|Innaya|
I closed my eyes. I wished I could do the same to my ears. Her venomous words and poisonous stare made it hard for me. If not for Eshan's hold, I did not know how to hold myself together. Why was it happening to me? I did not do any wrong, then why things always went bad in my life?
Tears rolled down from my eyes, drenching my face. I truly wished for everything to end.
Suddenly, his hold around my waist slackened, and the next moment he pushed me on the chair beside him. Stunned, it took me some time to figure out that he had left me. Clenching my dress tightly in my fists, I hoped that it was nothing but a nightmare.
"Who are you?" Eshan asked. His tone had changed to one of that disbelief. Lifting my head, I saw he was looking at his mother as if she was some stranger.
His mother frowned. "Eshan, what's wrong? I'm your mother. I know it's hard to take in, but son, this is the truth. She has been deceiving you. She isn't like what you thought her to be." She tried to hold Eshan, but he moved out of her reach.
"Are you seriously my mother? Why don't I recognize you?" Eshan asked as he shook his head.
"Eshan… stop talking nonsense." His mother narrowed her eyes. She sensed a change in Eshan's emotions. She finally grasped the bubbling anger of Eshan.
"I'm talking nonsense? Are you listening to yourself? When did you become like this? So toxic…" Eshan moved his right hand in her direction, gesturing from top to bottom, not finding a word to express himself.
"Eshan—"
"Don't. Don't you take my name. I would rather be orphan than having you as my mother," Eshan shook his head. I could feel his disappointment.
His anger had finally reached the point of no return. He was rather disappointed with his mother. His eyes depicted his pain as he looked at his mother with displeasure.
Eshan's mother staggered back in shock. For any mother to hear such words from her child would be quite painfully shocking. She seemed to have received a blow as she could not get any word out of her mouth. Her lips moved several times, but she was not able to say anything.
Ayesha stepped up and held her dear aunty. "Eshan, she's your mother. You can't talk to her like this. For whom?" She turned her gaze full of contempt to me. "This girl. You can't turn a blind eye to this just because you feel infatuated by her," she said.
"Infatuated? I LOVE HER." Eshan yelled, pointing a figure at her. "Do you get that?"
Even in this situation, I could not help but feel warmth of his love. Despite everything, he was standing by my side. How did I keep away from him for last month because of other people? I was the one who always spoiled our relationship because of my insecurities. I could only lower my head shamefully. For us, he did not even flinch and went against his mother. I was so worthless that I could not even get a word out in my defense.
I had let them trampled all over me. Where was the girl who had learned self-defense so that she could never be helpless? Where had all the efforts of all these years had gone? I had worked hard on myself so that people could not bully me like my father. Where had it all gone?
"Son, that's not love. Once you get divorced and separate from her you'll understand that it's not love. You're staying together for the last six months. So, it's only natural for you to feel that way. We even develop feelings for dogs after keeping them around us. That doesn't mean we can't live without them." His mother recovered from her shock. She patted Ayesha's hand and chose to protect the girl from Eshan's wrath.
Eshan's anger-filled eyes turned to his mother before he shook his head. "I don't want to talk to you. I don't recognize you anymore."
"Don't talk nonsense. What's the meaning of this? I'm doing this for your own good. Just end it. I'll find a good girl for you with whom you can spend the rest of your life happily," his mother said as if she was talking about weather.
She had a nerve of saying it on my face. For her, I did not exist as she planned for her son's future wife before his present wife.
"Is that so? You've come prepared, I see. Since when did you start planning this? How did I not notice it? Judging from the looks of it, I find you more calculative and ruthless," Eshan replied coldly.
His mother snorted. She then glared at him. "Am I being calculative? Okay then. You don't understand the language of love. I'll show you what ruthlessness is. If you don't leave this woman, I'll disown you. I dare not recognize son like you anymore if you chose to stand by this vixen's side," she said with finality as she crossed her hands across her chest.
Both mother and son had a similar stubborn personality. I could see from where Eshan had learned his decisiveness. But, how could there be such a huge difference in their manners?
Eshan chuckled humorlessly. "Huh? You'll disown me? I don't recognize you as my mother. From this day onwards, we have nothing to do with you. Leave us alone."
"Y-you… Good, good. She has brainwashed you very well. That's why you didn't recall that you have a family. After marriage, I now see how she kept control over you. Do you really want to be her puppet?"
He turned his back on them as he pointed a finger at the door. He refused to waste any more words on them.
I met his mother's eyes. She looked at Eshan's back with utter disbelief. For a while, she just stayed like that. Slowly, she turned her head in my direction. I could see, she was going to lash out on me for she had no other way of taking out her anger.
"See what you did to us. Aren't you happy? Drop this act. You've snatched my son from me. Rejoice, be happy. Why shed the crocodile tears?" She harshly spoke.
I shivered under her angry gaze. It reminded me of my father's wrath. I desperately wanted them to leave.
"Don't drag her in between. This has nothing to do with her. I'm truly disappointed in you. Leave. Out of respect for giving birth to me, I'm not saying anything to you. But, my tolerance has a limit. Don't test it," Eshan firmly declared.
Just as the situation had escalated to the tense atmosphere, a voice intervened from the outside. Moving my gaze in the direction of the door, I found my breath hitching in my throat.
"Is this the way to talk to your mother?"