Chapter 1 :" Monster "

Six Months After the Seperation 

              Swara dreamed of entering this house again ,but not as someone hired to help Uttara in her marriage ,but as his wife. When she found out that the bride the groom  family had her own sister in law as their bahu , Swara tried to go back on the agreement she signed . She cursed herself for not asking all the detail before accepting.

         But it was her wedding day and she felt more depressed and wasn't paying attention clearly and now that mistake made it impossible for her to pay the penalty for breaking the contract ,hence she was back in the Maheshwari house overseeing the preparations for the engagement. 

  
                  It hurt her to admit that the family indifference bothered her , When the groom's family introduced Swara and Ragini two weeks ago ,the Maheshwari  family pretended not acknowledge their daughter in laws. 

         Thankfully Sanskar was away when she first stepped inside the Maheshwari house and he kept staying away when she visited , but she was extra nervous today because there was no way he will avoid her tomorrow. 

               He will be around for Uttara engagement and it will be the first time she saw him ,since the last time she walked away from him. Yet as she walked away home that night ,she failed to see a pair of eyes following her till she reached home safe. 

                 *****************

               Ragini woke up feeling the first string of happiness at the thought of Uttara engagement, she believed  she was too numb to feel anything.

           Every marriage she worked on made her feel the emptiness of her marriage and yet Uttara marriage was different ,she felt genuine happiness in helping with her marriage. 

            Ragini knew Swara had been disappointed by their in laws who failed to acknowledge them as family ,but Ragini was content to be part of the marriage in any capacity. 

              This was one marriage where she will be able to smile genuinely , and so she got up and got ready for the engagement with a smile on a face ,the smile that dropped as she got a call from the detective she hired to find her husband . 

               Swara who was by her side knew that the call disturbed her ,so she was beside her in a second asking if she was okay . The detective said the police had found a body matching Laksh description and asked her to come to check if it was him .

           Yet she lied to her sister about the truth and insisted the detective has found a lead and she will make a brief stop to his office before coming to the engagement. 

              Her sister wanted to tag along with her but Ragini had been able to persuade her , by stressing the importance of being present for Uttara engagement.  Ragini wasn't going to be the one who broke the engagement by the news of Laksh until she was sure it was his body lying in the mortuary.

                  As Ragini walked into the mortuary for yet another time ,she almost feared the worst until she saw the body and let out a sigh of relief ,it was not Him.  And when she felt the hands of the detective on her shoulders she stiffened a little .

        " It been six months ,how long are you going to wait for someone who ran away " the detective whose name she doesn't remember continued to let his hand linger on her for awhile that she realized she let herself alone in a room with him even if it was a mortuary.  

               " You are beautiful girl ,surely you have been lonely " his words sent the first wave of fear another emotion she thought she wasn't capable of feelings.  She pushed aside his hand and tried to run away ,not before him grabbing her again .

              And she fought back with all the suppressed anger of her husband abandonment and yet it wasn't enough ,until a voice echoed in the room. 

                    ***************"

              Swara stepped inside the Maheshwari house without her sister and her eyes roamed around the room searching for him and she breathed a sigh of relief when he was nowhere to be found.  And yet saw her mother in law approached her in haste

               " Try to stay away and dont come near him.  I want my son to see my daughter engagement " her mother in law words were spoken in a hush as if she didn't want anyone to overhear and yet it pierced her heart .

            So when the opportunity presented itself ,she let herself walk to the storage room in search of extra chairs, she could have sent someone else but she was following his mother orders and trying to stay hidden for now .

                  She entered the room and was able to locate the chairs , it was filled with dust and so she was trying to clear it up ,when she heard a pair of footsteps.  She assumed it was of help who came to bring the chairs out . 

          Until she heard the sound of bolt and turned around to find herself face to face with Rohit ,Uttara fiancée . She had noticed his wandering eyes but she lost her voice to raise objection long ago. 

   
        And yet looking at him ,she knew his intention were far from innocent.  She tried to walk near the door but his hand blocked her from leaving  

           " Don't do this " She asked him ,not willing to raise her voice yet but hoping he would let her go and yet he only smiled back .

       " Oh come on ,don't pretend to by coy . I am gonna be super rich after the marriage and you can have anything you want ,just let us have fun " his voice was filled with arrogance .

            " Leave me ,I will scream if you don't let me go . Uttara is a nice girl . And I refuse to let her marry to a man like you " the last sentence was a mistake because he realized she wasn't going to let his advance go unnoticed

         " You Bit** ,you think anyone would believe you over me , I can do whatever I want with you and everyone will  think it was you who seduced me "  he lashed back and before swara could slap him for his insolence ,the door opened and two pair of eyes found them together .

              Swara stood frozen on the grand maheshwari house. It was one of her life lowest points, when her attempt to help out in Uttara engagement has landed her in the midst of such humiliations, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

          Not even in her dream she would have expected such an insult .No one believed her or spoke in her defense ,  everyone judged her guilty for a crime she didn't commit . When Rohit mom and Bade maa found her in the room. 

        Rohit mother was quick to assign the blame to her ,and Rohit managed to make it sound like she tricked him . Everyone in the house remained silent while insults and insults were spoken about her character. 

     And the worst pain of all was his absence ,she dreaded seeing him but at this moment she wished he was around .And when her eyes finally landed on him ,she breathed a sigh of relief .

       But He didnt move towards her , he didnt say a word. He stood silent. Not realizing he was fighting an war on his own ,she thought even he couldn't trust her and her heart broke all over again .

          It all happened in matter of minutes ,for Swara it felt like an year and for Sanskar it was the slowest minute of his life. He had to decide how to react, how to save his wife from further humiliation without casting an danger to his sister .

    One long minute at the end of it ,he had decided.He will always Choose her.  Swara heard his footsteps approaching her, dare she hope he came to her defense Can she hope .

       Her questions were answered when he simply came to stand beside her and face Rohit mom. She heard the gasp of surprise from her in laws but her eyes were focused on Rohit mother.

        " I will give you five minutes to leave with your son before I get my hands on him , ask my family it won't end well for your son if I lost my temper " Sanskar voice echoed in the house as Rohit mother face paled. 

       " You are going to believe this nobody over my son ,she was just trying to seducing him and my son is innocent . Have you thought about Your sister , who will marry her with a second broken alliance " Rohit mother spoke up igniting a fury in Swara on  Uttara behalf .

            " Someone who is worthy of her and that is not your son " Sanskar voice remained calm but she knew he was trying to hold on to his anger

            A flurry of activities ensured after he spoken ,one being the groom family leaving the house . And Swara stood numb by the turn of events. She didnt move from his side but he did as he walked up to his sister. She couldnt see his face but saw the sheer love in Uttara face as she rushed to hug him and she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized Uttara wasnt heart broken by the turn of events. 

          But someone heart had been shattered and she saw the person walk upto the siblings and a sound of slap echoed in the room as Sujatha Maheshwari slapped her son when she never so much as raised her hand against him all her life.

   " You ruined your sister life, You choose her the one who left you ,so that your sister marriage is destroyed.  How can you always choose her and let us suffer. No one will marry your sister now and she will be doomed now all because you had to defend her" Sujatha Maheshwari voice echoed in the hall and she flinched at the venom in those words .

   " No Mom, it was you who  would have ruined my life. Do you honestly want me to marry a man like him, just so you dont have a unmarried daughter in your home. Am i supposed to be a burden that need to be get ridden of at the first opportunity. Dont i deserve a groom who doesnt want a half of your wealth in dowry and who practically assaults my sister in law on our engagement. 

   I stayed silent all through your wedding plan, i choose Rajat and i made a mistake. So i accepted when you battered me away like i am some piece of gold. I kept silent when my brother signed away half of his wealth in dowry but i wont remain quiet now. At least my brother doesnt want me to  marry a guy like him . If i have to life single all my life it fine then married to a guy like him. " Uttara spoke up leaving everyone shocked at her outburst. No one in the family realized their actions and its effect on her until she lashed back and then promptly burst into tears as she hugged her brother for comfort. 

         And Swara still remained rooted on her spot, not realizing what she should do next. Leave or stay but her decision was made easy when Sujatha Maheshwari turned her wrath next towards her . She walked up to her and with just few words made the truth clear .She wasnt welcome in that house any longer . And this time her husband didnt come to her defense as he remained silent . And she realized the reason he spoke up was really for his sister welfare not because he trusted her. 

          And so  Swara walked away home that night, she was too distraught to notice anything before her and when a figure literally blocked her path, it was only then  she looked up to see a pair of vengeful eyes glaring at her . 

         " You ruined everything and now i will ruin you " Rohit voice held anger at this thwarted marriage and she tried to run but the sudden pour of rain made the paths slippery. She hated that the street was deserted and no one was around to help her. Until she clashed on to a familiar wall and looked up to see her husband holding her in his arms. 

           " I so warned you before that you dont want me to lose my temper, now you will pay the price " Sanskar words were directed over her head as she saw Rohit standing beside her and what next happened wasnt something she can explain in words. 

                  She saw Rohit plummeted by Sanskar , She heard Rohit scream of pain and she saw the fury unleased by her husband. She never seen him this way, she never knew he was capable of that much violence. Her hands gripped his shoulder in a desperate attempt to stop his from becoming a murderer. He stopped and turned around and she was taken back by the hint of fury in his face .

         " What do you expect , after all you do know i killed my cousin. Didnt you leave me because i was an monster  "  with those words he walked away leaving her alone yet again. As she starred at the bleeding man in the road. She found herself calling an Ambulance for the man who assaulted her . 

                 And then she waited in the cold rain till the ambulance arrived not realising the same pair of eyes waited with her till she reached home safe. At the sight of her, Her mom rushed in realising something was wrong with her but only her broken sobs echoed in the room as she kept hearing his words over and over again " Didnt you leave me because i was an monster " 

          The truth of it was she only saw him as her protector today, not a monster . But his words held the truth because she did  think of him as a monster when she heard he tried to kill Laksh.  She was so overwhelmed by his actions, she left him thinking it was a price he needed to pay for his actions. But now his words echoed in her brain and she wondered for the first time what laksh did to earn his wrath. And if ..If she knew about it will her perception change about that day as well .

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 NitaReid2016-12-08 20:46:07