Page 88 of The Unwanted Husband
She hugged him, burying her face into his chest. He ran his fingers into her hair and added, “Would you be angry with Sami if she was the one who initiated the case filing.”
She pulled back looking at him, processing what he said. She finally shook her head. “I feel so proud of Ravi for initiating the case. I didn’t do it until you told me I had to stop complaining and do something about what happened over ten years ago.”
He smiled, running his thumb over her cheek.
“Ashok, none of the truth would have come to light if you hadn’t challenged me on that day. And everything that you have done to get to the bottom of this case, I only had a hunch but you proved it right.”
He shook his head. “Don’t give me credit for what you did and I only followed up on your hunch when I saw the fear in your eyes when we were at the lone island when you thought we were being attacked by Paramesh Saini’s men. It was all you. You uncovered the truth.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she hugged the man who was her everything. At that moment she knew her decision to stay back was the right thing. Nothing about her life seemed meaningful without him.
She was finally home.
*****
Right after the court ruling, Isha wanted to be back on the island, her new home. She wanted to be with family and most of all she wanted to see the twins. When she had called Sasikala and Amuktha to check on the twins she was told that they kept asking for her. Specifically, her and not Ashok. Their words melted her heart and she could not wait to see them.
She hugged them and planted kisses on their chubby cheeks. “I missed you too. I’m not going anywhere without you guys anymore.” Only she could understand the void they would have forever.
Ashok only watched her silently like he was making sure she wasn’t going to be overwhelmed with everything she was processing. But in years, she felt at peace and it was because of his presence.
Isha could not wait for it to be a decent hour in the morning in America, to call her aunt to share the news about the case and the new revelation. She had much to share with her aunt. About her decision to stay in India. She paused at that thought and looked at the sight of Ashok working on his laptop, his legs stretched out onto the coffee table. It meant she was going to be his wife for real.
Did she have to ask him to be his real wife? What if he declined?
She smiled at her own silliness. She knew he wouldn’t and even if he did, she was going to convince him that she was his, forever.
Diverting her eyes to her phone, she dialed her aunt’s phone. It was a bit early but she knew her aunt would not mind being woken up a bit early to hear the good news.
“Isha, is everything okay,” Chandini asked after answering the call.
Isha looked at the phone to see if she had dialed her cousin by mistake. “Why did you answer mom’s phone?”
Chandini took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to call you in the middle of the case proceedings but Mom is not well and she needs a bypass surgery.”
“What? Why?” Cold sweat broke out across Isha’ forehead as she gripped the phone tighter. Every noise around her faded into a distant hum behind her. “What happened? She was fine last week when I spoke to her.”
Then came the pause. That horrible, weighted silence that always precedes bad news.
“She’s been hiding it from all of us.” Chandini’s voice cracked. “The chest pains, the breathlessness and she kept saying it was just stress from everything that happened. This morning, she collapsed in the kitchen. Dad found her unconscious.”
The phone felt like lead in her hand. The phone call should have been pure celebration, a moment to bask in victory, to hear the pride in her mother’s voice, the congratulations from her cousins.
Guilt crashed over her like a suffocating wave. How had she not known? She’d been so consumed with the lawsuit and trial preparation that she hadn’t called regularly. Not as regularly as she should have. Her aunt had probably been sick even then, probably hiding it so she wouldn’t worry, wouldn’t be distracted from the case or leave the twins to be with her. That’s exactly what her aunt would do. She would sacrifice her own needs for everyone else’s happiness. The need to drop everything and go to her aunt was immediate.
But then she looked up, and there they were.
Ashok stood in the doorway with that particular expression he gets when he’s trying to figure out what she needs or what was going on in her mind.
The twins, the two beautiful souls who’ve woven themselves into the fabric of her heart over these months. Who’ve just started really trusting her, really opening up. Who’ve had enough abandonment in their young lives already and she could not think of being away from them and causing more chaos in their young hearts.
The paralysis sets in. She felt physically torn, like someone was trying to pull her in two directions at once and she was going to split right down the middle.
If she left to be with her aunt, she would leave him to manage everything alone, the kids, the emotional aftermath she would have to deal with scared her. They left the city right after their moment of triumph in court, to be celebrating together with the twins.
She feared leaving the twins, worried about the emotional toll it would have on them from what they would see as an abandonment. The last time they had nightmares was over two months ago and she knew it was because they felt loved and the void she knew existed for them was covered up well with the love they received from everyone.
She was terrified of making the wrong choice and having to live with it forever. If her leaving damaged their fragile sense of security, she’ll never forgive herself. Her aunt had all the support and medical help she needed but the idea of not being with the woman who took her in as her own, ripped her apart.
