River & Desert

Part 21

"There isn't anything left for us to discuss, Di." Adhrit shuffled through the disorganized files on the table. "Please leave." Adhrit did not dare to spare a look in his sister's direction and witness despair slapping its whip across her worn out features.

He saw Purvi's woeful features after her tall frame crumbled to the floor. He sprang to his feet, put his laptop aside, and hurried to her side. "Di, what is this?"

In an effort to move her northward, he grasped her forearms and lifted. Her rueful smile and the tender grip of her fingers on his forearm made him abandon his idea. Deterring his eyes, Adhrit fell to the floor as he saw her shame and contrition swirling in her eyes.

"I wanted none... any of this to happen," she said, through her heaving breaths. Her facial expressions twisted and turned to a reddish hue. "I just did not want to marry again and run behind one fertility center after the other, Kaddu, and relieve the heartbreak that the revelation was that... that I-I could never be a mother."

Adhrit's eyebrows furrowed and his shoulders drooped. "I agreed to father the heir she required, understanding your reasons. But how could you side with Dadi when she asked me to sleep with Mitali, or install those cameras in the room, Di? I-I just don't get it."

Purvi scoffed at her brother as she sniffled. "Adhrit, there were no cameras. I just... just couldn't let go." She stated, "I had to make this work to avoid deciding between fulfilling a debt and maintaining my sanity." She clasped his hand between hers and forced him to look at her devastated face again.

"I am so sorry, Kaddu! I am so sorry!"

Adhrit said nothing, but placed his hand over hers. He couldn't ignore his complaints against her, despite the torment of seeing her distressed. Someday, he prayed, he would find it in his heart to forgive his sister for her decision.

****

"How long will you lie to me?" asked Mitali, staring at the back of his head. Waves of guilt found their Moon to turn into a tidal wave of self-loathing as he felt holes bored by her scrutinizing and accusatory gaze.

His hands stopped mixing her milk for the night, but he didn't turn towards her. "I don't understand what you mean, Mitali."

"Did you think I wouldn't notice you putting sedatives in my milk every night? Don't insult my common sense by thinking you can keep me in the dark forever, even if I'm not a doctor or as smart as you," she said harshly, making him turn to face her.

He started talking, but was cut off by the woman who was listening to him.

"I have no option but to give up on relationships and children because of you, Mr. Sinha. Can you assume responsibility for the void that will exist in my life?"

Her hollow eyes had drained him of all his courage and composure like a persistent disease. "Mitali, do you think I enjoy doing this? Of course, not. You're not giving me much of a choice either."

A wry chuckle spilled through her lips, stretched towards her right. "Choice? The man, who has got a choice in everything thus far, complains about losing the chance to choose for once in his life to the woman, who never had a choice in her life. The irony!"

Her strained voice, choked with restrained tears, gaped new holes in his conscience. Even as he acknowledged his own privilege, Adhrit Sinha remained mindful of those who had less. Her accusations were sharp, causing him to question the fairness of life and sink further into remorse.

Having a choice and someone to call as hers is what she really craves. She would get both if you had a child.

Seeing his mother in a dilapidated condition in the asylum only increased his determination. "Is it really what you want?" Adhrit, gathering his courage to face the woman who never failed to challenge him, asked for one last confirmation and promised not to cheat.

She forgot to blink as her breath caught in her lungs. She didn't realize that the ball was in her court until tears clouded her vision.

Finally.

For the first time in her life.

Her morals dictated that the man who captured her heart, touched her body, and became one with her soul should be the only one. What else could a mother's love be, if not blind? The emotions, once given utmost importance, no longer held any significance. After all, a mother wanted to erase her guilt by bringing in a new life, and she had prepared herself to cross any and every line for the same.

She looked into his eyes and said yes, a feat that few could have accomplished. There was a momentary glimmer of hope for his escape from the situation, but her answer extinguished it. He sensed an unfamiliar dread emerge in his heart as he realized that taking the next step meant having a child together, with an uncertain future ahead.

"There is a condition that I have for you." He inched closer to her as she stared at him with lifeless eyes. He yearned to revive the courage, compassion, and love that once gleamed in those eyes, restoring all the emotions he held dear.

"I am ready to do anything you say," she replied. Her tone trembled and shook, indicating inner turmoil.

"At least listen to my condition before accepting it," he said, settling down beside her on the bed and facing her as he applied stress relief lotion on her palms in the way prescribed by the doctor.

She made him look into her eyes and prevented him from massaging her palms. "Shoot it!"

"We must find the appropriate way to do it, and this is not it. Natural conception does not guarantee that our second child will not face the same incompatibility as the first one. It has to be in-vitro fertilization, Mitali."

The knowing glint in her eyes rattled him, and her icy sneer threatened to freeze him over. "It must be hard for you. You may have enjoyed the company of elite supermodels, but now you find yourself stuck with a sick, middle-class woman who is using emotional manipulation, an emotion you despise. I understand." As she ridiculed, the flicker of life came back to her.

Adhrit was torn between feeling thrilled about getting closer to bringing back the old Mitali and feeling frustrated about the constant jeers she threw his way.

"Mitali, it is..."

The life force came back into her eyes in a way Adhrit never wanted to see: hatred. "I understand. I shared the same sentiment upon hearing about the contract. I despised wealthy men who believed they could purchase relationships with their money. After all was said and done, I had to do it. My retribution and your punishment will be going through this together. Adhrit Sinha, I accept your terms."

______________________________________________

Adhrit ended up bending to Mitali's wishes. What do you feel about Adhrit's decision? Do you think she will conceive? Please VOTE and COMMENT!