He woke up to the blaring of the alarm the next day. He extended his hand to turn it off and used the other to rub the sleep off his eyes. He looked around and found no trace of his wife. He stretched his arms and placed them behind his head looking up at the ceiling and pondering over the events of the previous night. Chandini was a contradiction of sorts and that confused him; one moment her eyes expressed nervousness and discomfort and the next moment she was a raging spit fire with her smart-arse comments. It was getting increasingly difficult to understand her, especially after her reaction last night. Why the hell should I try to understand her??!! he reprimanded himself.
His eyes moved towards the bathroom door, when he heard it open. And out came the ethereal beauty, towel drying her long dark locks. She was dressed in a black and white saree, a sleeveless blouse and a kamar bandh which kept her paallu in place and exposed her delicate waist to his view. He was mesmerised by her gorgeousness however much he tried to deny it.
She sat down in front of the dressing table, switching the towel to the other hand and bending sideways to wipe her hair; exposing more creamy flesh and unaware of his scrutiny. The movement now bared her back and he sat up straight to focus on something that caught his attention. And that something was a deep scar running down the middle of her back starting from below her shoulder blades until above where her kamar bandh was situated.
And his eyes moved to her arms now and he noticed angry red scratches on her upper arms, as if she had tried to scrub herself free of something. Little did he know then that she tried to scrub her arms and neck vigorously in the shower to free herself off her tormentor's breath on her skin. His eyes finally drifted upwards and caught her startled orbs observing him through the full length mirror.
She stood up, turned and scrambled around to cover herself. And something on the bed caught her attention. She bent down, to pick it up craftily unbeknownst to him. He straightened further as he saw her picking things up, cleaning the room. She dumped her things into her cupboard and proceeded to leave the room.
He jumped out of the cot and rushed to stop her exit by blocking her path. She came to an abrupt halt and tried to side step him and he moved sideways again to stop her. She looked up irritated, "Please move, I need to go and get breakfast ready.
"What happened? How did you get it?" he enquired, scanning her face and observing the dark circles which bore evidence of a sleepless night. That should have given him sadistic pleasure, yet he couldn't seem to control the anxious Dev in him right then.
"That's none of your god damn business, Mr. Advay Singh Raizada!" She snapped trying to make her escape yet again. This time he caught hold of her upper arms and jerked her towards him.
"Tell me anyway!" he growled, the Dev in him desperate to know the details.
She twisted her arms free, "Why? Why do you need to know? To use the information against me in some manner as you always do? And how would you know if I'm telling the truth or not? According to you I am a certified liar and a gold digger, aren't I?" she fumed, her nostrils flaring.
He stood still for a long moment, unable to manage a comeback. The mobile in her hand chose to buzz at that exact moment breaking the tension. He glanced at it fleetingly only to catch the message she received- ADOPTION PROCESS COMPLETE.
And his whole demeanour changed the moment he read it; worry for her injury took a backseat as resentment took over; resentment for having abandoned her baby, since he knew the difficulty in growing without parents. Dev transformed into Advay right at that second.
He grabbed her arms painfully this time, unable to control his temper and shook her vigorously, ignoring the silent plea to release her. He remained oblivious to the fact that his actions were scaring her.
"What kind of mother are you? You abandoned your baby and have come here to play house with me?" he questioned with revulsion.
Her shocked expression at the change in topic went unnoticed and he continued, "You wouldn't know the difficulty in growing up without parents. Your beloved maa and baba raised you and you couldn't pass on the courtesy to your own blood? You disgust me!" He pushed her away and she immediately started rubbing her arms up and down in a soothing motion.
Her continued silence only amplified his anger wherein he lost control of what he was saying. "My assessment of you is correct; you are a liar, a gold digger and add to the list, a heartless mother now. You could have fooled my Nani and others but definitely not me. You have proved time and again that you would do anything for money, sell your flesh and blood and sell yourself too if required!"
CRACK
The sound of her palm connecting with his cheek echoed through the room and shocked him to silence. "How dare you? You don't know a single thing about me, Mr. Advay Singh Raizada! And don't you dare go judging me around when you have intimidated me, blackmailed me and have used every dirty trick in the book to get me married to you and god knows for what!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, silent tears running down her cheeks.
He glared at her for what seemed like an eternity, struggling to keep the Dev in him at bay who wanted to pull her into a warm hug. Instead he uttered insensitively, "Do clean up your face and act normal once you step out. I don't want anyone to suspect that there is trouble in paradise"
And moved towards the washroom, paused a bit and called out, "And Chandini," She tilted her head to meet his eyes across the room, only to hear him mutter in loathsome terms, "You are an uncaring mother and an unfeeling human being and nothing you do or say is going to change that fact!" So saying, he entered the washroom banging the door shut, leaving behind a shattered Chandini.
He had absolutely no knowledge that she was just a nobody to her amnesiac dad and an unwanted step daughter who faced bitter rejection all her life.
TBC
