"I know that you had imagined your life with her and I did so too with my own boyfriend. No doubt, five years is not a small amount of time and ending a relationship with someone you have loved for that long would certainly hurt. Believe me, if anyone understands you more, it's me. Because that is exactly the same thing that happened to me. I love my boyfriend so much. I dearly love Roy, but you don't see me going out to meet him anymore. It is because I got married to you and I know that it is a contract marriage, but I respect the rules of marriage and I know that seeing someone else outside your marriage is cheating. And…" Zaya said as the tears she was holding on finally let down.
This was a hurtful moment for her because she realized just how much she had sacrificed for this marriage, but yet Kabir still didn't see it or appreciate it. She was exhausted. She was tired of it all. How could a fellow human be so wicked and vile to another? Why couldn't Kabir treat her like the way he treats others? What was her sin? Being in this marriage with him.
Zaya cleaned her tears with the back of her hands and carried on with her speech.
"And I know that you spend your time with Lara because you are still in love with her. I am not against it. I just wish you would come home early or give me a call if you were going to spend the night with her. That's all I ask for. I'm not asking you to stop seeing her because, clearly, you have prioritized her over me, but all I ask is that you treat me better. Treat me like a human being, not a disease-infected person."
Zaya could hold back the tears and began to sob out loud.
"Just please, treat me like a normal person. Please, be nice to me. I know I can never be Lara in your life, but please acknowledge me and my presence and respect me. It's only for five years and after that we can go our separate ways. One year is already gone and today was supposed to be our wedding anniversary, but you arrived late. I made all your favorite meals and put in extra effort to make myself look good in front of you, but all you did was scoff. You couldn't even compliment me. I just wanted us to have dinner and say nice things to each other on this special night, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. I don't know what I did to offend you to make you treat me this way. If it was because of what my father did, then I apologize. You should know that I have been begging for your forgiveness ever since we got married. It's not like we are bound together for life, it's just for five years, and we have got four left."
Zaya poured out her heart in between her tears as she began to sob harder. She had utterly given up on this marriage and her act of making Kabir good to her. It seemed like no matter what she did, he would forever hate her. Tonight, she was begging him to be nice to her. She had imagined how the night would go, and this scene happening was not any way in it.
Kabir could not utter a single word. He knew that he had crossed the line big time. Zaya was extremely offended and saddened by his words. As she poured her heart out to him, Kabir listened with utmost attention and came to realize just how much he had hurt her. Zaya was really an easy-going person who wasn't asking for much. She just wanted them to be friends. For him to be nice to her, and it wasn't so difficult, but he made it be.
Kabir had been so happy hurting Zaya, thinking that it was a lifetime achievement on his own side, not knowing that he had been shattering her heart and mind. He had been a monster to her and never in the slightest did he actually stop to think and ask if she really deserved the treatment he was giving to her. Yes, he was angry that he got married to her even when he didn't want to, but it wasn't her fault and her father's only. His father also had a role to play in it, so why was it that he decided to put all the blame on Zaya?
Zaya was innocent in all of this, just like he was. She was just doing what her father told her to do and if she had the choice, she would certainly have said no to this marriage. Reviewing all the hurtful things that he had said and done to her, Kabir came to see that he was actually the problem, because Zaya had never done anything to deserve what he was doing to her. She was right! He is the problem! She deserves a person who can treat her better than he did because all he ever did was hurt her.
Listening to all that she said and watching her cry her heart out was actually uncomfortable for him. Kabir never loved watching women cry, or so he thought, because from everything he had done to her, he had one motive in mind….to make Zaya cry. Kabir wanted to hold her and comfort her. He wanted to apologize to her for all his bad actions and promise her that he would never do it again, but his pride had a mind of its own.
Kabir was fighting an internal battle within himself. He was torn apart between doing what was right or letting his pride take over. As Zaya sobbed silently, Kabir couldn't take it anymore. Everything that she said came running to the top of his memory. She even made dinner. She wasn't even expecting any gifts from him. She went the extra mile to make herself look beautiful for him, but all he did was scoff. Why did he even scoff in the first place? What was he thinking?
"Kabir, what did I ever do to you?" Zaya asked with tears in her eyes. "Why can't you love me like you love Lara?"
"Am I not human too? Am I not deserving of your love? I am still your wife, so why can't you show affection towards me? What does Lara have that I don't?" Why can't it be me, Kabir? Why can't I be the one you love?" Zaya let out as she held on to Kabir's hands in tears.
The pity that Kabir once felt for her immediately vanished, replaced with anger and disgust. How could she compare herself to his precious Lara? Was she in love with him when she clearly knew that he cannot love her? He could never love her like he did with Lara.
In a fit of rage, Kabir flung Zaya's hands away from him forcefully, and she fell to the ground.
"This is just a contract marriage. I have nothing to offer to you because you were never my choice, so don't forget that!" Kabir made it clear to her and walked away.
"I'm sorry, Zaya." he said in his mind. Kabir didn't know what prompted him to say such, but he shoved the thought aside.
Zaya could not believe her ears when Kabir uttered those words. So after everything she said, it still wasn't able to change or soften his mind. How could he be so wicked to her? Zaya had had enough of it all. It was time to show Kabir that she was not a weakling. Her condoling his acts didn't mean that she was a fool.
Zaya stopped crying, cleaned her tears and with the dried tears making lines on her face along with her being on the ground, she makes a vow on their wedding anniversary night to seduce Kabir, be his choice and leave him yearning for her! Making him love her would be the best plot twist to a contract marriage, Zaya said.