"Happy Married Life, Shivya Pathak" I weakly smiled seeing my condition, mangalsutra dangling in my neck, vermilion in hair and both hands filled with gold bangles.
"Come out quickly or do you want me to break the gate," my husband knocked again...
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Purnima wiped her hands on her saree and went to answer the door. Someone had been knocking continuously for the past two minutes without pause. She was shocked to find Vedant standing there, ready to knock again, his phone pressed to his ear "Damad ji?" she whispered.
"Humaari Sona kahan hai?" he asked, looking past her, trying to catch a glimpse of his wife.
(Where's my sona?)
"Sona? Kaun Sona?" she asked, stepping aside so he could enter.
(Sona? Who's Sona?)
"Humaari biwi-humaari Shivya," he said, trying to keep his tone controlled so he wouldn't sound desperate, but the desperation was carved into every line of his face. "She's not picking my calls. Is she okay? Where is she?"
(My wife, my Shivya )
He had called her twice after seeing her messages, but she didn't answer. At first, he thought she might be busy, so he didn't disturb her. But after an hour, he called again and again she didn't pick up. For the past four hours, he had been calling her continuously while driving all the way here.
"Have a seat, I'll bring something for you to eat," Purnima said. But he shook his head, his eyes scanning the house, searching for even a glimpse of her but she wasn't there."Humein sirf apni biwi chahiye, aur kuch nahi. Kahan hai woh?"
His mother-in-law tried again, "Shivi is in the house. At least have a glass of water. You must be tired after coming all this way. I'll call her."
But his reply was immediate "Until I meet her, nothing will go down my throat. I don't want anything right now except my wife."
Only he knew how he was living each second without seeing her face, how he had held himself back from screaming her name, hoping she would appear in front of him after calling her over five hundred times.
Purnima studied him silently. She had never seen such hunger in a man's voice, never seen such restlessness etched into every line of a man's face. It was as though someone had carved out his existence, leaving behind only this desperate shell.....searching for the one piece that could make him whole again.
"I'll call her," she said at last, turning to leave.
But Vedant stopped her. "Just tell me where she is. I'll find her myself."
The restlessness in his eyes told her that he would find Shivya even if she had hidden herself at the edge of the universe.
"She's on the terrace," she said quietly.
He didn't waste a second before striding toward the stairs. Purnima remained rooted in place, her gaze fixed on him as he took the steps two at a time. Something in her chest tightened as she watched him go.
In her lifetime, she had never witnessed anything like this.
Shivya's father and her first husband had been a decent man. He had respected her, provided for her, spoken to her with courtesy but also treated her like an animal in the bed. She had told herself that was love.
