"Madhu...my angry biwi.." RK said walking to the kitchen and grabbed Madhu from behind, enveloping her in her arms, while she struggled to get out.
"...at least listen to me" RK said, but then the doorbell rang again and Madhu managed to free herself from his arms.
She walked towards the door and RK followed, a few steps behind.
"Rishu!" the person at the door said as their eyes met with RK's.
"Dipali!" he responded, shocked to his core. What was Dipali doing here? How did she escape? And how did she find him?
Madhu's eyes went from her husband, who looked stunned, to the sexily dressed pretty young woman standing at her doorstep who has called her husband Rishu. Rishu - the name he let nobody call him but her...
"Who are.."Madhu began to ask, but before she finished the question, Dipali was already inside the hope and leaping towards RK.
"Oh God, Rishu! I am so glad you're ok. I was so worried. I missed you so much..."said Dipali, as she hugged RK in a tight embrace and tried to kiss him on the cheek.
RK was shocked. For a few seconds his feet had frozen in his place, and then suddenly Dipali was all over him. He struggled to get out of her embrace until he finally succeeded and pushed her away.
"Dipali! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled pushing her, when his eyes caught the look on Madhu's face. What would she think?
"Madhu, this..."he began to explain, when Dipali interrupted. "Oh, so this is Madhu." she said and turned towards her. "Hi, I am Dipali."
A thousand thoughts were going through Madhu's mind. Who was this girl? How did she know RK? Were they close? Were they together? Dipali seemed to know about her, but Madhu had no idea who this was. Was she from RK's past? She looked at her - the confident smirk on her face didn't feel right. No, she shouldn't speculate. RK would have an explanation. Madhu turned towards RK and looked at him with questioning eyes.
"Oh, you haven't told Madhu about us yet." Dipali blurted before RK could say anything. Something about the way Dipali said "us" made Madhu's heart sink.
"Come on Rishu, I know you're angry at me, but do you know how worried I've been the last week. Madhu, Rishu and I are together. We have been with each other for over two years now. We love each other very much and were going to get married soon."
"Dipali!" Rk yelled, interrupting. "What are you saying? Madhu, none of this is true. Dipali why are you lying? How did you escape? What do you want?"
"I'm not lying. I know you are angry at me. That's why you left me there alone. But are you really so angry that you'd deny everything? You loved me so much Rishu, what happened. I'm sorry." Dipali started sobbing, adding to RK's frustration.
"Dipali what is this drama all about? Why are you acting? You know I am married to Madhu and I only love her. Why are you saying all these lies?"
"Oh really! Do you only love her? Then where has she been all these years. Where is she in these pictures?" She yelled as she fished a bunch of pictures from her purse and threw them at RK. The pictures fell on the ground, and a stunned Madhu's eyes were fixed on a picture of RK and Dipali sitting on a hill, laughing with each other.
Dipali meanwhile, continued to cry, "Where was she when I healed you back to life? How can you deny it RK? How can you forget so easily? We were going to be married. We were so happy together. Maybe she's your past, but it's over now. I am not going to leave today without taking you with me."
"Shut up!" RK yelled, boiling with anger. "I know this is all your drama to get me back. I told you everything Dipali. There's nothing between us. I only love my Madhu. Madhu, please understand, this is all a big misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? Everything between us was a misunderstanding. All these pictures, all those moments we spent, all those nights..."
"Enough!" Madhu screamed.
"Madhu this is..."RK looked towards her helplessly, aware of how bad everything that just transpired had looked.
"I said enough." she screamed back.
"You" she pointed at Dipali "you get out of my house right now. I don't know and don't care what your truth is, but this is my house, and I want you out of here right now. If he wants to come with you" she said, pointing at RK "he will come later, but not now and not here. He is still legally married to me, so I don't care who you are and what your relationship is, today, right now, this is my house and my husband and you have no right to come here demanding anything. So just leave or I will call the police."
Dipali wiped her tears and said "Ok. I will go for now. But I will be in this city, and I'm not going back without you Rishu. Call me, or I'll come back in 2 days." she left a piece of paper on the table next to the door, and left.
Madhu closed the door behind her, but as soon as she turned, her knees gave away and she started falling on the ground. RK rushed to hold her, but she supported herself with the wall and held her hand out to prevent RK from reaching her.
"Don't" she muttered, her voice muffled in her tears. A picture on the ground of RK hugging Dipali lay right ahead of her, and she picked it up, not wanting to believe.
"Madhu...let me explain."RK said, kneeling next to her.
"It's true, isn't it? You love her." she spoke, her voice low, still not letting him touch her.
"No Madhu, it's not true. I only love you."
"So everything she said...these pictures...it's all a lie. You were not going to marry her?"
RK sighed. He saw the pain in Madhu's eyes, it wasn't like anything he had ever seen. It felt like her entire existence and faith in life had been falsified. He knew he should have told Madhu the truth when he came
back, but he didn't want to hurt her. Never had he imagined that the truth would come out like this. Never had he imagined that Dipali would come here.
"Madhu" he sighed, and held her by the shoulders helping her stand up "it's not how it looks like. Please trust me. I was going to tell you..."
"Tell me what? That my husband, my Rishu really did die seven years ago?" Madhu said, jerking Rishabh's hands off her shoulder and ran inside towards the bedroom. RK ran behind her, but she had shut the door, locking herself inside, by the time he got there.
"Madhu! Madhu!" RK banged at the door. "Please don't do this Madhu. Listen to me. Please open the door. Dipali means nothing to me. I love you. I only love you. Please open the door. Trust me for once. I will explain everything, just open the door and listen to me please. I only love you, and Rohan and Ria. If not for my sake then for theirs, please come out."
"If you ever loved me, just leave me alone." she yelled back, and RK stopped banging, breaking down outside the door. He knew she was devastated, and his guilt was killing him. He should have told her everything that had happened over the last two years. How he had met Dipali, and the story behind those pictures. Now the truth had come out in a way neither of them was prepared for, and after everything Dipali had said, would Madhu ever believe him, even if he told her the whole truth? Would she even want to listen?
RK's heart broke. He had lost his Madhu once. He couldn't afford to lose her again. But the betrayal he had seen in her eyes on top of everything she had already lived through - how would he ever make things right?
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