The First Hearing

Anirudh looked into the eyes of Judge Stevens and sighed in severe irritation. The man was continuously trying to talk in riddles with him and lead him astray....

He admired this man for his fearlessness in the face of adversity. But at the same time, this man constantly irritated him. Stevens often ridiculed Anirudh for having an underaged wife.

He respected the young barrister but ridiculed his life choices.

The man was speaking again and this time, he lost his cool.

"Listen, Stevens, I've been nice to you for years now. Do me a favor and remain your obstinate and impartial self in this case..."-The man stiffened in anger at his words.

Alfred Stevens had admired the young barrister for saving a young girl from an evil social malpractice. But at the same time, couldn't understand, Anirudh not trying to curry his favor like the other young lawyers.

For him, the only honest man here was himself.

"Young man, I could revoke your license for this stunt of yours. Your family's power will not stop me from doing so. I will listen to the evidence and give a decision based on it. I have never fallen prey to coercion. A young princeling like you will not be the first one to break me...."-Anirudh deflated at the man's strong words and felt upset that his act of intimidation had fallen short.

But perhaps it was necessary. After all, all heroes can't always be right.

They sometimes need to taste defeat as well.

"And young man, what you tried to do for your young wife today is admirable but unnecessary. She is lucky to have you defending her. Go home and get some rest. If you are standing with the truth, you will be victorious..."-Anirudh curled his lips in wonder at this man's tough words but left the bungalow at last.

Bondita tried to calm herself as they drove towards the court. The men in the family sans Somnath and Binoy were accompanying them.

Trilochon had instructed Sampoorna to perform a special veneration to make sure that the day goes well. Binoy had quietly told Anirudh to take care of Bondita in the court before going to Modhupur....a neighboring village in the south of Tulsipur.

"Batuk, are we taking you for comic relief? Stop saying such things.... You're becoming just like Kaka. Superstitious to the core..."-Bondita felt a smile escape her as she imagined batuk becoming like her kaka sasur ji.

Constantly chanting, 'Shiv...Shiv...Shiv'.

The older one in the car had got quite offended.

"Ayy Anirudh, what's wrong with becoming like me? It's better to be a god-fearing and cultural man like I am. Not everyone aspires to be an 'Ingrej' (Englishman)..."-Anirudh paid no attention to him and tried to check the files to see if anything was missing. He didn't want to mess up anything regarding this trial.

As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, she felt quite overwhelmed. For the last few days, Bondita had tried to make herself believe in others' ability to win this case for her.

She was afraid of relying on others and being let down by them. All the other times, when she had trusted them to do right by her had only given her grief and hideous scars.

Today, she only trusted him, not the man her father had hired for she was having trouble trusting a complete stranger.

Her experience of trusting smiling individuals had only landed her in literal hell, quite a few times.

As they walked out of the courtroom after long hours, she shook her head in disbelief. It had taken the lawyers to get a date for the progression of the case after arguing for hours.

She had thought naively that it will all be done by the end of the day. Now, she chuckled at her foolish thoughts.

Her illustrious grandmother had not come to the court nor had any family members graced the courtroom except for her cousin's husband, who was an amateur lawyer. He had assisted the senior lawyer on Das's side.

She did not like the man at all. His lecherous stare had spoken as his introduction.

Bondita felt like complaining to the almighty about her disastrous fate of constantly being surrounded by men with zero amount of respect for women.

A man was responsible for controlling their baser urges.

But Bondita for the life of her could not understand, why they did not think of the ones they were molesting with their eyes as someone's wife, mother, or sister...

Why did they only see them as an object of pleasure?

"Barrister Babu"-The Roy Chowdhury family stopped hearing that voice. It belonged to the lecherous man, Bondita thought gloomily.

"Do you think, buying the judge will help your case? You are flying too high, Roy Chowdhury. Your pride will come crashing down to earth the minute we present our proofs. Girls shouldn't dream of snatching the properties of other people. Your wife should have remained satisfied as a Zomidar bou.."-Bondita saw Anirudh menacingly smiling at the other man and telling him something that made him snarl like a dog...

Anirudh hurriedly got them started for home as it was almost time to close the court.

Bondita didn't dare to question him about his words to Chandrachur Banarjee, after seeing him refusing to answer Trilochon with a stone face.

She still felt confident about winning the case. There was this weird sense of confidence growing in her each second.

It was not due to Anirudh, that she was sure of.

But it was probably from the blaze that was erupting in her after hearing those degrading words.

It was borne of the pool of revenge erupting in her.

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I couldn't write a word these months. I feel disconnected from the stories I created. I no longer feel like the same person I was a few months back.

I am not here to cry in front of you all. I promise you guys who are still with me, I will finish it somehow. Even if, I write 1000-word chapters.

If I can't, then I will post the ending that I had in mind...