Page 47 of The Unwanted Husband
But what if the woman he eventually marries does not like the kids?
A sudden chill passed through her. How could she ensure the twins would get the same attention from whoever Ashok marries in the future? Is that why he wants to be united with his family? But who would care for them even if they were with the family.
Lost in thought, she didn’t realize the two women were done styling her for the evening. “Thank you,” she mumbled as they left her all by herself.
Isha slowly stood up, her bare feet taking in the cold marble floor. She absently slipped on matching heels that were set aside for the evening. She took a deep breath wondering if she should bring up the questions she had in her mind when they went out that night.
It may not be a pleasant conversation to have but she felt compelled to address her concerns. She reached for her phone before leaving her room. Because she was distracted with her thoughts, she didn’t realize that Ashok was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her as she descended the steps.
When their eyes met, her step wobbled as her heart kickstarted in her chest. Ashok was dressed in a navy dress shirt and khaki pants and looked debonair. She suddenly felt unsure under his gaze but she held it like she could not look away.
He held his hand out as she got closer, his eyes holding an expression she could not decipher. “You look beautiful tonight.”
She felt heat rush to her cheeks and she nodded. “You look sharp.” She smiled.
He nodded. “Ready to go?”
With those words he led her to the awaiting car on the driveway. Unlike the other times they had gone out, he held the door open for her. He helped her slide in before coming around to get into the driver’s seat.
“I hope you’re okay to eat dinner a bit later.” He kept his eyes on the road as they pulled out of the compound.
“I’m okay, I can wait.” She wasn’t sure of what the plan was but she was too focused on when to talk to him about twins and what his plan was, five years into the future.
She didn’t know how long they drove before she said, “Ashok, I need to talk to you about something.”
He didn’t respond immediately like he suspected something was on her mind. “Sure.”
“You…you are great with the twins and I’m a hundred percent confident that you would do a great job with raising them and doing everything right by them.” She paused to look at him even as he kept his eyes on the road and added, “How wouldit all work out when you get married and there is someone else in the twins’ lives?”
Ashok kept his eyes on the road and after a long, awkward silence, he said, “I don’t know.”
His words made her heart drop to her stomach. It was the truth but she was not ready to accept it. Her chest rose and fell as she thought of a scenario where the twins have no one to focus on them and that suffocated her.
“But we’ll figure it out,” he said before adding, “I have no plans to get married anytime soon so don’t think too much about it.” It gave her a brief relief and she nodded.
And as if he sensed the stress she was feeling he chuckled before adding, “And it’s now up to you to decide when I can marry…again, since I’m still married to you.”
She let out a laugh, relief enveloping her. That’s right, she can make sure there is no other woman in his life by never divorcing him. He can’t make her. Maybe she could make him hold off on getting married until the kids turn ten. He would be thirty-eight which wouldn’t be a bad time for him to get married and settle down.
Maybe the twins could live with her at that age. They would be easy to handle. She decided not to extend the conversation further. She was somewhat satisfied with his response and she looked forward to enjoying the evening out of the house.
“Where are we headed?” she asked, suddenly curious.
“Well, we are on a mission to make sure there is no doubt whatsoever about our marriage and there are a few things that need to be done to fix that.”
Something seemed off. “What do you mean by a few things? I thought we were just going out for dinner.”
He nodded. “One more stop before that and it shouldn’t take long. I hope it won’t.”
“I’m intrigued. What is this stop for?” She suddenly felt at ease with him and wondered why at times there was this strange tension that built between them. Like the time their eyes met a short while ago when she descended the stairs.
Just at the memory of the moment a short while ago, her heart started to thud. Besides the sudden rage in her chest, his proximity and his cologne was doing weird things to her mind. She took a deep, hissed breath looking out the window.
The city lights shone bright and instead of overthinking her reaction to his proximity, she decided to enjoy the sights in front of her. She chose to remain silent instead of making small talk.
“We are here,” he said, pulling into a parking spot marked as reserved.
She looked around for a sign that would tell what ‘here’ was but no telling signs. Even as he held the door open for her, she looked around the building and she could not even see an entrance until she heard a heavy door open to one side. Double doors that were camouflaged and a young woman and a slightly older man walked out to greet them.
