His Wife,their Daughter

II

She plays with her baby in the living room,dancing around and singing. Her antics make her baby laugh and she smiles sadly as she remembers the series of text messages that have bombarded her phone all day from both her parents.
"Pick up your phone right now"
"How dare you ignore me"
At a point, the messages have become menacing and borderline abusive so she put her phone on airplane mode and no one can reach her let alone accuse her of ignoring calls.
"They still want to control me even though I'm married" she says to herself.

Several hours later she hears a familiar car horn and notes with dread that her dad has brought the fight to her.
She lets him into her apartment and the accusations begin.
"How dare you refuse to pick my calls?"
"So you have started growing wings."
"You know the kind of father you have." "Don't let me have to remind you."he says angrily.
He eventually keeps quiet and watches her upon realizing that all through his tirade,she says absolutely nothing.
She offers him something to eat and he refuses.
Instead he asks her why she is refusing to speak and accuses her of snubbing him.
Her mouth opens in shock as it seems the discussion is taking another dimension. She attempts to speak and defend herself but he shushes her after every single word she utters.
Finally he says to her " Look here,the person you want to stay with,his family does not like you."
"None of them care about you."
"If anything happens,none of them will support you."
He looks at her and continues "your mum and I will always have your back."
"we are your family".
She is shocked at the words he utters but cannot deny his words. She is not sure of how her husband's family feels about her. They are cold towards her and keep her at arm's length. They were painfully polite when they have to interact with her. And she being the youngest member of that family in every way,  keeps to herself.

"It's better to respect myself and keep to my lane" she reasoned to herself one day, when her brother in law came with his wife to visit and she found them whispering to her husband when they though she was still in the kitchen.

Now she hears these words from her dad who is a perceptive person. She hugs him and tells him that she will be fine. He reluctantly leaves when he sees that her mind is made up. She is going no where.

Unknown to her dad,her husband has been indoors all the while. He had refused to come out and see her dad. He has kept quiet and her dad thought he was out. He has heard everything her dad has said about his family.
He comes out once her dad has gone and gives her a nasty look. She notices the look on his face and sighs. She knows there is trouble brewing and she will have to bear the brunt of it again.
"Can't I catch a break?" She asks herself.
She faces him and prepares for the onslaught
" I heard everything your dad said " he begins.
He brings out his phone and waves it in her face.
"I recorded everything" he continues, then he begins to recount everything her dad has said and she realises that he has been eavesdropping on her private conversation with her dad.
"This is too much."
" What gives him the right to listen in on my conversation and he even refused to come out and say hello"  ,she whispers to herself.
Meanwhile,her husband continues to yell "He was badmouthing my family and you said nothing. You could not even defend them".
He eyes her with such malice, she is terrified that he will hit her so she quickly takes a step back. The emotions he displays are that intense.
She says nothing and watches him warily as he threatens to play the recording for every member of his family. He says nasty things to provoke her into reacting as she says nothing. He practically spits vitriol Fri his mouth and she flinches with every sentence that he makes.

She is so pissed with the turn of events and knows that anything which will come out of her mouth will ignite a spark that will eventually turn into a flame. She wisely keeps her mouth shut and creates a significant distance between them.

Thankfully the baby is asleep in the crib so she does not have to worry about her.

Her silence provokes him so much that he storms out of the house and doesn't come back till much later at night. He ignores the food she sets on the table,gives her a wide berth and goes to bed.
She looks at the food on the table and tears begin to stream down her face. This is the first time since their marriage that he refuses to eat. She packs up the food and stores in the refrigerator.
She gets into the bed and he immediately turns his back towards her. She eyes him for a while then turns her back towards him too. They fall asleep with anger and resentment
brewing in their hearts.

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