Chapter 87: chapter 87

THE SILENT LOVE ...Chapter 86 :Deepak drove Swetha and others personally and dropped them at their home. Arjun, who was baffled with Sreekar’s behavior, whispered in Swetha’s ear without anyone noticing or hearing him.“Sweths! Is there anything going between you and Sreekar?”, queried Arjun while looking at her.Swetha spun her head immediately to Arjun and snapped,“Ajju! What the hell are you asking? He saved me from the atrocity and protected me from death. How can you ask like that?”, while hiding all her emotions recollecting their earlier encounters.Arjun shook his head and stated,“The way he stood for you speaks something more. Don’t you feel it?”.“He is concerned for me being his friend’s sister. Nothing more than that. However you should not forget that he was  having a fiance”, reminded Swetha feeling bitter in her heart while uttering those words.Swetha couldn’t understand why she was feeling downcasted realizing that he belongs to someone. What’s wrong with her? Why does she feel safe and protected in his  presence? Why does she acknowledge him as her knight? She is well aware that she will leave the place once completes her education and goes to her hometown. Still, why does she care for him? With all the questions swirling in her brain, they reached their house.Swetha entered the house and by seeing Mahalaxmi, all her earlier encounters shattered her  heart making her run into Mahalaxmi’s arms like a child yearning for comfort from a mother. She bursted into tears while hugging her. Krishna kumar reached her and caressed her hair making her feel the solace. While returning  home, Gautham called and informed them about everything that had happened to avoid questioning her again.Mahalaxmi consoled her for  a while and took her to the room. She arranged the water and requested her to bathe. Before Swetha could complete her bath, Mahalaxmi kept her dress ready and helped her in getting ready along with Rasi. Swetha never stopped shedding tears, reminiscing the humiliation she went through. Everyone tried to cheer her but Swetha didn’t come out of her trauma .Arjun stayed with her up to the night and returned to his house whereas Rasi accompanied her to the night. Even Meenakshi and Chandra Mohan tried to   bring her out of the turmoil she was  going through but all their efforts went in vain.Sreekar learned   about her wellbeing from Gautham and was feeling restless by knowing her vulnerable state. He wants to be beside her and give her the courage to get out of the torment she went through by giving his shoulder to lean on. Both Swetha and Sreekar couldn’t sleep well due to the restlessness in their hearts.Everyone was worried by seeing her in the same condition for the next day. She totally zoned out in her own thoughts disregarding the exams she had for the next day. No one informed about the incident that happened to her parents so as not to make them worry about her. They called her to wish her the luck for her exams which she answered curtly. Ajith was perplexed with her behavior and spoke to Gautham to know the reason which Gautham covered up as the tension due to the exams.Akash, after learning of the incident that happened at the college, expressed his feelings for Swetha to his parents and ushered them to Swetha’s house to ask for her hand. He wants to claim her as his and keep her under his protection from any danger in the future. He wished to make Rana back away from Swetha by making her as his  girl.Akash,along with his parents Viswanath and Priyadarshini, reached Swetha’s house. Neeraja was already there along with their other friends accompanying Swetha to keep her busy without the earlier day’s thoughts. Neeraja, watching his brother along with  their parents, rushed towards them in enthusiasm.“Hey brother! You didn’t inform me about your  arrival? Mom, Dad! You too didn’t tell me”, complained Neeraja.Viswanath caressed his daughter’s head and replied,“It was a sudden decission. Your brother ushered us here for an important discussion”, turned to Swetha and other friends and reached them.“Swetha! How are you my child?”,queried Viswanath while   patting her head.Swetha’s eyes welled up with tears and lowered her head to hide  it from them while nodding her head for acknowledgement.Priyadarshini reached Swetha and took her into her arms to pacify her  and rubbed her back. They all entered the  living room ushering Swetha along with them. Mahalaxmi and Krishna Kumar invited them  wholeheartedly and offered the chairs to sit.Once everyone got settled in their seats, Viswanath cleared his throat attaining everyone’s attention, looked at Akash and after seeing him nodding his head, explained about their sudden arrival.“Mr.Krishna  Kumar! I have come here to speak about an important matter. We were planning  for Akash’s marriage for a long time but he didn’t like anyone whom we  saw. We were worried for him whether any girl could attract him  and make him accept the marriage. But today he gave us the happiest news about having a girl in his heart for which he rejected everyone earlier. We were    delighted to hear the news and were on  cloud9 after learning about that girl”, explained Viswanath without spilling who the girl was.Krishna Kumar, Mahalaxmi and Gautham exchanged their looks between them and darted their eyes towards Viswanath to hear further.“You don’t believe me if I  say  that Akash was head over heels for that girl. I was amazed by the effect she had on him, who was always occupied with work and work. He was totally whipped by her and wished to marry her. Initially he wished to propose only after the exams but after learning about yesterday’s situation, he would like to  confess his feelings and want to make his  fiance and keep her protected from Rana. Akash has been in love with Swetha for a long time and he would like to marry her. We too had the same wish for a long time and were waiting for her to complete the exams. After hearing my son’s wish, I felt that we all are on the same boat and wished to ask you for her hand. What do you say?”.Everyone was amazed with Viswanath’s confession and were dumbfounded. Krishna Kmar, Mahalaxmi and Gautham exchanged their looks and darted their gazes towards Swetha who looked frozen with the sudden resolution..Swetha, who sat  beside Priyadarshini, was dumbstruck by hearing Viswanath’s words. From the  day of the birthday party, Swetha was sensing the difference in Akash’s behavior. He tried to speak with her alone on his birthday which he failed to do. Later she always felt like he was hiding something behind his eyes but never expected him to come along with his family to ask for her hand. She slowly came into her senses and spun her head towards her family members who were looking at her.Krishna Kumar sensed the puzzlement in Swetha’s eyes and gave her the encouraging smile to tell her decision. Swetha slowly rose to her feet leaving Priyadarshini’s hand and moved towards Krishna Kumar. Watching her coming towards him, Krishna Kumar got up from his seat and took Swetha into his arms. Swetha crossed her hands around his arm and while lowering her head, she confessed her feelings.“Uncle! I never thought of the day coming where I will disappoint you people. I respect you  all and admire your  down to earth demeanor, despite your wealth and status. Neeraja is my friend and I treated you people as my own family. I always saw Akash sir  in a brotherly position being Neeraja’s brother but not in any other way. I am very sorry for giving any hopes with my behavior. Please forgive me  for my denial”, stated Swetha, being very careful with her words.All their faces showed their disappointment instantly and the atmosphere in the room became very heavy. Akash felt a pang in his heart with her denial and slowly tried to calm his heart. He rose to his feet, headed towards Swetha and stood near to her.“Swetha! Don’t feel guilty when you are not at fault. I know that you never treated me in such a way to raise feelings for you. I am the one who got fascinated by you. Your kindness, your ethics, your behavior and your beauty captivated my heart  that I couldn’t think of any other girl in my life. I love you from the bottom of my heart and would wish to grow older along with you. Give me a chance to prove my love”, prsuaded Akash.Swetha looked at Akash with teary eyes which made him feel dejected realizing her inner thoughts.“You having feelings for me doesn’t change my feelings of brotherhood towards you. Though  we were not blood related, I strongly feel the sibling connection between us with the love and affection which I acquired from your parents. I always feel them as my  god parents. Please forgive me  for hurting you”, turned towards Viswanath  and Priyadarshini and apologized while joining her hands,“Aunt! Uncle! Please forgive me  for not noticing his feelings for me earlier. I would have kept my distance from your family if I knew  that I would hurt your family”.Her sincerity and humbleness in her apology shook their hearts that they rose to their feet and reached Swetha. Viswanath took her joined hands into his  and nodded his head negatively, denying her from apologizing to them.“Swetha! No maa! You don’t need to apologize. It’s our misfortune that we couldn’t get such a lovely and humble girl as our daughter in law. But we always have you in our heart and our life. Due to this misinterpretations, our relationship will not end. We will be your god parent’s forever”, pacified Viswanath.Swetha fell into his arms  and cried her heart out for disappointing them. Viswanath, Priyadarshini and Neeraja tried to console her whereas Akash stood still unable to accept the fact that she will never be his. After a while, he took a few steps back and left the house while carrying the heaviness in his heart.