"Brother! Please I can't marry him! Make father understand, please brother!"
"What's wrong? What are you talking about?" Arjit asked. He had just returned from the office only to find his little sister jump at him, crying and begging him to make their father understand. He knew it was something about marriage but he didn't know to whom she was getting married to.
His father was standing at the other end of the room with his hands folded behind him while his wife was beside him, a sly grin was plastered on her face.
Seeing that her brother wasn't getting any point, she took in a deep breath but even at that she kept having short hiccups in between. Arjit saw her difficulty in saying anything more and he patted her back as assuring her to calm down.
He gazed at his father with a questioning look but his face remained calm not giving his son any hint on what he was thinking.
"It's alright sister. Everything would be alright." He assured her but she continuously shook her head as the tears poured down even more. Arjit let her pour out all of her tears seeing that she was still hurt.
After a few minutes of crying, she finally stopped, she raised her head up and gazed at her brother with those cat-like eyes, her eyes were red and swollen from all of the crying. It looked like she had a little composure of herself now after pouring everything out. She stared at her brother without saying a thing and he kept patting her back, assuring her.
Arjit assumed she wasn't going to say anything so he opened his mouth to console her. "Samara, do you trust me?" He asked and those innocent cat-like eyes blinked at him, after a few moments of pause she nodded her head.
"Good. Now calm down and tell me what the matter is." Arjit said.
Samara took in a deep breathe and closed her eyes. She tucked in the lose strands of her red hair as they were all messed up on her face. She opened her eyes and looked at her brother and spoke. "F-father wa..nts me t-to..."
"Shhhh." Arjit stopped her as he noticed that she was still having difficulty talking.
"Breathe.." He told her and she closed her eyes and took another deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked at her brother and she saw the genuine pity he showed for her in those crystal blue eyes. She didn't want him to worry for her, but what could she do? Her emotions were getting a better of her. Hell! How she hated that she was emotionally weak.
He guided her forward and made her sit on a nearby sofa. He continued consoling her while both their parents stood without saying a word. "Do this for me. Go to your room, freshen up then we can talk later." Arjit said but she didn't reply.
"You look like a mess right now. What if your admirer comes home to see you in this state? He'll tag me as a bad brother not being able to take care of his sister." He said, trying hard to lighten the atmosphere but he got no reaction from her, she still kept her head down not reacting or saying anything. He sighed and then spoke again.
"My little sister is sad and I can't do anything to help. I'm a bad brother and in no means capable of consoling my sister." He said in a somewhat sad tone.
Samara lifted her head to look at him, her eyes were slightly wide and she looked apologetic at that moment. "I'll go." She said and his sad face turned to a grinning cheshire cat.
He guided her towards the staircase and ordered for a maid to lead her to her room, Samara turned to look at him and she still held that apologetic look on her face. He noticed her look and he grinned even wider. "Seems like I have a new method to make you do what I want." He said and she smiled lightly.
"I'll do anything you want because you've always been there for me." She said in a low voice and his playful expression turned serious.
"I'll always be by your side no matter what, so freshen up and we'll talk later." He said and she slightly nodded and hiccuped a bit. She smiled and turned to leave.
He watched her retreating figure ascending the staircase with a smile, once she was gone his smile faded and was replaced with a cold expression. He turned his back to go confront his father, only the gods knew how he was raging inside of him and he could only manage to control himself because his sister was here, and now she's gone all he wanted was to vent out all of his anger on something.
He went back to the living room only to find his father typing in some unknown things in his laptop while his wife was picking her nails without any care in the world. His rage even intensified to see that these two people didn't even feel the least affected about their daughter's condition. Well, why would they? They hadn't even thought about the effects it would have on Samara, let alone feel affected by it. Such heartless souls!
"What the hell father!" He yelled, jolting them from their own world. His father raised his head while his mother glanced at him and returned her gaze to what she was doing earlier.
"What's the matter son? Why all of the screaming? She might hear you." He said, as though he didn't have any idea what his son was talking about.
Arjit clenched his fists into tight balls. He was angry now. Yes, his father had made him angry. What he was feeling a while ago was not anger, this was anger! And he needed to vent it out on something.
His father returned his gaze to his laptop as though his son was invincible and then what happened next made both lift their faces.
Smash!!
It was the sound of a vase, Arjit had smashed it down due to his rage. It was the only thing next to him he could crush.
"Don't vent out your anger on the poor object." His father commented.
"Who are you planning to get her married to?" He asked but this time in a calm voice. He fists and teeth were still clenched.
"Someone." Was the simple reply his father said, Arjit glared hard at his father. Well, that was all he could do.
"Father....you know about her condition, we can't just give her out to some total stranger. We need to give her time." Arjit said but his father only let out a short chuckle.
"And that's the reason why she should get married. I don't have the patience to wait for her, and the person I've arranged for is not at all a stranger. He's the most influential foreigner in the bus...."
"Business world. All you care about is business and nothing more. Don't you care about Samara's feelings?" Arjit cut him off.
"I'm Rajput Singh. I do what's beneficial to the company. I've told you several times, family comes second."
"Father! This is not ri..."
His mother, who seemed uninterested suddenly stood up and raised her hand, stopping her son from speaking further.
"Talk to your father with respect." She said and Arjit gritted his teeth.
"Mother? Are you really not going to do anything about this? Do you not really care for your daughter?" Arjit asked and she smiled lightly.
"Of course I care about her but this is what your father has decided, I have no say in this." Devi spoke.
"If you really did care for her, why didn't you explain to father? Why did you let her go through this emotional pain. Or should I assume you still hold strange grudges against her?" Arjit asked. Devi wasn't Samara's biological mother. Well, it happened to be a long story which Arjit wasn't in the mood to think about.
Devi's expression turned sour but all too soon, it was replaced with a fake smile. "I would never think that way. You know how much I love her and I..."
"Then please stay out of my conversation with father. If you're not able to convince him, I'll do that." Arjit said and Devi only sighed as she shook her head. She knew this son of hers was as stubborn as his father so it would be better if she didn't meddle in their affairs.
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