Prejudice

24. Paranoid?

Jay's promise of keeping Diya in the confines of his banglow, did nothing to ease the worries of Pranav.

Though Jay left that day with the promise to be with her at every given moment, Pranav did not believe him and kept an eye on his movements. True to his suspicions, Jay showed his true colors and he was out of the banglow with Diya, under the pretense of a fresh breath of air.

Pranav felt utterly helpless.

There was nothing he could do to interfere between a husband and a wife. It was their decision to make, he could just give suggestions and had his say in nothing at all.

All he could do was, keep a close eye on his father's activities.

Pranav was more stressed than ever. He would return home as usual, but had lost the charm in his eyes. He was always surrounded by a weird tension, even around his kid. He had grow more paranoid than ever. He had given up the thought of loosening up the security around Charu Villa.

Much to the annoyance and added fury of Shraddha, she was now restricted to the walls of Charu Villa. She was not even allowed to the open spaces of the garden. She had protested about it multiple times, but her bitter cries fell on deaf ears, and arguements were always one sided.

Pranav would just ignore her complaints of the closed doors of the villa.

One fine day, Pranav invited both Jay and Diya for dinner. But Jay was aware of the situation of Shraddha. He just happened to dodge it away, under the pretense of Diya being under the weather.

Pranav knew that Jay was just lying. Bit he could do nothing to change the situation for now.

It was more than seven months that Jay declared about his marriage. Pranav's was getting more and more suspicious with every passing day. It was like the calm before a storm.

Though the life was good for Jay and Diya, the same life was filled with worry and anxiety for Pranav.

No suspicious activity from his father, made him more scared than ever before. He was sure, there was something more brutal coming up, very soon.

But as they say, happiness comes at the most unexpected time.

Diya was confirmed to have conceived, one fine day.

Jay's happiness knew no bounds.
He asked Diya to accompany him to the Charu Villa, and deliver the good news to his brother and sister-in-law. Diya was scared of the brooding man, that was Jay's elder brother. She had met him a few times, when he visited them, and always found him intimidating.
She did not have the heart to refuse and accompanied Jay to the Charu Villa.

No one expected Pranav to go silent at the news. He composed himself and asked Jay to stay at the Villa for ever.
Much to his annoyance, Jay skillfully dodged it and with a promise to take care of Diya and be with her at all times, came back to his own banglow.

Shraddha was not very happy with the turn of events. She always thought that she was the most unfortunate as she was being locked up in the villa. Whereas, the young would be mother, Diya was more fortunate to be able to live her life on her own terms.

The relationship between Shraddha and Pranav was slowly deteriorating. He was doing his best to maintain a healthy relationship, but she had started falling out of the marriage, emotionally and mentally. She was feeling trapped and used. There was no explanation to any of Pranav's actions and restrictions being put on her.
She was denied of basic requests of getting a new dress of her choice. She would be presented with a designer at the Villa itself and she had to choose from the collection that was displayed. There was fun in eating street food, which was a never affordable luxury for her. She would get pampered by the beauticians at the Villa, but that was not the same as getting it done at the salon.

Life was too cruel towards her.
And Pranav was a kind hearted demon, who had her caged in a golden trap.

Pranav had a closer monitoring over his father's actions. He would wait for Kite to come over and deliver the message. Nothing was really suspicious, and that would make him go under more and more stress.
He was sure, he would soon find his world crumble down in most brutal way. He was sure, his father was looking for a right moment to strike.

By now, it was confirmed that, until Diya was with Jay, she will be alive. The moment she is left alone, she would not see a new daylight.

Siddharth was of the opinion that, maybe, his father had accepted Jay's decision and would let him live in peace, without any complications.

How nice would it be to just believe Siddharth's words!

His father had never visited them after the striking revelation of Jay. Nor did he made an effort to enquire about their well-being. It was evident that his father was not happy with whatever happened.

Pranav's turbulence and turmoil was not known by Jay. Only Siddharth was aware of what Pranav was going through.

Jay held his wife in his embrace and was stroking her to sleep. She was in no mood to sleep and kept on playing with the buttons of his shirt.

"What would you like to name our baby?" she asked out of nowhere, stroking her four months baby bump.

"Kabir." He replied without a thought.

She looked up at him, surprised.

"We already have one Kabir. Why would you name him the same? And what if it's a girl?" She asked looking in his eyes.

He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I know it's a boy... Just like me.. He will follow his elder brother, like I follow mine. He will be a shadow of Kabir, just like I am, of Dau."

She laughed at his thoughts.
"It will be confusing to have two boys with same name in the same house."

"Then we will name him Kabir Junior." He stated firmly.

Diya shook her head in defeat and closed her eyes.

She did not know, it would be the last conversation about the name of the baby.
She did not know, there will be no two boys of same name, in the same house.
She did not know, Jay will never have the opportunity to name his baby.

Next morning, Jay received a call from his father, asking him to be at the Charu Villa for entire day, and get his business priorities done. Jay left late in the morning towards Charu Villa. By the time he reached, Pranav had already left for office.

Jay was informed that there were a few files waiting for him in his study room, and they needed to be completed by the end of the day.

Jay started the work, with a mind to complete it at the earliest, and go back to the banglow to be with his wife and unborn child.

What he did not know was, he would never meet them again.

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Another chapter up.

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