THE BLOOMING OF LOVE BETWEEN FORCED MARRIAGE

28. Request of Divorce

        It was a cloudy Sunday morning and Rutuja had already gone to the lab when they woke up. All of them got ready and went to the dining hall to have breakfast. Rishika and Harshada found breakfast and lunch were already prepared by Rutuja so, there was not much work left for them. They ate their breakfast together chatting happily about the Anniversary party.

After lunch Rishika, Aniket and Harshada left for their work while Ashish and Rishikesh were discussing the things they have to work on when they go to Pune tomorrow. At 2 pm Rutuja was back at the house and Ashish decided to go back home so he could pack his luggage and do other preparations for going.

Rutuja got changed and ate lunch. She then went and sat down in the living room. Rishika asked her, "Will you help me pack my things?" She said, "Sure, let's do it now". They went to his room and packing was done in no time. Rutuja went to the kitchen and prepared some snacks for Rishikesh and Ashish to take along with them. After she packed a bag with snacks she came and sat down beside Rishikesh. They had a good time together till they went to sleep.

Rutuja was anxious about the state they were in. Rishikesh was going to Pune and Ashish would be there with him too but, something didn't seem right to her. Her mind was alerting her about something that was about to come. But, little did she know that she will have to take the hardest decision of her life too soon. So, she stayed by his side till the morning making sure he was safe.

It was morning and they had their breakfast together and went back to their rooms for getting ready. Rishikesh and Rutuja were ready and packing their office stuff in their bags when suddenly an alarm from Rishikesh's room went off. Rutuja didn't think she just ran to his room and saw a man pointing a dart at him. In a fraction of a second, she had installed herself between them and got hit by it. The attacker ran away and she was about to fall as her head was spinning but, Rishikesh caught her.

He asked her "What's the wrong Rutuja? Why did you suddenly run to my room?" She was silent there was a storm of thoughts in her head about what she should do to save him. She finally decided that she needs to take an extreme step now otherwise they won't leave him alone. She steadied herself and declared, "Rishikesh, I want a Divorce". She did not dare to look into his eyes otherwise she would break down crying in front of him that very moment.

Rishikesh was shocked he didn't move for a moment. He said, "What? Why do you want to divorce me?" She said, "I just want it. I will send you the papers next Monday". I will be going now goodbye. She went to her room as fast as she could as she didn't want him to see tears in her eyes. She knew she had broken his heart by saying this. Even though she was showing toughness in the situation. She was broken inside.

She made sure he was going to be safe before leaving the house and also heard the conversation of the attacker with his boss as he asked him to leave Rishikesh alone and go after her. She was happy that they were going to leave him alone now. She drove herself to her apartment so she could check the dart.

She got the dart out from the side of the neck and saw something written on it. It was a dart that would make a person a person unconscious for a few days similar to a coma but, the person will wake up when the dose wears off. She thanked God that it was her who was hurt by it not Rishikesh. She immediately called Harshada and told her everything that happened.

Harshada and Ashish were shocked to hear that. Harshada gave Rutuja a medical certificate so she could take medical leave. She went to the office and started on her work after applying. While Rishikesh drove to Ashish's to pick him up for their journey. Harshada was crying and Ashish was trying to comfort her when the doorbell rang. She wiped her tears and opened the door.