The Enchantress

29. Aabha

TW: mentions of abuse and domestic violence:

Viraj felt like he was on top of the world as he was informed that her family had reached Mumbai. He found out recently that her name was Mahamaya and not Mohini. If he felt like her name was old fashioned before, her name was more old fashioned now but he liked old things and he liked her real name more.

His men were still keeping an eye on them. Since she had killed his father, almost everybody was curious about her, including the other Mafias. However, he couldn't let his own people know that or they would thirst for her blood. He was going to be the new Mafia leader now and he had to work hard to maintain the throne in the family but the first few days, he was indeed crazy about her, about protecting her...

He went to his mother's room. She was a frail woman, someone who was abused by her husband. She had no other choice but to marry him and despite the continuous abuse and cheating, she still cared for him. Viraj wondered if it was because she thought her husband was her only shot of survival in this whole Mafia environment.

It was common for women to be mistreated in the Mafia. Traditional people were many times misogynists, sometimes unintentionally but Mafia men intentionally treated their women badly and manipulated them such that they would stay with them.

Anyone would think that he worked against his own father so that he could get the throne of Mumbai's Mafia but the truth was, he wanted to free his mother and change the lives of women under his Mafia family. However, the work couldn't be started yet because he was still not the Mafia King yet. It would take them generations to clean and filth in the dirty Mafia.

The boys who grew with him, now strong and loyal men, agreed with him because they had seen their mothers and sisters getting ill treated too. There was no use in scrapping the entire Mafia away, because that would just make them more vulnerable.

The goal was not to make harmless men. That could not be the solution with their lifestyle. The goal, instead, was to produce men who were capable of harming but would choose not to. This idea of his was used to train more boys inside the Mafia family who still wanted to engage in the Mafia, not to spread terror but to protect their families instead because there was no u-turn from the Mafia.

Viraj sat besides his mother and took her frail hand in his. He could see the scars on her wrists and scratches along her arms. He gulped and closed his eyes. He tried not to hate his father but when he saw those marks, his nerves would fire up with anger. He felt a trembling hand in his hair as she would comb her fingers along his hair.

For Aabha, the best moments of her life were spent with her second son, Viraj, because she couldn't spend time with her first son, Yuvraaj.

Her father had given her hand to her late husband's for a piece of land. That was how she was shackled in the marriage. No matter how much she tried to make him happy, she would do something to earn herself some bruises and the worst mistake she did was giving birth to a handicapped son.

She wasn't educated much so she didn't know that the reason of her multiple miscarriages and a kid with a genetic disorder was a result of continuous inbreeding in Mafia families. Her husband blamed her and she considered herself as the reason behind her first son's condition too.

Yuvraaj was six years older than Viraj. There were two more miscarriages along the years before she was finally blessed with Viraj. The innocent boy instantly brought light to her dark life. She was worried when her husband started training him and when she voiced that out, she was rewarded with getting dragged in the bedroom and getting kicked on her stomach and between her legs.

She again blamed herself. Of course she was the one in the wrong. She should have understood that her husband was a man and he knew better. Viraj, thankfully, proved her thoughts wrong and retained his love and gentleness for her despite the harsh training and the killings he was forced to do. She was glad she was wrong.

Viraj kept his head on her lap, because that felt the right thing to do. He smiled as she played with his hair. Since her husband died, she was engulfed in grief but unlike when her husband was alive, her Yuvraaj didn't need to stay hidden in his room anymore and she could go meet him whenever she wanted to.

As the heir to the Mafia and the eldest man of the house with no disorders, her son allowed her to not only do whatever she wanted, but also warned her never to ask him for permission ever again because in his words, she would insult his mother everytime she would do so.

Viraj would have to marry to inherit the Mafia. For now, the right hand man of his father, Ayush was currently managing the Mafia till Viraj was finally married. Ayush was also looking for the right bride because he didn't trust Aabha or any other woman enough to do it.

Viraj however didn't care about his approval as he whispered, his head still on her lap, "I like a girl and I would like if you would meet her and approve of her."

He had closed his eyes. Even if nobody cared about her opinion, he did, very much did and he was worried how she would react. The frail fingers on his scalp froze as she said softly, "W-Will Ayush like her?"

Ayush would, unless he somehow found out she had killed his best friend. Then, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Viraj didn't voice out his thoughts, just nodded as he looked at his mother, to see her smiling. It was rare to see her smile and today, she was smiling with all her heart and it was visible with how her delicate face had brightened up.

"I would love to meet her. If you like her, we would even take shagun to her," Aabha said, feeling excited.

Shagun means gifts from the groom's house to the bride's house representing blessings and a yes to the marriage.

There was going to be a wedding in the house after an entire generation. Her husband had, after all, not allowed anyone much in their house with the thought that they would see Yuvraaj, who was an embarrassment for him.

They were in their own world when a small five years old girl with two piggy tails ran in the room and hugged Viraj, keeping her head on his stomach, exclaiming happily, "Aaba (Dad)..."