The Wrong Woman

58. Mouna

I wanted to explain myself to Dhruv, to clear the wrinkles on his face as he looked between the man and I. But there was no time! The man had come in search of me!

He was here.

Before he could even respond, I did what I normally wouldn't do, and grabbed his hand, pulling me to the side of the house where Dhruv couldn't see. The light was dimmer here but there was enough for me to see part of him.

All I needed was an answer to how to get back.

"Why are you here? Who are you? Can I go bac—how do I reverse this?" To my own ears, I sounded very crazy, standing here rambling about reversing something that seemed impossible.

"Believe love conquers," he deadpanned. That was how to change things back, after all! I was thinking in the right direction. A surge of joy burst through me and I stepped closer to him.

"I-I do! I conquered love. I...fixed things between Dhruv and Rani. Their fights and issues have all been conquered and they're in love again."

"Believe love conquers," he repeated like the broken DVD recorder we had up until a few years ago. My confidence was starting to slip away the more he repeated the same words as I responded.

Was I wrong? Was this not what he meant by believe love conquers? Did he want the truth?

"Fine," I whispered, "I do love Dhruv. I believe my love for him has helped me conquer my fears and fixed everything."

"Believe love conquers."

A cross between a squawk and a groan left me. I pushed my hands through my hair, tugging at the roots. "What do you mean? Please, sir, tell me what I can do!" When he did nothing but stare back, I fell to the floor at his feet. Hot tears ran down my cheeks, making its way into my open mouth. It was salty and reminded me of my hopelessness. "I don't want to do this anymore. I want to be Mouna again. I want my life back!"

Someone cursing made me snap my head up. The man had disappeared but Dhruv stood near the side of the house. The expression on his face was discernible. "I heard screaming."

"Did you...did you hear what I said?"

"You mean you yelling you wanted to be 'Mouna' again?" he responded, eerily calm. "Yeah. I heard." The night was not a chilly one. Sitting on the floor, however, and the way Dhruv looked at me—a little confused, a little surprised and very hurt, made my bones tremble despite the many layers. "What's going on? Where's that old man?"

"He's gone."

"I didn't see him leave. Rani," he began, outstretching his arms before letting them flap against his thighs, "again, can you tell me what's going on? Why'd you say you were Mouna?"

"Because," I said, raising my voice. "What you heard before is the truth. I am Mouna. The woman you saw with Dr Arshan."

"Dr—Rani," Dhruv let out a disbelieving chuckle, although his eyes were blank. "Were you hiding how bad that head injury was? If you were that hurt, you could have told me and we could have gone to the hospital sooner—"

"You're not listening!" I placed my bare hands against the hard, concrete floor, the little pebbles digging into my skin. I pushed myself off so that I could stand up and face Dhruv. He deserved to know the truth face to face. "I am not crazy. This...I don't even know how this happened but that man swapped both me and Rani on the night of the blood moon when I wished to be her. I am in her body and she is in mine. I'm not the Rani you know. I..." I trailed off at the vacant expression that took over his features. I could tell, however, that I had hurt him. His dark eyes told me everything.

"The night of the blood moon?" He repeated after a long pause. "That's an old fairytale for kids who believe in magic. You're really going to stand there and tell me to believe that you've swapped bodies because of a wish?"

The way he said it did make it all sound so silly. A crazy dream of a crazy woman. The blood rushing to my ears told me not to give up. I didn't want him to see me as nothing but a psycho.

Then things started to get worse.

His face scrunched up and the way he looked at me was as if he was looking at nothing but dirt. "I get it now," he declared. "This was your sick plan to mess with me before divorcing me, huh? To use my feelings you know very well about so you can make fun of the fact that you have me wrapped around your little finger. How could you?"

I rushed over to him before I could stop myself. He had begun to turn, ending this conversation but I didn't want to. It couldn't be the end. Not like this.

Never like this.

I stepped in front of him but he was stronger than I had imagined. He pushed past me and I braced my hands against his chest. "Please, Dhruv, it's—it's not what you think. Let me explain!"

"You did," he said through clenched teeth, "and I don't buy it."

"I know how unbelievable this all is. But I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't mean to hurt you like this. I didn't know this would even happen."

I thought that my words would get through to him or somehow affect him. His body was stiff and his features were calm. The anger and pain, however, lurked deep within the pits of his orbs that refused to ebb. He reached up and grabbed my wrists. Where I thought he would pull me closer, he instead, pushed me away.

"I'm not stupid. If a divorce was what you wanted all along, you didn't have to make up these crazy lies."

"Wha—"

"I'll have the divorce papers signed and ready for you by tomorrow." He gave me one last disgusted look, and left.