4-its your turn
Samrat's closeness made Vaidehi extremely nervous. She had been afraid of him since childhood. Whenever Samrat came to Kolkata with his family, Vaidehi would find some excuse to go to her aunt's house or hide somewhere.
She always kept her distance from him because she was truly scared of him. But she had never imagined that the same person she feared so much would one day become her husband.
She had known Samrat since she was just 5 years old, while he was 9. The first time she saw him, he was very calm yet short-tempered. He would get angry over small things, and he didn't like Vaidehi at all.
Flashback
Mukherjee Residence
The grand house, built of white marble, looked no less than a royal palace. Located near Kolkata, it was known for its magnificence and beauty.
Inside the house...
"Mumma... Mumma... who is coming? Where are you putting my toys?"
Hemlata Devi, while gathering the scattered toys into a large box, replied in an irritated tone-
"You've turned the whole house into a mess! Guests are coming-your father's friend is arriving with his family. What will they think when they see the condition of this house? Do you have any idea?"
Then she said sternly-
"You always keep things messy! Look at your brothers and learn something from them-they stay so neat and clean. But you... you always scatter everything!"
Hearing her mother's scolding, Vaidehi ran outside in tears. Covering her eyes with her hands, she didn't see the person coming from the front and collided with him.
Suddenly, she felt someone gently lift her up in their arms. It was her father, Avinash Mukherjee.
"What happened to my little girl? Why is my sweet Vaidehi crying?" he asked lovingly.
Hearing this, Vaidehi hid her face in his white kurta and said while sobbing-
"Papa... Mumma scolded me a lot... she says I'm not a good girl... my brothers are good... I'm bad..."
Hearing such words from his daughter made Avinash furious. Still holding her in his arms, he went inside the room and said angrily to Hemlata-
"What kind of way is this to talk? Why are you shouting at my daughter like this?"
Hearing this, Hemlata, equally angry, adjusted her saree pallu on her shoulder and replied-
"What else am I supposed to do?
Your daughter is very troublesome! She has turned the whole house into junk-everywhere there are flowers, leaves, grass, and toys scattered around.
Guests are about to arrive, and all the responsibility is on me-cooking, managing the house, handling your demands, and dealing with your daughter's tantrums..
. I'm the one taking care of everything in this house! "
Avinash, now angry, responded-
"There are so many servants in the house-can't you ask them to do the work? Who told you to handle everything alone?"
Seeing her parents argue made Vaidehi feel terrible. She started crying even louder.
Seeing his daughter in such a state, Avinash fell silent and walked away without saying anything further. He knew that if he stayed any longer, the situation would escalate into a bigger argument-which was quite common in their house.
But today, he didn't want any conflict.Because his college friend was coming over with his 9-year-old son and wife.
During college days, Avinash had many friends, but with time, everyone went their separate ways. Among all of them, Avinash became the wealthiest and most influential-after all, he belonged to a zamindar family.
Today, Raghav Pratap Singh was arriving from Rajasthan with his wife, Rukmini Pratap Singh, and their son, Samrat Pratap Singh.
Raghav Pratap Singh was a manager in a large bank, and recently, Rukmini Devi had started her own business, which wasn't doing very well yet. However, she hadn't stopped working hard.
They were coming to Kolkata in connection with this work. That's when Raghav remembered that his college friend Avinash lived here, so he thought it would be a good idea to meet him as well.
He searched for Avinash's number in his old diary and made a call. He wasn't sure whether the number would still work, but luckily, Avinash hadn't changed it.
Evening Time
Mukherjee Residence
The large veranda of Mukherjee House was filled with the fragrance of jasmine. Big brass lamps were shining brightly, and fresh garlands of marigold flowers clearly indicated that the day was special.
From the kitchen, the aroma of fish frying in mustard oil and shukto spread throughout the house.
Avinash Mukherjee, adjusting his clean muslin and silk kurta, kept glancing repeatedly toward the main door. Standing beside him were his two sons-11-year-old Aryan and 9-year-old Arnav. Both appeared calm, well-mannered, and perfectly disciplined.
Just then, a white Ambassador car stopped at the gate. A smile instantly appeared on Avinash's face.
A man with a strong and commanding personality stepped out-Raghav Pratap Singh. Behind him came his wife, Rukmini Devi, and with them was a young boy whose face carried a seriousness beyond his age and an unusual coldness in his eyes.
"Raghav! My brother!" Avinash stepped forward and hugged him warmly.
"Avinash, it's been so many years, my friend," Raghav said with a smile.
Just then, Rukmini Devi stepped forward and said,
"Samrat, greet your uncle."
Nine-year-old Samrat Pratap Singh walked forward without hesitation and bowed respectfully. His demeanor was not of an ordinary child, but of a young prince.
Lunch Time
Lunch had been served. The dining table was filled with a variety of Bengali dishes-luchi, cholar dal, bhapa ilish, chingri malai curry, and finally, mishti doi.
Avinash said proudly,
"This is Aryan, and this is Arnav... both of them top their class."
Raghav placed his hand on Samrat's shoulder and said,
"And this is our Samrat.
.. he prefers silence, but he never lacks discipline.
"Aryan and Arnav, who were around his age, were trying to talk to him.
But Samrat spoke very little. He was mostly listening and eating in a very proper and composed manner.
"Where is Vaidehi?" Raghav suddenly asked.
Hemlata Devi made a slight face and said,
"She must be somewhere creating a mess. It's impossible to make that girl understand anything."
After lunch, the elders sat in the drawing room, talking about business and reminiscing about old times.
Meanwhile, Aryan and Arnav took Samrat upstairs to their room so they could play together.
Samrat didn't like noise at all. He was sitting in the room with the two brothers when his eyes fell on the balcony. There was a quiet corner there.
He silently got up and walked toward the balcony. Taking out a small handwritten notebook from his pocket, he was about to read something.
But suddenly... bang!
A little 5-year-old girl came running in-her hair completely messy, her frock covered in mud, and a mud-filled pot in her hands-and she collided straight into Samrat.
The impact was so strong that Samrat lost his balance. Mud smeared onto his clean shirt, and his precious notebook fell straight into a bucket of water.
In an instant, Samrat's eyes turned red with anger. He looked at his shirt... then at the soaked notebook.
"How dare you?" His voice was so cold and heavy that even Aryan and Arnav felt frightened.
Vaidehi, who had been laughing just a moment ago, froze upon seeing his face. She had never seen a child look so terrifying.
"I... I was... catching a butterfly..." her voice trembled.
"Shut up!" Samrat shouted.
He stepped closer to her. Being older and taller, his shadow completely fell over Vaidehi.
"Don't you have any manners? Look at what you've done to my shirt... and my book..."
He grabbed Vaidehi's wrist so tightly that the pot slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.
"Please leave me... it hurts..." Vaidehi's eyes filled with tears."You are a wild girl! Completely ill-mannered," Samrat said with disgust.
"If I ever see you around me again... no one will be worse than me. Understood?"
Vaidehi started crying out of fear. She had never been scolded like this before. Her brothers used to tease her, but the anger in Samrat's eyes... it planted a deep fear in her heart.
Aryan tried to intervene-
"Hey Samrat, let it go... she's just a kid..."
Samrat pushed his hand away slightly and released Vaidehi as if she were nothing more than an object.
"So what if she's a kid? Won't you teach her manners? Girls like her are nothing but trouble."
Crying, Vaidehi ran from there. She went to her room and hid under the bed. She was trembling. To her, that boy didn't feel like a human... but like a monster.
In the evening, when Raghav Pratap Singh and his family were about to leave, everyone searched for Vaidehi... but she didn't come out.
Avinash laughed and said,
"Seems like she's feeling shy."
But the truth was known only to Samrat-
she wasn't shy... she was scared.
As they were leaving, Samrat glanced toward the stairs. From there, Vaidehi was secretly watching him.
The moment their eyes met, Samrat gave her a cold, sharp look-as if warning her again.
Vaidehi immediately hid behind the curtain and ran away.
The fear that settled in her heart that day... never left.
For her, Samrat was not "calm"...
he became another name for fear.
Present
Vaidehi's thoughts were interrupted when Samrat spoke near her ear in a low but heavy voice-
"Relax... I won't hurt you."
That same old fear ran through her entire body.
Eighteen years had passed...
but Samrat's grip, his demeanor... and that dangerous intensity-everything was still the same.
In fact, it had grown deeper... stronger... more overwhelming.
With fear in her eyes, Vaidehi looked at him...
That "monster" from her childhood...
had now become her husband.
And now, escaping from him... was impossible.
Samrat was still standing very close to her.
The pressure of his presence made Vaidehi uneasy.
Suddenly, he extended his strong arms and pulled her toward himself by her waist. A soft gasp escaped Vaidehi's lips, and her hands instinctively rested on his shoulders.There was a strange glint in Samrat's eyes at that moment-both intimidating and oddly captivating.
He brought his face so close to Vaidehi that their noses almost touched.
In a very low but firm voice, he said,
"There is no other girl in my life except you, Vaidehi... and it would be better if there is no one else in your life except me."
Hearing this, Vaidehi was completely stunned.
Until now, she had been lost in her own thoughts.
She believed that Samrat loved someone else, which was why he stayed distant from her.
In fact, she had even been planning to unite him with his 'supposed' love.
But his words shattered all her assumptions in an instant.
The surprise was clearly visible in her eyes.
"No one else? That means... Samrat belongs only to me?"
This thought stirred something strange within her. For a moment, she felt a faint sense of happiness... a quiet relief that her husband wasn't someone else's. But seeing the seriousness on Samrat's face, she couldn't say anything. She just kept looking at him silently.
Samrat read the confusion in her eyes. He gently let go of her and stepped back. His cold demeanor returned once again.
Pointing toward the plate on the table, he said in a flat tone,
"Finish your food. I don't want you giving excuses of weakness tomorrow morning to avoid sitting in the puja."
Saying that, he turned around and walked toward the balcony with heavy steps.
Vaidehi took a deep breath and kept watching him as he left. Then she quietly sat on the bed and started eating without any interest. Her mind was still tangled in Samrat's words.
Standing in the balcony, Samrat took out a cigarette pack from his pocket and lit one. Taking a long drag, he exhaled the smoke toward the sky. In the moonlight, his face looked sharp like that of a Greek god, but the sadness on it was clearly visible.
Vaidehi finished her food, drank some water, and walked toward the balcony. She didn't like seeing Samrat smoke. Slowly, she approached him and, gathering courage, snatched the cigarette from his hand.
Samrat looked at her in surprise, his brows furrowing.
Rubbing the cigarette against the railing to extinguish it, Vaidehi said,
"Smoking is not good for health... you do know how harmful it is for the lungs, right?"
Samrat gave a faint smile-a cold, strange one. He took the extinguished cigarette back from her hand and threw it away. Then he pulled out his lighter, lit another cigarette, and after taking a deep drag, blew the smoke directly toward Vaidehi's face.
"Give me that advice the day you truly understand me, Vaidehi... Right now, you're still very immature-in matters of the world, and in matters of emotions."
Vaidehi stood there, confused, scratching her head slightly. She didn't understand a single word of what he meant.
"Understand? What am I supposed to understand? And what does that have to do with smoking?"
She thought to herself-this man is truly a puzzle.She returned without saying a word and lay down on the bed. The exhaustion of the entire day and the emotional turmoil made her eyes grow heavy.
About an hour later, when Samrat came back from the balcony, he saw that Vaidehi had fallen into a deep sleep. The room was dimly lit. He quietly walked closer to the bed and looked at her.
In her sleep, Vaidehi looked so innocent-just like that 5-year-old girl who had once bumped into him with a muddy pot. The hardness on Samrat's face slowly melted away. He adjusted the blanket and lay down beside her.
Gently, he pulled Vaidehi into his arms and held her close to his chest. Her sleep was so deep that even a loud noise might not have woken her. She snuggled closer into his embrace, as if that was where she felt the most comfort.
Samrat softly kissed her forehead. Her fragrance filled his breath as he murmured quietly-
"One day, you will feel it yourself, Vaidehi... how much I love you... how deeply. But I will never say it in words... you will have to understand it on your own. I waited for you... for 15 long years."
He lightly touched her wrist, where the marks of his fingers had now faded.
"I've made you my wife... I got you. Now it's your turn... to win me. The day you come to me on your own... that will be my real victory."
Vaidehi's deep sleep was nothing less than a blessing for Samrat. For the past three months, he had been holding her like this every night. And in the morning... he would leave before the first rays of sunlight, so that she would never suspect anything.
He knew that Vaidehi saw him as a "monster," a strict and harsh professor. But he found comfort in the fact that at least she was in his arms. Samrat pulled her even closer. In her sleep, Vaidehi took a deep, peaceful breath.
In that dark room, where the world believed an incompatible couple lived, there existed two extremes-on one side, an uncontrollable obsession, and on the other, unaware innocence.
Samrat closed his eyes, resting his cheek on her head.
He knew the journey ahead was long... but he was not someone who would give up.
After all, he had already waited for 15 years.
Next Morning
It was 5 a.m. when Samrat woke up. He saw Vaidehi still resting against his chest in the same way. A faint smile appeared on his face. Carefully, he slipped his arm out from beneath her and gently laid her on the pillow.
He leaned down slightly and softly touched her cheek once again, then walked toward the bathroom. By the time Vaidehi woke up, Samrat had already gotten ready and gone downstairs.
When Vaidehi woke up, as always, she thought she had slept alone. Stretching and yawning, she said to herself-
"Does this man even sleep? He's always disappearing..."
She didn't know that every night, she slept in Samrat's arms. She didn't know that the man she considered her "stranger husband" was ready to give his life for her.
But just as Samrat had said-
now it was Vaidehi's turn to understand.
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