Page 135 of The Redemption
I don’t want to, but I still nod once. His eyes move across my face briefly, probably noticing the scratch on my forehead again. Then he sighs heavily.
“Look, I’m not here to blame you, and I’m not here to fight with you either. I just…” He pauses and meets my eyes again. “I want to understandwhy.”
I look away instantly because I already know where this conversation is heading.
“I know Ayaan’s decision to take Siya away pushed you over the edge,” he continues carefully. “I understand you were angry. I understand emotions were running high. But this…” His voice lowers slightly. “Forcefully marrying Siya like that? In the middle of everything? Knowing who she is and what she wanted? That was not the right way to handle the situation, Raghav.”
My jaw tightens.
“There were other ways,” he continues. “You could have stopped her from flying elsewhere. You could have brought her back here and protected her if that’s what you wanted. But marriage?” He shakes his head slowly. “You crossed a line there, son.”
Something dark twists inside me.
“You’re not this person,” he says. “I know you, Raghav. You can’t tell me you did all of this merely to keep her safe, just because her brother threatened to hunt her down and drag her back into the mafia world. No. That’s not what I saw in Cape Town. You didn’t react like a protector there. You reacted like a man who couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.”
My eyes finally snap towards him. “I can’t believe you’re telling me this.”
Baba looks confused by my reaction.
“Weren’t you the one who told me that Siya was perfect for me?” I ask.
A faint frown appears on Baba’s face.
“You said it yourself,” I reply sharply. “That you saw something between us. You said we were compatible in some strange way. You practically planted the idea in my head.”
“I did,” he admits without hesitation. “Because I saw it. I saw the way you looked at her. I saw the way she challenged you without fearing you, and I saw how different you became whenever she was around. So yes, I wanted you both together. But not like this.”
His gaze turns serious.
“I wanted you to choose each other, Raghav,” he says quietly. “Not for you to force her into something this destructive.”
My jaw clenches dangerously again, but before I can respond, Ayaan’s furious voice cuts through the cabin.
“So that wasyouridea.”
Both Baba and I turn towards the entrance. Ayaan stands near the half-open door, still bearing the bruises from our earlier fight. The split near his lip is darker now. His white shirt sleeves are carelessly rolled up, and the rage burns openly in his eyes. It looks like he followed Baba here.
“Soyoufed this madness into his head,” he says bitterly, marching inside, his attention fixed on Baba. “Unbelievable. How could you keep telling him she is right for him? She’s a mafia—”
He suddenly looks at me and stops midway. I know exactly what word he was about to use.Mafia princess.Good, he stopped. At least someone remembered my warning from earlier.
Ayaan exhales sharply.
“Yes, I did,” Baba replies unapologetically. “Because I saw something between them. I’m not blind. I could see the way they interacted around each other… the tension, the connection. Even Meher and you noticed it during that video call withRaghav, didn’t you? That’s the reason I’d come here in the first place.”
Ayaan’s eyes briefly flicker towards me.
“And yes,” Baba admits calmly. “I didn’t know who Siya was when I first arrived. But despite that, I still feel they are perfect for each other.”
Ayaan lets out a disbelieving laugh.
“Great,” he mutters sarcastically. “Wonderful observation.”
The words hang in the air for a moment before he looks at Baba again.
“You should have thought twice before putting ideas like that into his head,” he says angrily. “You know what he’s like when someone gets under his skin. The moment a person starts to matter to him, nothing else matters. Not the rules. Not the consequences. Not even himself. He’ll walk through fire for them if he has to. How could you knowingly do that?”
Baba looks offended now.
