For a moment, she just stared at the room and then at me. She didn't look happy instead she looked irritated.
"What's this?" She scanned the entire room and questioned
"It's our anniversary," I said hesitatingly.
"What anniversary?" She looked at me with utter disgust.
"Our wedding anniversary. We got mar-"
"And, what's this?" she cut me off in the middle and took the velvet cloth off of the piano.
"It's a gift. I bought it for you. Remember how you used to play it back in school? I wanted to surprise you" I said and a frown etched on her face.
Her perfectly manicured nails dug into her purse strap, knuckles turning white. "Surprise? You call this a surprise? This childish attempt to win me with fancy toys."
Why is she saying this? Her words are hurting me.
"What's wrong, Heer?" I managed, the word raw in my throat.
A humorless laugh escaped her lips, "what's wrong? You are asking me, What's wrong?"
she slammed her fist onto the piano and screamed in anger, "WHAT IS EVEN RIGHT IN THIS MARRIAGE? HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE YOU TO FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT I DON'T LOVE YOU!"
There was pin-drop silence in the room. The velvet box in my hand fell on the floor.
"Is this really how you feel? All this time?" My hands turned cold.
She walked towards me, looked right into my eyes, and with no hesitation in her voice she said, "Yes"
Tears stung my eyes "Then why did you agree to this marriage?" my voice barely a whisper.
"Because you were the better option according to them"
Option.
I was an option.
"A reputed neurosurgeon with a secured future and generational wealth. You were indeed the better option. But love isn't a thing that can be bought even with generational wealth. I loved somebody else and I almost convinced my parents to let me marry him, but then you came and... ruined everything"
Him.
There was another man.
She loved that man, not me. My world fell apart thinking that the women I loved with all my heart, loved somebody else. I could feel my heart breaking into pieces.
She stood inches before me and said, "You know why have I never let you touch me? That's because you disgust me. Your presence suffocates me, and I hate that "
My touch disgusted her.
I stood there like a statue. A wave of nausea washed over me. In all these years, I had never touched her, not intimately. Every attempt of mine had been met with a cold shoulder, the excuse of discomfort a lie hiding the truth – I wasn't the one she desired.
Suddenly, a glint of something metallic caught my eye on the floor. It was a ring, which fell out of that velvet box. The one I had picked out, was a symbol of a love that never bloomed. My heart, already bruised, fractured further.
Her gaze followed mine. She picked that ring up and in a mocking tone, she said, "You can't manufacture passion with a stupid piano. And, This pathetic attempt to win me back with… with this… this cheap trick…" She gestured dismissively at the ring.
Cheap trick?
Her words shattered the last remnants of hope I clung to. This wasn't a trick, Heer. This was my heart, laid bare on the living room floor – a heart that ached for a love that never existed.
With a surge of anger, I retorted, "Heer, maybe you should look in the mirror before you start calling things cheap."
I regret those words the moment I said them.
Because the fury in her eyes intensified. In a swift, horrifying motion, she snatched a heavy crystal vase from the side table and hurled it at the window behind me.
A loud crash echoed in the living room. The glass of that window shattered into a million pieces and searing pain erupted in my back, a sharp sting that took my breath away.
I stumbled forward and fell onto the floor, my vision blurred as a shard of glass pierced deep into my flesh. Within a few seconds, the white color of my shirt turned red.
Through the haze of pain, I saw Heer, her face filled with rage, completely oblivious to the destruction she had caused to me.
"See what you made me do? Happy wedding anniversary, Virat", with those last words she left the apartment.
My heart went numb. She didn't care if I was injured or if I needed help.
At that moment, I wasn't just bleeding from the wound; my love for her was hemorrhaging, leaving behind a gaping hole of betrayal.
I believed that marriage would be the best thing that could have happened to me.
Oh! how wrong I was.
In those two years, I craved love and care, and as Meera once said, I craved for her to see me. But, she didn't.
She never saw me because her eyes were set on somebody else.
That night, I didn't see the woman I loved, the woman I had built a life with. I saw a stranger, a beautiful monster who reveled in my pain.
The rest of the night is a blur. The ambulance ride, the sterile hospital room, the doctor stitching the wound on my back – a constant reminder of the night my heart shattered.
Heer never apologized. Never expressed a shred of remorse. The only words that echoed in the hollowness that consumed me were, "I hate you, Virat. And I love him."
Those two years I spent with a woman who cheated on me, made a fool out of me, mocked me, and made me the man I am today.
The man who is now known as a Monster.
✧
How's the chapter?
We have reached over 5k views on Ehsaas.
Happy happy happy
┌(・。・)┘♪
Take care until we speak again!
- Aastha
YOU ARE READING
EHSAAS - A Collection Of Short Stories
Short Story"Ehsaas" means "feelings," and that's what you'll get with every page of these Indian stories. A country where golden sunsets kiss the land and temple bells whisper melodies. This ain't just a story, it's a whole lotta love, packed in bite-sized tal...
