Not A Simple Engineer Boy! | ✓

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Scrollstck- Suganthi Lakshminarayanan

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"Xav, did you pay for Dhanya's stupid excursion?" Satya screamed as she stormed into his study.

"Did I?" Xavier's eyes remained glued to his computer screen as he typed rapidly. "Probably, yes." Deadlines loomed over him like storm clouds, and Satya's drama over her sister wasn't on his radar—not today, not now.

"You've got to stop indulging her, Xavier," she fumed, planting herself beside his desk, her glare practically searing the side of his face. "And you should have told me! For heaven's sake, she should have told me!"

"I didn't stab you in the back, whatever it is you're accusing me of." He glanced at her for a nanosecond before resuming his work. "You asked me to be her father figure—I'm doing my best. And, for the record, you need to stop being overprotective. It's suffocating the poor kid."

"Yes, go ahead and call me a bitch for trying my best to raise my sister," she spat, her voice breaking. "Nowadays, she barely even talks to me properly. Every conversation turns into an argument. I don't know where I went wrong. Everything feels like it's slipping out of my hands."

Xavier sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Satya, what did Narayan do?"

The room fell silent, save for the hum of his laptop. Her shoulders stiffened, her expression hardening like clay. Xavier had his answer.

Something about Narayan was gnawing at her insides, eating away at her composure. He'd known for weeks that something was off—ever since she returned from Mumbai. She hadn't uttered a word about the trip, and for Satya, that kind of silence was louder than a scream.

"I don't want to talk about him," she said, her voice sharp but trembling.

"Satya..." he began softly. "You're projecting your pain onto Dhanya. You're trying to clip her wings because you're hurting. Whatever's eating at you, stop feeding it to her."

She spun on her heel, heading for the door, but Xavier wasn't about to let her retreat into herself. Not this time. He was on his feet in seconds, crossing the room in long strides.

Before she could escape, he grabbed her arm and turned her around, his grip firm but careful.

"Don't come barging into my house just to yell at me for sport," he growled. "You can scream at me, throw blame my way—but don't you dare hide things from me when they're eating you alive."

She struggled to pull free, wincing as his hold tightened.

"Tell me what the hell he did," he demanded, his voice low and commanding. "Or I'll find out my own way. You know I will. And you know you won't like it."

"I had an abortion," she whimpered, her voice breaking. "I killed my baby, Xav."

His hand dropped from her arm, his expression frozen in shock. "What?"

"I didn't have a choice." Her voice cracked, and the floodgates opened. Tears poured down her face as she crumbled, and Xavier instinctively pulled her into his arms.

"I can't raise a baby alone," she sobbed into his chest, her words muffled by his shirt. "I already have Dhanya to take care of—I couldn't—"

Her body shook as guilt and grief poured out of her in torrents.

"I told him, Xav. I told Narayan. But his parents... They never approved of us. And he—he wouldn't go against them. He wouldn't choose me." Her voice broke again, the sound raw and gut-wrenching. "He's a good man, Xav. He really is. Maybe I'm the problem. I always end up like this."

He hugged her tighter. "When?"

"Three days before Pongal," she whispered, her voice raw. "I waited for Narayan's reply for weeks. I couldn't delay it any longer. My gynecologist said it would be dangerous to wait. And Dhanya—she's my responsibility. I couldn't..."

Her voice cracked as she continued. "I saw its heartbeat, Xav. And I killed it."

"You know what's even worse?" she choked, tears streaming down her face. "I knew this was how it would end. And the whole time, I kept drinking, hoping... wishing for the baby's death. Every night, I prayed for the baby to just—just go away. I'm a horrible person, Xav. I'm disgusting."

Xavier's throat tightened as he held her trembling form. He couldn't fathom her pain—it was a kind of agony beyond his comprehension. Yet, tears pooled in his eyes, threatening to fall.

"You're not the problem, Satya," he whispered fiercely. "And you're not horrible—not at all."

She cried harder, and he held her as she emptied her grief into his arms. Hours seemed to pass as her sobs eventually quieted, exhaustion overtaking her. When her body finally gave in, and she passed out in his arms, he carried her to the guest room.

Carefully tucking her into bed, he wiped the tear stains from her face. His expression hardened as he sat by her side, watching her sleep.

"Narayan might be a good man," he muttered to himself, his voice low and venomous, "but he can go to hell and burn to a crisp."

He stayed by her side, her hand clutching his as if even in sleep she feared being alone.

Do tell me what you feel about this and the upcoming chapters, always open to positive criticism.