Tainted Vengeance

Chapter 3

After thinking for a while, I came downstairs from my– our room. As I came downstairs, I looked at each and every family member who was present in the living room. 

There were a total of four members present in the living room excluding Arnav who was not there with them.

I was glad that my husband is not present with them, I am glad he is not in front of my eyes. Would Arnav be guilty? Would Arnav regret his behavior with me? If he will apologize I would definitely forgive him.

Like always I would be the one to compromise. I always did. People treated me like a doormat and I happily accepted that. I knew people treated me that way. Whenever my sister used to behave rudely with me and then apologize, I would happily forgive her. I knew that my sister was only asking for forgiveness because she wanted me to do something for her but I never really minded.

I only wanted a friend my whole life, a friend who would listen to me each and every talk, a friend who would stop me before committing mistakes and even if I make mistakes, the friend would help to correct them. That was the kind of friend I always wanted but never really found. But my hopes never let me give up, I always searched for that friend in my sister but again and again my hopes would come crashing down.

I was alone and an unfortunate loner as well.

Suraj Bhardwaj, my brother-in-law, the younger brother of Arnav, was sitting on the sofa while wearing office formals. He was staring at me intensely, like thinking something. About me?

I knew his gaze was on me all the time but still I pretended that I just saw him and  smiled at him and joined my hands in front of him as if greeting him. He returned that smile with a warm smile and a hint of smirk in that. 

He scares me, just like his brother. 

I felt something in my stomach, like my intuition was again warning me about this man, like it was again telling me to run far away from this house but I knew that I couldn't. I was feeling uncomfortable due to his gaze but what can I really expect from a man at this moment? After everything my own newly wedded husband did. 

Shh! You shouldn't blame your husband like that. It is a sin. 
He is your husband, he has the right.

I averted my gaze from him and looked around the living room only to find a grumpy looking lady sternly glaring at me. She looked like she was in her early fifties and had a wrinkled face, slight white hair, round brown eyes, and a crooked sharp nose with thin purple lips. 

When the lady saw that my attention was now on her, she spoke in her shrill but a loud voice, “Look at this mannerless girl, she doesn't even have the adequates to come and touch her elder’s feet but why would she do that?  She is a royal queen right? She hasn't even covered her face with her saree, why did we even marry our Arnav to such a whore?”

I was taken aback by her words. A whore? I didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever called me that. Except last night. But coming out of my thoughts I quickly covered my face with my saree and quickly went and touched the lady's feet. But as I approached the lady, the lady kicked me on my stomach with her feet on which she had worn silver anklets.  

She was Kajal, Kajal Bharadwaj, bua of Arnav. From the beginning she loved Arnav the most, her husband had passed away in a car crash ten years ago and since then she is single and living with her brother. Her in-laws had kicked her out of their house as they assumed she was responsible for his death. She was now only a burden to them.

I struggled to stand but my body was paining like hell, my lower abdomen and legs were paining the most. My eyes got teary at this treatment of buaji. The cruelty which was done to me last night, I am sure could be clearly seen by my struggle to even stand up, but with a lot of strength I stood up. I didn't expect to be kicked by buaji on the first day itself but now I think I have to get used to it.