Healing The Void (The Roys, #2) ✔

Chapter 14 - Options

2nd October

No one expected it would rain on Maha-astami. Just before they were about to go to the local puja mandap, the pouring started out of the blue.

Last night, Dona and Ritu planned with her that they would go to the puja mandap together to offer pushpanjali to the Goddess, but it turned out they couldn't until the rain stopped.

It was only 7 in the morning, and luckily the timing for pushpanjali was until 9 am. Dona confirmed it from the priest the day before. Dev was sleeping, and that was a good thing. They would be able to return on time if the rain stopped right now. But the weather outside seemed not to care about that.

Shreya sighed, looking out the huge glass window of the hall. The raindrops poured on the swimming pool and created ripples after ripples on the water. Ritu was focused on her phone, and Dona, after realizing the rain wasn't about to stop any sooner, disappeared somewhere inside the house. She hadn't seen any of the Roy brothers since morning, and expecting them to show up was actually her over-expectation. Absolutely unreasonable.

Today, she wore a white saree with red lining in traditional Bengali style, and matched it with a long gold chain and golden earrings. Both of the items were gifts from her grandfather who passed away when she was thirteen.

Feeling restless, she stood up and walked out the backside door to the garden behind. It was still drizzling. So, she went ahead and sat under the garden umbrella that was installed there from before.

A sigh left her again as she turned her head and gazed at the swimming pool. The rain drops seemed to dance on top of the water surface. Watching them with an undivided concentration, she suddenly felt content, but it eventually faded into disappointment.

She's been living here for three days now and it was hazardless till now. No one was there to interrupt her actions and decisions. Somehow, she had been feeling empowered while living in the Isha mansion. All she had been doing is listening to herself and things were going great. Occasional interactions with the members made it more welcoming and appreciating but it never felt depressing, and she never felt overheard which she always felt in her own home. Since her childhood, financial blockages were a constant companion of her family, so her parents, especially Trishna had to work overtime to earn bread and luxuries of life. That's why she never blamed her for turning rude and rigid over time. But, Dibyendu. His approach towards life had been lazy and his attitude towards his wife and daughter had been toxic and surface-level.

Their apparent small and happy family was anything but that. They were dysfunctional and she had to accept it and live with her whole life.

Dibyendu had never been well off with his earning abilities, and he never tried hard to change that. His approach towards life had always been pessimistic. He lived his whole life in a victim mentality energy and that attitude affected both Trishna and her lives. Sometimes, he treated them as any normal husband and father would, but at times, his toxicity scarred their lives some harsh way.

In the beginning years, Trishna had been a naïve wife as she should have been, but life's hard way taught her to speak up and turn strict and bitter. So often, when they had had some fight over issues like budgeting or legal issues like Dibyendu's paternal property, Shreya had to turn a deaf ear and avoid the conflict as much as she could.

Her family life had been chaotic, in all aspects. Economic, emotional as well as social. She never had experienced the comfort and ease as a child should in her growing years. Perhaps, that was the reason she developed a liking towards caring for others. She wanted to provide that comfort to others which she never had as a child up until now.