It’s time to confess

When Sanchit stormed out of the library, he saw Myra sitting by herself on the floor of the corridors. He was aghast. "You… heard everything?" he asked in an unsteady voice. She tilted her head but did not say a word. Her eyes spoke for her. They told him that she was fuzzy and exhausted. He noticed that she was trembling and he gasped out of fear for her. "Come with me…" – he whispered into her ears. Then picking her in his arms, he carried her out of the house.

"Get me a glass of water and some juice." – he shouted at the butler. The servants had never seen him so worked up before, it terrorized them.

Sanchit brought her deep into the garden and stood her on the grass. The sunrays warmed her and she came to her senses. He dragged the bench to the corner of the fountain, away from the prying eyes. Then making her sit on the bench, he sat on the stone stump in front of her such that no one could see her.

The butler hurried on. Sanchit took the glass of water from him and gave it to Myra. "Have some water." Myra's unsteady hands spilt some of it on her dress. Sanchit held the glass steady and she drank greedily."

"Wait. Not all at once." – he cautioned; he asked the butler to leave the tray on the bench and dismissed him.

"Have some juice." – he said to Myra. Myra turned her full glance at him. For the first time, he was embarrassed by his own conduct towards her. Myra's reproachful eyes hurt even his frigid heart. Looking at her gloomy form made him really sad.

This was perhaps the first time that he actually saw her: the soft contours of her face, the beautifully expressive eyes and the tender lips. He noticed the slender wrist and the long shapely fingers – they were a revelation of what delight life could have been with her.

"No wonder Aryaman Vardhan lost his heart to her." He let out a deep sigh and said – "I am sorry for driving you to this desperate situation. It's all my fault and I will take the blame."

Incessant tears rolled down Myra's eyes. It was a pity to see her so broken. He hugged her and allowed a few more drops to escape before calming her down. But she shrunk from him. "Don't do that, I know I have wronged you but I could not help myself. I knew you loved him and that it was just a matter of time before you eventually returned to him."

"Is that what you think of me? You have been doubting my loyalty without even knowing me?" she accused

"It's not you Myra, it's this emotion that makes you do crazy things. I know how it burns you within, I too have experienced its tease. Not everyone can endure the ache. I have seen people fall into temptation. How could you or he be any different? All my life, I have seen people cheating, stealing and lying, I was not willing to endure another blow."

"How dare you?" she whispered. She had no energy left in her for a fight.

"Why?" he was surprised; "What else would you call your relation with him? You are as good as gone."

"I am not." - she burst out earnestly. She was deeply wounded by the accusation. "I am not having an affair with him. Please don't judge us so low."

"I am not judging you, nor am I accusing you of infidelity. It's not wrong to love, Myra. It was wrong of me and my father to have forced this marriage on you. I knew it was just a matter of time before chance brought you two together again. I was merely calculating how far my father could be lucky… it was about time!"

Myra could not believe what she was hearing, "Is this why you have been so cold and cantankerous towards me?"

"It was probably not the wisest thing to do. But it certainly did safeguard me against any further heartburn."

"Safeguard you?" Myra exclaimed in disbelief. "It did nothing more than bringing misery to both of us. If only you had trusted me…"

"Trusted you? Do you mean to say that you would have forgotten him and fallen in love with me? That, we could have had our own 'happily ever after'?" He challenged her.

She mutely stared at him and he let out a grunt. Myra was puzzled and he elaborated:

"You see my parents were married at a very young age. Marriages in our family are a means to expand the business. Through this alliance, my grandfather had hoped that the markets in western India would open for him. My mother was still in her teens. She was docile and very impressionable whereas my father was much older. He was a man with a strong and well-read mind.

He frequently looked for the company of such women and soon it became an addiction. My mother suffered his neglect and a loveless marriage. I was all she had. Even though I did my best to absorb all her attention, but her heart yearned for her husband's love. I saw her bloom and then wither away into oblivion." Sanchit paused as the emotion was much too strong. He allowed the bitterness to pass away.

He resumed his narrative again, he said - "Her suffering broke my heart and I swore to myself to be faithful to my wife. After my mother passed away, I was sent to the boarding school where I met Naina. We knew we belonged to each other the very first moment we met. Life had taken a sweet turn and soon my wounds healed and love blossomed."

Myra noticed his features soften and his eyes smiled. "I was devoted to her and we planned out our entire life together. Those were glorious days. I started thinking that I had broken the curse of lovelessness in our family. But my misfortunes soon caught up on me. Naina was forcefully engaged to a family friend's son."

"So, we are sailing on the same boat!" Myra felt sorry for him. "Why is it always the same story?"

"I hope not." – he retorted; "Wait till you have heard it all. I was not as passive as Aryaman. I refused to be elbowed out of her life so easily. I went straight to her fiancé's family and told them everything. As I had imagined, they called off the wedding. I was ecstatic and patiently waited for a decent time to meet her family. About a fortnight later, I was standing at her doorstep, declaring my passionate love for her to her family. They heard all that I had to say and once I was done, her father told me that I could not marry Naina as she was dead."

"Dead?" Myra was aghast.