117

Randhir watched them with an expression on his face that reflected the heartbreak he was feeling inside. He stumbled inside the room, stepping over the shards of glass on the floor. His feet were bleeding, but he didn't feel that pain at all.

"Randhir!" Sanyukta gasped, standing up with Vidya in her arms.

Randhir continued to walk forward like a zombie until he reached Sanyukta. Then he reached out and took Vidya from her, in his own arms and turned his back to her. He walked out of the room with his daughter, leaving Sanyukta to watch him go with tears in her eyes.

"He's broken," Renuka whispered.

"I know," Sanyukta said painfully.

"Go and talk to him," Renuka said. "Only you'll be able to heal his wounds right now."

"I don't know. I might make them worse," Sanyukta admitted.

She went after him though, accidentally stepping on the shards of broken glass too, her blood mixing with his, on the way out. It hurt, but it wasn't as painful as the ache in her heart upon anticipating how difficult this would be for Randhir to bear.

When Sanyukta entered his room, she saw that he was kissing Vidya all over her face, tears in his eyes. Sanyukta locked the door behind her and walked up to him, falling on the bed next to him, her feet bleeding.

Randhir didn't turn to look at her, but he just stared at his daughter, caressing her face and holding her on his lap.

"Randhir," Sanyukta said, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

He ignored her.

"Randhir, I know you're hurt...and you have the right to be. I didn't tell you," Sanyukta admitted. "But I didn't do this for myself."

Randhir turned to face her angrily.

"Of course you did. You're selfish. You wanted to save your marriage so you hid this from everyone," Randhir hissed.

"Randhir that's not why -" she started, her heart aching.

"It is why," he interrupted. "You are selfish. Just get out of here."

"Okay I am selfish. I admit I am selfish that I wanted the best for my daughter," Sanyukta replied painfully. "I agree, but it isn't your fault, so you don't need to be hurt."

"I can't believe this," Randhir said, staring at Vidya.

"Randhir your feet," she whispered, glancing down at his feet which were still bleeding. "Let me -"

"No," he interrupted.

"Fine. Then mine will bleed too," she told him stubbornly.

Randhir looked down at her feet, shocked. Upon seeing the blood on her feet, a pained expression took over his face.

Two hearts already bled together, but now the wounds of heartache were opening up outside.

118

Randhir placed Vidya on Sanyukta's lap and then fell to the ground to look at her feet. Sanyukta's eyes welled up with tears as she watched him lovingly hold her feet.

Where had this love been a year and a half ago when he forced himself on her? He loved her then too right? Then how could it have just disappeared?

Randhir noticed that there were shards of glass stuck inside her feet and he stood up.

"Wait here," he told her and took Vidya from her lap.

Sanyukta watched silently as he took Vidya out of the room. Randhir went back downstairs and gave Renuka the one year old, before getting a first aid kit and rushing back upstairs. His feet were soaked in blood and undoubtedly his footprints were all over, but that could easily be cleaned up.

He wasn't worried for himself.

Randhir entered the room and locked the door. He opened the bathroom door and placed the first aid kit on the counter before going back outside to Sanyukta.

Sanyukta was just watching him silently. Randhir reached under her and picked her up in his arms. She didn't struggle, but rather just numbly lay in his arms. If there was one thing she felt, it was heartache. He may be able to heal the wounds on her feet, but would he be able to cure the ache in her heart?

Randhir placed her on the side of the bathtub before turning on the tap and getting into the tub in a seated position. Sanyukta watched as he took her feet and cleaned up all the blood. Shards of glass fell into the tub. Finally, when he was done, he looked up into her eyes and saw that she was crying.

Randhir stood up and was about to get out of the tub, but Sanyukta grabbed his hand, stopping him. She got off the ledge of the bathtub, into the tub itself, and sat Randhir down on the ledge that she had just been sitting on.

Then she bent down and started to wash his feet. As her hands massaged his feet lovingly, to get the blood and glass off, she felt fresh tears prickle her eyes.

Why did his pain hurt more than her own did? Her feet were hurting too, but she could feel his pain more... it was like she was numb to her own feelings, but very open to his.

Finally, after she was done, she turned off the tap and was about to get out of the tub, when Randhir caught her arm.

She sat down on the ledge next to him.

"Why did you lie to everyone that you were one month pregnant when you were really two months, when you initially told us?" Randhir asked her.

Sanyukta brought her hand to her mouth to conceal her sob, but she couldn't help it. A loud sob escaped her mouth as the tears fell quickly down her cheeks.

"You weren't with Rehaan until you found out right?" Randhir asked softly, because she didn't have the voice to speak right now. "You only slept with him after you found out... for the sake of the baby?"

She continued to sob, unable to think straight, let alone speak.

"You and mom knew that the child would be accepted if it was mine...but you didn't say it was my child...because you wanted to save me right?" Randhir then asked.

The tears continued to flow down her cheeks... without her having to say anything, he understood her.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and her head fell onto him as she cried. Then his eyes filled with tears too.

"I'm right?" he asked.

Sanyukta nodded tearfully, leaning into him from beside him. She found solace in his arms once again.

119

Randhir felt a stab in his heart as Sanyukta confirmed that she got close to Rehaan for him. As if he already didn't have enough to feel guilty about, one more thing got added on the list. Nevertheless, he realized today that it was not about his pain anymore... but rather it was about hers.

Seeing her bleed made him forget all about himself. He bled too, then why did he only feel the wounds from her scars? Why didn't he feel his own pain?

He caressed her arm as she cried onto his shoulder. He brought his other hand up to her face to gently wipe away her tears, but it was of no use. The more he wiped them, the faster they were being replaced.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. "I know I've caused you a lot of pain."

Sanyukta instinctively wrapped her arm around his torso, wishing she could get closer than this, but she had limits. She was someone else's wife.

"It's okay," she whispered in response.

It really was not okay, but today, she thought about him more than she thought about herself. Today, she forgot everything about her pain, herself, everything, when it came down to healing him. It didn't matter to her how much he hurt her or used her... not anymore... she couldn't control this feeling where her heart ached for him to the point where her problems were non-existent.

If she could breathe to keep him alive, even if it killed her to do so, she was willing to.

She slowly lifted her head, her forehead grazing over his jaw. She looked into his eyes, her face close to his. Randhir's hand was still resting on her cheek.

He leaned closer to her and she closed her eyes. His lips brushed over her forehead and her heart felt like it was being squeezed. His lips were on her skin after so long, with so much love, that she couldn't even fathom how she had been living away from him all this time.

"Sorry," he murmured, pulling back.

"It's okay," she whispered again.

Then he leaned towards her and kissed her cheek gently, like he wasn't able to control himself.

"I'm so happy to know I have a daughter," he told her, pulling back. "You don't know how blessed I feel."

Sanyukta smiled in response.

"She's a lot like you," she told him softly.

He continued to caress her cheek lovingly and rested his forehead against hers.

"Randhir," she said softly.

"Hmm?" he asked her.

"Can we forget everything and be friends?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.

120

Randhir looked into her eyes and saw the sincerity present there. She really wanted to be friends with him. She didn't want to push him away from his daughter anymore. She had been in a lot of pain, but so had he.

He suffered a lot... losing the one you loved to your biggest opponent had taken a toll on Randhir's mental health. He also felt oppressed. Because he was so used to power and being in control, he sought to get it back by forcing himself on Sanyukta. The horrible feeling afterwards only showed that it didn't give him back his control, but rather, it took away everything he had left.

Sanyukta thought that it was a woman who was oppressed, but the feelings of oppression actually came from inside and not the world outside. A lover was the most oppressed in this world. Both Sanyukta and Randhir loved each other deeply, but their love was oppressed. Society would never accept them.

"Of course," he told her. "I would love to be friends with you."

Sanyukta smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, her heart feeling light again.

After a few moments, Sanyukta lifted her head from his shoulder and got out of the tub, her hands closing around the first aid kit, where there were bandages. She took the bandages back to the tub and wrapped them around Randhir's feet. Randhir then took the bandages from her and did the same for her.

It hurt them to walk, but they walked out of the bathroom together, their shoulders touching lightly.

Sanyukta was about to unlock the door and walk out, when Randhir held her shoulder to stop her. She stopped and turned around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her lovingly. Sanyukta leaned into his embrace and wrapped her arms around him too.

"I am so happy right now," he murmured into her ear, making her heart melt. "You have given me the biggest happiness. You've made me a father... thank you."

Sanyukta's eyes welled up with tears again and she broke the embrace. She looked into his eyes and saw that a few tears had fallen from his own eyes.

"You've also made me a mother," she told him, her voice cracking, as she reached up and gently brushed his tears away. "I should thank you too."

Randhir just held her close again, not willing to let go. As she rested her head on his chest, she closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips. She wished that she could spend forever in his arms like this.

"I should go downstairs," Sanyukta whispered. "If someone finds me here, it won't look good."

Randhir let go of her, and Sanyukta unlocked the door. As soon as she stepped outside his room though, Rehaan's angry gaze was on her.

He had just climbed the stairs to go to his own room and had seen Sanyukta opening Randhir's door and walking out from inside.

"What were you doing in there?" Rehaan hissed, approaching Sanyukta.

Randhir stepped in front of Sanyukta protectively, not liking the tone that Rehaan was speaking to her in.

121

Sanyukta fearfully looked up, knowing how bad it looked that she just came out of Randhir's room where the door had been locked. She wasn't scared for herself, but rather she was scared for Randhir. He was going to get into a fight with his brother over her, and it wouldn't be good for him if his father found out.

She took a step forward and held Rehaan's hand as Randhir looked at her with shock.

"Let's go Rehaan. I'll explain everything in the room," she told him.

Rehaan looked down and noticed Sanyukta's bandaged feet and Randhir's as well.

"You okay?" Rehaan asked her.

"Yeah, Randhir was just picking glass out of my feet because I stepped on broken glass. I tried doing it but it hurt too much," Sanyukta said. "So I asked him."

"Oh," Rehaan said and then looked at Randhir. "Thanks for taking care of my wife."

"It's okay," Randhir mumbled and then he disappeared into his own bedroom, locking it behind him.

"I thought you went out?" Sanyukta asked Rehaan.

"I did but dad called me back home," Rehaan said. "There's a meeting in an hour."

He wrapped his arms around Sanyukta's waist and pulled her close.

"I have an hour to kill," he murmured.

Sanyukta forced herself to smile and grabbed his shirt, pushing him back slightly.

"This is not our bedroom," she reprimanded.

"Let's go then," Rehaan said, taking her hand from his shirt.

Sanyukta reluctantly followed him back to their bedroom, pausing to turn her head back to look at Randhir's closed door.

Oh, how she wished that she was still in Randhir's arms right now.

122

After Rehaan left for his meeting, Sanyukta took a long shower and forced herself to smile, as she always did. Rehaan had looked at her bandaged feet but hadn't considered that she was in pain and needed rest. Instead, he just used her for his sexual satisfaction. This wasn't new.

After she finished taking her shower, she went downstairs to see her daughter, but she noticed that Renuka wasn't in the living room with Vidya. Instead, it was Randhir who was sitting there with their daughter on his lap.

With a smile, Sanyukta walked up to him and sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning to face Sanyukta, noticing how her eyes were swollen.

"Yes," she lied.

"What did Rehaan do?" Randhir asked and Sanyukta could hear the anger in his voice.

"Nothing," she said.

Vidya reached out for Sanyukta and she took her daughter in her arms.

"Tell me Sanyukta," Randhir urged.

"I said he didn't do anything," Sanyukta said. "Nothing wrong anyways."

"Nothing wrong?" Randhir probed.

"Yes, nothing wrong. He's my husband so he has the right to want things from me... and I have to give them to him," Sanyukta replied, looking down at her daughter sadly.

"He forced you?" Randhir asked, sounding shocked.

"No. He didn't force me. I willingly gave him what he was seeking," Sanyukta defended.

"Why?" Randhir asked. "Why didn't you say no?"

"Why would I?" she asked him, looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Randhir, Rehaan is my husband."

"You needed rest," Randhir told her.

"Don't you have a meeting to attend?" Sanyukta then said, trying to avoid the subject.

"No, why?" Randhir asked.

"Rehaan said he has a meeting with dad," Sanyukta informed.

"Oh," Randhir said with a frown.

"I hope you become successor," Sanyukta then said. "You deserve it more than Rehaan... if there's any hope for this country, it's you. Rehaan will spoil it more."

Randhir looked at her with shock - he had never heard her say such negative things about her husband before.

"You aren't okay," Randhir said firmly.

"I am," she said, trying to hold in her tears.

"You aren't," Randhir said. "You're bitter, you're angry, you're upset. You can cry you know."

"Anyone can walk in here," Sanyukta whispered. "I can't just cry."

She placed Vidya in Randhir's lap again and stood up. Then she rushed to her room, trying to stifle her sobs. Randhir watched her go, his heart aching. Then without thinking twice, he got up with Vidya in his arms, and also rushed to her room.

Once he entered, he saw that she was crying into her pillow, lying face down on the bed. Randhir closed the door gently behind him and placed Vidya in the crib before sitting on the bed next to Sanyukta and caressing her hair.

"I'm here for you," he told her softly.

She lifted her head and placed it on his lap, holding his legs for dear life, as she continued to sob.

"H - he only t - treats me l - like a s - sex object," Sanyukta confessed through her tears. "I - I have no other v - value."