Page 207 of One Hellish Love

“Kashish lost her father that day—through no fault of her own,” Rudra continued, his eyes burning with anger. “She was forced to grow up without him. Forced to stay with an unknown family. She has been blamed, judged, and shamed for something that wasn’t her doing. And now, you expect me to punish her even further by firing her? That’s not happening.”

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Daadi knew she had pushed too far. Rudra, breathing heavily, wanted to push his chair back and leave. Every fiber of his being wanted to walk away from this dinner, but he knew that would only upset Daadi further—and he couldn’t afford to hurt her more than she already was.

CHAPTER 64

Suman fell silent, taken aback by the force in Rudra’s words defending Kashish. She quickly realized her mistake and apologized.

“Sorry, Rudra, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Rudra clenched his fists under the dining table, his frustration building.

“It’s fine.” He forced himself to remain calm, continuing to eat in silence.

The others at the table—Shekhar, Anjali—watched the exchange quietly, not wanting to escalate the situation. Daadi, sensing the fragile peace, breathed a sigh of relief, grateful Rudra hadn’t let the argument drag on.

After dinner, Suman expressed her desire to leave.

“Why so soon, Suman? Stay a little longer,” Daadi urged, trying to prolong the evening.

“I’ll visit again, Daadi,” Suman reassured her.

Daadi, still eager to nurture the connection between Rudra and Suman, pressed on.

“Don’t take Rudra’s words to heart. He’s not usually like this.”

“It’s alright, Daadi.” Suman forced a smile, trying to maintain her composure.

As they made their way to the door, Daadi made one more attempt.

“Rudra, why don’t you drop Suman home?”

“Of course.” Without hesitation, and hiding his inner turmoil, Rudra agreed.

Once Mohan, drove them away, Daadi’s controlled demeanor cracked.

“Rudra shouldn’t have spoken like that.”

Shekhar, however, wasn’t having it.

“Daadi, let’s talk about why you told Suman and her family about Keshav Bedi’s suicide note in the first place.”

“I had to,” Daadi snapped. “They deserved to know the truth, that Rudra was innocent.”

“So, if he wasn’t, would they have backed out?” Shekhar challenged.

“Why twist my words, Shekhar? Why dwell on things that didn’t happen? Did you see how maturely Suman apologized? She can handle these things. Besides, what she said mirrors my own feelings. I’m not blaming Kashish directly, but I will never accept her for Rudra.”

Shekhar tried to argue, but Anjali touched his hand, silently urging him to stop. With a frustrated sigh, Daadi retreated to her room.

“I pity Daadi’s mindset about Kashish,” Shekhar said to Anjali, once they were alone.

“She’s stuck in her old beliefs. She won’t understand until she sees for herself what Kashish means to Rudra.”

Shekhar’s frustration slowly faded, knowing his wife was right. Until Daadi genuinely saw how much in Rudra and Kashish cared for each other, she wouldn’t approve of Kashish.

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Uttam Nagar

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