Words count - 2107
Aaravi's pov:
As soon as I entered the room, someone grabbed me and pinned me against the wall.
My heart skipped a beat, and my eyes widened as fear gripped me. I saw Nikshant ji , whose eyes were bloodshot, with veins popping on his forehead.
A chill sensation ran down my body.
As I gulped, my breath hitched.
Sweat dripped from my forehead, and no words came out of my mouth.
My mouth felt dry, and my body trembled.
"Just tell Dadi that you don't want to go," he rasped out.
( Grandmother)
"Why don't you say it yourself?" I spat.
"Just do as I say, wifey. Don't test my patience," he said, grabbing my throat.
"I can't upset Dadi. You tell her yourself that you don't want to go to Singapore."I gulped.
His eyes are enough to scare me, and this proximity is making it even worse.
I never allowed any man to come near me after that incident, but he is different. I can't push him away. I thought I would stay away from him, but it's not happeningâthe more I try to distance myself, the closer he gets.
I might be scared of what will happen if he discovers my secret. Will he judge me like everyone else?
This is not the time to think about all this, Aaravi.
"Let go of my throat! It feels like you'll strangle me to death," his jaw clenched.
"If that were the case, I would have killed you on the first day," he snapped.
"Now tell me, are you going to refuse or not?"
"I'm not going to refuse. If you want to do it, then you do it,"Irritation clearly visible on his face.
"Aap khudko samajhti kya hai,"he yelled out of frustration.
( What do you think of yourself )
"Aapki patni,"I said nonchalantly.
( Your wife )
I don't consider you as my wife," he said through gritted teeth.
"You can believe whatever you want, but it won't change the fact that I am your wife. You'll have to put up with me for seven lifetimes," I said sincerely.
"Now, if you move aside, I can go to sleep," I said, and he realized he was caging me with his arms around my body.
I looked around the room; it had a dark color theme on the walls.
Inke room bhi rangeen nahi ekdum aapne dil ki tarah.
Areh zindagi mein thoda rangeen insaan hona chahiye.
Aaravi, put a filter on your mouth. What are you saying?
I noticed that there was no couch in the entire room.
Now, where will I sleep?
It doesn't seem like my devil husband will let me sleep on the bed.
So, the floor it is.
I looked at the floor. It's cold, but never mind.
"Mrs. Kapoor, come here," he ordered.
The name "Mrs. Kapoor" made something twist in my stomach.
"I don't repeat myself. Mrs. Kapoor, come here," he ordered again.
Does he have no other job than giving orders?
I slowly took steps forward and stood in front of him.
"Come and sit beside me," he said, patting the right side of the bed.
Is he going to smother me with a pillow?
What nonsense, what am I thinking?
I slowly sat down on the bed.
My husband got up from the bed and started taking something out of the drawer.
He pulled his hand out of the drawer, and I saw it was a first aid kit.
I looked in his directionâIs he going to clean my wound?
I gulped at the thought.
Is he feeling guilty about what he did yesterday?
He came and sat beside me.
"Show me your hand," he said. I slowly gave him my hand, and he held it firmly.
His touch sent a chill through my body.
He started cleaning my wound, completely focused on treating my wound.
"I don't want Mom and Dadi to know that this happened because of me, so I'm applying the ointment. Don't misunderstand," he said while treating my wound.
Rude.
What did I expect? For him to say sorry?
After treating the wound on my hand, he grabbed my leg, but I quickly pulled it away from him.
"What are you doing? Bring your foot here," he said, about to grab it.
"No, no, a husband shouldn't touch his wife's feet, or it brings bad luck to the wife," I said.
My heart was beating so fast.
"I don't believe in all that. Now, give me your foot," he insisted, and I hesitantly gave him my foot.
First, he cleaned the blood and then bandaged my foot.
After finishing the bandaging, he got up from the bed and walked toward the bathroom.
He's rude, but he's also caring.
I looked at my hand and then at my foot, and a smile tugged at my face.
I slowly got up from the bed, grabbed a pillow and a quilt.
"Where are you going?" I looked back and saw him coming out of the bathroom, having changed from his suit into track pants and a t-shirt.
"To sleep," I said.
"And where are you planning to sleep?" he asked, walking toward me.
"On the floor," I said.
"Do you know how cold the floor is? I don't want to get scolded by Mom tomorrow for how you caught a cold because Mom won't say anything to you, but she'll definitely scold me," he spoke rudely.
"So sleep on the bed," he ordered.
"And where will you sleep?" I asked.
"What do you mean, where will I sleep? Obviously, I'll sleep on the bed because I'm not sleeping on the floor," he said arrogantly.
"Don't you have a problem sharing a bed and a room with a characterless girl? Because that night, you didn't even want to share a room with a characterless girl, so what changed now?" I reminded him of when he said that, so why now is he sharing the same bed and the same room?
"Yes, you're right. It is a problem, but I don't want Mom and Dadi to find out that we not only don't share a room, but we don't even share a bed because it would upset them," he said.
"Doesn't it hurt me? At one moment, you label me as a characterless girl, then you act like you care, and at other times, you're just rude. If you want to be rude, then please just stick to one behaviorâeither be rude or... caring," my voice cracked at the last word.
I'm honestly exhausted by his behavior. Sometimes it gives me hope that this marriage can work, but other times, it makes me feel like it won't.
"If you want to sleep, then sleep, because I'm really tired," he said and moved toward the bed. He placed some pillows in the middle of the bed to create a distance between us.
It's good; otherwise, I was going to do the same thing.
I sighed and moved to the other side of the bed and lay down. I covered myself with the quilt and closed my eyes, but sleep was far away from me.
Iâm nervous because Iâve never shared my bed with anyone before. Sometimes I get panic attacks at night, and I donât want anyone to see that. Otherwise, theyâll force me to see a psychotherapist, and Iâm not comfortable sharing my deepest secrets.
I hope I don't get panic attacks tonight because I don't want to show him my most vulnerable side again.
Slowly slowly, I drifted into a deep slumber.
â¡
I slowly opened my eyes as the sunlight hit my face directly.
I rubbed my eyes and then opened them.
I looked to my right, and he wasnât on the bed, so he must have already gotten up.
I rose from the bed, grabbed my purple saree, and headed to the bathroom. After taking a shower, I came out, dried my hair, and quickly left the room because it was already 9 o'clock.
"How could you sleep so late on your first day at your in-laws' house? What will Mom, Dadi think?" I scolded myself.
"You never sleep this late, so what happened today?" I wondered.
I quickly went downstairs and saw Mom and Dadi sitting on the sofa, talking about something.
"Good morning, Mom and Dadi. Iâm sorry, I woke up a bit late. I didnât realize I was sleeping so long," I explained to them.
I felt so embarrassed and also scared about what they might say.
They chuckled at me, and I bit my lower lip.
"Oh, beta, itâs okay. You can wake up whenever you want. Like Aahana, this is also your own home," Dadi said with a chuckle.
"Yes, Aaravi beta , Maa ji is right," Mom added.
Nikshant's pov:
I opened my eyes and saw her face was dangerously close to mine, and my hand was resting on her waist.
Shit, why did I end up hugging her?
I groaned in frustration.
I slowly removed my hand from her waist, got up from the bed, and went to the gym.
After coming back from the gym, I went directly to the bathroom. After taking a shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and left the bathroom.
I wore a black suit and set my hair with gel. I glanced at her one last time and went downstairs. I saw Mom, Dadi, and Aahana sitting on the couch. Aahana was using her phone, while Mom and Dadi were talking and looked at me when they saw me.
"Aaravi, where is she?" Mom asked.
"She's still sleeping," I said.
"Okay, Iâm heading to the office," I said and started to leave.
"Who will have breakfast, Nikshant?" Mom asked.
"Iâll have it at the office," I said.
"Hey, wait, Bhai. Drop me off at college," Aahana said, hurriedly grabbing her bag and following me.
"What happened to your car?" I asked as we walked to the garage.
"The cars tire got punctured yesterday," she said, and I nodded.
I dropped Aahana off at her college and then drove toward my office.
I gave my car keys to the guard and went inside the office.
I took my private elevator and headed toward my cabin.
I sat in my leather chair, checking the documents. I had partially reviewed them yesterday, but I still wasn't focused properly; her words were spinning around in my head.
I was also reflecting on my behavior toward her.
I don't want to hurt her, but without doing so, she won't say anything to me.
I don't know why I'm not able to get a handle on my behavior. I wanted to hurt her, but I keep remembering that she is my lost best friend's sister.
All of this is confusing me.
When she questioned why I should share a room and a bed with a characterless girl, I saw hurt in her eyes and something unknown to me.
All I want now is for Ravi to come to India and investigate whether all these photos are real or not.
The whole day passed like this in the office.
I left the office and headed home.
While driving my car, my eyes were drawn to a small shop on the road selling bangles and anklets.
I remembered that Aaravi always wore bangles and anklets every day; I think she loves them.
And I remembered that I needed to get something for Aaravi for tomorrow, as Mom told me to buy a gift for her for the first cooking. Why not buy bangles and anklets for her?
At least I noticed something about her.
I parked my car in front of the shop and got out, standing in front of it. I looked at all the bangles and anklets; there were so many colors.
Red, purple, pink, and lots of others.
My eyes were drawn to the silver-colored bangle.
"What would you like, sir?" the shopkeeper asked.
"Give me the silver-colored bangle, the red-colored bangle, and that anklet," I said.
The shopkeeper gave me the bangles and anklet, and I gave him the money.
"Sir, I donât have any change," the shopkeeper said.
"Keep it," I said and got into my car, heading home.
Nikshant is a bipolar guy.
He has as many mood swings as I might have during my periodsð¤£ð¤£. Well, it doesnât matter.
Iâve updated the chapter; now you all just need to vote.
And let me know how you all are finding the book.
Byee, byee, tata.
Lots of love from tiara â¥ï¸