect my own sister or give her any love or affection". He then asked staring into her eyes "Don't you hate me for my helplessness?".

His face was filled with guilt and he was trying hard not to show his depressed face. He tried really hard to conceal his emotions and manitain his indifferent face.

Sony hugged him by placing her arms around his neck and patted his back and said "You are the best brother, you are doing everything you can for her despite all those restrictions from elders".

Sony consoled him and they remained hugging each other for a while. He said "You are the first person I spoke about Pumpkin other than Abhi and Rahul. Even Naveen was not aware of it".

He then moved away from her and said with a smile "It's not that I don't like you or something like that, it's just that with a family like mine, I am afraid you can't handle this pressure. That's the reason I told you 'let's try'."

Sony smiled. She ignored his indirect confession and asked "So have you met Pumpkin or not ?"

Kunal looked at her with a smile and said "I was going to but I saw your status and decided to come see you first".

Sony smiled and said "You should have gone to meet her. why come here ?"

Kunal looked at her mischievously and said "I want to do something."