CHAPTER – 14.2
Isha walked out of their chamber after a while freshening up and changing into a casual saree and went down to prepare snacks and coffee for everyone. She handed the snacks and coffee to Avyan, Amruta, and Devyani who sat in the hall worrying for Isha. Avyan felt bad looking at Isha's red eyes. He observed she didn't look into his eyes like always and he was hurt by her pain.
"Bhabhi sa... it's okay, what's done is done, anyways it's time to change the car, it's been years I got that, but my obsession with it didn't let me, now I will buy another car, in fact, we both will go and get a car for myself, what's say??", Avyan asked holding by her shoulders, she gave a tight smile before walking back to the kitchen.
Avyan's face fell looking at how hurt his sister-in-law was, his sadness for his car slowly disappeared in his worry for her.
"She is a queen Avyan, and a very prideful Rajput, this behaviour is expected after such disrespect, let her be for now, she will get to normal soon", Devyani Devi told her younger grandson deeply thinking in her head. The time has come for her elder grandson lift some burdens off his head and hand them over to his wife.
In order to safeguard them, especially after his mother's betrayal, he took every little responsibility under his wings, whether it's palace-related or business-related. Since he is taking care of a lot of things, he is scared to loosen up a bit or make changes in one part of the system afraid of that becoming the hole in the balloon he carefully built collapsing his whole empire or even worse compromising with their security but now it's time for him to hand over the palace's responsibility to his wife. Isha is soft and kind but when it's required, she could be a tough queen, there is this hidden strength in her that Rajmata Devyani Devi witnessed today, without it, no one can stand up to the BEAST in the main hall in front of everyone. Though Abhyansh was very lenient to Isha compared to others, he didn't tolerate her disrespectful behaviour in front of people, and despite it, she fearlessly confronted him and dared to drop the 'Rani sa' title if it was only a namesake.
"But ma sa, Isha is very hurt, this isn't expected from Abhyansh", Amruta said disappointed at her son.
"Amruta... don't worry unnecessarily, it's time for certain changes in the palace, and take this as a good start for it", Devyani Devi said, getting up and walking away with the coffee cup in her hand leaving Amruta and Avyan in puzzles.
Isha took coffee and snacks to Abhyansh, she entered his study and saw him conversing with Bhairav, so she stayed far away from the hearing range as she didn't want to interrupt their conversation. Abhyansh noticed Isha's presence.
"Isha...", Abhyansh said nodding his head asking her to come towards him, and she started walking towards her husband.
"Rani sa", Bhairav greeted bowing his head. Every time he greeted her, he got a smile in return but now he didn't even get an acknowledgement from her which hurt him but he stayed there waiting for the king to dismiss him.
"We are seeing cars for Avyan, have a look and choose one", Abhyansh said softly, Bhairav cursed himself in the head, he was not supposed to hear the soft tone of his king.
Isha didn't respond to her husband, just poured coffee into the cup and put it in front of him, then served him his snacks and turned to leave when Abhyansh stopped her.
"Wait", he said and she turned to him.
"Allow me to leave Maharaj", Bhairav quickly said after recovering from the shock the queen just gave him by ignoring their king, Abhyansh nodded dismissing Bhairav.
"Isha... I'm trying here, how would I know if you don't say anything", he asked
"Sorry for the delay in bringing your coffee, I know you need it as soon as you come home from office", she softly said ignoring his words...
"What do you want me to do??", he asked trying to hold on to his patience, he didn't want to hurt her, he kept chanting inside. She stayed silent and he huffed in frustration. "Bacha... now you are testing my patience", he said, his tone turning slightly irritated.
She looked at him for a second but didn't say a word, he pulled her by the waist to make her sit on his lap like always but before he could do that, she slowly removed his grip from her waist and moved away.
"If there is nothing, I'll leave... should I call Bhairav back?? You seemed to be in some important discussion", she asked and he shook his head, now understanding his wife was in no mood to talk. He decided to talk at night, maybe she would get better after dinner as he planned to gift his brother the car till dinner.
Isha walked away from there to get the dinner prepared. Later, the whole family assembled for dinner. Isha served her husband, he asked her to sit as well, she nodded and was about to serve herself and then sit as her hands couldn't reach all the dishes after sitting, whereas Abhyansh sat in the head chair and his long hands also could access the dishes easily.
"Aap baithiye (take your seat), I'll do it", he said, serving his wife shocking his family. Avyan who is having the naan (Indian bread) choked on it, which caught everyone's attention including his brother's...
"Have water... or do you expect me to pour it for you ??", Abhyansh asked in his cold tone startling his brother, who quickly had some water, bowing his head a bit as in saying 'thank you' to his brother for asking him to have water, for caring for him.
Rajmata Devyani Devi looked at her eldest grandson changing his ways, not only for his wife but for his family. She smiled at how love, care, and the feeling of belongingness could change even the most stubborn men, her husband was an example of it, and now her elder grandson who was more rigid, cruel, stony, and emotionless than his grandfather.
Abhyansh served his wife, while she served herself with the dishes she could access. Everyone had their dinner, Abhyansh waited till his whole family finished dinner, unlike every day where he gets up and leaves after he is done eating.
He walked to the main hall, asking his family to follow. Pratap got to know what happened to Avyan's car and how Isha fought for it. Bhairav brought the car keys and the papers related to it.
"Isha, hand over the keys and these papers to Avyan", he said, he purposely called her by her name as she would ignore him if he addressed her 'Rani sa', he realized how serious his wife was and he didn't want to get embarrassed in front of his family, well, he feared his wife now.
Isha did the needed, Avyan took the keys with surprise on his face, he didn't expect a new car from his brother, let alone his dream car, which would require at least 6 months prior to order, but of course, nothing is impossible for his brother.
"Avyan... I don't want you to accept it", Isha started startling everyone, and a frown appeared on Abhyansh's face. "Your car was burnt without your fault, it was a huge insult, if you accept this, it's as if you indeed are at fault, so, I don't want you to, I wouldn't have told you this if I saw you only as my husband's brother, but for me, you are as dear as my bhai, and I would have asked him the same if he was in your place", Isha concluded
Avyan is perplexed to hear his sister-in-law. Well, he too thought not to accept this though the car model is very tempting, the reason he took the keys is only because it was his brother's first gift in decades, he always had to earn things, his brother didn't gift him anything, even when he went abroad for masters, he had to earn for his living through part-time, Abhyansh only paid for his college. He didn't complain though, he understood his elder brother wanted him to become a responsible man, not a spoilt brat. He is what he is because of his elder brother and he owed to him forever.
But, with Isha's words, Avyan was in a fix. Abhyansh understood his brother's dilemma, he couldn't reject his gift in front of everyone which is terrifying, neither could he accept it going against his Bhabhi sa, which would hurt Isha again, and Abhyansh couldn't see her hurting anymore, so he did what he thought he would never do.
"Bhairav, take them back...", Abhyansh ordered and turned to his wife... "I thought you wanted this, that's the reason I got him the car, if you didn't want him to accept it, all you should have done is let me know Isha", he said softly surprising his wife. She never thought he would be that soft to her in front of everyone. He walked away giving one final look to his wife and then to his brother who looked grateful for his gift but sorry that he couldn't accept it. Abhyansh walked away, after giving a nod to Avyan whose eyes welled up at his brother's understanding.
Isha closed her eyes in regret, her intention was not to offend him, she was hurt and wanted to change the way how the family was treated.
Pratap walked away not understanding his daughter-in-law. Why is she trying to change how things are done for decades, instead of having a comfortable life with her husband who loves her immensely? Honestly, he expected Amar Rajput's daughter to be utterly selfish, but Isha proved him wrong at every step. She is stupidly selfless, she doesn't know how to make use of the privileges she is getting by being the queen, instead, she always tries to make other's lives simpler which puzzled Pratap.
"What you wanted to achieve is huge, it doesn't happen in a day, keep your patience", Rajmata Devyani Devi said surprising Isha, how did she know that she(Isha) was not only fighting for Avyan but the whole family Isha wondered ?? She gave a small smile to Devyani before nodding. The older woman left after keeping her hand on Isha's head blessing her.
"Isha, beta... leave it now, what's happened has happened, why are you hurting yourself by thinking about it...", Amruta said, while Isha sat on the floor and kept her head on Amruta's lap.
"I can't ma... I can't see the family's pain because of his indifference, especially yours and Avyan's... what happened with Avyan today not only hurt Avyan but me too... I'm not just fighting for others but myself too", Isha said
"I understand beta... but you have to let go of some things... Abhyansh is changing a lot for you, the way he was with you, or even Avyan for that matter is so unreal, I have never even dreamt of him becoming like this, all I say is give him time", Amruta said
"I do ma, the things that I actually think he needs time in, I give him that, but for some things, I have to sit on his head otherwise he wouldn't act on it, and this is one of them", Isha said and Avyan chuckled. "Why are you laughing now huh ??", Isha asked her brother-in-law who sat beside his mother on the sofa.
"You are so cute Bhabhi sa", he said pulling her cheek while she glared at him... "the way you talk about bhai as if he is a normal person is so cute, I actually feel like bhai sa is just any other person when I'm with you", Avyan said earning a glare from Isha...
"What do you mean by that ?? He is a normal person, he isn't abnormal, and neither he is an alien", Isha said, making Avyan and Amruta laugh...
"Hahaha okay, by the way, tell me, what was Dadi sa talking about ??", Avyan asked
"I want your brother to give the control back to the family, which he has in his hands...", Isha said as if it's absolutely normal thing to ask her husband.
"Impossible", Avyan said with wide eyes... "Bhabhi sa, just give up, this won't happen...", Avyan said, he didn't want his sister-in-law to get disappointed.
"Your brother too said the same, but in different words, but I can't and won't give up", Isha said
"Bhabhi sa...", Avyan tried to convince her but Isha cut him off
"No Avyan, this is all wrong, why should Dadi sa take his permission if she had to go any other places other than the temple or those 2-3 listed ones ?? Why is Ma not allowed to go out, why should she ask his permission every time?? She is his mother Avyan, not the other way around, and you are a prince, I want him to pamper you the way you deserve, I observed, there are times you don't feel like driving to work, instead someone to drop you there, but you can't even ask a driver to do that for you, why ?? I want all this to change, as much as possible, if it's not possible, I want to know the reason at least", Isha said making Avyan and Amruta feel so grateful to finally have someone to fight for them, especially Amruta.
But, she didn't want any of these rights, all she wanted from her son was just a chance to explain herself, she was sure he would forgive her or at least understand her point of view if she was allowed to clear her side, yes, she did betray her son, but she didn't do all those things her husband accused her off, Abhyansh just declared that no one would talk about it, without hearing her side, she is afraid she would die without clearing her side, taking all those fake accusations to her grave, this is her biggest fear, but now she saw a hope in the form of her daughter-in-law.
"Bhabhi sa, bhai sa isn't wrong, whatever he does has a reason", Avyan defended his brother thinking his sister-in-law was thinking wrongly of her husband for restricting his family.
"I know Avyan, he loves you guys a lot, right from the moment he wakes up, the thing in his head with highest priority is to keep all of us safe. I can never think of him wrongly but some things needed change, I want him to let go of certain things so that he can have a peaceful sleep, it's not easy to see the person you love in so much distress every single day. He won't show it, his face is always devoid of emotions but I somehow feel his inner turmoil, and trust me it aches to see him like that", she said, her tone cracking at the end.
Avyan nodded with a smile, how did he even think that his Bhabhi sa could think wrongly of his brother...
"Exactly, stop becoming your brother's lawyer all the time, and tell me when are you bringing a daughter-in-law for me??", Amruta asked
"Ma... please, I still have time, and bhai sa will decide when I should get married, he knows better", Avyan said and Isha ruffled his hair lovingly, he loves and respects his brother so much, she dreamed of seeing the brothers have a normal relationship now. She vowed to do anything to make it possible.
"And ma and I will look for a bride for you, of course after your bhai sa, gives the permission", Isha said
"Isha... talk to Abhyansh after a few days, it's time Avyan gets married", Amruta said
"Yes ma", Isha said giving a teasing smirk to Avyan
"Ma... Bhai sa got married in his early thirties, in that case, I have a lot of time", Avyan said
And there started the fight, Amruta, and Isha on one side while Avyan on the other side.
"Okay let's leave it for your brother to decide, let's not fight over it", Isha said
Isha and Avyan sat with Amruta talking about some random things after that and left to their respective chambers after some time.
Isha went to her room and saw her husband sitting on their bed. He looked furious; she sighed knowing what made him angry. He expected her to come to their room to at least pacify him but she sat in the hall talking with her mother-in-law and brother-in-law while he was sulking alone in the room. She decided to get changed before talking to him but his voice stopped her.
"Where do you think you are going??", he asked and she sighed.
Every day it's their routine, he undresses her from the heavy saree and jewellery she wears in the palace, and makes love, and both of them take a bath together, and then she changes into her nightwear, but seeing her going to change directly he got more pissed.
"I'll change and come, I am not in the mood", she replied softly and walked towards the closet but was pulled by her husband who lifted her and carried her to the bed.
"I know you are mad and upset, but, don't punish me like this... I love you, and I anticipate the whole day to show my love to you... the whole night isn't enough to show you my passion Isha... my desire for you never ends...", he said rubbing himself on her, making her feel his desire...
"Ansh...", she moaned, her husband is an addiction and she tends to forget the universe when he is in front of her expressing his desire...
"Hm... I so love it when you say my name with desire", he said placing his lips on hers, and kissing her thoroughly, as he didn't get to taste her lips in the evening as well as she was extremely mad.
She tapped his chest getting breathless, he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes which turned angry from shy in a blink.
"Move away Rana sa", she said
"You are still upset about it?? What do you want me to do??", Abhyansh asked leaning his forehead on hers, lightly pecking her nose.
"I shouldn't be upset? How are you so cool about it, tell this first, your wife felt humiliated and you don't even care about it?? Old habits die hard", she said mocking him, he sat straight looking squarely at her.
"What do you mean by it??", Abhyansh asked seriously
"Exactly what I said", she said, she didn't want to name all that but he did humiliate her a lot from the time of their marriage and she is too prideful to forget all of it. She forgets it and some or the other thing happens reminding her of the same.
"Isha... I tried keeping your respect at every point, even today, Bhairav would have followed your orders blindly if they weren't going against mine... trust me, no one would dare to humiliate you or go against your words, you are the queen and you are respected a lot", Abhyansh said, trying to make her understand his point.
She silently walked away to change ignoring him, and laid on the bed after returning.
"Really?? Now you won't even talk to me", he said sighing
"Give me what I asked for, and I'll let this go", she bargained, he hated teaching her to stand her ground now.
"Isha... what you are asking is a huge thing, I can't do it", he said holding her shoulders, he hated saying 'No' to his wife but he had to. He can't risk everything, if he wanted, he could find a solution but he didn't want to take even a 0.1% chance at it. The system that's running now provides 100% security to his family, he had everything in place, he didn't want to disrupt the peace now.
"Okay... now let me sleep, I am tired, enjoy your queenless regime then", she said calmly, jerking his hands off, before dozing off due to physical and mental tiredness.
After those words, Abhyansh didn't say a word, as he too was upset with his wife's stubbornness, particularly at this time, he was not used to her being adamant, she was always understanding so her strong stand did get him surprised and now it started irritating him as she maintained her distance from him.
The next day, Isha called her brother to come and drop her and Avyan at their office and pick them up in the evening pissing Abhyansh.
"I'll take you both, why did you ask your brother when we have so many cars at home", Abhyansh asked getting pissed and trying to concentrate on the matter at hand, he is losing control seeing his wife changing in front of him their closet, result of their intimacy for the past few days. He loved how comfortable she became with him... she is still that shy wife until he initiates the intimacy, but once he does, she catches up real fast. But the distance she is keeping from the previous night is getting on his nerves.
"Oh no, I don't want your men to burn another car Rana sa, so keep your cars to yourself, my bhai will drop me and Avyan", she remarked sarcastically adjusting her dupatta (shawl) and he sighed unable to take off his eyes off his wife who is looking gorgeous in an off-white salwar suit.
He knew his statement will draw a sarcastic comment from her yet he used it, his wife looked extremely hot while passing those sarcastic remarks and as much as it pissed him, he secretly enjoyed them. And to torture him more, she is wearing a suit instead of those cotton leggings and kurti she generally wears for work. She is aware that he found her extremely graceful and elegant in her suits.
"You look beautiful Rani sa...", he said hugging her from behind, for a second, she wanted to give in to his warmth which she missed terribly from the previous night but she had to be tough if she needs to earn the desired respect for her family, especially Avyan deserved it. She had to fight for Avyan.
She jerked his hands off her, and walked out of the closet hiding her nuptial chain, and took her bag in one hand, she is about to walk out of their room when her husband who came behind her, held her wrist. He didn't say a thing, just put her nuptial chain on display, and took her towards the dressing table. He silently took out the ointment and applied it to the burn... she in her anger, forgot to apply it, though she forgets it, he never would.
"It's time for your third session, I'll schedule an appointment with the doctor next week... don't forget to apply it after lunch, hm ??", he said softly, kissing her forehead. His care and attention to her every little need melted her heart. She hated giving cold shoulder to him from the previous evening.
"You'll remind me even if I forget, don't you ??", she asked him softly, he reminded her about her ointment daily even when they were not in talking terms, he kept texting her about her medicines. When it came to her, every little thing mattered to him and his this love always made her weak and made her ignore every other thing about him that hurt her, but this time it isn't just about her, it's about Avyan and the whole family too.
"Of course, I will", he said, she nodded and walked away. He sighed deeply before following her, he groaned seeing his brother-in-law standing in the hall, he hated seeing his smirk, Isha observed how her brother was smirking at her husband trying to irritate him.
"Bhai... enough", Isha scolded her brother...
"Ishu... you won't let me enjoy the victory even for a second, such a cruel sister I got", Ranveer said, his smile not leaving his face at his win over his brother-in-law, his sister is preferring to go with him ignoring the BEAST, this gave him a different kick.
"I wish she is the cruel sister who cares the least about her brother, I wouldn't have to think a second before digging your grave then", Abhyansh said throwing fire at Ranveer, Abhyansh's anger and jealousy entertained Ranveer more.
"Ow! Ranawat... don't worry, put a bandage on your bruised ego, okay ??", Ranveer said, Abhyansh took a step to punch his brother-in-law in the gut when his wife came in between...
"Bhayyu, don't you have any work other than irritating my husband ??", Isha asked her brother sternly, bringing a small smile to Abhyansh's face hearing her 'my husband'. She does usually say this, and every time she did, it made him happy at her open claim on him, but it did made him a bit more happier hearing it now, considering she is upset with him now.
"Yeah, right, I'm receiving hundreds of crores every time I irritate your husband, this is what I do for living, don't you know ?", Ranveer retorted at his sister's accusation...
"Bhai, it's my fault I called you to take me to the office", Isha said angrily
"Yeah and it's my fault that I came running to you with one call", Ranveer fought back...
Abhyansh usually enjoyed the siblings' fight, especially his wife's comebacks at his brother-in-law but today he is pissed at his wife's ignorance towards him. And he didn't like her conversing with her brother like a parrot when she hardly spoke 2 words to him on the other hand.
"Rajput... not a word more... I want peace here", Abhyansh told coldly
"What a family huh! You want me to be a peacemaker, your wife wants me to be a chauffeur and your brother wants me to become an FBI Agent and find out about...", Ranveer suddenly stopped saying, looking at the frown on Abhyansh's face and confusion in Isha's eyes. "What I meant is your family is mistaking me to be Lord Vishnu who can take different forms to save the world, unfortunately, I'm just a human", Ranveer finished
"Bhai... let's go, Avyan is here", she quickly urged her brother, seeing Avyan making his way there, she want to save her brother before her husband could corner him and ask about Avyan. She noticed Avyan's horror-stricken face at Ranveer's slip of tongue.
The trio left leaving Abhyansh sulking to himself. In the car, Isha asked Avyan about it, and he revealed the truth. Apparently, he felt bad for what he did to Anshi, so he personally want to apologize to her by gifting her something and attending her wedding to congratulate her personally and he asked Ranveer's help for the same, he wanted him to find out about her wedding date and other details as he didn't want his brother to know about this. Isha appreciated Avyan's thoughts and encouraged him and asked her brother to help Avyan without letting her husband know.
"bacha... I think I'll die in your husband's hands, helping the rest of the family...", Ranveer said while Isha glared at him.
"Okay, please, now you both don't start it, I want some peace", Avyan said from the back seat.
"These brothers demand for peace as if they are the modern Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru of the country, huh", Ranveer muttered, Isha who heard this stifled her giggle glaring at her brother, she didn't want to laugh on her husband and brother-in-law openly, that would encourage her brother more which would cause her least patient husband to shoot her brother.
A slight smile made its way how he acted so patiently with her from the previous evening. Honestly, she didn't expect him to be so calm with her, she expected him to burst out like always, but he really argued with her, just like he promised, he was just Abhyansh to her in their room, not Rana sa. She decided to reward him after all this is done, for all the patience and maturity he is showing.
Ranveer commented about Isha smiling like a fool to herself and there started another bickering, Avyan sighed and put on his headphones looking at his Bhabhi sa and her brother fighting like kids.
After a while, Ranveer remembered it's Isha's birthday in a few days and he already brought a beautiful diamond set for her with the help of Ragini, but he wanted his sister to buy something for herself too, something she liked. So he handed herhis card and insisted she bought something for herself. Isha took it and told her brother she would go with Ragini and Reetu.
Soon they reached the office, Ranveer left for work after dropping Isha and Avyan off. A few days passed and Isha is the same with Abhyansh, which is wearing his newly found patience off. She is being nice to him occasionally, responding to him without any sarcasm and letting him kiss her. Though she is upset with him, she refrained from showing it all the time as she doesn't want her husband to lose his calm and burst at her, she is still afraid of his anger and looks like she will always be.
One evening, Ranveer was at Abhyansh's office discussing some work when Isha called him.
"One-second Ranawat, please", Ranveer said pausing their discussion to pick his sister's call which earned a glare from the BEAST that meant 'dare-you-pick-the call-up-wasting-my-time' but soon Abhyansh's glare turned into a sigh when Ranveer showed the caller name 'Ishu'. Abhyansh nodded, and Ranveer picked up the call with a smirk.
"Bhai... I am at a mall with Ragini and Reetu, your card isn't working, they are asking for a pin", Isha explained.
After purchasing her favourite saree which she liked a lot, and approved by Ragini and Reetu, they moved to pay the bill, Isha gave her brother's black card to tap, but the person at the billing told her the tap isn't allowed as the spend limit is exceeding, and inserted the card in the machine asking for a PIN which Isha doesn't know so she called her brother.
"Isn't working ?? Bacha... the card is active" Ranveer told his sister and Abhyansh frowned at it, his wife is buying something with her brother's card, this made him furious.
"Oh, they are saying something like, the tap doesn't work as it's exceeding the limit", Isha repeated the cash counter person's words...
"Exceeding ??", Ranveer is surprised, his limit for contactless transactions and tap is high, and he didn't expect his sister to spend so much, though he is happy she did. "Bacha, how much is the bill ??", Ranveer asked
"I didn't see, should I ??", Isha asked with confusion...
"Bas itna ameer hona hai mujhe(I want to become this rich)",Reetu whispered to Ragini who giggled.
"No no Ishu... leave it, my pin is your date of birth, DD-MM format it is, you got it ??", Ranveer asked softly
"Yes Bhayyu...", Isha said and is about to hang up when her brother said something that made her smile widely...
"Ishu... buy whatever you want, after all your bhayyu earns only for you", Ranveer said, her brother's love for her never made her feel like an orphan, even after her parents' and Dadi's death.
"Okay Bhai, bye", she said hanging up...
Ranveer hung up and turned to Abhyansh to continue the discussion, with a smile on his face, he was finally happy that his sister was getting to buy whatever she wanted, and pride filled him that he was the one who was fulfilling her wishes.
But his smile vanished looking at the anger simmering in his brother-in-law's eyes.
"Ranawat...", Ranveer started
"GET OUT", Abhyansh shouted making Ranveer sigh deeply... she forgave him but can't take his money, only he knows how happy he got when she wore the saree and jewellery from the closet he gifted, he thought she finally moved on but she is back to square one? And it fumed him. He would have known the whole thing if he had listened to his brother-in-law.
"Fine... I'll go, but don't show your anger on my sister, she is already upset with you, hope you remember this", Ranveer said and rushed out before his brother-in-law shot him in the head.
He met Avyan just outside his brother-in-law's cabin.
"Don't go in, your bhai is hell-mad, he might kill you if you go", Ranveer cautioned Avyan who glared at him in return...
"What did you do now ??", Avyan asked cursing his fate.
"I did nothing...", Ranveer replied offended by Avyan's statement... "I mean I'm partially the reason but I didn't do a thing", Ranveer said and Avyan sighed deeply.
"I sometimes feel, making our lives difficult is the only reason for your existence", Avyan said and Ranveer glared at him. "I have a meeting scheduled with Bhai sa, now I can't even avoid this, and neither can I have it easy", Avyan almost cried...
Ranveer just shook his head and walked away, praying for Avyan while Avyan prayed the same while entering his brother's cabin. Abhyansh remembered why his wife was mad in the first place looking at his brother and that's it.Avyan had the most difficult two hours of the decade.
In the evening, Abhyansh wanted to ask his wife about it but he didn't understand how to do it without offending her, technically, she didn't do anything wrong but it did anger him a lot. So, he kept brooding instead of trying to persuade her like every day, and this confused her, but she didn't try to ask him the reason, she let him brood, she just gave him the coffee and is about to leave when Bhairav made his way in.
"Rani sa...", he bowed, Isha walked away without responding to him making Bhairav regret hurting their queen. Before that day, Isha was very kind to him, she used to smile at him, and talk to him kindly, care for him which made the elder man happy though he never responded much as he wasn't used to having big conversations.
"Isha... at least respond to him", Abhyansh said, he didn't like seeing Bhairav regretting when there was no fault of his, he overlooked his wife's behaviour with his best man till now as he didn't want to upset her more but his irritation from earlier didn't let him ignore it today. "It wasn't his fault", Abhyansh added softly
"I don't see myself as 'Rani sa', why would I be responding if someone addresses me with a name I'm not?", Isha asked in her soft tone looking at Abhyansh and turning to Bhairav... "Aap hume humare naam se bulaye Bhairav, please (Please call me by my name Bhairav)", Isha said softly, Bhairav shook his head bowing in respect, and opened his mouth to say something when Abhyansh stood up from his chair.
"He can't and he wouldn't, no one would", Abhyansh declared standing up.
Isha wanted to strongly retort to her husband but she doesn't want to be rude to her husband in front of Bhairav and Abhyansh saw that in her eyes.
"Bhairav...", Abhyansh said, Bhairav got the king's message and left from there quickly following his unsaid orders.
"Isha, why are you doing this ??", Abhyansh asked for the nth time in the past few days
"I seriously don't understand why you ask questions, you already have answers to ?? And they need to learn to address me by my name Rana sa because that's the only permanent identity I have, you know why ?? No one can stop me from being Isha, not even you", she said making him furious...
"You have lost the ability to understand", Abhyansh spat, getting angry at his wife, but he is trying to control it still...
"Maybe I did, I don't want to be the only one who understands", Isha spat back...
"You really think I don't understand anything ??" he said and she looked away, because she can't lie looking at him, neither could she tell him the truth, it would make him convince her to give up her fight which she didn't want to...
"I don't want to argue with you", she said and left from there, leaving him in confusion and anger, isn't she the one asking for them to argue ?? He is already weak in emotional intelligence and adding to it, his wife's mixed reactions and emotions are making him more frustrated.
For the first time, he felt so irritated that he pulled his hair in frustration, otherwise not even a huff leaves his mouth, he was used to staying that cold and expressionless at any situation but his wife changed everything.
Abhyansh thanked his stars that he didn't shout at his wife, which would have made things worse, he prayed to his Mahadev asking for more patience to deal with his wife till he solved this issue.
Isha got to know the reason for her husband's extra irritation, when she spoke to her brother later. She wanted to clear to him that her brother insisted her to buy something for her birthday, that's why she went for shopping but then decided against it. She let him think that she is upset with him and asked for her brother's card to buy something. She wanted to push him to consider an alternative to her request if not the exact thing.
Abhyansh is irritated with his wife's childishness, he left for his study after dinner to stay sane and not shout at her. Isha kept waiting for him and fell asleep on the bed without changing. He came to his room in the early hours to freshen up as it's time for his prayer, his eyes fell on his wife who was sleeping uncomfortably on the bed still in her saree. He understood she is waiting for him but didn't want to call him.
"You and your pride Rani sa...", he muttered before making her sleep comfortably... he noticed the rough surface of her saree caused a red rash on her soft skin, and the redness is even more evident on her milky skin. He sighed before going to their closet and brought a soft nightie.
He slowly took off her saree pins and is about to remove her saree when she woke up rubbing her eyes.