The Charade

46| 𝕳𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘

Chapter 47 and 48 are available on Scrollstack!
(Secret: you are not ready for chapter 48)

AUTHORS'S POV

Reyaan glanced at his mother, irritation clear on his tiny face as she had been crying for the last fifteen minutes. Why was she crying, anyway?

"I'm so scared," Kashi sobbed, burying her face in her hands. Reyaan wrinkled his nose in annoyance, suspecting this was just another one of his mother's antics. Turning his back to her, he settled by the bedroom window, quietly watching the ocean waves outside.

"What if he starts to hate me?" she murmured, fear gripping her so tightly it was hard to breathe.

Reyaan looked over his shoulder, babbling in his baby voice as if telling her to snap out of it her delusion and shut up.

"No, no. I can't let that happen," she muttered, shaking her head as if possessed. Rising to her feet, she paced the room, wiping her tears with trembling hands, looking thoroughly disheveled.

It was too much to handle. She knew he held power, but this much?

Reyaan followed his mother's movements with his head, his little eyes locked on her as he grind his barely-there teeth in frustration.

He didn't understand what was wrong with her. She acted as though his father would abandon her if he learned whatever she had done.

"Maaammmaaa!" Reyaan shouted, causing Kashi to freeze. She looked at her baby, who glared at her with his forest-green eyes, her face tear-streaked, her hair a mess.

"Mammmaaa," Reyaan called again, making her crawl under the sheets beside him, she looked like a man woman. She pulled him close, murmuring, "I'm sorry, baba. Mama's being silly, isn't she?" as she nuzzled his chubby cheeks.

"Mammhhmaaa," he murmured, yawning, not that he could help it-his mother had practically pinned him down with her fussing.

"Come on, I'll help you sleep," she whispered, tucking him into her embrace and covering them both with the quilt.

"Chanda mama dur ke," she whispered in her melodious voice causing her baby boy to feel home as his eyes soon drift to sleep while her eyes shed uncontrollable tears.

They drifted off to sleep.

It had been a week since they'd arrived. Each day, Kashi's routine included exploring the place with Ruhi as her guide. Kashi was taken aback that even Ruhi seemed to know so much more about this life than she did. But she hid her hurt-there were other matters weighing on her, leaving her no time to brood over small things.

She explored this endless island, surrounded by vast stretches of water. Each day revealed something new, and by now, she had come to realize her husband was more than she'd ever imagined.

He was no ordinary man but the king of real power.

If he chose, he could eliminate anyone in an instant, and that realization left her more terrified than ever.

What if he despised her for it?

She hadn't even been a good wife.

Every night, she would shamelessly nestle into his arms, leaving him confused by her sudden change in behavior. But she didn't care. She would sleep close to him, wake with him, and then retreat into her own world.

Adhikrit guessed it might be her period making her quiet, but he could sense the tension within his not-so-innocent wife.

Tonight was no different. By the time he returned, he expected her to be waiting for him at the dining table, as she usually did. But she wasn't there.