18 ~ Mukti Eloped #2
Before I could gather the courage to say anything the bedroom door burst open.
"Chahat!"
I spun around. "Ina?"
She stood at the entrance, breathing heavily. Ishika was right behind her, equally panicked.
Both of them looked as though they had run all the way upstairs.
"What happened?" I rushed toward them.
Ina's eyes met mine for only a second before shifting toward Mumma.
Her expression crumbled.
"Mukti didi..." She swallowed hard, "unhe peeche ke darwaze se jaate hue dekha humne."
(We saw Mukti didi leaving through the back gate.)
The sounds of the wedding outside suddenly felt impossibly distant.
I saw mumma tilted a little...For a terrifying second, I thought she was going to collapse.
Instead, she slowly sat down on the edge of the bed as if all the strength had drained out of her body.
Her eyes remained fixed on nothing.
I hurried to the bedside table, poured a glass of water with trembling hands and held it toward her.
"Mumma... paani..."
(Mom... water...)
She didn't even look at it.
I gently touched her shoulder. "Mumma..."
Suddenly she shoved the glass away.
Water splashed across the floor. The glass rolled beneath the bed.
I flinched.
Her tear-filled eyes slowly lifted toward me.
There was heartbreak in them but something else too.
"Yahi chahti thi na tum?"
(Isn't this what you wanted?)
My breath caught. "What...?"
"Kahin..." Her voice broke. "...tumne hi to Mukti ko nahi bhagaya?"
(Could it be... that you were the one who helped Mukti run away?)
The accusation hit me harder than a slap. For a moment...I couldn't even breathe.
"Maa..." My eyes instantly filled with tears. "Aap yeh kaise keh sakti hain?Main aisa kyun karungi?"
(Mom... how can you say that? Why would I do something like that? )
No one knew what to do.
The groom's family would be waiting.
Relatives would start asking questions.
Every passing second pushed our family closer to humiliation.
The room was drowning in panic.
Then I heard a gentle knock.
Before anyone could respond...the door opened.
"Mukti taiyaar ho gayi?"
(Is Mukti ready?)
Dadi walked inside with a warm smile on her face.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Arre...Sab yahan kya kar rahe hain? Neeche sab intezaar kar rahe hain."
(Oh... what is everyone doing here? Everyone is waiting downstairs.)
Still smiling, she stepped further into the room.
Then she noticed the silence. The untouched bridal lehenga.
Mumma sitting motionless on the bed.
Papa's pale face.
And me...standing there with teary eyes.
The smile slowly disappeared from Dadi's face.
Her brows knitted together. "Kya hua...?"
(What happened...? )
No one answered. A strange uneasiness settled over the room.
Even Dadi realized something was terribly wrong.
Before Dadi could ask another question, Papa stepped forward.
His shoulders, which had always seemed so strong to me, suddenly looked defeated.
He folded his hands.
"Hume maaf kar dijiye..." His voice cracked. "Hume bilkul andaaza nahi tha ki Mukti aisa kadam utha legi."
(Please forgive us... We had no idea Mukti would take such a step.)
The apology hung heavily in the room.
For a long moment, Dadi simply stared at him.
As though her mind refused to understand what she had just heard.
Then the color slowly drained from her face. One hand instinctively flew to her forehead.
She swayed.
"Dadi!" I rushed forward just in time, catching her before she lost her balance completely.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, supporting her trembling body.
"Dadi... aap theek hain?"
(Grandma... are you alright?)
She closed her eyes for a brief second, taking slow, uneven breaths.
"Seema ke paas..." she whispered weakly, "...meri BP ki dawai hai." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Please... le aao."
(Seema has my blood pressure medicine... Please bring it.)
I nodded immediately. "Ji."
(Yes.)
Carefully helping her sit on the edge of the bed, I adjusted the pillow behind her back before hurrying out of the room.
Outside, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different.
The sound of the band still echoed through the house.
Relatives laughed downstairs, completely unaware that the wedding they had come to celebrate was falling apart with every passing second.
I hurried through the corridor until I spotted Seema Chachi speaking to a few relatives.
"Chachi..."
She turned. "Haan?"
(Yes?)
"Dadi ki BP ki medicine chahiye."
(I need Grandma's blood pressure medicine.)
She frowned. "BP ki goli ki abhi kya zaroorat pad gayi unhe?"
(Why does she suddenly need her BP medicine?)
Before I could answer, Kartik's father, who had been standing beside her, looked at her and her expressions change.
Without asking another question, She absentmindedly opened her purse, took out the medicine strip and placed it in my hand.
I whispered a quiet, "Thank you," and turned around.
I went upstairs. As I reached my room...
Voices drifted through the half-open door.
My footsteps stopped on their own.
"Ek baar Chahat se baat karke dekhein." Papa's exhausted voice reached my ears. "Kya pata... wo shaadi ke liye maan jaaye."
(Let's try talking to Chahat once. Maybe she'll agree to the marriage.)
My entire body went rigid.
The medicine strip nearly slipped from my fingers.
No.
My heartbeat pounded violently inside my chest.
I stood frozen outside the door.
"Wo nahi maanegi." This time it was Mumma. Her voice sounded broken. "Bohot ziddi hai."
(She won't agree. She's very stubborn.)
There was no anger in her words. Only helplessness.
Papa let out a tired sigh.
Then...Dadi spoke. "Ek baar usse baat karke to dekho."
(At least talk to her once.)
The world seemed to stop.
I stared blankly at the floor.
Dadi... wants me to marry Kartik?
My fingers tightened around the medicine strip.
Never. I would never marry a man like him.
Not someone who thought he had the right to control every woman around him.
Not that heartless...
Narcissistic...
Monster.
I instinctively took a step back just then...
"Yahan kyun khadi ho?"
(Why are you standing here?)
The voice behind me made me jump.
I turned abruptly. Seema Chachi stood there, looking between me and the half-open door with narrowed eyes.
Before I could answer, she pushed the door open and walked inside.
I followed behind her, my heartbeat refusing to slow.
The room fell silent the moment she entered.
Her gaze moved across every face.
Mumma's swollen eyes. Papa's defeated posture. Dadi sitting quietly on the bed.
Then she frowned. "Kya hua?"
(What happened?)
No one answered. She looked around once more. "Aur Mukti kahan gayi?"
(And where is Mukti?)
Finally, Papa lowered his gaze.
"Mukti chali gayi."
(Mukti has left.)
For a second, Seema Chachi didn't react as though she hadn't heard him correctly.
Then realization dawned, her eyes widened.
A humorless laugh escaped her lips. "Wah..." She slowly folded her arms across her chest."Kamaal kar diya aap logon ne. Baraat darwaze par khadi hai aur dulhan bhaag gayi."
(Wow... you've really outdone yourselves. The groom's procession is at the door, and the bride has run away.)
Every word landed like another blow.
She looked directly at Papa.
"Ab batayiye...Mere bhatije ki izzat ka kya hoga?"
(Now tell me... what will happen to my nephew's honor?)
The room once again sank into a suffocating silence.
My mind had stopped working.
I knew what happened when emotions became heavier than logic.