"Ha... I told you..." Pratap straightened his collar, then smiled proudly at Padmini.
"Kya? And who was at the door?" Padmini stirred the boiling custard in the pan then gave a quick questioning glance to her husband who was still having a satisfied smile plastered on his face.
"I told you that Manvi and Virat weren't having any problem."
"And how are you so sure about that?" Padmini was still concentrating on the pan but her tone confirmed her curiosity.
"Because Padmini..." Pratap switched off the cooker and turned Padmini to face him by holding her shoulder, relief edging his expressions as he sighed and continued, "Virat is here, he is here so early to take Manvi back," he completed and gave her enough time to react to the news,
Padmini shook her head then let out a short laugh, "Toh ab kaha hain?" she peeped over Pratap's shoulder to check the living room.
"I sent him up to Manvi's room, and even asked him to stay for dinner," He was quick before Padmini could ask any questions, "Dekha? I told you that Manvi must have let him know about our plans for dinner,"
"If it is as you are guessing, I am happy... I.. I must have been over worrying," Padmini completed, thinking why she found something off about Manvi's behavior from morning, then decided that she would quit worrying about it for the time being.
"So... what are you making for dinner? Mujhe bhi office se jaldi bhula li," Pratap moved next to Padmini as she resumed her work, Both of them totally engrossed in preparing a special dinner for their daughter and son-in-law.
It was hard for Virat to conceal his raging emotions in front of Pratap, but he tried and nodded to whatever he said, he actually didn't hear a thing but just saw his hand moving up, Virat guessed that sign to be asking him to go up where Manvi was. He didn't rush up the stairs neither did he think of anything until he reached her room door. He entered it without any courtesies, and didn't even notice that she had some songs playing in her laptop.
Virat could see her clearly from where he was standing, he just stood there until she turned and entered the room wiping her wet hand with a towel, she was so casual in her movements that it added more to his anger, he was totally out of sense when he dashed forward and grabbed her forward.
Manvi felt refreshed after staying with her mom and then talking to her friends, true she had to cover up when they asked how she was doing and how her life as a wife and a bahu was, but nonetheless she felt at home, she felt as if everything was normal. So when she felt someone grab her arm and pull her forward she was all ready to scream out of shock and fear but stopped as soon as her skin absorbed the familiarity. Everything was so sudden that she couldn't control her form when Virat pulled her close to him. Her first reflex was to raise her gaze to his face, her plan was to scream at him but the words which emanated in her was also quick to disappear in her throat after witnessing his raged exterior. His anger was so intense that it seemed he was shooting darts of fire at her, it was so intense that his hold on her arms felt as if he wanted to crush her bones and it was so intense that his jaw tightened so hardly that it made a cracking noise making her think that he wasn't just hurting her but was hurting himself equally too.
Manvi kept staring at Virat as he stared angrily at her, none of them spoke or even blinked until he moved his right hand forward to squeeze her shoulder, Manvi cringed slightly but kept her gaze glued to his face feeling totally lost with whatever was happening. Virat opened his mouth to say something but stopped before the words could escape, he did the same things about thrice before giving up and pushing her away from him, it wasn't out of anger but it looked as if he was tired of holding her against him forcefully.
Virat turned away from her and ran his hand through his hair, sighed and rubbed his face. He tried to push away the unpleasant feeling away from him, away from them but failed as he turned to look at her looking at him, her reaction to this situation was just to look at him with a clueless expression, that single thing did not just let his anger fade but it staggered it more.
Virat dashed closer to her; this time not touching her but standing just an inch away as Manvi leaned back in reflex.
"Don't you dare do this to me again," he warned, "Don't you dare worry me to death like this again," His voice shivered with all the stuffed emotions and unvoiced concern, Manvi moved a step back to have a look at his face which was covered with so many emotions that it was hard for her to come to a conclusion, the love she held for him told her that he was hurting but she kept quiet as he moved forward again. He took few seconds to compose himself before speaking again. "I know I have done many mistakes, I have hurt you, I have been wrong most of the time, shuru se hi galat ta mein, par," he paused again, looked at her straight in the eyes and pointed his finger at her, "But you don't have any right to make me go through this, because you knew that this is me all along." His voice was loud and full of blame, "Mein asie hi hun yeh tum jaanthi thi, nahi? shuru se hi tum jaanthi thi khi main aise hun," his tone had a finality in it when he completed and Manvi wished that he would stop, turn and leave the room. But he didn't. instead he held her from the elbow and grabbed her forward, pressing her body to his. "It might have been you who came into my life, but you don't have the right to walk away, hargis nahi, yeh haq tumhe ab nahi hai, you are my wife and I will not let you do this to me, I will not let you ignore me, and I will not let you walk away just as you wish, hum aaj pati patni hain because we knew all this, we knew each other and we wanted each other, and it is not going to change at any point." He completed, moved forward kissed the tip of her nose softly and left the room without a second glance.
