The Unnecessary Alliance

THE HURT

VANIE's POV

Burning tears stream down my cheeks, the salty droplets pooling near my chin before falling down to my lap. But I continue to drive away from his place, a place that I called home a few hours ago. It's astonishing how my entire life has turned upside down in a matter of a few hours.

Some bitter words were spoken in the past, but their bitterness was felt today.

I loved that man with all my heart. I would have poured my life into him if it meant he would be mine. But, I guess things do not always work out the way we want. The entire thing was too good, too surreal to be true.

How stupid was I?

You always knew it was a deal.

I did, but I didn't expect him to marry me just because of the deal. It means if there had been a better offer, he would have agreed to marry someone else.

He reduced my worth to money. People get into arranged marriages all the time, but not solely because they are benefiting from the marriage, but because they are okay with spending the rest of their lives with the other person, because they want to give it a try, they want someone to be by their side. Arranged marriages do not mean the lack of love, it means promising to spend the rest of your life with a person and then making efforts to make it work, respecting them and always being there for each other, while falling in love with them.

Business deals are made all the time, but humans are never the ones getting exchanged. We do not deal in humans, because that's simply trafficking. And if it does involve a wedding, it's never just about the money. It's about the union of two families, and the two souls. But for him it was just money.

Did he see other women behind my back? Did he have someone he loved, someone he abandoned to marry me for money?

No. Aadi would never do that. I know his heart, or at least I thought I knew.

I recall every news article I have ever read about failed marriages, families falling apart. Some of the men involved were even my father's friends. Maybe they too married for just money. And maybe that was the future I was heading towards.

I can't even blame him for everything. Every businessman is strategic, all of them will take any risk to make money, to gain a name. But marriage was something sacred to me. It is something sacred. And it shouldn't have been exploited like this.

The least he could have done is respected me and not mocked me like this. Why create all this fuss about feelings when he could have simply told me in the start of the relationship that it was nothing but a deal for him? Why make an effort?

Because he wanted to fool you.

He fooled you.

He lied about being in love.

My mind screams at me, as nothing makes sense.

It all seemed so real, until it didn't. And yet my mind is struggling to make peace with the fact that he lied. All I can think of is how he begged, how he fell onto his knees for me. I wanted to hold him closer and cry for him, not because of him.

He seemed equally hurt, if not more, and that doesn't sit right with me. I have so many questions, so many thoughts but no one to guide me through them.

I wipe my eyes with my hand. I am on the road and I shouldn't be driving like this. My vision is blurry from all the crying. Good thing there is barely anyone on the road right now. A few cars passed me a few minutes ago, but that was it.