Made for each other

When zehra marries millionaire Akshant Steve ,to save her family ,she doesn’t expects to fall in with a man who who’d Always consider her a second chance ,An unexpected turn of events brings the couple closer together ,But can a marriage based on lies and deceit ever survive ? When zehra’s older sister ,Alina,decides to run Away on the day of her wedding ,Zehra is forced to take her place to save her family from ruin ,But her new husband is angry ,heartbroken and seems to hate her guts ,The cold ,elusive millionaire Akshant has never quite struck zehra as the kind of man she’d want to spend her entire life with ,she was more than content with her sweet ,thoughtful boyfriend Noah but when circumstances force them together ,Akshant and Zehra’s hearts get entangled in a way she never saw it coming ,as the couples grow older they must battle the demons of their past and if the lives they left behind especially when Alina returns and decides she wants Akshant All for her self . Chapter 1: I was brushing my hair in the penthouse suite when I first heard voices and the sound of people arguing,Not Again ,I thought to myself ,rolling my eyes.people had been fighting all day over the smallest of things.The flowers ,the food,the seating arrangements,the decorations,you name it and there was a problem with it.I wasn’t surprised though my mother and sister were perfectionist.I pitied the wedding planner who’d taken up such a Herculean task of satisfying not only Alina but also my mother. Alina’s wedding was all anybody could talk about for months,not that I was complaining.I loved weddings;there was just something about till death do us apart ,line that got me every time .The idea of two people deciding to spend the rest of their lives together so utterly romantic and everything about a wedding symbolic that decision for me .it had surprised me that my elder sister had agreed to the wedding after dating Akshant for only two months but hey ,I guess when you find the ‘one ‘here isn’t a lot left to think about. I giggled when I thought about finding the ‘one ‘hopefully I’d managed to find my soulmate too.Noah was my everything I could ever ask for and more.sweet ,romantic,sensitive and compassionate,he was the ideal boyfriend and I’d fallen for him hook ,line and sinker .He would be here today and the idea of seeing him a tux made me butterflies appear in the pit of my stomach.oh I had it bad . I got up to examine myself in the full length mirror placed in my room ,ignoring the increasingly loud voices that had started coming from the hallway.whatever it was that was wrong now could be handled,just like it had been handled,just like it had been handled previously.seriously,they just needed to calm down . I twirled a strand of my curled long brown hair around my finger and fidgeted with my figure hugging cream dress .of course it had been selected by my sister and I wasn’t one to argue ;it was her wedding after all ,I couldn’t just go about telling her that the dress she’s picked up for me barely gave room to breathe .I was naturally curvy and the dress did a great job of hiding that ;I looked almost as thin as my sister and that made our resemblance even more prominent.both of us had deep brown hair and the same green eyes as dark as emeralds,and both of us were cursed with the same pale skin which refused to get a shade darker .Alina often said people would die to get such a clear ,creamy skin tone but how I wished that my hours at the beach paid off. The dress was fitting at the bust ,the sweetheart neckline reveling only an appropriate amount of cleavage.A bow right underneath the bust tighten the grip on my waist and the skirt with if the dress skimmed my body hugging the area around my hips .it was hard being in it but if I do say so myself,it made me feel and look gorgeous.Alina did inherit our mother’s exquisite taste . I was examining myself in the mirror for the millionth time when suddenly an assorted of people walk in ,halting me in tracks.My parents ,Alina’s in-laws the Steve’s and her fiancé Akshant ,along with my uncle Collins And my Aunty Ophelia all stormed right in front without as much as a knock ,but the looks on their faces made me thought that go away immediately.worry was etched onto their features and my mother looked pale enough to faint at any moments.Oh no,something terrible’s happened I thought to my self ,dread filling my body .it was how defeated and hunted my father looked that told me that the problem was bigger than the usual wedding woes .He was never one to worry about small things and was generally a very optimistic man ;if something had managed to take a toll on him then it had to be bad . “What is it ?”I found myself asking them my heart racing a mile a minute . No one answered;they looked like they didn’t have the courage to answer my question.I looked around at all and of them ,expecting someone to speak up .Mrs Steve placed a hand on her husband’s arm just as he wa about to say something.He looked red in the face ,like he was barley controlling his fury and I shuddered at the thought of witnessing one of his famous tantrums . After what seemed like an eternity,it was my Aunty Ophelia who answered,her face contorting into a mask of pain and sorrow.okay ,now I was officially freaking out . Honey ,we found this in your sister’s room ,she said ,holding up a piece of paper .I walked towards her,my legs shaking as I did so and grabbed it from her ,on it ,in my sister’s perfect handwriting,were words : I’m sorry but I can’t do this .I can’t go through this wedding,I don’t love him .pls try and understand that I’m doing this for the both of us .I’m going away and I’m doing to this for the both of us .I’m going away and I’m not sure if I ever plan of coming back .don’t try to find me and please don’t hate me . A gasp left my lips as I held the note in my trembling hands,this could not be happening,it had to be some kind of sick joke that everyone was playing on me .my eyes searched their faces for any sign of contradiction but there was none .everyone was as shocked as I was and just as hurt .however ,one face confirmed the horrifying face . Akshant .he looked so broken ,so dejected and crushed that felt my heart ache for him ,his entire shoulders were slumped in defect ,his entire body tensed and stiffened and his fist clenched .That however wasn’t the worst part ,the worst part was how he was trying to be strong and not give away the amount of pain he felt but I could see it .his eyes told a story of their own and there was nothing false in that story .How could Alina have done this to him ? ‘Zehra we know that this must be so difficult for you but the fact is that we have a wedding to go in less than four hours with over three thousand people arriving “ I looked at my aunt like she has lost mind.What wedding?the bride had run away ,she made a terrible mess and had left us all to deal with the frightening consequences that were surely to follow.there wasn’t going to be a wedding anymore,how could there be? As if reading my mind ,my father spoke up his voice completely lacking the confidence I normally associated with it .”we can’t cancel the wedding sweetheart.it’ll ruin us all of us ,all of us .If the wedding doesn’t take place today not only will we utterly humiliated but we could stand to lose everything “he choked out and I stared at him stupidly not knowing where this was headed My mother,someone who would never allow herself to be humbled by anyone ,looked at me then ,pleading with me with her eyes . We need your help zehra ,you are the only one who can save this family now . Approximately four hours later I was taken into the church followed closely by my mother ,my aunt and my few cousins who had been told the truth .a long veil covered my face and the corset I wore under my dress molded my shape to fit into the dress ,My sister’s wedding dress . The music begin to play and I fixed my gaze firmly to the ground,begging myself to not let any tears escape.my father linked in his arm with mine as everyone else left the room . Zehra honey ,you have no idea what this means to us ,”he whispered in my ear and I nodded my head slightly,not trusting myself to speak . It was to the beat of the traditional wedding March that I walked towards the altar ,my father gripping my arm tightly,comforting me but all the while suffocating me .he let go of me when we reached to Akshant and his best man stood and after completing his duty of giving me away ,he left me alone to take the biggest step of my life . The vows were said ,the lies concealed as I took Akshant Steve to be my husband,for better or for worst ,my actions were mechanical,my tone robotic .I had always dreamt of the day i would get married but now I knew better .Those dreams to begin with ;they had been signs of the nightmare to come One sentence,I whispered one sentence at the priest pronounced us husband and wife hoping the words would somehow reach him . “I love you Noah ,pls forgive me .” Chapter Two Fifty times that was the time Noah called me in the past hours and also the times I had hit the red button and cancelled his calls .A part of me was dying as I did this to him but an even larger part was already dead in me .A kind of numbness had crept all over me and as a result that ,I felt nothing.Absolutely nothing .The shock had been so great that it has rendered me incapable of behaving the way normal person would under the circumstances. I learnt my head against the car window,pressing my forehead against the cool glass to provide a reprieve to my burning forehead.I was ill ,a temperature of about 102 degrees and it was a miracle that I still managed to maintain some level of consciousness,I couldn’t tell him ,I couldn’t even look at him without wanting to wrench my own heart out .what had happened ?how had this day gone from being so perfect to becoming the biggest nightmare of my life. I Zehra ,was married to Akshat Steve ,the Akshant Steve who my sister was supposed to marry my sister few hours ago .the thought made me want to hurl and the one thing I wanted more than anything else was for someone to wake me up ,any moment ,now and Alina would come yelling for me in my room ,shaking me to that I’d wake up and made her her favorite chocolate chip pancakes. It didn’t happen,she didn’t come and no one woke me up ,Alina has abandoned me ,left me to the worst fates and here I was in a car ,married to the man who was supposed to be her husband ,I couldn’t even dare move my face towards him ,in fear of the amount of hate that I might see in his eyes ,I had willingly sacrificed my happiness for my family’s sake but Akshnat ?Akshant has been forced to do so I had heard the arguments ,his parent trying to reason with him , the end his father has resorted to threatening to disinherited him .I didn’t even need to look at him to know how much he resented me . The car came to a halt outside a huge mansion ,the Steve’s mansion to be exact ,I had been here a couple of times with my family but never had the place looked so daunting ,so intimidating ,it was engulfed in darkness and as I peered out of the car window ,I realized that this was the welcome that was specifically intended for me ,had the day gone as planned and Alina had arrived instead of me ,there would had been lights ,galore ,celebration and an air of festivity .I on the other hand bought with me gloom and and perpetual doom ,the gates open to let the car in ,and I could feel the stare of the gateman following my face as the car slowly made it way inside .No sooner had we stoped that Akshant sprang from his sit ,getting out and slamming the car door behind him . A migraine made its way to my head that coupled with my burning fever really didn’t really help my condition .I tried to move but my body felt too weak to even be able to move a single muscle .The driver had noticed my predicament and opened my door with a concern expression on his face . “Are you alright miss ??” I shook my head ,a sharp pain shooting through as I did so ,I gripped my temple and laid my head back on the seat ,everything was start to spin around me ,my eyes beginning to water ,I distinctly heard the driver call for someone before it all faded to black . “Will she be fine ?”he asked and even in the near unconsciousness I was in I scoffed ,he didn’t care ,the carefree tone of his voice made that obvious ,he’d left me in the car and now was putting an act for god who knows who . “Well I’ve written down the required medicines and a nurse will arrive shortly to stay with her as requested.I’m sure that when she wakes up ,the temperature will be considerably lower .There’s no need to worry ,Mr.Steve.” A doctor ,I assumed and tuned them out .couldn’t he just let me be ?I’d prefer to be in this state forever than to wake up and have to face reality in which I was Akshant’s wife , a reality in which my sister had left me to be fed to sharks ,a reality in which my parents literally sacrificed me on the altar .worst of All ,a reality in which there was no Noah . A pain shot through my chest at the thought of his name ,Noah ,Noah ,Noah .would he ever find out about what happened to me ?what would he think ?would he hate me ?I loved him so much,could he be able to see that ?The questions made my head hurt and I felt the migraine come back with vengeance.my head felt like it was been crushed with the weight of a thousand boulders and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.A low scream left my mouth and immediately I felt someone rush inside my room . Akshant hovered above me me protectively and I shivered inwardly at the size of him .I towered above me as I lay down on the bed ,his festers masked by the lack of light in the room ,I couldn’t see the expression on his face ,was he angry ,annoyed ,worried ? What was wrong zehra ?he asked softly and knelt beside the bed ,he was near enough for me to smell his cologne ,an expensive one at that ,Noah didn’t smell like that not rich people he had his own wonderful warm scent .I quickly pushed the thought out of my head . “My head managed to choke out in between spasm of pain that were now rocking my body .” “Here take this .the doctor said it’s make the pain go away “. Akshant made me sit up right and noticed how disabled the pain made me .He made me open my mouth and placed some medicine inside it and then placed a glass of water near my mouth,forcing me to drink .the simple act of kindness was all it took for my inner guilt to come back and hunt me . Voluntarily or not ,I had taken a place in Akshant’s life that was never meant for me I had invaded this world without permission and he has to bear the brunt of that ,my sister ,my own flesh and blood has ruined his life because of her selfishness .he did not deserved what he’d gotten . After laying me down on the bed Akshant walked out of the room switching off the bedside lamps as he left ,the last thought that crossed my mind before the sleeping pills began to take effect was how unusual it was for someone to be so fond of dark ,not a single light illuminated his way as he walked out so easily into the darkness ,is that how he perceived his life now ?full of darkness ,was there no room of darkness in his life anymore? Chapter 3 I woke up with a start ,my breathing considerably heavy and my eyes puffy ,had I cried myself to sleep again ?Apparently I had .mostly I tried not to sleep at all ,the less I sleep the fewer nightmares I had ,it would be the same thing time and time again ,walls closing on me a window at the other side in which Noah stood ,smiling at me I tried to break the barrier between us but time would always run us out the walls would always close in on me and I’d wake up screaming for release . I wondered if Akshant heard the screaming ,if it had any effect on him ,since the day the doctor came to see me Akshant and me had not met .I was glad for once that i the huge house ,two people could live together without having to see each other he lived on the first floor and my room was on the upper one ,it was convent for both of us since Akshant could come and go as he pleased and I’d enjoy the solitude ,the only people I’ve ever met were members of the staff ,women who’d come to clean and the butler who’d come to serve me food .I’d hated been waited upon but something in me never allow me to leave the confines in my room .The house wasn’t mine ,I didn’t belong here ,I had no right to walk around the place like I owned it . I pulled the room around myself seeing how I was shivering in my silk night gown,my things has been sent from the house and I’d had quite the breakdown the day they arrived ,my clothes ,shoes ,old photographs and All it came to me perfectly parked in box I laughed bitterly to myself as I remembered the fact that there hadn’t sent a single thing which could possibly relate to Naoh ,the gift he had given me ,a frame photograph,occasionally Teddy bear ,some jewelry none of it were there ,my mother has thought that it was the better to not have any reminders of my past in my new life if only she knew my new life was a purgatory maybe she’d have pity on me ,and send me the things which reminds me of the old good memory that I could associate with my new life . I walked to the balcony which was attached to my room and took in the fresh morning air it was around six in the morning and by the time which I am usually awake mist drowned everything in it and made my surroundings look cold ,almost lifeless ,everyday I woke up to hope that something would change about the place ,that something miraculous would happen and I’d finally accept the place as my new home but it didn’t,The Steve’s mansion stood looking as formidable and grim as ever as something and as something that I’d never accept nor would it accept me .it was loyal to its owner after all . The sound of trees screeching made me jolt and I looked down to see Akshant’s Ferrari racing inside the gates ,wait had he been out All night ?I gazed at the red vehicle,waiting for its owner to emerge,so imagine my surprise when the first person to come out of the car was wearing high heels . My heat stoped ,my first thought maybe Alina had come back ,maybe he’d find her ,maybe just maybe my life could be saved ,the person who came out however was blonde and wearing cloths that my even my sister would shy away from .Akshant came out and walked over her wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck ,there was a slight clumsiness to his walk ,a tell tale sign of him drunk ,I gulped as the two continued to have an intense make out session in the foyer .I waited for the pain to come out but it didn’t ,I felt nothing,he could do anything he wanted,I didn’t care I tore my eyes away from the two and headed to the bathroom to take a shower . Two hours later ,I was randomly changing the channels on Tv ,I heard the sound of something shattering from outside ,the help wouldn’t come til about 9 so there was only one person or rather two that could be here and I started panicking .realizing that I didn’t want to see either. The sounds continued to come ,loud sounds if things being thrown on the ground ,of objects being violently broken and that’s when I realized that it was enough ,with a determined look on my face I left the safety of my room ,only to the living room in complete and utter apocalyptic condition .everything had been turned inside out and everything which could potentially be destroyed had been reduced to pieces .Lamps were broken ,vases shattered ,paintings strewn across the ground and cushions ripped open ,in the middle of it all stood Akshant ,looking absolutely muderous and when his eyes find me ,his rage if it was possible increased tenfold . To be completely honest ,I was terrified ,he looked so angry furious that it automatically sent a chill down my spine ,I began to walk away from him ,retreating carefully so as to not attract attention but I wasn’t carefully enough ,Akshant caught up to me before I could make it back to my room ,grabbing my arm and pushing me against the wall ,I felt sickening as I smelled the alcohol in his breath ,his grey eyes boring into mine ,cowered against his touch ,his grip on my arm never loosing his firmness . Akshant i whispered,hoping he’d catch the pleading in my voice .”shut up !“Shut the hell up ,he all but yelled at me ,i intensively closed my eyes ,terrified of what was going to come ,would he hit me ?did he hate me this much ? “You ruined everything ,he growled ,running his free hand through his hair .” I looked at him questioningly,tears stinging my eyes ,as I fought to hold it all together ,I’d been dreading this moment ,waiting for him to break and blame me for ruining his life ,I wanted to tell him that this was so hard for as as for him but I doubted he cared, the Alcohol in his system had taken away his rationality and there was nothing I could do to make him see Sense . I couldn’t be with that girl I brought home !I couldn’t touch her without the guilt eating at me ,you did this to me he ,he spat and I was left speechless. He pushed himself of for me and struggled to work straight ,he was about to fall when I quickly ran and caught him ,his weight crushing me ,he muttered a few more incoherent ,things I knew were directed to me ,I tried my best to support his weight and struggled greatly to get him to my room ,which was closet to where we are ,I managed to get him on the bed ,laying him down more roughing than I intended I took off his shoes and placed a blanket on him . I stared at the sleeping form of my husband and hard I tried I couldn’t find it in myself to be angry at him ,he wasn’t at fault ,what’s he’d subjected to was no what he’d earned .he hated me ,I knew that and I was far from loving him but there was something I needed to do ,something which would heal his heart. Chapter 4 Late on Tuesday night ,Akshant walked into my room like nothing had happened ,had he forgotten how he’d ambushed me and how frightened I’d been ?I guess he had since he’d made no attempt to apologize and I left him alone ,no wanting any confrontation like before .I rarely left the house and staying inside so much was messing with my line of thought ,everything seemed muddled and confusing ,and I began to worry for my own sanity .my parents had made no attempt to contact me and I don’t think they will to to visit my anytime soon .they were ashamed of what they’ve done to me and to be honest I don’t want to see them either .Any reminder of want my life used to be like was was too painful and I’d rather do without it . An envelope was thrown roughly on my bed where I sat ,I look at Akshant in all drunken glory and winkled my nose because of the strong stench of alcohol coming from him .I carefully picked up with white envelope and opened it to find ticket to Florida ,with the flight leaving the next day ,I looked at him clearly confused because I hadn’t had the slightest idea that we were leaving . Why were we leaving , I asked him and my own voice sounded wired to me,not having used it much over the past few days . We need to get away from the city for a while .dad thinks it’s a good idea to visit our family’s vacation home since not many people know about it ,he replied in a curt tone and I nodded ,it was only understandable that our families would want us to disappear for a while before people start asking us questions ,they’d already fed them enough excuses for why we didn’t attend dinners or why we’d skipped our own wedding reception ,Florida will provide an opportunity for the hype surrounding the new high profile wedding to die down and then maybe we could return. Akshant was nearly on his way back then suddenly stopped ,bending down to see something up,I scooted to the edge of my bed to find out what it was that caught his attention,I started playing with my fingers nervously as he picked up the broken pieces of my phone .the screen had a crack through it and the back was dented heavily ,I had make sure to render it completely useless so that I wouldn’t be tempted to call him or return his phone calls.luckily or rather unluckily depending on how you see it ,I could never remember phone numbers without the help of my cell phone there was a slim chance that I could ever contact Naoh Again ,it was better that way . He held the phone up ,examining at it and looking at me for an explanation ,I struggle casually and said ,it fell he pursed his lips at my response and for a moment it looked Iike he was actually cared but something must had made him changed his mind .he pocked my phone and nodded ,I’ll get you a new one ,I’ll take this so that they can take the SIM card out ,I was about to protest but then rationally caught the better of me ,I didn’t need to give him a reason to get curious ,not that he never would ,he exited my room and again left me in silence ,I switched on the tv and turned into news laying my head down on my pillow ,I let the voices of the reporters became background noise and closed my eyes ,it was a technique that helped ,as the reporters spoke I’d conjures images in response to their words ,this kept flashing images across my eyes till I went to sleep . The next day ,the butler and the rest of the help hovered over me ,helping me pack I had no idea what to do since my mom had always done my packings if we ever left for an extended period of time .I let Mrs Hotch go through my stuff and decide what I was supposed to take .Akshant had already packed and I was told that he was having breakfast in the dinning room downstairs . I never joined him for any meal and preferred for it to be delivered in my room .This morning however I had a strong urge to just leave my room and sit with him .somehow I was hoping that leaving the city would mean that something between the two of us would change as well .I wasn’t expecting us to fall in love ,far from it but maybe we