26. #3
Preet looked away and started going into the kitchen. Urmila frowns, seeing her walking slowly and limping.
After sometime, she heard some noise from the kitchen and went inside to see Preet in tears. She is holding her hand with another with a painful frown on her face.
"What are you doing?" she asked with a blank face.
"I accidentally dropped the plate," She told her not looking at her to hide her tears.
She was cutting potatoes but even the slight movement hurt her wrist. Urmila noticed her keenly and walked toward her.
"What happened to your hand?" she asked as her gaze fell on her red swollen hand.
"I accidentally twisted it," Urmila looked at her for a minute before stopping her.
"You are making it worse by moving it. I will ask the maid to help you today," Preet chuckled sadly and looked at her.
"Why sudden care, Choti Ma?" she asked, looking at her blank face.
Urmila didn't say anything and turned to go away but stop suddenly,
"It's not like I care for you. I don't want people working here to think I am torturing you,"
"I don't trust you. Who knows you are hurting yourself just to defame me,"
Preet gave her a disbelieving look.
"You know very well I would never do that even in my dream. Stop making assumptions. I never thought you could go this low just for your selfishness. I felt disgusted by your thinking," Preet whispered in anger and hurt.
Urmila laugh humorlessly and then her face turns hard,
"Yeah I am selfish. You are right. I am selfish for my children. I am selfish for their future. And I can do and go to any extent for that. It's not like you are a saint or something. You are no less than me, Preet. You also want to rule in this house. Hungry for power and money,
" she said with a smirk.
"I am not!! I am not like you. If you want anything you just have to ask once. I will give you anything you want without thinking twice," Preet shouted while tears were flowing down her eyes.
"So you would leave all the wealth and luxury if I asked you, huh?" Urmila asked her with a smirk.
"I will …" Preet whispered instantly.
"Can you remain childless If I told you to?" As soon as these left from Urmila's mouth Preet went still in her place.
Did she really said that?
"Can you do that Preet?"
Preet still in her place, looking at her with her shocked eyes, not believing her ears.
"You are asking me to give up my right of becoming a mother," Preet asked in a daze, still staring at the woman with no emotion whom she always considered her mother.
"That never to carry m..my and Veer's child" her voice quivers a little in the middle due to the heaviness of the words she just utters from her lips.
"How can you do this to Veer? You once claimed to love him, right?" she whispers and a single tear escapes from her eyes.
"It's my mistake that I gave more care and love to Veer once but not anymore. I don't know that he is going to become the reason for my suffering in future," Urmila told her, who is still in denial that whatever she heard was not true but it is the cruel reality.
Preet just stared at her with no expression on her face. That's it, she got the reality check of what she and Veer meant to her and this family. Her husband is just a money-making machine for them.
Preet started walking backward in a daze not unable to bear her hate.
She turned around started running toward her room ignoring the pain her leg. She stumbles into Anaya in her way who hold her before she could lose her balance and fell.
Anaya frown seeing her lifeless face and tears on her face. She is silently crying.
Before she could asked her anything, Preet shrug off her hand from her shoulders and rushed toward her room in a hurry.
"What happen to her?" Anaya thought looking at her way. Then sighing loud she walked toward the stairs while rubbing her temple feeling her head throbbing.
Closing the door of her room Preet look at Veer's portrait with helpless and anger in her eyes.
"Why were you left alone with these people? You know how much hurt I am. They don't like me, they don't like you. They despise us. For what? For nothing. I can't take it anymore. Please come back. Or I will die in their presence," she sobbed loudly letting her tears flow freely.
Sliding against the door, she sat on the door and cried her heart out alone. After hysterically crying for few minutes, she place her cheek on her knees feeling her energy drain out. She is tired, hungry and broken right now.
"Is it so easy for her to ask such thing from me? She herself is a mother. How can she said that without blinking for a second? Are we really a burden on them, huh? The human who didn't even come into this world is getting the hate it doesn't deserve?
Is our child would be that unfortunate just because he or she will have our blood," she whispered looking into the space.
Her tears didn't stop for a second. She keep sitting there as she didn't have the strength in her body to even move a muscle.
Murmuring her suffering and pain to herself in silent, she passed out in the same position.
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