Chapter 97: chapter 97

THE SILENT LOVE ...Chapter 96 :Swetha was called by her parents once she was ready for the function who was surrounded by her friends. Arjun came to take her down and by watching her gloomy face he felt an unsettling feeling in his heart.“Sweths! Are you ready for this engagement? Do you want to  marry Kamal? Are you accepting it heartily? If you were compelled by your parents,let me know. I  will stop everything for you”, promised Arjun.Swetha nodded her  head negatively, denying his statement and replied,“No Ajju! I am happy with the arrangements. No one had compelled me for this. I have heartfully accepted this engagement”.“If you say so but your eyes are speaking otherwise”, stated Arjun.Swetha gave him a warm smile and assured,“It’s just nervousness”.Swetha was ushered to the living room with her friends and was made to sit  opposite to Kamal. Swetha kept her  eyes downcasted not wishing to see anyone particularly.The rituals were started and Ambika applied the kumkum on Swetha’s face  followed by offering the saree along with bangles, flowers and sweets. Later Balaramaih performed the same with Kamal offering him the clothes. They were asked to change into new clothes after getting the wishes from the elders.Once they changed into newly offered clothes, they made them sit opposite to each other accompanied by their parents. The priest performed some rituals and asked them to change the rings.Swetha’s heart was  thumping fast by hearing the priest’s words. Her heart was denying to put the ring to  Kamal and screaming to run away from there. She wishes to get swallowed by the earth to save her from this disaster. She took   a good time prolonging the event, wishing for some miracle to happen that could stop everything.“Swetha! What are you thinking? Put the ring”, encouraged Balaramaiah.Swetha snapped out from her thoughts and glanced at her  father who was giving a warm smile encouraging her to proceed. She slowly raised her eyes and looked at  Kamal for the first  time  after sitting with him. Before she could say anything or proceed further,a loud voice yelling her name caught her attention and spun her head towards the direction of the voice.“S W E T H A ...”.Everyone whirled their heads towards the direction of the voice and gasped in astonishment by seeing Sreekar in disheveled state at the entrance lying flat on the floorSreekar ran all the way  to reach Swetha at the earliest and was covered with    dust and sweat. His shirt came out of the  trousers and the sleeves were folded up to the arms  unevenly. His hair turned to a mess and few of his strands fell on his forehead stuck with the sweat.He reached the house and was about to  enter the living room. But he stumbled on the steps  and fell inside, flat on his face. He screamed her name for the first time before touching the ground. Swetha, hearing her name for the first time from Sreekar, immediately spun towards his direction feeling surprised to see him at that time as her savior and her heart has done somersault by hearing her name from his tongue which sent shivers through her spine.Everyone was astonished to see Sreekar, who usually exudes a dominant and authoritative aura, in a vulnerable and pathetic state as if he was abandoned by this universe making him lonely and helpless.Sreekar rose to his feet, ran towards Swetha and fell on his knees in front of her. Swetha was looking at him helplessly with bleary eyes unable to believe his presence for whom her heart was longing for.“S W E T H A ...” whispered Sreekar, pressing each and every letter of her name.“I ..., you ..., here ...”, still in shock, Swetha faltered in her words.“Please don't do this. Don’t go away from me. Don’t leave me alone”, cupping her face in his palms, Sreekar pleaded in a soft voice.Swetha glanced at him with teary eyes and replied in a low voice,“I didn’t expect you here”.“Why wouldn’t I come for my deity who dispels the darkness and fills the light in my life? I would have come early if I knew it before. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”.“I didn’t know you would come. I am sorry. I ...”.“Don’t be sorry. I am here to take care of everything. You don’t worry”.Swetha held his hands that were covering her face tightly and with fear filled eyes, she spoke,“I didn’t know you would come. It’s a hasty decision ..., Sreekar cut off her words.“Swetha! I love you. I love you from the bottom of my heart. Coming for you is not a hasty decision”, assured Sreekar.Everyone in the living room, who was dumbfounded with their conversation,couldn’t believe their eyes to see Sreekar to be so gentle and tender in his words. They all gasped in shock by hearing his confession and were baffled.Balaramaiah, who stood frozen in his place with the sudden  incident, immediately rose to his feet feeling infuriated and yanked Sreekar to his feet by grabbing his shoulder, hitting him hard across his face. Ajith immediately rushed towards his father to stop him before he could do something which they can regret later.The slap was so hard that Sreekar swirled in his place and fell to the ground on his back. Balaramaiah immediately reached him and lifted his leg to stomp on his chest fuming with anger without giving any chance to Ajith who was standing beside him to react immediately.“How dare you touch my daughter? How dare you try to tarnish her reputation in front of the groom’s family?”roared Balaramaiah and almost stomped his chest but was stopped in the air as someone held it.