With those words, Antonio furiously released Praveen's arm and with an angry look stormed into the bathroom.

"This marriage is a punishment for you."

Praveen's strength left him and he fell to his knees on the floor as more tears flooded his face. His heart was beating but it was hurt. He had never been so hurt in his life before. He wanted to wail but his voice was gone. He was sobbing uncontrollably and he was trembling in terrible fear. There was a lot in his mind that he had no idea what to think of first.

"This marriage is a punishment for you."

Everything that he had thought about his marriage, his new life, and his husband had been a terrible lie. Why was that happening to him? He had never wronged anyone, not even the almighty himself. Then why was he made to suffer that way? He had been thinking his troubles had come to an end. He had been thinking his happiness had just started but he was wrong. His pain had just started.

Praveen remained on the floor with his gaze fixed on the pure white floor. Tears were now dropping to the floor and he had no idea what to do. Everything felt like a nightmare but it was happening in reality. What could have been worse than your husband telling you that he hates you on your first day of marriage? It was terrible.

"Why?" He cried softly, slowly crawling to the wall. "Why me?"

Praveen just started crying on the floor. Antonio didn't still come inside the room and Praveen's pain was getting out of control. He wanted to console himself but he couldn't do it. The tears had a mind of their own. They couldn't stop flowing no matter what he did.

"Antonio is a very good and kind man..." He remembered Mike's words. "...I have heard a lot about him and I am sure just one smile from you will make him go head over heels for you."

They were all lies. His marriage was the biggest of them of all. He had never heard such painful words before.

After many minutes of crying and sobbing, Praveen managed to get up from the floor. He tried to rub his tears but more flooded his face almost as soon as he finished rubbing the others. He stood still, looking all around the room. His eyes just reached the picture of the wedding and painful memories started moving in his head.

"No!"

Praveen had a terrible headache. His head was pulsing terribly and his heartfelt as if it was about to give up. He couldn't stay there anymore. He needed to leave. He couldn't just stay, especially after finding the truth about his marriage.

With a look around the room, Praveen got out of the room and started running away as soon as he got out. He rushed downstairs and lucky for him, there was no one else around. Everyone was asleep because it was late.

When he got out of the mansion, he started running as fast as he could towards the gate. When he was about to reach the big gate, he rubbed his face and started walking slowly. He ordered the guard to open the gate and he got out.

Praveen started walking away from the beautiful mansion without even looking behind. He knew exactly what to do.

"I should have known this." He thought as more tears ran down his cheeks. "I don't belong in their class. I shouldn't have agreed to this marriage."

It was a really cold night and the wind was blowing heavily. His hair was being blown backward, revealing his flooded face. His eyes were red from crying and he was still sobbing. He had his arms wrapped around himself, shielding his body from the cold.

His plan at that time was to just go back home and never come back. He wasn't gonna come back no matter what.

He got to the road safely and soon saw a rickshaw which he stopped and gave directions to the driver where he wanted to go. He took a glance behind and saw the beautiful mansion. He wasn't gonna come back at all.

"I am sorry, mother..." He apologized, slowly rubbing his tears. "...but I can't stay anymore. I can't do this. I am gonna go back home and forget about everything that happened."

He placed his face between his palms and just cried because it was still hurting. He was so lost in his thoughts and pain that he didn't even know that he had reached his destination. The thing that got him out of his thoughts was a cold hand on his back. He almost jumped out of his seat. He quickly rubbed his tears and found the driver staring at him.

"We have already arrived, sir." The old driver said softly. "I can see that something is bothering you. Are you okay?"

Praveen rubbed his face and tried to calm himself. "Don't worry about me." His voice sounded different and he couldn't recognize it.

He gave the driver his fare and started slowly walking towards his aunt's place. Shit! It was colder than he thought and the neighborhood seemed quiet. It was late and the people were probably already fast asleep.

He took a deep breath and headed for his aunt's house. He could already see that the light was on which meant they weren't asleep. He rubbed his face to make sure that he looked okay and then went straight for the house.

When he reached there, he looked through a window and saw that there were bags in the living room and they were packing some of them. He stood still, looking through the window and wondering what was going on.

"This house seems empty." His aunt said as she looked around. "We have gotten used to Praveen so much that..." She paused and sighed. "...it seems empty. I miss him so much."

"Yeah!" Mike said in a sad sigh. "I wish I could just spend a day with him before we leave."

"Yeah!" His sister said, closing the bag she had been packing. "It would have been nice."

"Yes! I know that you would like that." She said softly, shaking her head. "But the truth is that we can't disturb him right now. He just got married and I am sure that he is happy at that house. He is gonna get everything that he had been lacking. He has a good mother in law..." She chuckled happily, smiling brightly. "...he has a good husband and the family is rich. Honestly, I am missing him so much but I am not worried because I know he's in good hands."

Praveen wanted to go inside and tell them everything that had happened back at the house but he couldn't move. Something was stopping him from doing so, something powerful deep inside of him.

"I know that Grace is really happy because she wanted this for her child." She sighed, sitting back on the chair. "And I am happy because her wish has been fulfilled. There is nothing left to do here because I have done everything. I am happy because Praveen is like a son to me. But I will miss him so much."

"But he also doesn't know that we are leaving tomorrow." Mike sighed. "Can we at least go and see him before we leave?"

"Oh!" Victoria moaned, smiling at her son. "I would love to see him but our flight is early tomorrow morning. But I promise we will call his house before we leave tomorrow. We cannot see him because I don't think any of us will want to leave when we see him. Besides," She sighed, rubbing through her hair. "We shouldn't disturb him because he's really happy..."

Praveen couldn't hear anything anymore. He moved away from the window and slowly started walking away.

"Leave this family alone because they have suffered enough." He remembered Meg's words. "They have suffered enough."

Praveen cried softly as he took a glance at the house. At that moment, Meg's words did wonders on him and he thought she had been right all along.

"Aunt Meg was probably right." He thought, walking slowly further away from the house. "I have been nothing but a burden to them and now they are leaving. They are about to start a new life abroad, a good life. How can I go back to them like this?"

He closed his eyes as more tears flowed. "They are gonna be happy after a long time and I will live knowing that they are happy even if it means I have to suffer my entire life."

Praveen stopped crying and slowly rubbed his face clean. He wasn't gonna cry anymore. He was done with all the crying. He wasn't gonna do it anymore. It was painful but he couldn't just be weak. After all, he had promised so many people that he was gonna be happy in the marriage.

Praveen had to do the right thing. He couldn't tell his aunt that Antonio had warned and threatened him. He couldn't tell anyone. How could he do that when they were all very happy with everything that was going on?

"I have to keep quiet even if it means suffering alone." He said, taking a deep breath. "I have to be strong. Knowing that everyone else is happy will also make me happy."

He knew he had to go back to the mansion even if it meant suffering in silence. Telling someone was gonna hurt a lot of people and he didn't want that. Victoria was happy, Emily was happy and so were most of the people or so he thought. He was just hoping for the best at that particular time, a miracle to happen.

He put his hands together and breathed in deeply. "God, you know exactly what I am passing through right now. Please, give me the confidence to endure this and please, make it better for me. As long as the people around me are happy, I am happy."

With those words, Praveen took a glance behind and left his aunt's place. He walked slowly to the road and tried to look for a rickshaw but there was nothing. He didn't know the directions but he knew the address so he couldn't go alone.
It was night and it was extremely cold and a bit scary. But he didn't lose hope of finding a rickshaw or anything to take him to his new home. His faith finally paid off when a rickshaw passed by and he stopped it and went back to the mansion.

Everyone else was still asleep and he liked it that way because he didn't want them to question where he had gone. It was already 2 in the morning and he had to rest. But once he got back to the mansion, he got nervous once again. All the painful words Antonio had said to him came back and they hurt twice as well. But he didn't let them bring him down or make him feel bad.

He went slowly to the room and found Antonio fast asleep on the bed, snoring softly. Tears started building up in his eyes when he looked at him. He couldn't understand how such a handsome man could be so harsh. But only God knew what was going on.

If only he could turn back time then he would have made sure that the marriage hadn't taken place. But now he was stuck in a marriage which Antonio called his punishment. He sighed as he looked around for somewhere to sleep, somewhere where he couldn't bother Antonio because there was no telling what he would do if he woke up. He couldn't sleep in the same bed with him.

Praveen sat on the big couch which felt a little comfortable, looking all around. He lay there and folded his arms around his shoulders to shield himself from the cold. At first, he had a hard time sleeping but the many thoughts and worries through his little head sent him to sleep right away.

***

Praveen was cutting tomatoes into tiny pieces, making sure that they were of the right sizes. He was in the kitchen and he had food cooking on the hot plate. He was cooking one of his favorite traditional foods in Ashton. It was chapatti which was eaten with vegetables and minced meat with either tea or coffee. It was always delicious and he could remember how his mother had always made it for him.

All he was hoping for was for the family to love it. He had woken up as early as 5 am and then prepared for his day of cooking. It was almost 8 and he knew that the family was probably gonna be coming down for their breakfast.

Praveen had fixed himself to try and make himself look like he was okay but deep down he was hurting. He had made sure that he left the room before Antonio woke up because he didn't want any trouble or crying.

He had taken a bath and then put on a beautiful brown T-shirt and white trousers which looked traditional. He also had a scarf around his neck which his mother had made him for him before she died. His hair was tied in a knot.

He was cutting tomatoes for the sauce he was gonna be making. He was almost done but he was lost deep in his thoughts that he didn't even realize it.

"Sir, are you okay?" He heard a sweet voice that got him out of his thoughts.

He moved his eyes past his shoulder and saw a beautiful maid smiling at him. She seemed nice and she had been helping him ever since he had started cooking. He appreciated her for that.

"What?" He gasped, coming back to reality.

"You seem lost, sir. Is there anything wrong?"

"No!" He smiled unassuredly, shaking his head. "I am fine. It's just that I am just thinking about something really important." He took a deep breath. "Has anyone come down?"

"No!" She smiled at him. "But I am sure they are already awake."

"Okay. Please, help me set the table while I finish this up."