The Reconciliation- Epilogue Page 18 (15/7)

Part I

Milind Mishra came out of the Mumbai High court with mixed feelings of contentment and regret. After cooling his heels as an under-trial for a year behind the bars of a dingy cell, he could finally walk as a free man; but that was not the source of his contentment. What pleased him was that justice was finally served in the imprisonment of the rapist, to whom he had meted out his own brand of justice a year ago by breaking his bones. Although the judge found him guilty of taking law into his own hands, he released him considering that he had already served the punishment in staying imprisoned for the last one year while awaiting trial. When his lawyer, Mr.Contractor and his friend, Ali, congratulated him for having won the year long tussle, he merely smirked. He may have gained his freedom but has lost his world, his wife Prachi. He wondered what this freedom was worth without her by his side.

As he did not want to go back to their two bedroom apartment at Andheri as it would only make him feel her absence more acutely, Ali took him to his own house at Malad. Ali's wife, Rehana welcomed him warmly and served him tea. Ali tried to cheer him up but to no avail. He was quite bitter about the fact that his wife failed to be by his side during his most trying times. Yes, he was no model husband and she had her fair share of miseries being married to him, but he still expected her to visit him when he was in prison, to atleast vent her anger on him for what he had put her through. Her refusal to meet him even after he sent word through his friend Ali annoyed him at first, but saddened him later. He spent the last one year in the hope that she would change her mind and meet him atleast once but she never came. All he got was a curt letter saying that she did not want to live with him anymore and if he cared for her at all, he should let her go. His real strength was his friend, Ali who stood by him through thick and thin. He had arranged for the best criminal lawyer to defend him and ensured that the culprit, the twenty-three year old rich, spoilt and influential son of a sitting Member of the Parliament, was put behind bars for the heinous crime he committed. The huge outcry from the women's welfare associations also helped his cause.

"Thanks Ali," Milind said, his voice heavy with emotion, "Thanks for standing by me when my own wife deserted me. I never realised that Prachi would do this to me. Anyway, I am happy that this case has brought out her true colours," he said bitterly.

Ali squirmed uncomfortably in his chair, hearing his friend speak ill of the woman who had been his real but unseen support all along. Although he had promised her that he will not reveal the truth to Milind, Ali's conscience did not permit him to sit back and let him think the worst of Prachi.

"No, Milind. The person you should really be thanking is Prachi. She had been the one who had arranged for the services of Mr.Contractor. She had to beg her father to use his influence and resources to get Mr.Contractor accept your case and defend you. Knowing how strained her relationship with her father has been ever since she married you, you can well imagine how much of self respect she had to give up to do that."

Milind was shocked by this revelation. "I thought you had engaged the lawyer," he whispered.

"That is what she wanted you to believe. Although I was reluctant to be her front at first, I could not refuse her when I heard her point of view. Anyway, I had to get you out and could not afford to pay the huge fees charged by Mr.Contractor. She still loves you but is very disappointed in you, Milind. You had let her down very badly this time."

Milind put his head down in shame. He had repeatedly put her in problems because of his inability to control his cursed temper. He had attempted several times to reign in his mindless fury which erupts every time he witnesses injustice but he had failed miserably. Ali, was right. Things had really gone too far this time. He did not regret bashing up that unscrupulous brat but he regretted the huge price he paid in the process.

"Where is she?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't know, Milind. She left the city more than ten months ago and has not been communicating with me ever since. Your lawyer's bills were directly settled by your father-in-law, Inder Shah, under strict anonymity. I tried to get her address from your father-in-law but the man wouldn't even speak to me. You know how much he despises you. As I am your friend, I guess he despises me too."

Milind was crestfallen. He suspected that she must have bartered with her father their married life for his freedom, for he knew Inder never accepted him as his son-in-law ever. After dinner, he left his friend's house but did not return to his house immediately. Instead, he walked aimlessly in the Madh Island beach, contemplating his life.

.....To be continued

Part II

Milind's flashback

He had first seen her five years back at the entrance to Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi where she was standing with her group of friends. She was the only quiet one in the group of six. Their eyes briefly met but he hurried to the ticket counter to buy his ticket. As he stood in the queue, he dipped his hand in his hip pocket to retrieve his wallet but could not find it there. He started perspiring as he desperately searched all his pockets but found them empty. It finally dawned on him that he had been robbed of all his money and he was left stranded without a paise in a city where he knew no one.

For a moment he just froze, wondering what to do. Should he return to his hometown, the nearby Faridabad? But then he did not even have money to buy the measly ticket back home. Only an hour earlier he had come to Delhi in a crowded bus to board the train to Mumbai where he had a job interview. If he goes back, he will miss this interview and may well not get another opportunity for a long time. The menial jobs he was doing in his hometown did not pay enough to take care of Meena Tai, the seventy-year old cancer patient, who had raised him ever since his nameless and faceless mother discarded him as soon as he was born. Meena Tai was a middle aged spinster nurse in the hospital at that time. Having no family of her own, she gave him her own surname and put in all her energy in raising him up, using up all her meagre resources to give him a decent education. He did not know that he was an abandoned child until his teens when one of the school bullies called him a b******. He had flown at him in rage and punched him till the boy screamed for mercy. Later that evening when Meena Tai came to know of his behaviour from the boy's mother she sat him down and after admonishing him for his lack of control over his temper, she revealed the truth that his mother was a rape victim who was forced to give him up because of the social stigma attached to a young unwed mother.

Over the years, his rage only seemed to increase as the surroundings he lived in served to fuel it further. He always ended up bashing somebody or other for the injustices meted out to the inhabitants of his locality. Meena Tai had grown tired of scolding him. Anyway she did not have much energy left after she was diagnosed with cancer only a couple of months back. Milind who, in between in his violent brawls, was content earning just enough to take care of his modest needs, suddenly required large sums of money to treat the woman who had taken care of him. Although he was reluctant to leave his town, he knew that opportunities were limited there. He applied for several jobs, but his graduate degree in commerce and lack of experience did not get him the salary he was expecting. The job interview as a marketing manager in the cosmetics wing of Shah Group of companies in Mumbai seemed to be the answer to his problems as it was a well paying job. He was confident of getting the job as he had the gift of the gab but that seemed a distant dream if he cannot reach Mumbai and attend the interview.

He hesitatingly approached the group girls he had noticed earlier and asked them if they can lend him Rs.300 to buy the ticket to Mumbai, explaining to them that he had to get to the city to attend a job interview and he had been robbed of all his money. The girls merely jeered at him and whispered amongst themselves that beggars have turned sophisticated in their begging these days, concocting such unbelievable stories to extract more money. He was hurt by the ridicule and although he seethed in anger, he turned away abruptly to leave without a word as he did not want to quarrel with girls. Before he could leave, though, he felt a soft hand tugging his arm to detain him. He turned around to see that the hand belonged to the quiet girl whom he had noticed just a few minutes back. As he gazed into her beautiful almond eyes, she parted her soft supple lips and said, "Wait."

She dug into her handbag and pulled out two five hundred rupees notes.

"You'll need more than just Rs.300. After all you need some money to move around the city and also to buy your return ticket back to Delhi."

He couldn't believe his eyes and ears. Returning one five hundred rupee note to her, he said, "My friend, Ali works in Mumbai. He will take care of me once I reach there. So I'll be able to return this money back to you as soon as possible. Can you give me your address? By the way, do you live in Mumbai or Delhi?"

"I live in Mumbai but you don't have to bother about returning the money," she said.

"No, I insist. I'll accept the money only if it is a temporary loan."

"OK, then. You can give me a call at this number. I'll let you know you where you can meet me." She quickly wrote down her cell phone number in a chit of paper and handed it over to him.

As he was leaving, he could hear her friends admonishing her for trusting the words of a stranger and handing over not only cash but also her cell phone number.

One of them said in a loud voice, "Prachi, you are too dumb. You are not going to see that money again. I only hope he is just a cheat and not some pervert who may pester you or blackmail you now that he has your number."

He heard her say confidently, "I trust him."

Those three words sounded like music to his ears as he briskly walked up to the ticket counter to buy his ticket to Mumbai. He did not see her again during their journey as he was travelling in the unreserved coach . As soon as he reached the Mumbai Central Station, his friend Ali rushed up to meet him. He narrated to him the whole incident of losing his money and being helped by a young college girl. Ali couldn't resist teasing him about his guardian angel and Milind tried hard to hide his blush.

His interview went off very well and he got the job. As soon as he stepped out of the office he hurried to the nearest telephone booth and called her up. She asked him to meet her at the Horniman's Circle garden. That evening he paid her back with the money Ali lent him. They exchanged names and she told him that she was a first year history student in St.Xavier's college, one of the reputed city colleges, and was returning from a study tour to Delhi when they had met at the station. When he mentioned where he had got his appointment, he noticed that her eyes widened a little but she did not say anything. Blissfully ignorant of her identity, he chatted with her. He found her to be a simple, down-to-earth girl. They talked about each other's interests and found that they shared the same taste in music and books. He kept in touch with her after that meeting and over the days and weeks, their friendship bloomed and developed into love. He did not probe her about her family for fear of having to tell her about his own. What mattered to him was her and not her family and he was happy to note that she seemed to think the same way about him.

On the career front too he was doing well. He had pushed up the sales by over 50 per cent within the first six months of joining the company and earned two out-of-turn increments. Pleased with his success, the CEO, Mr. Inder Shah himself sent him a personal invite for one of his banquets. It was only there that he came to know that the woman he was in love with was his boss's only daughter. He was at first upset that she had not revealed who she really was even after he told her where he was working but she managed to convince him that all that mattered was that they both loved each other and nothing or no one can change that. They continued to see each other and their love only strengthened. She became his moral strength after Meena Tai died a year later.

Two years ago her father found out about their relationship and all hell broke loose. He was kicked out of his job and she was warned off him but she had rebelled against her father and married him in a quiet ceremony attended only by his good friend Ali and his wife, Rehana and her friend, Malathi Raghuram. Her father had severed all ties with her, despite her mother begging him not to, as he was disappointed in her choice of life partner.

He had, in the meantime, managed to find another marketing job. As he had earned quite handsomely in the Shah Group, he was able to save quite a good sum. He used this along with a bank loan to book a flat in Andheri. Although they lived quite happily for about a couple of months, the cracks soon surfaced. His fiery temper had always been a bone of contention with her even during their courtship days but living with him, she realised his problem was much more acute than she imagined it to be. Although she was rarely subjected to this rough side of him, she was upset that he ended up getting into problems because of it. He was forced to change jobs faster than the turn of the months in the calendar, as he got into trouble for either physically or verbally abusing people. Once it was his corrupt boss and another time it was a corrupt client. A third time it was a customer who duped his colleague by palming off counterfeit notes. He even slapped his neighbour's son for indulging in eve teasing. Soon people in his neighbourhood feared him and refused to mix with them. Prachi always ended up trying to retrieve him from the situations he kept putting himself in.

After the last big brawl he was involved in, prior to this case, she had threatened to walk out on him if he does not curb this violent streak of his. That had some calming effect on him because he did not want to lose her but within a couple of months he was forced to break his own promise. While returning home late from work one night he saw a wounded and bedraggled young girl, staggering down the road. He immediately parked his motor bike on the side of the road and took her by cab to the nearby hospital where it was found that she had been raped. Although the girl was fearful of speaking up at first, he coaxed her into telling him what had happened. He found out that she was a housemaid in the MP's house and the MP's son had raped her taking advantage of the fact that the whole family had gone to Haridwar on a pilgrimage and he was alone with her in the house. Furious by what he heard, he had gone straight to the MP's house, knocked down the security guard who refused to let him in and barged into the rapist's room to give him the thrashing of his life. The result- the MP's son landed in the hospital and he, in jail. Medical evidences which implicated the MP's son in the rape case disappeared mysteriously and the case was put in the back burner. On the other hand, the MP saw to it that the case of assault and battery against him was strengthened by bringing in all his past victims as witnesses. His history of violent behaviour went against him. If it had not been for the skilful arguments of his lawyer and the reopening of the rape case, he would have been serving a much longer sentence in prison.

End of flashback

Close to midnight he returned to his empty flat and spent a restless night tossing and turning, unable to dislodge his wife's image from his mind.

****

The next morning he got up with a severe headache. Unmindful of the excruciating pain, he resolutely got ready to meet his father-in-law. He needed to find out where his wife was and convince her to return to him. Just as he was about to leave the house, he heard the door bell ring. He opened the door to see the housemaid he had taken to the hospital a year ago standing at his door step. She seemed to be eager to say something. He invited her in and sat across her in the hall. Introducing herself as Champa, the maid quickly ran through her life history in the past one year in the next fifteen minutes.

Champa's narration.

After Milind left the hospital, Champa's statement was recorded and an FIR was filed against the MP's son. She was treated in the hospital for a couple of days before being discharged. An assistant to the public prosecutor met her family and explained to them that the father of the accused was a very powerful person who will stop nothing to ensure the acquittal of his son. He also warned that the case will be a long drawn out one and that the defence lawyer will tear her to pieces in his cross examination. He bluntly told them that in cases like these it is the poor who suffer and the rich and powerful go scot free. He encouraged them to accept the money that the MP was willing to give them to withdraw their complaint. Her mother, who feared that their family would be ostracised by the rest of their community, was in favour of hushing up the matter. Her alcoholic father was greedy for the money which was a pretty good sum. Her brother too was keen to accept the compromise because he felt that she was an embarrassment to him. The MP also dangled the carrot of a job for him. So with no one to support her, she had kept quiet and the case against the MP's son was withdrawn. In the process, she was the only one who went through all the humiliation, apart from going through the nightmare of rape. She felt frustrated and defeated.

A month later, a woman, who introduced herself as Mrs.Prachi Mishra, had contacted her. She encouraged her to fight for her rights and punish the man who had violated her. Although initially Champa was apprehensive whether justice would be served, it was Prachi who gave her the courage and moral strength. She took her to a women's welfare organisation. Soon a few more non-government organisations got a whiff of the story and backed her up. The case was reopened by the Government under pressure from these organisations who took out regular morchas demanding justice. Finally, her prayers were heard and justice was done in the imprisonment of the rapist.

End of narration

She thanked him for taking her to the hospital that day and also for giving an immediate punishment to the rapist at the cost of his own freedom. Wanting to thank his wife too for giving her the courage to fight back, she looked around for her. Milind looked flustered and informed her that she was not at home but he will convey her gratitude to her. Before leaving, she asked him to forgive her for not visiting him in prison, for her family forbade her from doing so. As it was, they were upset with her for fighting the case and she did not push it further. Milind assured her that he wasn't upset with her, for she wasn't the only one who did not visit him. People who were much closer to him did not bother to do so either, he remarked dryly.

After she left, he headed for Shah House in Bandra. As he approached the house, his heart beat loudly. His father-in-law and he did not see eye-to-eye for a long time but he had to meet him to get information about Prachi's whereabouts. Ramu kaka, the manservant of the house let him in. After making him wait for nearly half an hour, Inder finally made an appearance. He congratulated him perfunctorily for regaining his freedom, but remained cold and distant. Milind thanked him for all his help but all he got in return was a grim nod from the old man. He hesitatingly asked him where Prachi was but Inder refused to enlighten him. All he said was that he himself had not seen her for months. Milind tried his level best to glean at least some information about his wife but Inder was in no mood to entertain him. He abruptly got up and went into his room, without even bothering to take leave from him. Milind did not have any choice but to leave himself.

Just as he was making his way out, Prachi's mother, Prem Latha, stopped him and whispered, "Try contacting Malathi." Before he could ask her any further questions, she hurriedly left the place.

On his way back, Milind tried hard to recollect where Malathi lived. By the time he reached his flat, he suddenly remembered that Malathi had left for the U.S. more than a year-and-a-half back. He rummaged through Prachi's cupboard and found an old address book which had Malathi's telephone number. He tried to call her up and realised that his phone had been disconnected as no one had paid the bill in the last one year.

He rushed to the nearest telephone booth and made an ISD call to Washington D.C. After several rings, a sleepy voice came on the line. He checked his watch and realised it must be around midnight in Washington D.C. Apologising for calling so late, he asked her about Prachi's whereabouts. Although she seemed reluctant to reveal any details at first, his pathetic pleas seemed to move her for she finally relented and told him that Prachi was sharing a flat with her sister, Revathy in Chennai. She gave him her sister's address but begged him not to tell Prachi that he had got the address from her. She wanted them to reunite but she knew Prachi would be upset with her if she comes to know that she had revealed her whereabouts to him. Milind promised to maintain her confidentiality.

Just as he came out of the telephone booth, Ali met him. He handed him a cell phone saying that he had forgotten to give it to him the previous day. He also asked him to join his small leather export concern as a partner. Milind agreed to do so and excitedly told him that he had traced Prachi's address. When Ali realised that Prachi was in Chennai, he immediately took him to the nearest ATM counter and withdrew sufficient money to take care of his flight ticket to Chennai and back and his stay there. Milind thanked him profusely and immediately packed his bag for his trip. Ali wished him all the best and asked him to return with Prachi bhabhi.

Chennai

As he stood outside the door of the flat in Alwarpet, Chennai, his heartbeat accelerated. He wondered what will be the reception he will get from his wife. Although he was not expecting a grand welcome, he hoped that she will not shut the door on his face the minute she sees him. He tentatively rang the doorbell and after the third ring she opened it. To say that she was surprised to see him would be an understatement. She seemed to nearly faint in shock seeing him.

"Milind!" she barely managed to whispered.

"Yes, it is your husband, Milind, who was set free yesterday. Can I come in?" he asked politely, looking around at the cozy apartment.

She did not respond in words but nodded her head in a dazed manner. He went in and sat down on the sofa. She slowly walked in and sat opposite him.

"How did you know that I live here?" she asked after she regained her composure.

"I can trace you to the ends of this world, Prachi," he said dramatically but she was not amused.

"Why are you here?" she asked in a pained voice.

"Why am I here? To take you back with me, of course."

"You know that I will not come with you."

"Prachi, please give me another chance."

"I have given you several chances, Milind, but you do not seem to really want this marriage to work."

"I do, Prachi. I really do. My life is meaningless without you," he said huskily and took her hands in his.

She jerked her hands away and abruptly got up from her seat. She turned away from him so that he could not see her face.

"Please, Milind. Don't make it harder than it already is. Please leave me alone!" Her voice betrayed her pain.

Milind couldn't accept that she would give up on them so easily.

"Is your father the reason, Prachi?" he asked abruptly as he got up from his seat.

She turned around to face him again, her eyes widening in surprise.

"What makes you think that?" she asked him searchingly.

"Well, he has always been against our marriage," he said evasively.

"Yes, he has been, but I have never cared about his opinion," she said dispassionately.

"I know that you never cared about it. But I also know that you do care for me, enough to give up your self respect and beg him to engage the best defence lawyer to argue my case. You care for me enough to coax Champa to fight her case. You care for me enough to instigate the womens'organisations to demand the reopening of the rape case. For a woman who would go to such great lengths to set her husband free, I can't believe that you would give up on him so easily. Did your father ask you to leave me in return for getting me out of prison?"

She seemed shocked that he knew so much about what she did for him, but pretended to be unfazed by his remarks. She sat back on the sofa and continued "No, my father did not ask me to leave you. Even if he did, I would not have listened to him."

He resumed his seat on the sofa opposite her. "Then why did you leave me, Prachi? Why did you not meet me even once during my entire stay in prison?"

"Milind, you underestimate my fatigue in our marriage. I am tired of extricating you from the problems you get yourself into. I want some peace, which I am sure I will not get as long as I live with you. If you really care for me, you will let me go. Does my peace and happiness not count for anything?" she asked, her eyes welling up.

Her words pierced his heart. "Prachi, your peace and happiness mean everything to me. You know how much I love you."

"Then prove it. Leave me alone to lead my life the way I choose to."

"Prachi...." he said in a voice laden with emotion.

She quickly bent her head to avoid his gaze.

"Please, Milind. Please leave now," she begged him.

With a heavy heart, he got up to leave. Just then he heard the wail of a baby from the adjacent bedroom. He looked at her curiously. For a moment her face turned ashen but she quickly recovered to say, "That is my flatmate, Revathy's baby."

"Revathy is married?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, her husband lives in the Gulf. She will be joining him once her baby is a little older," she said by way of explanation.

"Where is Revathy?" he asked as he realised that they were the only ones in the flat at the time. He wondered how come she had left her baby behind.

"She had an urgent appointment with her doctor. She did not want to carry her little baby to the hospital where there are greater chances for the baby to contract infections."

He looked at her incredulously but did not say anything. The baby's wails grew louder hearing which she seemed to be impatient to get him out.

"If you don't mind, can you leave now? I need to give the baby the bottle."

Sighing defeatedly, he was about to turn towards the door when he noticed the sudden appearance of two large stains on her housecoat and he froze in his steps for a couple of seconds. Prachi looked down at herself in embarrassment. Recovering quickly from his shock, he made a swift movement towards the adjoining bedroom. Seeing where he was headed, she ran ahead of him and tried in vain to stop him from entering in but he pushed aside her outstretched arm and rushed towards the cradle. One look at the baby inside confirmed what he had just realised seeing his wife. The mop of curly hair crowning the head; the small beady eyes; the pug nose; the full voluptuous lips; all proclaimed loud and clear who is the baby's father.

He picked up the wailing baby in his strong arms. 'My flesh and blood', he thought proudly as he looked at the baby in amazement. The baby stopped wailing and looked back at him curiously. It put out its chubby hands and tugged at his beard. The sight of the baby pulled at his heart strings but it also reminded him of what its mother had done. 'How could she be so cruel?' he thought. He turned around towards his wife menacingly.

"How dare you?" he lashed out between gritted teeth. "How dare you deprive me the knowledge of my own..." he paused and pulling down the baby's napkin to check its gender, he continued, ".. my own son. How dare you try to keep me away from him."

"Mi....Milind.... the baby is not..," she stuttered.

"Don't.....," he warned her, raising his forefinger, "Don't you dare deny the fact that he is ours. Your mouth may deny it but your body cannot hide its response to his cries, can it? Your body and his face have already betrayed that this is our baby. And don't bother finding excuses for hiding his existence from me. Nothing can justify it; nothing can justify keeping me from him. Don't you dare deny me my paternal rights, Prachi. I will snatch him away from you if you do."

Prachi looked at him with terrified eyes. His son who had temporarily stopped crying, started wailing again with greater force this time, as he was not only hungry but was also apparently frightened by the raised voice of the bearded stranger. Milind realised that this was not the time to have this showdown with his wife. Turning to his son, his eyes immediately softened.

"Sorry, baby. Sorry for keeping you hungry," he apologized to his son and thrust him into her arms, saying brusquely, "Go ahead and feed him first before he tears his vocal chords."

Prachi took her baby with trembling hands and sitting on the edge of the bed, she turned away from him before unbuttoning her housecoat. Seeing this, Milind's fury was rekindled. 'How dare she treats me like a stranger?' he thought.

She looked at him with eyes which clearly betrayed her fear. She hurriedly unbuttoned her dress and cradling her baby's head in the crook of her left arm, she proceeded to nurse him. Milind looked indulgently at his son as he latched on to her and fed hungrily, making loud slurping noises. His eyes moved up to his wife's face and caught the beatific smile on her lips as she gazed intently at her baby, who in turned locked eyes with his mother as he satisfied his hunger, his small chubby hands extending up to caress her right cheek. Captivated by this poignant sight, he felt a strong tug at his heart. He knew that it would be a crime to try snapping this mother-son bond, but then he wanted to bond with his son too, something she seemed unwilling to allow. He had to make her understand that their son needed him as much as he needed his son. He decided to wait till she finishes her feeding session to discuss this with her. After a few minutes she changed sides and continued to nurse his son.

"Ishan," she said without looking up at him.

He was pleased to note that she had given their son the name he had picked on their wedding night when they discussed about their family size and the names their babies will have. He knew that if it had been a girl, she would have named her Sahana, which was her choice.

"How old is he?" he prodded.

"Five months," she muttered, still refusing to meet his eye.

Fifteen minutes later, his son finally let go of his mother, fully satiated. She was about to lift him up but he leaned forward and picked up his son from her arm. As he lifted him up, his fingers accidentally grazed her bosom and he felt her shiver at the contact. Her involuntary action made him aware of the effect he still had on her and he felt more hopeful of a reconciliation. As she buttoned up her dress, he strode up and down the room with his son on his shoulder and patted his back gently to help him burp. His son finally burped and brought out a little milk on his shoulder. She quickly got up and wiped the baby's mouth with a soft piece of muslin cloth and stretched her arms out. The baby immediately leaped into them. She then laid him in the cradle and rocked it till he dozed off. Milind stood on the other side of the cradle and observed his son's sleeping form.

She bent her head to kiss their son's chubby cheek at precisely the same moment that he bent his head to do the same. As a result, their foreheads bumped against each other. They quickly jerked their heads up and rubbed the place where they got hit, their eyes locking into each other's. Milind smiled at her but she did not return his smile. Instead, she turned to leave but he reached out and caught her arm. Dragging her out of the bedroom, he closed the door so as to not disturb his sleeping son.

"We need to talk," he said in a soft voice.

"There is nothing further to discuss, Milind," she said in a tired voice.

"Oh, yes, there is, young lady and you better listen to me." His temper started rising again seeing her unwillingness to talk.

"You did agree to leave me alone", she tried to remind him.

"I did, but that was before I learnt that you are not strictly alone but are living here with MY son. I can't trust you with him, Prachi. Your track record with human relationships sucks. You failed as a daughter when you married me against the wishes of the man who gave you life, raised you up and with whom you were supposedly close. You failed as a wife, when you ditched me at the first sign of trouble after promising to be by my side until death parts us. How can I be sure you will not fail as a mother, as well? What if you ditch him when you find something or someone who catches your fancy in future?" he said spitefully.

"How dare you?" she screamed hysterically, her eyes stinging with angry tears. She raised her hand to strike his cheek but he caught her arm in mid air. She shook it free from his grip and taking a step back, she spat out. "You want to know the real reason why I left you, Milind?"

He nodded his head mutely. Seeing her distraught state, he suddenly felt ashamed for saying all those hurtful things to her.

"Are you strong enough to hear it?" she challenged him, her chest heaving in anger.

Seeing him nod his head again she said, "Well then, if you insist in knowing the reason, here it is. I left you and had deliberately kept our son away from you because I did not want him to turn out like his father."

Milind stared back at her with open mouth.

"Yes, Mr. Milind Mishra. You heard me right. I did not want my son to learn his father's violent behaviour from him. I can tolerate your anger, Milind. I can withstand the repercussions of your fury. I didn't mind running from pillar to post to save your a** whenever you got yourself in trouble as long as I was just your wife, but now I am also a mother. I need to consider the well-being of my son too. Children always look up to their parents and mimic what they do. I don't think you, with your fiery temper, are a good role model for him to follow. I thought that you will change some day, Milind, but you never did. If anything, your temper only got worse by the day. All your promises to reform yourself were empty. As a child's character is largely shaped by the environment he is raised in, I could not risk raising my son in that unhealthy atmosphere.

I may have been a bad daughter and a bad wife, but I did not want to be a bad mother too. That is the reason why I decided to leave you, although it broke my heart to leave behind the only man I ever loved, still love and will always love in my life."

She broke down completely and crumbling to the floor, she wept her heart out.

Wow me first!!! will comment...

Originally posted by: azam12neelab

Wow me first!!! will comment...

Originally posted by: azam12neelab

Another excellent ff this is that u have started opti!!!👏👏👏

had milind confessed his love to prachi before he went to jail?

there must be a bigger reason as to why prachi left?

ali is a great friend to have been by his side all along but want to know prachi's state of mind!!!

make to them meet soon... iam guessing she might be on the beach?😉

update soon opti, loved this part!!!😃