But the other part of me, the part I hate even admitting exists, blatantly refuses. It won’t let me, as if forcing me to understand that this isn’t something I can break with a single angry, desperate tug.
Gosh… I’m such a mess from everything that’s happening that I couldn’t even bring myself to go to work today. Not when the first thing Samarth would do is notice the mangalsutra and sindoor, and start asking questions I don’t have the courage, or the words, to answer.
How am I supposed to explain why I’m wearing it?
And worst of all… how am I supposed to admit that a single chain and Dev’s words have left me so unsteady, that even saying his name sends everything inside me into a spin.
“Where is Dev?” Esha demands as she bursts into my room.
Just what I needed… the last person to shatter whatever tiny sliver of peace I was clinging to.
“That’s none of your business, where my husband is or isn’t,” I say flatly, pretending to flip through the magazine that’s been sitting in my lap for the past hour, even though I haven’t read a single word. “As his wife, only I should know about his whereabouts, not announce them to random people,” I tell her. The truth, though, is that I have no idea where he is. I haven’t seen him since I woke up, and that actually bothers me more than it should.
Esha takes a step forward. “Oh, don’t start giving me that attitude.”
I simply shrug. “I can’t help it. You just bring out the worst in me.”
“Oh, really?” she snaps, stepping directly in front of me. “You are—”
Her words falter as her gaze drops, first to the mangalsutra around my neck, then tracing upward to the sindoor in my hair.
“Wha… what the hell is this?” she demands, her finger trembling as it points at me.
I arch a brow. “What does it look like? Or do you need it spelled out for you because you’ve suddenly forgotten how to use your brain?”
“Don’t you dare get smart with me,” she fires back, her voice rising. “And answer me what is all this drama? Why the hell are you suddenly sitting here looking like a stupid bride?”
I don’t look up from the magazine and reply coolly, “Why don’t you ask Dev? He’s the one who got it for me. In fact, he’s the one who made me wear it, and he’s the one who put the sindoor on me.”
Her mouth drops open, but no sound comes out. When it finally does, it’s a strangled mix of disbelief and rage.
“Bullshit! I know Dev. He doesn’t believe in all this drama, these rituals, this… show. He cares about nothing but logic and sense, not traditions!”
“Sorry to burst your bubble,” I say, looking up at her with a sweet, poisonous smile, “but you clearly don’t know your ex-boyfriend as well as you think. He really is something.” I push myself up from the couch, deliberately letting my eyes gleam. “God, it was so romantic. You should’ve been there to record the moment.”
“I don’t believe you! This has to be your doing again. Trying to lure him in, to snatch him away from me!” she snaps.
“Snatch him from you?” I repeat, my fingers brushing the mangalsutra, and watch her visibly flinch. “Esha… sweetheart, he was never yours. So the question of snatching doesn’t even arise. And trust me, I don’t need to lure him. He’s already mesmerised by me.”
“You think wearing this stupid little chain makes you his?” she sneers. “Please. Dev gets bored fast. You’re just… temporary. A distraction. And once he’s done using you, he’ll come back to me.” She leans forward, mockingly tapping the pendant with the tip of her finger. “Then you’ll be nothing but a pathetic joke, left with this chain around your neck.”
“Don’t you dare touch it.” I shove her hand away with force. “Women like you will never understand the sacred strength ofa mangalsutra. All you understand are selfish games, empty desire, and cheap tactics to play the mistress.”
“You bitch!” she snarls, shoving me with all her strength.
I stumble backwards, my foot catching on the edge of the rug as I crash to the floor. A sharp, blinding pain shoots up my wrist, and I clutch it instinctively, biting back a cry.
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks down at me with a triumphant glare. “This is exactly what you deserve for mouthing off to me.”
I can’t even respond. The pain overrides everything.
“You look perfect like this.” She tilts her head, watching me struggle on the floor. “In pain. At my feet. Exactly where you belong.”
She crouches slightly, her shadow falling over me, her smile twisting into something venomous. “Soon enough, you won’t be a problem anymore. I’ll get rid of you for good.”
I grit my teeth through the pain, forcing my shaking body to lift even an inch off the floor, but I can’t. My wrist throbs, my vision blurs, but I still manage to glare up at her.
“Go ahead and try,” I rasp. “Because whatever delusion you’re still clinging to about Dev ever wanting you… will break soon enough.” My breath shudders, but I don’t look away. “Hurt me, threaten me, scream all you want. It doesn’t change a thing. You’ll never have him.”
