I could not accept her 'No' like this. She needed to get me, and she needed to love me back.
I would make her fall for me.
I sighed and lay tired in the mud, letting the sun dry my tears and remove the negativity.
But first, I needed to consider how to get her to come to me. She did care for me. If I cried, she would hug me; if I was hungry, she would come to feed me.
I suddenly smiled. Yes, I would only eat once she came to me with the food.
She didn’t know me yet. I was recognized for my stubbornness. And I needed her.
I got up from there and headed into the bathroom to enjoy a long, leisurely bath, reflecting more on my plan.
And suddenly, another idea came to my mind.
It was almost evening, and she would be in the kitchen. I took my dagger and took out the blade and gave myself a fine cut on my palm, making me bleed.
And then I called an attendee.
"Ahhhh, I cut my hand. Can you bring me some fresh water?" I asked her, and she immediately walked out. She went into the kitchen, where Suman would ask her what happened. She would tell Suman I cut my hand, and Suman would come running. Mastermind. Oh! She would be here in a few moments moments.
One," I smiled and dipped my bleeding hand into the pool to turn the water red, adding a bit more danger. "Two," I counted and tried to make my face look pained. "Three," I struggled to hold back my smile. "Four," I cleared my throat to make my voice sound hurt. "Fiv-,"
"What happened?" Before I could finish, I looked up at her standing before me—panting and worried. "What happened to your hand? Are you out of your mind? What the hell were you doing?" she yelled, stepping closer with a concerned expression.
I pouted.“I’m sorry. I was just… playing with my dagger and accidentally got cut. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“What are you, five? Who in the world plays with a dagger?” she whispered, still yelling, as I stared at her worried face. Her angelic eyes, now brimming with tears, were fixed on me while she sat on the thick edge of the pool, holding my hand.
"I’m sorry. I won’t do that again," I said, furrowing my brow. The pain was visible to her, and she looked at me with concern.
“Can’t you take care of yourself? And why did you send the lunch back?” she asked, her voice slow and angry, as I glanced at a few attendees standing by the bathroom door.
I signaled them silently to leave and turned back to her.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling hungry,” I said, and she took a deep breath.
“Why? Why weren’t you feeling hungry? What happened?” she asked slowly, and I gulped in silence.
“Nothing, I just don’t want to eat. But you didn’t have to worry about me. I mean, you don’t have anything for me. Why did you come running to me?” I asked slowly, and she gritted her teeth.
“Of course. But I’m an attendee, and it’s my responsibility to take care of you,” she said, trying to hide her smile.
“As an attendee, your responsibility is to care for Bhabhisa, not me, half-wife,” I said, and she looked up at me.
“Don’t call me that,” she said, narrowing her brows.“What?” I replied.
"That, half-wife," she replied, and I shook my head slowly, questioning her.
"Why? You are still and will always be my half-wife," I said in a slow voice, and she took a deep breath.
"You know I cannot do that. We talked about it," she said slowly, wrapping the bandage around my hand.
"But I want you, and I need you," I said, resting my head in my lap. She flinched at my touch and tried to push my head away.
"Someone will see, Kunwarsa. You can’t do that," she said, and I closed my eyes.
"Just for a few moments. My head hurts badly. I can’t ask any other woman to do this. You can do it, right?" I pleaded slowly, and she eventually gave in.