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The morning sun streamed through the curtains, casting a soft glow over the room. I sat at the dining table, nursing a cup of tea, my mind restless. Aisha had gone out for a walk to clear her head, leaving me alone with my thoughts. The meeting with my brothers and Alia had given us a plan, but the weight of everything we had uncovered still hung heavily over me.
The sound of the front door opening broke my reverie. My mother had returned from her visit to the village. I stood up, a mix of anticipation and dread churning in my stomach. She would need to be brought up to speed on everything that had transpired, and I had no idea how she would react.
As we reached the living room, Ma paused and looked at me with a furrowed brow. "Where is Aisha?" she asked, her tone laced with concern. There was something in the way she asked, a mother's instinct perhaps, that made me realize she sensed something was wrong.
I hesitated, trying to find the right words. "She went out for some fresh air. She needed a little time to herself."
Ma's eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze piercing through the carefully constructed calm I was trying to project. "Yuvraj, what's going on? I can tell something isn't right. Is Aisha okay?"
I swallowed hard, knowing there was no easy way to say what needed to be said. But before I could answer, Ma noticed the tension in my expression, and her concern deepened. "Tell me the truth, Yuvraj."
"Ma, there's something you need to know," I began, my voice heavy with the weight of what I was about to reveal. "A lot has happened while you were away, and none of it is easy to explain."
Her eyes searched mine, growing wider with each passing second. "What do you mean? What has happened to Aisha? Where is she, Yuvraj?"
I took a deep breath, feeling the guilt that had been gnawing at me for weeks rise to the surface. "Aisha... She's been through a lot because of me, Ma. I-I've done things I'm not proud of."
The room felt smaller, the air thicker, as Ma stared at me, waiting for me to continue. Her hands gripped the edge of the chair, her knuckles white. "What things, Yuvraj? What have you done?"
I looked away, unable to meet her gaze as I spoke. "I made Aisha stand on broken glass, Ma. I forced her to stand there until she fainted from the pain."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Ma's gasp was sharp, a sound that cut through the silence like a knife. "You... you did what?" Her voice trembled, disbelief and horror coloring each word.
"I-" My voice broke, and I could feel the shame burning my throat. "I thought I was justified. I wanted revenge for what I believed she and Prisha had done. But I was wrong, Ma. I was blinded by my anger and my need for control."
Tears welled up in Ma's eyes as she stood, her hands trembling as she reached for me. "Yuvraj, how could you? How could you do something so cruel? To Aisha? She's your wife!"
