*Note*

Do not immediately reach to the conclusions after reading the chapter.
I'll repeat again-THE MC of this book IS NOT A CHEATER so please refrain from leaving any offensive or mean words.

Keep your calm and tissues ready as the upcoming chapters are going to be a bumpy ride for all of you.

Do vote and comment in large numbers, readers!

💙

|Will it end so soon? Like a spring passing before the time|

by medicallymessedup

"You'll return back.." to me?

I asked him and Aryan nodded eagerly in response.

"I would.." His mere words soar up the expectations of my heart somewhere high in the sky. I feel complete in some mysterious way. His assurance was like an ointment to the heart that was used to waiting, "But, I am quite busy tonight."

He didn't promise me words but I still chose to wait for him. Just like I would always do without any hope from him but today there was this flame I had weaved in me. I was more than convinced that he'd return back to me and for me.

We both completed his two-week pending assignment in three hours sitting in the library together. We missed our lunch as our mutual presence erased the hunger of our stomach and satiated the appetite of heart. The silent instructions outside the library didn't cease our laughter and fights as we argued to lengths about the right words and giggled at our silly mistakes. His dimpled smiles healed the wounds I didn't know existed until now. When the clock finally betrayed our happy time by striking the reminder for him to leave me behind.

While I sat in the library waiting for him in the hope of his return and know about his progress with the assignment but I got none. Neither the updates of his whereabouts nor any signs for him to return until the clock struck half past six, once again, and it was my timer to leave as the library had to be closed.

I had successfully escaped the notice of my friends including Sammy who inquired if I reached home. I replied to her positively, afraid that she'd see me around as she left late too due to her assignment submission and viva just like Aryan's. I waited outside the English faculty till the next one hour and fifteen minutes to catch a fleeting sight of Aryan walking out but was ruggedly turned down when the janitors locked the doors of the literature department just like every other.

I walked to the campus parking lot to find Aryan's sports car gone too. Maybe, he left straight for home. I was kicking the paddle to start my scooty when the phone in my bag rang and I immediately picked it up hoping that he called me but alas it turned out to be Gauri Didi who was worried about me as I hadn't returned yet.

"Did Aryan return, Gauri Didi?"

I inquired but she declined reminding me that he never returned to the mansion until late at night. I assured her that I would reach home in a while and asked her to leave for her own quarters and not wait for me.

I reached the mansion to find myself in an empty house, void of any human presence except me. It wasn't something new because each day I was left here alone but today the deserted space cramped my insides and evoked anxiety. It started to feel haunting and lonely.

I couldn't move my legs towards the room to change, afraid that I'd miss the sight of him walking through the main door. The lavish dinner was prepared and stored in the refrigerator but I couldn't spare a look at it. The longing feeling to have at least one meal with my family poked a little harder today. I picked up to stay on a hungry stomach, thoughtful to wait for the reason behind my happiness and hope to invest in our compromised relationship with all my might.

My bag lying on the glass table in the faith that Aryan would try to fight it away to save himself from me. I'd laugh at his frail attempts to prevent the hits on his way while he would glare at me with annoyance. He'd ask me to help him and we'd sit again for hours together to figure out our problems. He'd condemn me, vex me and make fun of me but at the end all of it would be worth our smiles and content hearts.

We'd start our day together with our breakfast that will be complemented with his tea and my coffee. We'd leave together for our respective works. He'd lie about being late through his messages and when I'd return home tired from work and angry at his little stunt, he'd surprise me with a beautiful dinner date which had the power to relieve me from any kind of stress from the world. We'd sit together, talk and share our day for hours and then fall asleep in each other's arms until the stars left the sky and the sun began to rise up the horizon.

He'd become the cure to my nightmares while I'd share all he had to give me. His complaints, my sorrows, his time, my life, everything that would become us. I'd wake up to find him beside me when my eyes opened during the dark. He'd hold me close like he always does when a calamity hit us. He won't leave my hand when my dear life revolves around him.

I'd grow old with my head on his shoulder. I'd stare through the mirror with my greasy hairs and he'd stand behind me and tell me that I am still the woman he met years ago. Our affection would remain the same just like the first day of our marriage. I'd have a beautiful family with him that'd be a gift for all the moments I lost. I get to live an ecstatic life with him that leaving him would feel like my worst nightmare.

How ethereal would it be? Just like some blessing in disguise.

I didn't realize the tears had turned my face wet. The sense of comfort these pearls carried was nothing compared to the worth of Aryan's happiness to me that I would treasure for life. He was my soul and if I didn't preserve myself then who else would?

The wall clock chimed in again and I was forced to think why does this non-living object hate the idea of my and Aryan's union because it chose the exact moment to make me realize the distance between us.

Slowly it was almost three in the morning and that alarmed me. Aryan was never this late even if he was out with his friends. A strange terror galloped my chest and I tried to calm myself down. Assuring myself about Aryan's safety, I waited some more. Another thirty minutes passed and I grew restless and called the first person who could've guided me through this situation.

"Hello!"

"Aunty!" I stammered, rubbing my sweaty hands on my calves.

"Ruchi!" I heard shuffling from the other side, "Is everything alright, my child? It's quite late."

"I think so.." I mumbled, forcing my voice out of the vocal cords. "A-Arya..Aryan, Aunty-"

"Aryan? Did he do something?"

"He hadn't returned until now." I informed her, "He usually returns late but today he isn't home until now." I steadied myself trying to act mighty when my heart was on the verge of collapsing, "I do not have his contact number either. Please, know his whereabouts. Aunty, I-I- disturbed you, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do or whom to call. But Aun-Aunty- please get him home."

"Don't worry, bacha." She consoled me with her own shaky voice, "I and Soham will get there now. He would be fine too. You stay inside the house and tell us if he gets back home."

"I would, Aunty! Please, just get him home." I couldn't control my tears anymore, "He will be home, bacha." She said before ending the call.

Please! Please! Be safe, Aryan!!

Twenty minutes later, Soham Uncle and Anchal Aunty were here. They tried to reach out for his mobile but it was dead. Nobody knew about his location while my lacrimal glands went on a strike, merciless, unable to find the man who could fight my tears without a weapon.

"Where would he go?" Soham Uncle was frustrated with the futile attempts to find his son.

"He never does this, Soham." Anchal Aunty made known, "He was returning home late and he never told me until now. Why? He never hides anything from me." She tried to pretend to be stronger just for my sake but she was a mother too who was concerned about her son's absence.

Uncle had reported Aryan's missing to the police and his trusted sources that were investigating to find him but my heart was twisting and turning agonizingly. I don't know where he was, I had no knowledge about his well-being nor was I in a condition to wait anymore for someone to do something. The wait slashed my heart into two anyway so I decided to go out and find him along when the last location before his phone turned off was traced by the security.

I begged Uncle and Aunty who took me with them while I ceased my tears through the formidable car ride of three hours. They seemed like the longest hours of my life which was screaming as if my death was ringing in my ears.

"This is it, Sir." The security official who tracked the location said as we stopped somewhere in the outskirts of the main city, which was near the national highway, "The phone is somewhere lying around abandoned and the owner too might be-"

"He isn't lying abandoned, officer. My Aryan is sound and safe." I criticized unlocking the car hurriedly but Soham Uncle stopped me and Anchal Aunty to get out. "You both won't get out of the car."

"But, Soham-"

"I said no, Anchal!!" He halted her, putting an end to the conversation.

"Why?" I demanded getting worked up, "We need to find, Aryan. We were here to find him-"

"There could be danger, Ruchi." He reasoned. "He is a Mallik and that name itself attracts enemies to him."

All the optimism I gathered until now left my body with a whoosh. My blood ran cold thinking the worst, my breathing toiled, skin cells ruptured and tears rummaged, unable to match the forlorn condition of my dejected, feeble heart. He couldn't be in any danger. He shouldn't be in any danger.

"Aryan-" My voice broke, "My Aryan! He couldn't be-" My sobs wrecked the air. "He h-has t-to be s-safe.." I rubbed my chest to get rid of my physical problems which wasn't any of my concern. My husband was who God knows, where was-

"Please, Uncle!" I cried, "Please, find him-" I muffled my whimpers in my palm, miserably lost in my pain.

"Aryan!" An inaudible gasp left my mother-in-law's mouth and her hold on my hand tightened followed by her husband who looked in some direction.

I was forced to look up too. I fluttered my eyes to remove the mucous gathered in my eye when my wet gaze fell on a hazy, distant figure. My breath paused and the soul left my body leaving a land of barren emotions that couldn't form on my lips. The hailstorm of my existence hit me along a harder slap from the laughing reality. It was like a thousand worms crawling up my skin and feeding on my expense as if it was some slow poison.

My lips quivered feeling the same emotion my father might've felt knowing my mother cheated on him. He would've scattered into a thousand fragments without any hope that someone might pick up the pieces of his trust, his dreams and his love. I felt it too. I felt the pain all at once which couldn't be healed by any medical assistance.

Unknowingly my heart sank, it sank to the bottom of an unmeasured ocean which had no escape. I knew exactly what was going on but still my eyes didn't cooperate to move away from the piercing sight.

Four pairs of eyes looked at me and then acknowledged my broken state. I knew I made the mistake of marrying him but this couldn't be happening. He couldn't do this to me. Why Aryan? Why Aryan? Was I not sufficient? Couldn't the love you understood in my eyes stop you from performing adultery? Why did you ride over my trust, Aryan? Why did you-?

•flashback begins•

"You don't deserve to be called a wife Srinija! You fucking cheated on me, on your husband." Sunil yelled.

"I do not believe in you as a husband, Sunil! The word, 'manipulator' would suit you better. Also, you don't match up to my standards of husband." Srinija matched his tone, "Also, what will you even get by staying in this marriage when you know that I would never play the role of a submissive wife?"

Sunil scoffed at her, "Really, Srinija? Submissive wife? You're anything but that and so would no one believe." He laughed sourly, "That is the ground from which you would seek a divorce from me? Keep wishing, Srinija." He sat on a chair proudly, "You would never in your dreams find a reason to divorce me."

She challenged, "You sure that I won't be granted a divorce?" Sunil shook his head, "How about I frame you in a plot of my choice?" She clicked her tongue in mock astonishment, "How about marital rape and dowry accusations? Do you know that you'll be on the streets while fighting against my allegations in the court?"

Sunil saw red, "How could you stoop so low, woman?"

"Don't doubt my limits, Sunil. I am a woman who can flick your world upside down with mere tears." She said hotly.

"What happened that changed you so drastically, Srinija?" He asked clenching his teeth, "I did everything to make you happy. Why did you do that to me?"

"You were never my satisfaction, Sunil." She asserted, "My parents married me to you without my will. Even I told you to back off but did you listen to my wish? No!! You just in your blind obsession for me wanted to have me like some possession. Now someone has to bear the consequences sooner or later."

"Fine, as you wish! But for once think about our daughter. You can't punish her for it. How will she accept that her mother deserted her?"

"Stop blackmailing me with the girl. She is a snake, venomous to my dream life. She will anyway grow up too. Orphans do not die. She will survive somehow and even if she does not it isn't my concern. I can't sacrifice my life for her. Not anymore." She declared.

•flashback ends•

I closed my eyes to prevent my eyes from burning just like watching this scenario set my heart on flame and left it to burn into ashes. His actions had strangled my faith like no other.

"Driver, start the car!" Soham Uncle ordered in a rustic voice.

"But Sir, Mr. Mallik-"

"We are going back." He shouted and afterwards all I heard was the sound of the car wheeling me out of the storm that disrupted my illusion of happiness.

Maybe, I demanded too much from you, God!

Lots of Love,

ANKITA