#4: Question

#4: Question

Roohi didn't mean to ask, but the thing about questions is, they nag you until you surrender. 

"Why didn't you leave your husband, after...after the scandal?" Bhoomi looked at her in surprise. Then, her expression changed to something that made Roohi squirm under her gaze. It was as if she could read through Roohi's soul, her wise eyes looking at her, studying her.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to, I just... I want to know. It must have hurt to even think for a second that he chose someone else over you."

"I felt hurt that my husband was accused of hurting someone, and there were moments when I believed the girl. But Prem always said he was innocent and I don't know why, but I believed in him."

"Weren't there moments when you thought of..."

"When all that ended, Prem said to me something that made those thoughts go away. He said to me that even for a second if I had felt unwanted and not respected in the marriage, if I had felt that he would break my trust, I should leave him. I fell in love with him all over again."

"And that's what I told my children when they started to date." Roohi nodded.

"And you are like my child too." Bhoomi patted her cheek and left. Roohi stared at her retreating figure, a new determination slowly rising in her.