Scared Reiha, sitting on the floor beside the bed, knees pulled tightly against her chest, trembling slightly.
Her wet dark hair falls messily around her face and shoulders.
One tear dropped, then another soon it dropped like it was raining.
In front of Arthav she showed that she was not afraid of anyone, but from the inside she was trembling at the thought of her future.
From the very beginning, ever since Reiha became old enough to understand the world around her, all she had ever endured was hatred from her father.
Words as cold as ice, eyes filled with hate.
She carried all those wounds quietly for years.
And now, standing at the edge of another broken chapter of her life, she realized she had walked straight into the same darkness once again.
First her father.
Now her husband.
It felt as though fate only changed the face of the man; the wounds are still the same.
She looked up at the ceiling, wiped her tears, and stood up, “Why you doing this to me? I don’t wanna play it anymore.” She looked down and swallowed.
“Take it away,” she said, crying.
“Please take it away.”
“That beastly bastard is back…” she thought, her heartbeat pounding violently against her chest.
The lock clicked open.
Then the door slowly creaked inward.
It was Maya standing at the door with a trolly filled with food.
Reiha released a deep breath after seeing her.
For a second, she had truly believed he had come back.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” Maya said softly as she pushed the trolley inside the room.
“Please… you don’t have to call me ‘Ma’am,’ at least when we are alone.”
Reiha rubbed her fingers together nervously while lowering her gaze to the floor.
Her voice softened, and it carried a sadness beneath it.
“I once called you mother,” she said slowly, “and I truly believed you were my mother-in-law.”
A fragile silence followed her words.
“My mother died when I was a kid; I never even got to know her, but I truly believed that I found her in you.”
Maya exhaled.
“I am sorry.”
Reiha looked up at her, “Why you did this to me?”
There was shame and regret in Maya’s eyes when she heard those words, yet beneath that shame, there was relief too.
She walked towards Reiha and touched her cheeks lightly.
“My sweet child,” she said.
“Everything will be alright.”
For a moment, Reiha simply looked at her in silence.
Then, slowly, she lifted her hand and gently removed Maya’s hand from her face.
“How can you say that?” Reiha cut in.
“Nothing will be alright again. It never had; my path was always filled with thorns.”
“I know… I know. But you have to be strong, my child,” Maya said, touching her arms lightly.
Reiha took a step back and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing her fingers against her forehead.
She slowly closed her eyes.
Maya sat beside her, and she gently caressed her hair.
“Listen to me. It will ease with time, and everything is going to be fine.”
Reiha lifted her eyes; they were filled with tears, and tears were about to fall on her cheeks.
She hugged Maya and started to cry like a baby.
“I know, I know, my child,” she said.
“I am scared, Maya,” she cried.
“I am scared.”
“I wanna go home…” Reiha whispered.
“I wanna go home.”
“Is home any different from here?” Maya asked.
Reiha looked at her with eyes full of agreement, her lips parted slightly.
Maya just said the bitter truth was her home.
Was it any different from here?
The answer was no, it was the same as this.
“At least I was safe there,” she whispered.
“You believed that,” maya cut in.
Reiha’s brows drew together.
“What do you mean?”
Maya exhaled deeply, glancing at the side.
“I can’t tell you more.”
“Fine,” Reiha sighed.
“I have a lot more laces than Papa’s; I can go to my aunt’s.” Reiha held Maya’s hand and asked, “Please just help me run from here.”
Maya’s face changes instantly.
“Hush, don’t you ever think of running from here.”
“Why… you scared of him?”
“He hit you too,” she asked.
“Does he torture his servants?” Of course he can.” Reiha said, standing up and brushing her hair back.
“If he can hit his wife, that monster can do anything.”
Reiha wiped her tears.
“I am not scared of him,” she said bitterly.
“What worse could he possibly do?”
She touched her neck.
“Please go now. I am a bit tired.”
Maya looked at her with pitiful eyes, as she could sense how much pain she was in but could not help her in any way.
She took a tired sigh and adjusted the tray on the trolley.
“Please eat something.”
Maya left the room and locked the door again.