Thanks a lot for so many comments in the last chapter. After a long time, I have got so many reviews and trust me, I am so happy. You guys are the best. >333

MALLIKA

Sitting along in the cold, empty bedroom with nothing but the white and black walls to distract me, I keep staring at the newly made object on my lap. I brushed my fingertips over the paper and let out a loud sigh. As much as I was elated and overwhelmed with the fact that Sumedh was always there for me trying to comfort me with his warm embrace and soothing words, there was a lingering pain and nagging sensation in my heart regarding the fatal reminder of what I had done to my baby.

How much I tried not to go in the guilt trip by convincing myself that I did everything for love and I had valid reasoning for the huge loss, I couldn't help but feel the overwhelmed guilt of my deeds due to my stupidity. I remembered how I acted out of rationality and decided to be all hero disregarding how much risks I was putting on myself and my baby as well. I hated myself for being so paranoid and pulling a foolish stunt. I hated myself because I couldn't be the mother of Sumedh's children. I hated how I was incapable to bring new life in this world.

So I decided to do do what I should have done before. I was probably making a selfish move but I knew that whatever I was going to do would certainly do good for us. I couldn't care to think about myself anymore. I needed space and time. I needed to love myself and bring my old self back which had been lost with everything happening around me.

Taking the letter which I had written to Sumedh, I kept it just infront of the wedding picture of us on the bedside table. Releasing a deep breath, I went inside the washroom for taking a hot bath. I got out of my clothes and checked the temperature of the water. It was enough hot to take a relaxing bath. It was cold outside and I needed it badly. Without further thoughts, I slipped inside the bathtub. Feeling the warm water embracing my body, my muscles relaxed and I felt all tiredness going away. I closed my eyes with the sedative sensation and rested my head against the side.

*****
"Hey"

I opened my eyes to find Sumedh unfastening his clothes from his body.

"When did you come?" I asked sitting up inside the bathtub. He bent down to place a peck on my lips.

"Just now. The bathroom door was unlocked. Hence I figured out that you must be here. I decided to join you." He said with an excited gleam in his eyes and removed the last piece of cloth from his body. My eyes trailed from his head to toe taking in his birth glow. With tight muscles and well built physique, he looked devilishly handsome.

"Enjoying the view ?" He smirked at me winking in my direction.

"Yeah, you can say so." I replied without stammering. I was not ashamed or shy of flirting back with him. We had seen each other without clothes several times. It was nothing new.

I forwarded my hand which he grabbed eyeing at me and slided into the bathtub. Splashing some water at me, he held both my wrists in his hand. I giggled as his hand slowly slided from my hand to my exposed skin sending ticklish feelings through my body. He pulled me closer by my waist and captured my lips. My hands found their ways on his bare chest as I slowly rubbed myself against his growing erection relishing the feeling of desire growing through my body. He kissed me quite aggressively and quickly backed me up against the tub. I intentionally bite down on his lip earning while sensually rubbing his chest with my another arm. An animalistic groan from him came out as I tugged on his hair kissing him back with same passion. The soft moans and groans coming out of his mouth along with the sound of our bodies smashing against each other and the water splashing everywhere awakened all the sinful things inside me.

"Trust me, you have no idea what you do to me." He whispered pulling away from the rough kiss. My eyes were fully focused on his lips at this moment. I again pulled him by his neck slamming our lips together in another heated kiss. His hands kept running up and down the full length of my body while I roamed my hand on his back. After breaking the kiss, his lips found their own accord trailing from my jawline to my neck. He placed sloppy kisses all over my neck making my body hot and bothered.

"Baby" I moaned as he bite down on my neck and sucked on the spot.

"Angel, should we continue here or in the bedroom?" He asked panting for air after he pulled away. With his wet curls falling over his forhead and him being entirely wet with water drops, he looked hotter. I reduced the space between us and let my tounge drift on his neck. His breath hitched and he grabbed my hairs as I kept trailing my tounge over his neck to his chest occasionally sucking, licking and biting in between kisses.

"What about both?" I asked when I pulled away.

"Exactly what I was expecting. Guess what, I want to kiss every inch of your body right now and ravish you until you scream my name to stop." I giggled in response as he again smashed his lips with me wrapping his arms around my neck.

****
After our tiring session which went for quite long time than my expectation, we both took another shower and lied down on the bed. Julie braught our supper as per our order and we dinned while watching a movie together. I wanted to spend one selfish day with him before putting my plan in execution. And I was glad that I had been able to spend every moments perfectly with him before our small vacation. After that, we laid down on the bed together with him holding me by my waist and my head resting on his chest while he kept drawing circles over my stomach.

"Sumedh " I whispered slowly seeing his eyes almost closing to sleep. He hummed in response.

"If I ever want to be selfish to follow what my heart says, will you support me?" I asked, feeling the burden of guilt on my shoulder getting heavier with times. I felt the need to know about his point of view so that I could at least be sure that I was not completely wrong.

"It's not being selfish. Any person should prioritize himself and must learn to love himself over anyone. If someone can't discover himself properly, he can never learn to understand others. And in this process, if you have to be selfish then you better be it because at the end, it's you who will matter." He replied still keeping his eyes closed. His answer filled me with more determination and it certainly lessened the guilt I had been feeling right now. It was clear that he would understand my situation then.

"From when did you become so philosophical? Isn't it my charecter trait?" I chuckled , my one hand caressing on his chest.

"I guess, I have learnt it from you." He said opening his eyes and sending a half smirk in my direction. I lightly slapped on his side and pouted at him.

"Mallika, to be serious I have learnt it after my mom's death." He replied. I sighed at the mention of his mother choosing not to reply anything and pressed a soft kiss on his chest.

"If you don't mind, why didn't you try to reform yourself then in a good way instead of shutting down your emotions on that time?" I asked with little hesitation,unsure about how he might react.

"After losing my both parents, I understood that everyone is so selfish and cynical in this world. Even the destiny is same. How much of a good person you are, it won't matter because at the end, you will be judged or testified by anyone or anything. Bad things are meant to happen. Even when you are all kind and compassionate, you will suffer betrayal, loses and troubles. Infact, good peoples suffer most in my opinion. So it's better to turn down your all emotions. You won't have to feel bad for anything. When you are good, you will be expected to do good things. Thus one mistake or one flaw, you will become the bad guy. So I simply chose to be the bad boy as I didn't want to live up to others expectations and hopes. I simply gave up on being bothered about people's opinions about me and became the nightmare instead of pretending to be daydream."

As he finished his comment, I was speechless. I couldn't believe that he had actually a deeper meaningful point behind his cold facade. He knew what he was doing and he kept himself closed off to save himself from being drowned in grief. It was actually good and bad at the same time. But technically, his theory was conceptual and rather good point.

"But" He paused and turned to face me. Cupping my cheek, he placed another kiss on my forhead.

"It's not always better because in this process, you end up hurting the ones who love you and who are well wishers of you. It just depends on how you are reacting to the problems. Instead of turning down our feelings, we have to endure the pain and must find positive ways to get rid of problems." I smiled at his explanation and kissed on his nose.

"Is Mr.Mafia becoming softy ?" I smirked lifting my head a little and kept my chin on his chest.

"Well, not at all. My theory is extensive to a few family members only. Otherwise I don't still care about the shitty ones." He made his usual monotonous face and lied on his back huffing in annoyance. I poked on his chest and faked a glare in his direction.

"Come on, let's sleep now." He mumbled as his eyelids became heavier on the edge of sleeping.

"Good night " I wished him and he wished me back before sleep consumed him totally while I kept staring at his beautiful face. The day was ending and so was my span of moment with him. I was glad to have spent the last time with him before my temporary departure.

When I checked that he had totally blacked out, I carefully removed his arm from me making sure not to wake him up. I quickly put on a sweatshirt and pants before putting my hair in a bun. All while,there was sickening feeling inside me acting as the reminder of my selfish actions. I chose to be ignorant towards my whatever consciousness mocking at me for being a coward, before grabbing my hat and my bag. My eyes moved to him who looked so cute and peaceful while sleeping just like an infant. That sight was enough to brighten my day. I lifted my hands to softly caress his curls.

"Bye" I whispered almost in inaudible voice and bent down to press a lingering kiss on his forhead. As I came in physical contact with him, a wave of emotions came pulsing through my entire body. I forced myself stepping back from him instinctively. At this moment, my heart was beating at such a rapid speed that I wouldn't be surprised if it could somehow awaken Sumedh. Releasing the breath of air and taking the last glance of him, I left the room. I made my way in the kitchen from where I would escape without anyone noticing me. I pushed open the back door of the kitchen and made my way in the backyard garden. After I reached the brick wall, I quickly climbed on it and jumped on the opposite side. I stopped the urge to scream as the pain shot through my body due to falling on the ground.

"Hey, are you OK?" I looked up to find the familiar guy forwarding his hand towards me.

"Yeah, fine." I nodded my head and placed my hand on his hand. He pulled me up to my feet and removed the dust from my pants.

"Let's get out of here before they suspect anything." I mentioned.

"Mallika, I will ask you again. Are you sure that you are doing the right thing?" He asked me again for confirmation.

"Yes, I am hundred percent sure. I need a change in my life and I have to do it." I said with determination. He scanned my face for a moment before dragging me to the car parked right opposite of the mansion. I got in the passenger seat when he took the driver seat.

"So, where is my suitcase?" I asked him when he locked the door.

"It's in the back seat." He reponded and started the engine. Before he could start driving, I placed my hand on his arm which was holding onto the steering wheel and looked upto meet his eyes.

"Thank you so much Cassie for doing this for me. Thanks for taking all the risks to respect my decision. Thanks for understanding me." I was truly grateful to him for assisting me with it. I had explained everything to him and he had understood me well. At first, he was reluctant to agree with my decision but at the end, he agreed to help me.

"It's OK. You don't have to thank me. I am your friend after all." He smiled broadly.

"Yeah, I know that. I also know that your loyalty lies on Sumedh and you can do anything to do your job. And I am making you to break your loyalty by doing this. I am so mean and I am sorry." I apologised to him. I knew that I was being extremely selfish by making him doing this. But I knew that I could count on him in case of faith. I also knew that if I would have told Avneet and Siddharth, they would have never let take this decision. So I was obliged to choose Cassey. After Siddharth and Avneet, Cassey was the only person who had witnessed our relationship and was mostly aware about the ups and downs of our relationship.

"It's fine. You don't need to worry about that." He assured with a squeeze on my hand.

"Besides, if you see properly I am not practically breaking my loyalty at all. You are boss's wife and so when you command, I am obliged to abide by your words as well. You can consider that." I snorted at suggestive words to make me not feel bad. Then he began driving towards my destination.

A temporary break. A new start. A new life. A new experience.

Away from closed ones. Away from the love of my life.

Only for introspection and self growth.

****
SUMEDH

"What do you mean that you haven't found her? Go and trace down the every corner of New York if possible and bring her back to me. I am not fucking listening any explanation or excuse."

I yelled on the phone to one of my guards who had gone in search of Mallika.

When I woke up in the morning with an empty space beside me, I freaked out. Mallika was nowhere to be found. I had asked everyone in my house if they had seen her, only to earn negative responses in return. We had been trying to look for her for the last three hours. Even Siddharth's cops force were searching for her but we had found no traces of her. We had attempted to track down her cell phone but it was impossible to trace her exact location due to her phone being switched off completely.

I was totally freaking out about what was happening. I was worried if something bad had happened to her. I couldn't take the risk for revealing it to Mallika's grandmother as she was already going through some serious health problems and I would not like to burden her more with new added tension about her granddaughter.

I was constantly pacing back and forth in the living room waiting for any news of her.

"Sir"

I heard Julie's voice and turned to face her. She was looking down on the ground like always.

"What happened, Julie? I don't need anything right now." I calmly said.

"No Sir, I am here to give you something."

My eyes shifted to her with skepticism as I lifted my eyebrows.

"Sir, I have found this letter on your bedside table while cleaning your room. Mallika has written this to you." She said while forwarding a letter towards me. My eyes widened and I snatched away the paper from her hand making her flinch.

"Did you read anything?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"No Sir, I haven't read a single letter except for the last name. I didn't mean to invade your privacy, Sir. I was just doing my job and it seems like a personal letter. I promise I would never do that to you. I am sorry." She started apologising immediately.

"Umm..it's OK. You can go back to your work." I nodded at her and she left from there silently. I hurriedly opened the folded up paper and started reading the contents.

Dear Sumedh/Riccardo,

By the time you will get this letter, I will have left the town. You may wonder what's happening all of the sudden. Let's just say that I just realised something. I need space and time.

After the argument, I have understood that I am holding myself up to you so much and it's not any good at all. No, I am not leaving you permanently. It's a temporary break. A break from our relationship, a break from my messy and complicated life, a break from certain things and a break from my closed ones. As you said that I need to love myself. And yes, I am doing this finally. I need to reconnect with myself and I need to love myself. I have become lost in between all those complications and messes happening in my life. I have lost my old self in the flow of emotions. I used to lead a life full of lies. But I was happy. And I need to find my happiness and peace. I need to rediscover myself to be strong and bold enough. After all, I am the gangleader's wife.

And there is another reason too. I will be honestly speaking, I regret so much. I regret my actions and decisions. I regret for the choices I have made back then. No, it's not about you. It's about me. I basically killed my own baby. I have killed the chance of us getting a wonderful parenthood. And I don't know if I can ever forgive myself in my entire life. But I have to carry my life with the guilt no matter what. I am not going to stop. I am such a failure as your wife and as a mother. And whenever I see you, I am reminded of my sinful actions and decisions which has fetched us in this cruel situation. I am the reason for your sadness. Yet, I can't leave you at all. I don't deserve you and your forgiveness. But you are still so nice to me and it makes me sick that I can't be the woman of your child and provide you the same level of comfort and happiness.

So keeping aside everything, I need to recollect my broken pieces and I have to be stronger and I want to do it by myself. You and I both need to regain ourselves and this break is necessary. You may think that we could have done it together. But trust me, we are after all individual persons.And that's why, I am telling you not to look for me anywhere. Just know that wherever I am right now, I am safe and secure. And yeah, I will come back very soon. We both promised each other "Eternity" and we will fulfil it together. I promise it, Sumedh.

Send loves and my apologies to Avneet, Siddharth, Ralph, my grandmother and Cassey. I love them all. And preciously I don't want to say it but I have to say it for the sake of "good wife". If you want, you can move on with someone and make a family with her.

I love you Sumedh and I am sorry for being so selfish and following my heart out.

Don't miss me much.

I will be back.

- Your Angel (Mallika)

Blood rushed through my vein as I tried to maintain my conflicted emotions. I was disappointed and sad. I was feeling so broken after reading the letter. But I would do whatever she had said here. I would let her be free and would allow her to do whatever she wanted. If she wanted space, then space it is.

Break. Liberty. A new life just like her without her.

****

How many of you are cursing me right now? I apologise for this chapter. But don't worry, I can guarantee you a "happy ending".

Do you think that this break is necessary?

For now, keep reading MALEFICENT LOVE and share your reviews and votes.

A personal question: Any story or book you have recently read?