Not A Simple Engineer Boy! | ✓

143 • murugan thunai | five

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Scrollstck- Suganthi Lakshminarayanan

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Krithika twitched in pain. "Amma, yen kai..." she cried, pleading with her mother to let her go.

The other women in her family had stepped down from the balcony and now stood near the hallway, silently watching the drama unfold.

Satya moved between Xavier and Saranya, attempting to mediate. "Aunty, neenge kovam--"

Saranya silenced her with a raised palm. "Neenge pesathinge," she seethed. "Last time when you both came here to talk to my husband, I trusted you. I thought, finally, my Kannamma could have the life I dreamed of for her." Turning back to Xavier, her voice hardened. "But you've ruined everything!"

Her words carried such unyielding conviction that, for a brief moment, Xavier questioned if he had indeed ruined everything for Krithika.

But that thought evaporated when Krithika shouted, "Amma!" She twisted her arm in her mother's grip, yelling, "I love Xavi--"

A sharp sound echoed through the hallway. Xavier froze as he saw Krithika clutching her cheek, tears streaming down her face. Saranya had struck her.

All his patience vanished in an instant. Fury surged through him, his blood pounding in his ears as he watched Krithika sobbing in pain. He couldn't stand still any longer. Shoving Satya aside, he stormed forward, grabbing Saranya's hand and yanking it away from Krithika with an intensity that surprised even himself.

Pulling Krithika into his arms, shielding her close to his chest, he thundered, "She may be your daughter, but I will never tolerate the love of my life being treated like this. I didn't come here to sit through your abuse. Don't you fucking dare do that to my wife again!"

Krithika clung to him tightly, still weeping as she murmured, "No, Xav. Please, Xav."

Saranya recoiled in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. "I... I wasn't... I didn't mean to... Oh, my Kannamma!" Her trembling hands reached out toward her daughter.

But Xavier roared, "No!" and swatted her hands away with blunt force.

Saranya flinched, visibly shaken.

"Mama, what are you doing!?" Karthik interjected, stepping in front of his mother. "Mr. Joseph, please calm down!"

Xavier was gasping for air, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he tried to protect Krithika. Everything had happened too quickly for him to process. His fight response had kicked in, his focus narrowing solely on Saranya's hands.

A touch on his arm pulled him back to the moment. He turned to see Krishna holding him.

"Xav, deep breaths," Satya whispered, her hand patting his chest soothingly. "Everything's fine. Krithika isn't hurt."

It was the first time Xavier had lost control like this. In his entire life, he had never shown such disrespect toward an elder, especially a woman. His Aai had drilled gentlemanly values into him, and he had followed them like gospel. He could be anything, but never a monster. He wasn't his Achan.

"Bollocks!" Farhan exclaimed, clapping his hands in mock excitement as if he'd been waiting for violence to erupt. "And here I thought the old sod would be the problem."

"Fuck off!" Satya snarled at him.

Farhan, ever composed, smirked. "Satty darling, I won't." He stepped closer to them, his focus drifting toward Saranya with an unsettling calm.

"I wanna talk to you..." Farhan waved at Krithika's mother. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name—no, not the Mrs. Ashok one. I don't like addressing women by someone else's identity. You ladies deserve more than being handled like some commodity."

In an effort to tone down his pronounced British accent and revert to his native Indian cadence—a task not particularly challenging for him—for clearer communication with Saranya, he smiled warmly at her. "Please, may I know your name?"

"Saranya," she whispered, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. Karthik hugged her, trying to comfort her.

Farhan's smile widened. "Saranya. Isn't that a beautiful name for a gorgeous lady like you?"

Certainly, he could suppress his accent, but not his flirtatious nature.

Horrified, Saranya stared at the miscreant who had the audacity to flirt with her—a woman significantly older than him.

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