Spoiled • 18+ • Arranged Marriage Story

Thirty Five

  Siddharth looked at the fireworks going off of from the window of his hotel. He had sworn off coming to Mumbai but he couldn't resist especially from the very ominous message he had gotten from Veer.

Veer wasn't his brother in law anymore but he was pleasantly surprised when Veer had called him a few days back and told him that Sakshi was sick and he should come see her.

Siddharth was surprised. He wanted to know if it was a joke. After their court proceedings, Sakshi had pretty much rejected his everything. She rejected the alimony and the settlements. She even rejected his friendship. They weren't yet divorced yet, but they were legally separated. The judge had told them to be apart from each other for a year.

That had been a bummer. She also told him to not cross paths with her again. He had taken quite some efforts for that. He stayed out of Mumbai and even out of India as much as possible. He was made chairman after his uncle's death. He had been busy.

   The last time he was in Mumbai he visited Priya at the mental institution she was at and the state of the institute made him want to retch his guts out. He knew he shouldn't sympathise with someone one who had caused his wife harm but he couldn't help it. Whenever he saw Priya, he just saw her as the one year old baby who followed him around calling him Bhai.

   And it was his fault. If he wasn't so angry at Sakshi, he would've never tried to break up Priya and Veer's marriage by introducing her to Alec and Priya wouldn't have been pushed to such extremes. So he petitioned to get her admitted to a facility in California. He personally visited it and it looked calm and peaceful and he was certain Priya would heal there.

After that, seven long months had passed and he was back again. He pushed Veer to tell him what was wrong but the man only insisted that he should come see for herself.

If something was serious, Sakshi would've told him. Right? She would've, right? He rubbed his eyes irritated. She wouldn't. The stubborn woman wouldn't do that. She was angry at him for the separation so if she was seriously ill especially since the cases were rising she wouldn't tell him at all.

Especially on New Year's. She didn't like New Year's at all. Nor did he. He grumbled and grabbed his car keys. He would just check if she was alright then he'd leave. What was the worst that could happen? She would yell at him. He could tolerate that. But if she really was sick, he would never forgive himself if he left her alone like he had that day.

  He had seen the news which was flashed all week on TV and newspapers. It didn't take much to connect the dots that his uncle had been blackmailing her on the basis of that video. The video was of her and Ashwin. And it was her performing oral sex on him. Everything made so much sense and he regretted. He regretted not picking up her call. He regretted not being patient enough. And it was a thorn in his heart till today.

He had reached the house, it was Sakshi's house. Veer had told him that he and his wife and kids had moved in. He rang the door bell as memories after memories assaulted him. He has missed her. He was parched for a glimpse of her.

The door opened and it was Viren. "Oh. This is a surprise." He said.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I..why don't you come in?" Viren held the door open and he slid in. Loud music and chatter echoed from inside the house.

When he went in, multiple sets of eyes were on him. There was drinks and snacks, Siddharth realised that it was a party.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked breaking the silence.

"What are you doing here?" Janvi asked him in an accusatory tone. That would be Veer's wife. He could sense that she wasn't pleased with him and he found himself being the subject of glares from all the women in the room, even the ever sweet Dr. Kushi too.