The Workaholic Wife ✅

The Hopeless and the Orphaned

"I know you love him. Please, try to hear—

"I don't need to hear anything from a wicked man like you! I saw the evidence. You tortured him! No father in their right mind would do that."

The old man pauses, calming himself as he clutches the metal doors. "You're right. No father would. I am his father, and I never did anything but protect him. It is my brother in law—

"Don't you dare lie by putting the blame on my Pops. I have seen the evidence, and I witnessed the torture you put the poor girls through. I have a gun, and I'm not afraid to shoot."

He hesitates, but doesn't move. I point the gun at his son's head, my own hands shaking as they lock the safety. I do not want to kill my husband today.

"You wouldn't. You love him."

For a second, my brain starts to work against me, defending the depressed man standing before me.

I snort. "You don't know that. Now, old man, move before I shoot him." A lone tear escapes out of his right eye, and he shuts his eyes close, moving to the side and giving me my way.

"I didn't do that to him. Ask my son. Ask him who did it." He says, pointing to Aniket.

I sigh, my brain overworking itself in confusion. Was he telling the truth? If he was, if he was a good man, why would he hurt these poor girls by forcing them into prostitution?

I come to a conclusion with that question. He is wicked, the old man. I cannot trust him.

But a part of myself starts to distrust Pops as well. The old man had told me something about Pops taking everything from him. He mentioned his wife; Aniket's biological mother.

Didn't pops claim that it was this old man that killed his sister? Isn't that why this man went to jail?

Before I could interrogate, my ankle gives out on me. I have to sit, or else I was going to infect the damn thing. I decide that I will come to a conclusion after I put this man behind the bars.

Justice will do the judgement.

I limp towards my freedom, Aarav close behind with Aniket thrown across his shoulder. Aarav helps me by using Aniket's weight to push the metal doors. He aids me through the uneven terrain outside. I witness the trial of blood red the sun leaves behind, as I exit the mansion.

Aarav and I work as a team to get to his car, knowing full well that we have no energy to call the police and get ourselves more paperwork.

"Go home." I tell him, as straps me into the seat like a three year old. He's already secured Aniket in the mess of his back seat, where trash littered around the sleeping form of my husband.

Aarav nods once before climbing into his Jeep, and igniting the engine. He straps the seatbelt around himself as he steps on the gas harshly.

We sped through the highway in a couple of minutes later, the sun descending on the curved sky. The trees howled around us in despair, as I rolled the windows of the battered old car. It was a sight I would have wanted to enjoy with Aniket.

Aarav looks straight ahead, a faint smile crossing his uneven lips. "That was almost too easy." He says, adjusting his bony hands on the gear. "You're bleeding." He says, looking at my ankle briefly before focusing on the road.