Siara's pov-
Once I was out of the mansion, I just ran. I didnât know where I was going, but my feet moved as if they had a mind of their own, carrying the weight of my heart that felt like it was shattering into a thousand pieces. My tears flowed freely, unchecked, each drop carrying the pain, anger, and frustration that had built up for years. My chest heaved as sobs racked through my body, and my thoughts spun wildly, louder than the sound of my steps against the cold ground.
I can't erase the image of their crying facesâmy parents, broken and devastated. Every time I see them, the memories of my past claw their way back, pulling me into the abyss Iâve fought so hard to escape. I never wanted the truth to come out. I knew it would destroy them, and I can't bear to see them like that. But what about Rey bhai? What did he do to deserve this? This pain, this anguish, this punishmentâwas it all my fault? Can I forgive them? No, I can't.
Why now, after all these years? I never let myself break. I held on. I buried it allâdeep, dark, locked awayâand yet today, itâs all spilling out like a flood I canât control. My knees felt weak, my breath ragged, as I screamed into the emptiness of the night, âWhy? Why me? What did I do wrong?â
My brothers, my family, they claimed to love me more than anything. But that day⦠where was their love? When they told me to leave, where was the protection, the trust, the promises they made to their âdollâ?
I love them. I love them the most. But how can I go back? How can I look into their eyes, knowing they were not beside me when I opened my eyes.
My hands trembled as I clutched my chest, the sobs turning into screams. Years of pain, anger, and heartbreak poured out in a torrent of agony I could no longer contain. I tried to outrun the memories, but they followed me, haunted me, and now, they consumed me.
I don't know if I can forgive. But even then, I can't hate them. How could I? How can I forget that Papa took a bullet for me while protecting me years ago, shielding me with his own body as if I was the most precious thing in his world? How can I forget that Mummy didnât think twice before rushing into that blazing fire to save me, carrying me out while the flames licked at her skin, leaving her with scars she still carries?
How can I hate Reyansh bhai, who once spent an entire night outside my room, refusing to leave because I was scared of the dark after a nightmare? How can I hate Ekansh bhai, who canceled the biggest business deal of his career just to attend my school play? Or Avyaan bhai, who almost killed a boy twice his size because he made me cry in college? Aryan bhai, who once broke his own hand on purpose because mine was fractured after I fell off my bike, just so I wouldnât feel alone. And Vivek bhai... how can I ever forget? That day, we were in the car, and when the accident happened, he didnât think twice before swerving to take the full impact on himself. He almost died, just to make sure I walked away unharmed.
They were my protectors, my pillars, my shield against the world. They were the reason I once believed nothing could ever break me. And yet, that night, when I needed them most, when I screamed silently for them to hear me, they didnât.
I stood in the rain, clutching my chest as the memories clashed violently with my pain. I donât know if I can ever forgive them, but how do I hate the same people who once stood as my entire world? How do I forget the love they gave me, the sacrifices they made? How do I reconcile the family that protected me so fiercely with the ones who abandoned me when I needed them most?
I know Mahir is behind me. I can feel his presence like an annoying shadow that refuses to disappear. I swear on my father, if he so much as dares to come near me with his pity-filled eyes, Iâll break his noseâand maybe something else also.
I had stopped crying by now, my tears replaced by a numbness that even the rain couldnât wash away. I was walking slowly on the footpath, drenched to the bone, when suddenly, Mahir matched my steps.
Ah, great. Here comes the highlight of the dayâIâm about to break my husbandâs nose. My fists curled instinctively, ready to pounce the moment he opened his mouth to deliver some pity-laden remark. But he didnât.
Instead, he draped his coat over my shoulders, his movements deliberate yet silent. He kept walking alongside me, his gaze fixed straight ahead, as if the words I expected him to speak didnât even exist in his mind. Not a single word of pity escaped his lips.
I also looked straight ahead, the tension in my body easing ever so slightly. My fingers uncurled from the fists they had been, but my tone carried its usual bite as I finally broke the silence.
âYou were this close to getting a broken nose from me,â I said, holding up two fingers to show just how thin the gap was.
I didnât miss the faint twitch of Mahirâs lips, the barest hint of a smile that didnât quite reach his eyes.
The silence between us wasnât suffocating or heavy with unspoken words. It wasnât stormy like I expected. It felt... almost peaceful. We walked side by side, the rhythmic sound of the rain pouring down, drenching us both, yet neither of us seemed to mind. It was like the storm outside wasnât enough to drown out the stillness that lingered between us, a stillness that, for once, didnât feel uncomfortable or strained.
I don't know what came into me and I asked him,"why do you stay away from women"
He exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as if he had been holding something back for far too long. The rain soaked his hair, dripping down his face, but his eyes remained distant, fixed on something only he could see.
"Womenâ¦" Mahir started, his voice carrying a heaviness I hadnât expected. "I was once in love. Truly, deeply in love." He paused, as if carefully choosing each word. "But love is... fickle, Siara. It doesnât always stay where you want it to. Sometimes, it turns into something ugly, something unrecognizable."
He stopped walking for a moment, his hands shoving into his pockets as the cold rain poured down, mingling with the coldness that seemed to grip his very heart. His gaze turned distant, as if he were seeing something in the past, far removed from the present.
"I adopted a girl when I was abroad," he continued, his voice barely above a whisper, "I still remember that little girl... she looked around three years old. I found her on the streets, crying, lost and alone. Something about her just... captured my heart. I took her home that day. In that moment, I chose to become her father." His voice cracked slightly, the weight of the memory pressing against him. "I loved her more than anything in this world... she was everything to me."
He paused, his shoulders slumping as if the burden of the past were too heavy to carry. "She was just a small girl," he added softly, the sorrow in his voice palpable. "She didnât deserve any of that. She didnât deserve the world that hurt her."
His next words came out with such pain that I could almost feel it, like it was tearing him apart. "You know the woman I thought I loved..... She gave my little girl poison, slowly killing her, piece by piece. I never saw it coming. That little girl just stayed 3 months with me." His eyes were clouded with emotion, his voice barely holding together as the tears threatened to break free. "She took her life. And I couldnât do a damn thing to stop it."
There was a long pause as he stood there, unmoving, his face shadowed by the pain of the memory. It was like he was reliving it, and I could see the rawness of it in his eyes. The man who had once been so cold, so untouchable, was now a man broken by a loss so deep, it had forever changed him.
I stood there, drenched in the rain, struggling to grasp the gravity of his words. There was nothing I could say to make it betterânothing that could fix the past, nothing that could bring back the life he had lost.
All I could do was stay silent, standing beside him, both of us drowning in our own thoughts, our own burdens. The rain continued to pour, but in that moment, the world around us seemed to fade, and all that remained was the haunting truth of what we had endured.
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Mahirâs voice broke through, soft yet heavy with an undertone of guilt, âHow much do you hate me for leaving you on our wedding night and never returning back for three yearsâ
I let out a small, bitter chuckle. It was the first time I had laughed in what felt like an eternity. âI donât hate you,â I said, my voice steady, almost cold, yet somehow calm.
He looked at me, genuinely shocked, his brows furrowing in confusion. âWhy?â
I exhaled, my gaze turning forward, focusing on the endless rain falling around us. âMarriage takes two people to make it work. In ours, neither of us made that effort. I didnât care that you left. It didnât matter to me,â I said, the words coming more easily now, though they still carried a weight of their own. âIf you didnât try to work out this marriage, if it was just a promise dying on the vine, then even I didnât. Iâm not capable of loving someone, let alone handling someoneâs love.â
There was a long pause as Mahir processed my words. I didnât look at himâcouldnât bring myself to. What was there left to say? My heart had been broken and rebuilt, but the cracks still lingered. I didnât know if love, real love, was something I could ever let myself feel again. And if I couldnât do that, how could I expect him to?
In that moment, the rain fell harder, drenching us both, but we didnât move. Neither of us knew what to say next. The silence between us wasnât just about the past; it was about everything we had failed to say, everything we had failed to be.
Just as the silence settled between us, a sleek black car pulled up beside us. The driver emerged, holding a set of keys, he passed it to mahir and without a word, he left in another car behind, leaving us alone.
Mahir opened the door for me, silently waiting as I hesitated before sliding into the seat. But just before I settled in, I turned to him, my gaze unwavering, my voice steady but colder than ever.
"Don't ever fall for me, Mr. Sehgal," I said, the words cutting through the air between us. "I won't be able to return it. I'm not that childish Siara who used to stare at you like an idiot, hanging onto every glance. I can't love anyone. Let alone you."
I could feel the weight of my own words, each one a barrier between what could have been and what was now a distant, unreachable possibility. I wasn't the same person anymore, not the one who once dreamt of love in the shadows of her heart. I had changed, and there was no turning back.
As Mahir closed the door, I heard him mutter something under his breath. The words were barely audible, too soft to fully catch, but I could tell from the way his voice trembled that it wasnât something simple. Whatever he said, it lingered in the air, heavy with meaning, but I chose not to ask. I didnât want to hear the answer. Not now, not when everything felt like it was shattering all over again.
Well If anyone thinks that today's emotional outburst will change me then they are gravely mistaken. In short I'm still the Ice-queen as they call me.