Deciphering His Love

08 | The One With The Stepmother

It's 10pm by the time Shyam and Madhav reach the RK Mansion. They walk inside after parking the car in the garage.

The whole house is quiet and with the dimmed lights, a shadow of a woman seated on the sofa is visible. Madhav switches on the lights and the living room becomes bright.

Shyam's mother, Yashodha Mehta, who was seated on the sofa springs off the sofa and starts to rub her eyes with the corners of her palm. She was wearing a long pink nightgown that covers her well-manicured toes. Even despite being in her late forties she still looked young and charming as she was when she fell in love with RK.

She was almost twenty when she met RK, the father of two little children.

She was twenty years younger to him. Their age difference never was the barrier to their fervent passion and their starry-eyed romance. While she remained the craze to any man's eyes her only craze was RK. She never regretted the herculean age difference, she learnt to love the RK who was developing thin strands of shiny grey hair on his head and the folded and wrinkled skin that started to appear on his face.

Yashodha, on the other hand was brimming with youthfulness and celestial beauty. She had radiant black hair that went well with her deep black eyes and her fair flawless skin.

Everyone had accepted her as a member of the family, even Devakshi, RK and Rukmini's eldest daughter. However Madhav did not. RK's betrayal to Rukmini was unforgivable, and further he could not digest the fact of seeing another woman in his mother's position and that too someone who snatched the life of his beloved mother.

"Boys, why are you'll late?" she asks as she ties her loose hair. "Shyam, you were supposed to be at home by seven. Where were you roaming around? Don't you have the basic common sense to inform us if you were getting late? Your father brought you a phone just for this one reason, and you do everything from clicking silly pictures and uploading them on Facebook and everywhere but you can't spare a cent to inform us that you'll be late! Very matured! Grow up for heaven's sake! You aren't ten!"

Shyam nods.

"Don't stand here like a lamp post, go and get Papa from his room. He hasn't had dinner yet!"

Shyam nods again and runs up the stairs. Yashodha walks towards Madhav. Her voice softened with concern as she holds his arm, her eyes flooded with worry, "Where were you last night, Madhav? Do you know how panicked all of us were? Do you know how worried your father and I were? How could you ignore all those phone calls and messages? I'm so glad Lord Krishna didn't let anything bad happen to you."

"Stop lying! I know you would have been the first person to rejoice after hearing bad news about me," Madhav bluntly replies and pulls off his arm free from her grip. "I'm sorry to disappoint you Ms. Mehta, but I'm fine. I don't need the prayers of such strangers like you."

"Why do you hate me so much son? After all I am your mother-

"Step. Mother!" Madhav angrily corrects her. His eyes were red with rage and his eyebrows knotted with fury. Yashodha pursed her lips, and smiles trying her best to keep the tears away. She has heard him say this a million times to her, and every time he says it gives her the pain of having her heart crushed into several pieces.

"For God's sake stop calling me your son. Neither are you my mother nor am I your son! My mother is dead, thanks to you! I don't have a family! The reason I'm still living in this hell hole is for the legal right I have on my share of the property and for Shyam."