Mistress Asthana

CHAPTER ONE: THE ALLIANCE

"Come on Father, how could you ever think I'd ever do such a thing? How did you even come up with such idea?  How could you harbour such thoughts Father?" I asked my father angrily.

To be quite honest, this man is getting on my nerves, how could he come up with such an idea and expect me to buy it? Come on Father, you are more than this.

"Look here young man, you will marry that girl whether you like it or not. Do you know what the people are saying about us? Do you know how much injury you have earned us? Do you?" My father questioned furiously. It's very clear that he is very serious about this and he won't rest until it happens.

"Come on Father, I don't think you are thinking straight father, just think about it, that girl is way below our standard, she is from a very poor background and to top it all, she can't even speak proper english. How do you expect me to parade that girl as my wife? I'm your son don't you think I deserve better? Just imagine yourself introducing her to the people as your daughter in-law, think about it father" I said calmly hoping he'll see reasons with me and stop thinking about me marrying that wretch.

"Well, you should have thought about all that before going ahead to do what you did yesterday, you should have thought about her lack of education before doing what you did, you should have thought about her standards and her poor background before doing what you did. But you didn't think and now you'll have to pay the price that came with your thoughtless actions" my father replied.

I was angry at my father for bringing up that idea and even insisting on it, he has never forced me to do anything before but now he is willing to do that just because of his reputation? Who cares about what people are saying about us? At least I know I don't.

"Father you Know I have someone I love and want to marry, so why would you want me to marry this girl? If I marry her then what would I do with Jasi? What will I tell her?" I questioned angrily, what was my father thinking?

"That won't be a problem, you are a man and your religion has permitted you to marry Four wives, so why would you want to restrict yourself to one? Marrying this girl doesn't mean you'll stop loving Jasi, besides Jasi is a very sweet girl and I know she'll listen to you" he said calmly which got me even more furious

"Dad, this is not you, this is not the Father I grew up with. The father I grew up with will always support the decisions of his children. But you have become so greedy and selfish with time, you have become blind to  your own son's emotions and all you care about is your reputation" I shouted. My father looked shocked and he stared at me in disbelief

"I thought blood is thicker than water they said but it's very clear to me now that when it comes to power, blood is no longer thicker than power. So you'll go against your son's happiness just for the sake of some senseless people? How did I get so unlucky? What did I ever do to deserve you as a father? Look, I'm Ahmad Dugu Santalma and no one will ever force me to do what I don't want to do" I ended. My father was speechless as he stared at me.

He looked broken for a moment and then hurt. He left the room quietly without saying a word. I took a deep breath and fell effortlessly on the sofa.

What I did was clearly wrong but what could I have done. Father was trying to force me to get married to that lowlife. He knows very well that I'm not a fan of polygamy. But that doesn't stop me from being wrong anyway. I shouldn't have talked to him like that. He is my father so he deserves some respect.

"Why did you speak to our father like that?" My sister spoke and I sat up to face her, Here comes Huda, she won't leave this sitting room until she gives me more than a mouthful. I think this girl sometimes forgets that I am the elder one and not her.