26.

MIHIKA

"Shall i make it clear to you how to handle your work and home simultaneously" dadi said as i sat down on the couch in the drawing room after a rough day at work

i looked at her blankly while ruhi scowled and chachi shook her head in disappointment from behind the kitchen counter

"the work load in the office is quite high these days" i said honestly

"Mihika if you are forgetting you are the elder one here you are supposed to take the responsibilities till when Amrita and shweta will be handling all this " she said sipping on her chai

i was exhausted, mentally tired and sleep deprived sometimes i seriously think where this woman gets her energy from to taunt like this

maa passed me an apologetic look while ruhi mouthed 'ignore' scrolling on her phone

"well jahan tak mujhe pata hai i earn well and certainly don't want my wife to work around when she doesn't want to" i heard him saying as he descended from the stairs and dadi's face fell

"if you have a problem in managing your so called home then i can hire as many people as you want" he added coldly staring at dadi as he stood beside me holding my hand indicating me to get up

"Also my wife isn't anyone's servant here we have enough staff to look into your problems don't bother my wife with your nonsense talks" he said looking at dadi as if contemplating to say more

here maa was looking at him with a proud smile on her face her eyes shining as if she achieved something precious

"Also if you are so concerned about my maa and chachi then why don't you tell them to take rest and not work?" he added sarcasm dripping in his voice

"mr.malho-" i wanted to calm him down she was older than us and I don't think she could handle this much disrespect

''let's go'' he said  in a void tone as he held my hand tightly and he took me with him upstairs

"next time if she disrespects you keep your morals aside for a while and give a reply okay?" he said softly as we settled down on the bed me sitting before him as he held my hand in his firmly caressing the back of it

i hummed

"look at me, jaan" he said holding on to my hand more firmly

i moved my gaze to meet his as his hand cupped my cheek caressing it as he looked at me softly

i feel bad about not being able to manage both the places nicely being his wife i have the responsibility to take care of his family's emotions too as well his too I don't want to create any grudge between them but i wouldn't say i didn't like it when he stood for me without any double thought

"what are you thinking?" he asked

"i am a bad wife and daughter-in-law" i finally muttered sadly my eyes lowered

"Dare you say anything about my wife" he said looking at me intensely his grip on my hands tighter

"Do you even know what i think about you?" he asked tilting my chin up with his finger

i shook my head in denial

"You have no idea how precious you are to me don't talk about yourself like that again you are the woman i will gladly loose myself for" he said pressing a soft kiss on my forehead his lips lingering there for a while

"you aren't entitled to do anything just because you are my wife or someone's daughter-in-law it's up to your wish meri jaan and you don't have to feel bad about it" he said cupping my face and looking at me with utter softness as if he is talking to a child

when i say he knows me more than myself this is what i mean he somehow manages to utter the words that calms down my overthinking in a blink and the best part is he never makes me feel like i am overreacting or being dramatic

i couldn't hold it anymore and sobbed as a tear drop fell from my eyes

"come here" he said engulfing me into his arms as he caressed my back

i cocooned myself in his arms clutching his shirt i wasn't sobbing because of what dadi said it was him his words the way he takes care of me physically mentally emotionally in every aspect

if it would have been some typical male in his dominant mindset from our society he would have said it's your duty to serve your elders without thinking that wives get tired too sometimes that it's not possible to manage everything everytime sometimes things get messed up too

but i am lucky in that manner, he's not like them hell i can't even compare him to these so called men he's different

shiv ji sabko esa pati dein lekin yeh wale mujhe he dein i prayed silently mentally chuckling at my thought process

"feeling better?" he asked tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ears

i nodded smiling

i leaned in and kissed his cheek lightly he was surprised but quickly masked it

"what was that for?" he asked raising his eyebrows a small smile lingering on his lips

"for being a good husband" i said giggling

his lips curved into a shy smile before turning in a sly mischievous smirk

"don't you think i deserve much better than that?" he said looking into my eyes with mischief

"oh.what do you want then?" i asked biting my inner cheek to stop myself from smiling

"you very well know biwi" he said tracing my jawline with his thumb

my cheeks heated up i hit his chest slightly

"don't you think you are being quite flirty these days?" i said looking at him innocently

"so what? hak hai mera ab apni biwi ke alawa kisi aur se flirt thodi na karunga" he said innocently playing with my fingers

"you better not" i said pointing my index finger at him earning a chuckle from his side

he pulled me into his arms as he shifted his weight to the headboard of the bed gently caressing my hair

life suddenly felt too peaceful and then there's the fear creeping in.. something is going to happen i have this constant fear that good things can't happen to me because when they do something that i don't want to happen happens too

the thoughts lingering at the back of my mind as i dozed off in his arms

***

AUTHOR

"he's here dad, i know he is and i'll not stop until-" vedant got cut off by his father's words

"She's not here, she's gone why don't you understand vedant? she wouldn't want this I don't want to lose you too" Darsh yelled shaking him

"No you don't understand i was this close to.." his words came to an halt as mihika descended from the stairs listening to the loud voices from downstairs

mihika looked at everyone they looked as if they were nervous or hiding something

"what happened?" she asked looking at ruhi

"umm..." ruhi hesitated looking at vedant

"what happened are you fine?" she asked looking at him stepping closer to where he was

"yeah.. it's nothing" he shrugged but he looked stressed moreover frustrated

she kept her hand on his arm looking into his eyes

"you look..stressed" she said wanting to know the reason for his sudden outburst

he jerked her hand away

"i said i am fine..go to our room mihika" he said calmly looking at her

"but.."

"go to our room you don't have to know everything" he said frustration evident on his face yet he didn't raise his voice at her

her face fell,her expressions neutral

she just hummed and turned her heels without looking at anyone and ascended the stairs hurriedly

she opened the door of their room and laid on her back on the bed staring at the ceiling blankly

she was hurt

"you know what? do whatever you want do not involve krishiv in all this" darsh said looking at him intensely

"he's with me on his own will if he wishes he can back off I don't mind papa" vedant said smiling

"i swear if something happens to him-"

"stop both of you.. darsh stop you can't ignore the fact that he's risking it all for what! stop threatening my baby" amrita said in a stern voice

vedant looked at his mother with soft eyes

"go to her" amrita said her voice was a little disappointed

he nodded and quickly got upstairs and opened the door and saw her lying blankly on the bed

she looked up to see him and quickly got up

"what's wrong? what was that all about?"

"there's nothing you would want to know about really mihika and i don't want you to step into this i hope you understand that" he said without looking at her

"but i want to be there-" she couldn't complete as his phone rang

"you don't need to be" he said cutting her off

"you haven't eaten anything have something..i will be back soon" he said before storming out of the room

MIHIKA

lunch was by far the last thing i wanted to have..i  just wanted to know why he was acting the way he did back there i just wanted to comfort him to be there with him

just like the way he did for me

he pushed me away as if i wasn't a part of his life he even called my full name just like i share my pain, sorrow, happiness literally everything with him i wanted him to share his emotions with me the same way

i will not ignore this because i am hurt i didn't expect this from him. i still wanted to be there for him

i have been in my room since long after i came up there were still voices coming from downstairs but they were not loud as they i heard the engine of aston martin as he drove out of the driveway

i sighed dropping myself on the bed once again i decided to wait

i didn't realise when i fell into a deep slumber i woke up to the sound of the door cracking indicating he's here i sat up while he went straight to the bathroom

i took in a deep breath to push aside my insecurities that were repeating inside my head

what if he feels like i am meddling in his life

what if he feels uncomfortable to share his feelings with me

what if he feels i am not worth it?

i came out of my haze as i heard the shower go off i rushed downstairs to fetch something for him to eat i came back

he was still in the bathroom kitna time lagate hain?

i shook my head and kept the plate on the side table and sat on the bed pretending to scroll on the phone

i want to talk to him but I don't want to at the same time

he looked dull and extremely exhausted and all i wanted was to hug him and let him crumble down his walls in front of me i diverted my attention back to my phone

he has cleared his throat probably fifty times in the last ten minutes and hasn't touched the plate not even glanced at it

he has been looking into a file as if it's the only thing that matters to him buddhu insaan

i got up and went to his side of bed picking up the plate and forwarding it towards him taking the file from his hands without speaking a word

i glanced at him and he seemed to be taken aback

so what if i am not talking i still care about you dumbhead

mentally slapping myself i shifted my attention to him

"kha lo ab" i muttered placing the plate on the bed and getting back to my side of bed

although i decided not to utter a single word but i did anyway

i noticed him shaking his head and a small weak smile on his lips from my peripheral vision and the next moment i knew he was on his heels as he approached me and kneeled down beside my side of bed

i gasped as i turned my heels towards the floor

"what are you-"

"let me speak first" he said holding my hand which was on my lap

now both of our hands mingled together and were resting on my thigh

" i am sorry amore i shouldn't have talked to you like that i am sorry i disappointed you i didn't mean to i swear I am not trying to justify my behaviour but it was just i was stressed about something.. something very precious to me " he blurted out looking towards the floor

that's it what it takes for my heart to melt I can't see my man like this and when the apology is this sincere why wouldn't i forgive him? he needs me is all i think of right now i can complain about his behaviour later

if i wasn't looking at his face with utmost sincerity i wouldn't know that a drop of tear left his eyes

"get up" i said a blank look on my face

he got up hurriedly his eyebrows coming into a small frown

"if you don't want me here i can go-" he muttered before he fell silent as i hugged him squishing him between my arms

"aap boht bolte hain" i said caressing his back before he wrapped his arms around me silently hiding his face in the crook of my neck

(you speak too much)

"i am sorry.i am sorry.i am sorry" he repeated

"shh.. it's okay i am here calm down" i said

"do you want to talk about it?" i asked after being in the same position for a while

•••••••

Hope you guys liked the chapter✨

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i am trying to fix my updating schedule but it gets messed up every time 😭🤚🏻

love

~tvisha🫶🏻