Prerish: A Collection of Tales ✔️

~ Find My Home In Your Arms ~

She sat by the window, the city lights blurring into streaky smudges through the film of unshed tears in her eyes. The opulent room, once a gilded cage, now felt like a tomb. He just threw her out of his life, as if the past seven months of their marriage, the raw, fragile connection they had forged, meant absolutely nothing. He had become her everything, a truth that twisted in her gut like a knife.

She would readily admit her initial mistake. At the very beginning of their marriage, she had misunderstood him, had seen only the ruthless businessman, the cold, calculating strategist. But as the days bled into weeks, and weeks into months, a different Rishab had slowly, subtly, emerged. She watched him interact with Kuki, saw the way his gruff exterior melted into tender affection when he introduced Prerana as Kuki's mother. She witnessed his unexpected acceptance and deep respect for her own mother, a quiet dignity that touched her soul.

Layer by layer, the formidable walls around him began to crumble, revealing a man she hadn't anticipated. She started to understand his silences, to decipher the nuances in his guarded expressions. And somewhere along that agonizing, beautiful journey, she had fallen for him. Deeply, irrevocably in love. It was a love that defied the circumstances of their union, a love that grew from shared parenthood and an evolving, unspoken bond.

She had been ready to confess, the words trembling on the precipice of her heart, waiting for the perfect moment. Instead, he had slapped divorce papers onto her face, cold and unfeeling. The very next minute, it felt like, Anurag wanted to marry her again, and her mother, in her own misguided attempt at securing her future, had chosen to marry her off to the man who now saw her as nothing more than a possession to win. A trophy.

The memory burned, a phantom ache beneath her ribs. She could still hear every agonizing word of the conversation they had, just a week prior, before she was forced to leave Bajaj Mansion, her heart shredded and bleeding.

Flashback:

The evening before the world shattered. Rishab watched Prerana, her head bowed in loving concentration, as she fed Kuki. His heart lurched, a cruel mix of happiness at the tender sight and a crushing sadness for the impending doom.

"Mrs. Bajaj, tonight I would like to talk to you about something very important," Rishab said, his voice carefully neutral.

Prerana looked up, a small, genuine smile gracing her lips. "Even I would like to talk about something important with you, Mr. Bajaj. So, if it's possible, please be home early."

"Of course," he replied, his voice tight. He leaned down, first pressing a feather-light kiss to Kuki's forehead, then, with a profound tenderness that tore at his soul, to Prerana's. He knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that this would be the last kiss he ever gave his wife in this lifetime.

As the day dragged on, both souls felt a deep, profound restlessness. One, a frantic flutter of happiness and nervousness, fueled by the hope of a confession. The other, a raw, excruciating pain, a sadness that twisted in agony, knowing he had to let Prerana go.

The mansion felt eerily silent when Rishab finally entered that evening. Each step echoed in the vast emptiness, a somber prelude to the destruction he was about to unleash. He pushed open the door to their bedroom, his breath catching in his throat. The sight stunned him into silence.

There she stood, draped in a vibrant red saree, looking ethereal, almost otherworldly, with minimal makeup highlighting her radiant beauty. For a fleeting moment, he allowed himself to drown in her image, a silent elegy to what they could have been.