Secrets And Lies [Completed]

06. the chronicles of a trophy wife

Song of the chapter is Me and My Husband by Mitski

-06-
-Saina Bahl-
-Present-

_____________

Bahl Mansion, Gurgaon
7 November, 2030
9:02 pm

Another 'fantastic' Saturday evening at the Bahl Mansion, I thought, as I laid on the black satin sofa in the living room, still in my emerald green shift dress, still sleepless.

The customary biryani and sheer korma had been a big hit; the wine and the whiskey had followed. Everyone had had a 'fantastic' time.

Well, almost everyone.

I drapped the light pashmina shawl more securely around my shoulders and shifted my head to stare out at the soft drizzle on the balcony of the three-storeyed luxury mansion. It created a hum, drowning out the silence of the second floor except for the snores. Behind me, mummy-ji was audibly asleep. Malti, our maid, was fast asleep just beside her on the floor, with her head propped up on the side of the sofa. And through the open door of my own bedroom, Gautam, with his mouth wide open and his hairy arms and legs spread territorially across the double bed, snored the loudest.

I blinked hard as it started to lurch again. Really shouldn't have had the fourth glass of wine.

Usually when we held a get-together, I always managed to waft my way through the evening with a plastic smile on my face. My husband liked to entertain. He was a 'people's person'. He had a steady supply of imported liquor and misogynist jokes, and a bunch of excellent tips on how to invest in a market that was down, or buy a luxury car, or improve your golf game.

And I was expected to be his arm candy.

In these parties, my appearance was always supposed to be simple yet stunning, the flower arrangements on the table tops were always supposed to be elegant, the cushions on the sofa always fluffed, and the imported bottles of champagne always sparkling.

In the past three years, I had managed to transform into the perfect wife.

And yet that wasn't enough. It was never enough.

Just like how I was never enough.

Something inside me had snapped this evening. I didn't know what it was. Was it the clammy feel of Utkarsh Mehta's fingers on my knee under the dinner table? Or the flush on Gautam's cheek when I had walked in on him and Shreya in the balcony? Or was it the fact that no one at the party had a single unpretentious thing to say?

" The food is absolutely divine, Saina." Shreya had pronounced, stretching out towards me for a refill.

I should've felt flattered considering Shreya was the practically the machioness of West Gurgaon, with her father's share of property hogging half of the city's mainland. And yet the coziness of her and my husband in the balcony earlier had remained fresh in my mind.