Illicit Desire

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 Vikrant's words made Jiya angry. She wanted to control her anger, but then she blurted it out.

"You may take your decisions in haste, but I don't take Vikrant. You just expressed your desire to spend your entire life with me, and now you are giving me just two days to decide?

For you, marriage will be a business deal, but for me, it is the most important decision of my life. You can't force me to say yes. If you truly love me and want to spend the rest of your life with me, I hope this won't be our last meeting. I can't make a decision on marriage in two days. I will wait for your call."

Vikrant was shocked to hear Jiya's words. He didn't expect such a strong reaction from her. This is what he admired most about Jiya—her fierceness, her honesty. She is what she is, without any pretense.

 Seeing Jiya angry, he ordered ice cream for her.

"Have ice cream; your mind will be cool."

"I don't want to cool my mind."

"Oh! Jiya, don't be so stubborn."

"Okay."
As soon as Jiya ate the ice cream, a smile came on her face.

"Why didn't you order for yourself?"

"I don't like much."

"It doesn't matter if you don't like it. At least you can have a bite with me."

Jiah offered her ice cream to Vikrant, but he was reluctant to eat.

"Oh! I got it; you are not going to eat it because I have already eaten it."

Vikrant immediately took the ice cream from her hand and started eating.

Jiya repeatedly asked him for ice cream, but he did not give it.

"This is the limit now, Vikrant. First, you refused to eat, and once you started eating, you were not ready to give it back to me. You are so weird."

"I don't like anything easily, and if I do, I don't leave it easily."

Jiya understood the meaning of Vikrant's words.

"It's late, Vikrant; drop me at home."

"Don't worry, I will drop you off safely at your home. You said if I win the race, you'll give me what I want. Do you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. What do you want? I hope you won't ask for something that can make me feel uncomfortable."

After thinking about it for a while, he changed the topic by not saying what he wanted to say. "Let me drop you off at home. It's really late. Your mom must be waiting for you._

On the way, nothing special happened between Jiya and Vikrant; he lovingly held her hand in his hand.

"Vikrant, leave my hand; my home has come."

"One minute Jiya, I don't have the age to play a girlfriend-boyfriend game. I want to settle down and get married. There is no pressure from my side on you regarding marriage. Even if you don't, you will always be special to me. Take care of yourself."

Jiya thanked Vikrant with a smile and left for her home.

When she reached home, she was surprised to see her mother awake late at night.

"Why didn't you sleep yet?"

"I was waiting for you. Vikrant must have gone mad with joy after hearing your yes to marriage."

"I haven't said yes to him yet."

"What?"

"I need time to decide."

"What did he say?"

"He has given me two days to decide, and if I do not say yes, then he will consider today's meeting as the last meeting."

Hearing Jiya's words, Mallika got angry.

"I never expected this type of foolishness from you. I made you understand everything at home, but you still ruined it.

He is Vikrant Kapoor, not a street boy. He likes you. This does not mean that he will spend months waiting for your acceptance. Don't think of yourself as so smart. Once your beauty loses its sheen, no one will want to look at you.

Call him and say yes to the marriage right now."

When I have to say yes, I will say it my way. You don't have to interfere in my personal matters. I am not Mallika Sharma, who is always ready to fall into the lap of every rich man.

Hearing this, Mallika's blood started boiling. She slapped Jiya hard on the cheek, irrespective of her age.

"Mind your language. Don't forget that you are my daughter. I did not keep you in the womb for nine months, so one day you will question my character when you grow up.

What's wrong if I want to marry another rich man? Yes, I have needs. I also need someone on whose shoulder I can cry and with whom I can talk. You don't have time for me. You are always busy with your friends. Do you know how lonely I feel? If you get married tomorrow, how am I going to spend my life alone? Life has no existence without money. Besides being your mother, I am also a woman.

Your father has left nothing for us except debt. With your grandfather's money, I am managing all the expenses. Learn to control your tongue; otherwise, one day your tongue will become a cause of your doom."

Mallika went to her room in anger.
 
Jiya was sitting in front of the mirror in the room, looking at Mallika's fingerprints on her face.

She thought about what her mother had said. She wasn't entirely wrong, but she wasn't fully right either. Money is not everything; love is equally important too. She didn't want to marry Vikrant just for money; she wanted to connect with him emotionally and spend some time with him.

After spending such a good evening with Vikrant, she did not know that she would be welcomed home with a slap. Well, she was also somewhere regretting that she used the wrong words for her mother. No matter how many problems there are between them, she is her mother, after all.

After a while, Mallika came into the room and started touching her head with love.

"I am sorry for raising my hand at you. You're a grown-up girl; I shouldn't have slapped you. It's up to you whether you want to marry him or not. I won't say anything more in this matter now. It's not just about money, Jiya; Vikrant is really a nice person."

I want to say one more thing.

"Yes, I accept, I am not a very good mother, but I am not so bad that I have to hear such words for myself from my daughter's mouth. Laughing and talking to someone does not mean that I am ready to fall into the lap of every man. A woman in this world can be a bad wife, but she can never be a bad mother."

After getting no response from Jiya, Mallika got up and started to leave when she held her hand and stopped her.

"Sorry mom. You're right in your own way. But I'm not entirely wrong. Don't worry about him; I'll handle him."
 
 ♥️ Soniya Jadhav

//Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote and comment.//