Ruined (COMPLETED)

Chapter Eight

Janvi parked the car in her driveway and opened her car and carried Asha. Usha skipped ahead. "Go open the door." She told Usha and handed her the keys.

She kissed Asha on the cheeks. Her baby was so brave. She was done with her surgery and she handled pain very well.

Once she entered her house, she put Asha to bed and put on a cartoon for Usha and made herself a cup of coffee. She opened her laptop and thought about what to do about Veer moving to Mumbai. She tried controlling it from Delhi but she felt it wasn't quite working. She sighed.

Moving to Mumbai was impossible. Her kids had school here. She had her company here. And Nikhil was in Mumbai.

She sighed and typed an email to Sakshi Rane.

***

Sakshi Rane Sandhini hurried into the magnificent house, the staff greeted her and she nodded at them rushing to the dining room. She stopped at the door and took a deep breath and composed herself.

She entered the dining room and saw that everyone was seated in their places. Her uncle-in-law Sanjay Sandhini sat at the head of the table, her aunt-in-law, Nirmala beside him and to his other side sat Siddharth.

Siddharth looked at her and then looked back at his plate. She felt frustration build up in her. She had specially chosen the red saree she was wearing right now, she took special efforts because every Saturday the family ate together and though Siddharth wasn't always present, she knew he was going to be there today.

"I'm sorry I'm late." She rushed to her place beside Siddharth.

"It's okay beta. Sit down." Sanjay Sandhini told her. She sat down and served herself rice.

"I heard that Veer moved back to Mumbai."

Sakshi restrained a groan, she knew she was getting grilled for that. "Yes, he has." She smiled.

"Indecisive as always." Sanjay hurremphed. He was still sour about Veer rejecting his daughter. Sakshi only smiled.

She hated this so much. Why did she even come here every saturday to get insulted like this?

"Your wedding anniversary is coming up next Sunday. Sanjay and I have decided to host your anniversary party." Nirmala said. A plastic smile on her face.

"Thank you mummyji!"

"How many years has it been?"

Sakshi waited for Siddharth to answer. But he was busy scrolling through his phone on one hand and held a fork in the other.

"Five years mummyji." She answered. She wished to slap the back of her husband's head.

"Oh yes five years. How wonderful!" Nirmala said and Sakshi braced herself for the impact. "It would be more wonderful if you both had kids soon."

Sakshi stopped herself from rolling her eyes all the way back to her head. She wanted to snap at her saying how her nephew wouldn't even look at her and conceiving a baby required much more than that.

She decided she wasn't going to suffer through this alone. "Honey..." She turned towards him, but he was still on his phone. Gripping his thigh she said, "Mummyji wants us to have babies."

That seemed to grab his attention and he looked at her and then her hand at his thigh. "We want to. But both of us have such busy schedules, we never get the time." He lied through his teeth and grabbed her hand and pushed it away without looking.

Sakshi felt anger rise in her but shadowed it with her smile. "Your nephew works too hard, mummyji."

 
    The rest of the dinner was quiet. The car ride back home was deafening to her. The only sound insidethe car was the hum of the engine and the clicks of his phone.