Conditions Of Shashank | 18+

Chapter 34: Threatened

Vihaan comes home.

(Yes, the same Vihaan through whom Shashank had sent Ishika's deepfakes to his relatives at a family function.)

His wife, Rupam, notices him. She stops what she's doing as she sees a red mark on his neck.

"How did you get this red mark on your neck?" Rupam asks, a sense of dread rising within her, fearing her suspicions might be true.

"Probably just a bruise," Vihaan replies in a tone that suggests he care less.

"Wait," Rupam moves closer, trying to inspect the mark.

"Oh, come on, go do your work," Vihaan says, annoyed.

"T-This is a love bite." Rupam's hands tremble slightly.

Vihaan doesn't respond.

"You betrayed me again, Vihaan," tears start to fill her eyes, by her own helplessness.

Without a word, Vihaan heads to the bathroom.

Rupam begins to cry. This is the second time Vihaan has betrayed her.

The first time he cheated, she was deeply hurt. Rupam had told her family, but her parents had replied, "He's your husband, you have to stay with him."

Hearing this broke her heart. It meant her parents would not take her back into their home. They cared more about relative's judgment, fearing the shame and rejection that might come if they let her live in their home.

After all, people would only see Rupam as the one in the wrong.

But her brother, Mohit, is the only one who understands her.

Mohit wanted to help his sister escape Vihaan's house, but he couldn't do much. He was only 19, still studying in college, without the financial means to get her a separate place to live safely.

The first time Vihaan had cheated on her, Rupam's heart was shattered. She thought about how she had always treated everyone with kindness and never wished anyone harm, so why did this happen to her?

From preparing breakfast in the morning to going to bed at night, she couldn't stop herself from crying. She wondered how her life had become so full of sorrow.

Vihaan, on the other hand, didn't care. He and his mother, Surbhi, kept her working around the clock, never letting her rest. Not only had her husband betrayed her, but they also made her work all day.

Even though they had a washing machine, they made her wash clothes by hand.

Despite having a mop for the floor, Surbhi would insist it was broken and made her scrub the entire house by hand, leaving Rupam so exhausted she wouldn't have the strength to talk to anyone about Vihaan's betrayal.

Surbhi instructed her to behave exceptionally well in front of their relatives. Surbhi loved to hear compliments.

She had chosen Rupam as a match for Vihaan because of her beauty, not caring about her kindness, humility, or compassion.

She just wanted to flaunt how beautiful her daughter-in-law was. She had never valued Rupam's feelings.

Initially, Vihaan treated Rupam decently, but as time passed, he revealed his true colors.

He never cared for her.

Once, in front of Rupam, Vihaan told his friends, "She makes noises during intimacy." By sharing this with his friends, Vihaan humiliated her deeply. His friends laughed, and Rupam has never forgotten that laughter, which still haunts her.

She feels suffocated in this house. She wants to leave, but she is scared. She doesn't know where she would go if she left, especially since her own parents had refused to let her return home after marriage.

She could try earning money to rent a small place, but no one would offer her a job.

Her parents had only educated her until the 10th grade, saying, "In future, you're going to get married and take care of a household, so what's the point of studying further?"

She cursed her life, wishing her parents had allowed her to continue studying. If they had, she could have found a job and escaped this painful house.

Lost in these painful thoughts, Rupam was crying when Vihaan came out of the bathroom.

"Enough crying. How much are you going to cry? You cry every day, all the time," Vihaan snapped, annoyed.

Rupam was sobbing, her vision blurred with tears.

She had given Vihaan a second chance only because she had no other option, but he betrayed her again.

Now, staying in this house felt like living with thorns.

She made up her mind that she would leave the house. But how? Vihaan and Surbhi would never let her go.

So, she decided she would run away after they went to sleep.

She had no appetite for dinner, her heart wasn't in it.

Now she waited for nightfall.

After everyone had fallen asleep, she quietly packed a bag with her clothes. Finally, she stepped out of the house. It had taken a lot of courage to do this, especially since she had very little money.

In her heart, she apologized to Sarthak, her father-in-law, for taking this step.

Sarthak had always treated her kindly. Whenever he saw Rupam overworked, he would tell her to rest. He had even suggested hiring a maid, saying Rupam was doing too much work alone, but Surbhi and Vihaan would always make excuses and dismiss the idea.

Surbhi had threatened Rupam, warning her not to tell Sarthak about the cruelty she faced from Vihaan and her. So, Sarthak remained unaware of Rupam's suffering.

Rupam looks around on both sides of the road, hoping to find a rickshaw. It's difficult to find one at this late hour, but eventually, she manages to get one. For now, she asks the driver to drop her off at a faraway garden.

Sitting in the rickshaw, she looks outside and notices a couple on a bike, laughing together, lost in their own world.

She turns her face away, accepting that love like that is simply not in her destiny.

The rickshaw reaches the garden, and Rupam pays via QR code.

When she and Vihaan were newly married, he had opened a bank account in her name and connected it to her phone. He had even taught her how to make payments using QR codes.

But Vihaan never kept much money in her account. Right now, she has barely 2,000 rupees, and half of that is the minimum required balance.

She enters the garden, only to realize there aren't even any benches.

A cold breeze blows, and she crosses her arms over her chest to keep warm.

She finds a corner, sits down on the ground, and tries to sleep. Slowly, tears begin to fall from her eyes as she worries about what will happen to her in the future.

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