27 The Promise

Seeing her unconvinced, Murat simply replied. " You don't have to worry. He isn't like others. "

" Well if you do trust him, so do I. " Sofya smiled, butfurther said nothing. She would find out the truth herself.

The rest of the afternoon passed without further ado. From what Susan learned, after completing his law studies, Murat had managed this law firm overseas for a while because of the illness of his aunt. After she was cured, he brought her back to NY. Since then, Murat had been living with her in a 5 bhk apartment. His mother had come many a times to convince him to come back, but Murat was adamant. She had often left in tears.

" It's not as if I don't care about them, but I wish dad would be able to understand me one day. " Murat concluded, pain etched on his face.

" Don't worry, Uncle will. " Sofya replied softly, grasping his hand. Murat tightened the grip, as he seemed lost in thought, they both sat in silence for a few minutes before the subject of engagement was brought up again.

" Anyway, you haven't yet told me, how come you fell for Arnav? From what you used to tell me back in school, I always thought you preferred, how do I put it? preferred a henpecked husband as compared to a playboy like Arnav. " Murat asked snidely, grinning.

" Oh please I didn't fall for him. " Sofya replied heatedly, her face red. Then she answered in a small voice " It was an arrangement. "

" What do you mean? "

Sofya hesitated, but couldn't see how she could keep this from him. He was her best friend and eventually he would find out, if not from her, then from Grandpa. So she told him, what Grandpa had told her one year ago.

Almost ten years ago, the night when Sofya's parents were returning from a charity event gala, they had been involved in a car accident, from where they were rushed to the hospital. All the close ones had been informed immediately. Sofya's mother, who had sustained multiple fractures and head injuries, was declared dead when brought to the hospital, while Mr. Khemka was kept under strict observations in the ICU. But it was evitable that he would die soon, the injuries were too grave. At that time he had requested to speak with his close friend, Mr. Raizada. That time, in the spur of the moment, he had made Mr. Raizada promise that he would always treat both Sofya and Susan as his own daughters and protect them from danger. The another thing that was promised was Sofya would marry Mr. Raizada's older son, as both of them came of age. This was the promise that was made on a deathbed.

Murat was silent for a while. After a while he spoke up, " Arnav is not bad. I know he seems to you, but trust me, you will love him.. eventually. "

Sofya looked up at him, black eyes to blue eyes and believed him to a certain extent.

" It's just that I don't want to dishonor dad's memories by breaking the promise. " she replied in a low voice, tears forming in her eyes.