Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2020 (Judge's Choice) in the New Adult category.
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"The lights are cheeky, you can't live without them, and yet if you get too close, they'll blind you. Darkness? Well it doesn't cheat. It's cool and soothing. It's r...
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The first thing Madhu felt was shock, followed by disbelief.
She was aware that she should be the last person to judge him. Yet there was a disconcerting weight that kept expanding in her chest, making it difficult to breathe. What was even more difficult was acting unaffected by this piece of news.
She felt a sudden desire to curl up in bed, snuggle in a wall of pillows, and stuff her face with chocolate while watching a trashy Bollywood rom-com, preferably one featuring SRK. But that was impossible because she was stuck in a goddamn village. A village with no network and an old, box TV which did not come with a CD player.
The same village Nakul had chosen to return to because his married girlfriend was here.
"Oh," was all she could say, before she cleared her throat and sat down in front of him, occupying the same seat Vishal had vacated just minutes ago. "I'm sorry."
His forehead creased as he gave her a strange look. "What for?"
"That you guys can't be together?"
"Oh no, neither of us want that," he said, chuckling. "It was before she was married. I was on leave from duty, staying at this friend's place in Lucknow when I met her at a party. We talked a little and goofed around, but then it turned out that she was already engaged. She hadn't told me that. I ended things right then and there and never saw her again, until I ran into her two years ago. Turns out that her in-laws live in Bhabra and she moved in with them after getting married."
The burning sensation in Madhu's chest lessened with every word he spoke. But she was still confused. "Was she forced by her parents to marry him?"
"You'd think so." Removing his gun and holster, he placed them on the table and slumped back on his chair. "But no, they were classmates who fell in love. Vishal cheated on her so Sunanda wanted to get back at him. I think they worked it out until I arrived here, and we kind of became friends and she taught me Sign since her brother is deaf. Vishal's hated me since then."
"Why the fuck would they remained married then?"
"That is the question of the century."
His eyes drooped shut, head tilting back to rest on the sofa's crest. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a white shirt with the top two buttons open, tall frame filling the chair as his hands rested casually on the armrests. Madhu couldn't help but admire him when he wasn't looking, even though he was quite clearly exhausted.
Berating herself, she looked away.
"I'm going to bed."
Nakul hummed in response, and she glanced at him one last time, before retiring for the night. Champa had taken the evening off, having prepared their dinner in the afternoon only, but Madhu wasn't hungry.
In the dark quiet of the night, when she had slipped under the scratchy woollen blanket, Madhu admitted to herself that what she felt today towards Sunanda—a woman she hadn't even met—was jealousy. But she was too tired to confess, even to herself, why that happened.
