Hope

An unfortunate morning, and the days after

Ananya woke up to swollen eyes and a sore body. She was terribly exhausted with the travel and all the events that took place later. She didn't wanted to leave the bed, or more like couldn't, and wanted to rest in for a little bit longer but she didn't wanted to get scolded again, and also wanted to create better impressions on everyone, so she took a shower and got ready.

Rahul woke up a little after she did, and glanced at the clock. They were already late for their stepmother's house and hurried as fast as they both could. When they reached, the stepmother had a very dirty look on her face and Sanaya also looked a bit worried. Rahul dropped Ananya at the house and went for work without going inside the house so Ananya was on her own.

"Oh the princess has finally arrived. Sanaya, please bring garlands to welcome her, it must have caused her so much trouble to finally show up when all the morning chores are done", the stepmom remarked.

Ananya kept her head down and didn't say anything, she was expecting this to happen as even after repeatedly requesting Rahul to hurry up, he didn't and now she was facing this situation. Unsure of what to do next, she looked at Sanaya. She immediately understood and called for her help in the kitchen and then both of them scattered from the living room. 

"I kept telling Rahul that it's getting late, we should hurry up, but he took his sweet time getting ready and having breakfast, what was I supposed to do?", Ananya explained herself to Sanaya.

"I understand, but I would just say that now you know the way to both the places, so might as well travel alone and stop relying on him?", Sanaya replied.

Ananya could sense the disliking in Sanaya's tone as well but she chose to ignore it.

This became a norm after that day. Ananya would be late for one reason or another, somedays Rahul would decide to give her the laundry or clean the house, or would ask her to make a breakfast which would take time to be cooked. He also started expecting a packed lunch and Ananya was more than happy to do so, but she would have to listen to her stepmother's taunts each and everyday.

One day, the stepmother asked her to cook something that she had never heard in her life. It was no era of the Internet or Google so she couldn't take any help either. The stepmother had purposely chose this opportunity because Sanaya was gone for her exam, and she knew that Ananya won't be able to ask for anyone's help. Ananya tried her best to make the dish but failed miserable, and the stepmother insulted her culinary skills in front of the whole family at dinner.

While she was finally getting used to all this, and was trying to settle in the toxic environment as soon as possible, Rahul started expecting a baby.

Ananya was definitely not ready for one yet, but it had already been an year to their marriage, and everyone was expecting a grandson or a son from Ananya. She flinched when she remembered how painful pregnancy can be from her cousin's experience, but she had no other choice. Rahul even said that once they have a baby, even their relationship might take a better shape. And the family might start loving her in order to love the child.

Not like she had another choice, she agreed for having a baby anyway and nine months later, I was born.

It was a miracle really because Mom told me that my Father had no ounce of love or care for her while she was pregnant. He wouldn't accompany her to the doctor, wouldn't go for ultrasounds, neither would he bring her nutritious food to eat because as soon as she got pregnant, my Father lost his job. So it's not like he didn't wanted to bring the food, it was more like he couldn't, so Mom had to eat whatever she was offered at the stepmother's place.

The stepmother would also bug her for making new clothes and other things for the unborn child, to which she retorted that she doesn't even know what gender will the baby be, how could she just start making clothes for the baby like this. But in her mind, she was more scared if the baby would even survive or not, because she barely got to eat any fruits, or other healthy things which would be nice for the baby, she didn't wanted to make the clothes because in case of a miscarriage, she wouldn't want to look at those clothes and cry all day. 

Although the thought of miscarriage scared her very much, she was still mentally preparing herself for everything. 

When I was born, my step-gran wasn't so pleased at first as I was a girl, Demon Lord never really cared if I existed or not, but my Father's happiness was out of bounds. He wanted to buy the whole world for me, but he was also scared of a more immediate trouble, which was no income.

He wanted to find a job as soon as possible, it had already been almost a year since he lost it, and now he was really desperate to find one. Any job would dom he thought to himself, he just needed the money and obviously he couldn't have expected any help from the stepmother or his father, so he tried contacting his cousin brother, the very cousin who stayed with him, at his place after the wedding.

The cousin had always supported him, and his family was very well-to-do so he lent some money to my Father in no time, and told him to forget about his worries and look for the right job, he'll take care of the finances for as long as he needs.

My father was beyond grateful and under debt of his gracious cousin because he didn't know how family, empathy and love worked. So he was ready to give his life for his cousin if required someday. Soon enough, Father was able to join a much better company at a much better post, so he started considering me his lucky charm. 

He would come home everyday with lots of fruits and other sweets which I would happily relish, and played with me all the time. On his weekends, he would give me a shower, dress me up, do my hair and would spend the whole time with me.

Obviously, my mother ended up getting more ignored than normal, and their relationship was slowly going to shambles, but now that I was there, my mother didn't need anyone else to find happiness, she would just keep me by her side and try to stay as calm as possible.

But the stepmother wasn't really having any of this, and she started to plan the ultimate destruction of all our happiness. 

Also, it's time for Sanaya to get married.