His Wife | Grooms #1 | Slow Updates

VII. His Investment

It was a Saturday afternoon a couple of months later when Sanam received a news that shook her to the core.

Five months into their marriage, this was the last news she had thought she'd get. Absent-mindedly, she walked into their room from the kitchen. Arjun was getting ready and he glanced up from wearing his watch around his wrist. "I'm ready, just need to put on my shoes."

She shook her head. His tardiness wasn't on her mind at all. "Arjun?"

"Hmm." He answered clicking the watch.

"My parents are getting a divorce."

He stopped to replay her words before looking at her. Her blank expression was all the confirmation he needed and at once, he was unsure how he should react.

She made it easier on him by asking, "Did I hear her say it right?"

He took her hand and brought her to sit at the edge of the bed. "Did your mom call? What did she say?"

She relayed the summary of that phone-call, "Just that. She said I was right and that she should have asked for a divorce long time ago."

"Uh... okay. Are you okay?" He asked, habitually turning circles on her hand for comfort, "How do you feel about it?"

She answered, "I think I'm okay?" blinking out of her confusion and looking in his gentle eyes. "I mean, I'll be happy for her. It hadn't ever been a marriage anyway."

"Then why do you sound worried?" In the year and half of knowing her, he had certainly learnt to decipher her hidden emotions.

She breathed through her mouth, "I don't know. It's hard to believe my dad agreed to give it to her. No one on his side of the family believes in divorces. It's why mom could never leave that marriage even though she was never happy."

"Maybe he's trying to change after your last argument?" He offered one explanation. It may almost be a year since then and that would be easy to believe – if he wasn't her father and she hadn't known him her entire life.

She wasn't convinced, "There's something mom isn't telling me."

"How about you call Esha? Maybe she knows more."

"Good idea." Sanam unlocked her phone and speed-dialed her sister to see what she knew about it.

Esha didn't have any details to offer that Sanam didn't already know, "No, di. As I've told you a few times, this year everything's been quiet. Too quiet. Like eerily quiet. Anytime I'm home from school, I've not heard a single argument. I'm still trying to figure out how they even came to an agreement for a divorce without any fights."

"No fights?"

"Nope. This morning, mom just came to my room to tell me she was going to stay at her friend, Disha Aunt's house and they'd decided to get divorced. She told me to stay there since she didn't have her place and you know, didn't want to take me to her friends' house. Anyway, it's a good thing right? It should have happened a long time ago."

Sanam said, "Yeah," since she didn't want to worry Esha with her concerns. "Okay, well, just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll try to come in a few weeks over Thanksgiving break and if anything happens..."

Esha quickly interjected, "Call you. I know, di. I always do. Now don't worry. It's all for the better."

"Hmm."

"Talk to you later, bye."

Arjun understood it was a dead end and suggested another tactic, "Okay, if you're comfortable with this, I can ask Parth to check into it? He can look to check when the papers were filed and who the lawyers are."