AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He kept quiet.
She squeezed his arm. “Talk to me, please.”
But he couldn’t. He had bottled up all these emotions inside him for so long, and he didn’t know how to bring them out. He thought he could confide in her. But how? He didn’t know how to, when even thinking about that time was choking him, reminding him of how broken he was then. Meeting those people showed him how wrecked he still was because the past haunted him till date. His heart cried in pain. How could he have even thought of having a future with Jiya when his wounds had never healed? Parents taught their children the meaning of love and care, but he’d never learned that from his. He didn’t know how to love or how to take care of another person.
He looked at her. Jiya was gorgeous and wonderful and everything he wanted in a woman. But he…he was damaged beyond repair.
He’d tried for her…to be someone else. Oh, how wrong he’d been.
His childhood trauma had settled deep into his soul. He’d never gotten over it. And what if he never got over it?
The chopper dropped them off at his house.
“I just need a few minutes alone,” he told her before walking in the direction of his stables…to his horses. They always managed to calm him. They’d been his constant in life. He reached the stables and went straight to Xerxes’ stall. Holding his reins, he rested his head against the horse.
“Rohan, what’s wrong?”
He turned around, and sure enough, she was there. He ought to have expected her to not leave him alone. She cared so much, while he didn’t know how to.
He watched her. She was so damn beautiful. She deserved someone who lived free of the past, someone who could give her a bright future.
He’d been so bloody wrong in thinking that he had moved beyond his past and was ready for the future she wanted. One never got rid of their past. The past always lingered in the recesses of your mind, ready to stain your present and tarnish your future with its poison. His parents and their friends were the reason he didn’t believe in happy marriages. People in love eventually destroyed one another. He’d seen that first-hand; he’d lived through it. One never forgot that. One never forgot their earliest experiences while growing up. They defined who you became in adulthood.
Seeing those two people had triggered all his old anxieties and insecurities. They had reminded him that he was Vaibhav’s son—his flesh and blood and that he may just be exactly like him. Fuck.
He thought his therapy had healed him. But now he wasn’t entirely sure. What if he stayed with Jiya and destroyed her hopes and dreams? What if he couldn’t give her everything she wanted? What if he couldn’t be the man she wanted him to be?
You are bound to be exactly like him.Nandini Grewal’s words sounded almost prophetic now. The way he’d been triggered tonight and what it had done to him only firmed his belief that there really was no coming back from the darkness that was in his mind. Sure, he could pretend to be someone else temporarily, but that was what it would be—a pretence, a façade that would be removed from his persona the moment something triggered him.
If he remained with Jiya, he would destroy her too.
She came forward. “What is it? Is it me? Was it that couple you met? What happened?”
He straightened. “I think we’re making a mistake. We can’t be together, Jiya.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “What?”
“I can’t do this anymore.”
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No. I don’t accept this. You’re distraught about something, and I won’t accept a rejection from you when you’re in this mood.”
“Jiya, please. I’m trying to do right by you.”
“No! What you are doing is pushing me away. This, us, we are perfect together, and you know it. But for some strange reason, you are suddenly denying it and me,” she breathed out. “Talk to me. I’m sure we can sort through everything. Let me in, Rohan.”
He shook his head. “I want you to leave, Jiya.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Then I will.”
She stared at him, aghast. When he tried to cross her, she stepped in front of him. “No, you stay at home. I don’t understand what’s gotten into you. But I’ll die worrying if you stepped out of the house in this state. So, it’s better that I leave for now. The chopper is still outside. I’ll return home tonight, but tomorrow, you and I will talk, and I will not take no for an answer.”
His horse snorted, stamping his feet as if protesting her exit. Moments later, he heard the helicopter take off. Leaving Xerxes, he headed back inside the house, his heart heavy from what he’d done.
Jiya may not understand it now, but someday, she would realize that his leaving her was for her own good. She deserved a happy life. She deserved marriage and children who would be loved and looked after, and he couldn’t give her all that. The misery, death, and destruction he’d seen at a young age had seeped into him. It was a part of him and made him who he was.
Jiya needed to let him go and to drive home that point, he had to do something dire. Something that would ensure she knew he wasn’t changing his mind about this. He called his assistant to ensure his jet was ready and instructed his staff about his plans.
