12

Mature and sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Khushi

I walk out of the room, pulling down the hem of my nighty, trying to cover myself.

I wore these kinds of clothes at the mansion too, but at least I used to stay in my room there. Roaming this house in these revealing clothes made me feel more vulnerable and cheaper.

I could not find my shawl too. I searched everywhere in my room, but it was not there.

And I am too afraid to ask Arnav. Since last night, he has only talked gently with me, but I know something will soon tick him off. Something that will trigger him to punish me again.

I slowly make my way to the kitchen to complete my cleaning that was left incomplete due to my fainting the previous day.

I will eat something first.

I clutch my stomach, which has been continuously growling due to hunger.

Reaching the kitchen, I stop at the threshold. I tremble in fear as I see Arnav inside, cooking something.

I did not realize it when my hand knocked on the vase kept on the table beside the kitchen door. The sound of the shattered vase startled me as well as made Arnav turn around.

My eyes start tearing up, my body shivering in fear as I see the pieces of the broken vase on the floor.

A terrifying memory flashes in my mind as I keep looking at the broken pieces.

"I...I am ss...soorryy, pp..pl..easee." I first looked at the broken glass pieces on the floor and then at Arnav, who was fuming in anger.

"That mirror was expensive," he said calmly, but I felt goosebumps lining my entire body, seeing the barely held-back anger in his eyes.

"I didn't dd..doo it iin...intentionally. My hands...." I was saying but was immediately cut off when Arnav clutched my neck with his hands, squeezing it.

"I own many things, Khushi. In fact, I own you too. And you are the cheapest thing I own. Compared to you, all the things around here are too expensive. Do you know how expensive that mirror was?" Arnav asked Khushi, increasing the pressure of his hand around her neck.

Struggling to breathe, I tried to remove Arnav's hand from my neck, but he was too strong. So, I just shook my head, answering his question, hoping he would release me soon.

"Well, let me explain it in a way you would understand. A whore like you would have to sleep with at least ten men to earn money worth that mirror." He finally left my neck and pushed me, making me fall to the floor.

I caressed my neck, coughing as I tried to stand up from the floor. His words slashed my heart and pride, but what could I do?

In the early days, I used to fight and argue with him, but every time, he punished me so severely that my fighting spirit broke bit by bit until it shattered utterly.

I opened my mouth to apologize again. But before I could do that, he grabbed my hair and dragged me to the bed.

My whole body froze in fear, and I could not scream in pain as he kept yanking my hair.

He threw me to the bed and made me lie face down. Then, he took the rope he had started keeping on the bedside table. Then, he tied my hands to the headboard and my legs to the foot of the bed.

"You need to understand your worthlessness among my expensive things. After this punishment, you will not dare break anything I own." He yanked my hair back to make me look up at him.

"Pp...please... don't...." I whispered, looking at him with tear-filled eyes.

I knew he did not care about the mirror. He was rich enough to buy millions of the mirrors I just broke. He was punishing me for the crime he thought I did against his sister.

"Count each strike, slut," he ordered, sliding up my nighty, and my eyes widened as he unbuckled his belt.

I crouch on the floor, picking up the pieces of the broken vase. My hands are trembling, due to which the pieces keep falling to the floor.

"Khushi." I hear him call my name, and I look up at him.

He will punish me now.

My body trembles more as that thought crosses my mind.

"I...I am sorry, pp..please. Sorry," I apologize, hoping desperately that he will not hit me with the belt. The last time was so painful that I could not sit properly for a week.

"Khushi, it was just a--" he begins, but I am too scared to listen.

"Don't....don't hit me, please. It hurts so much. Please," I plead with him, hanging my head and looking at the floor.

"Khushi," he says so gently that it makes me look up at him.

He then crouches in front of me and holds my hand, which is shaking in his fear.

"I will never hit you, Khushi. I am so sorry for the last time." I hear him say, but I am unable to believe it.

My mind is playing tricks with me. Have I finally gone mad?

I immediately remove my hand from his hold and move back, feeling too scared to be close to him. "I will try and glue to broken pieces. Pl..please don't hurt me."

"It was just a vase, Khushi. You do not need to glue it back; I will buy a new one. And I won't hurt you. Please don't be scared of me." I blink as I hear his pleading voice.

What is he playing at?

I want to question him and his motive, but I am too scared.

"Mm..may I go to my room, Sir?" I ask, my voice timid.

Pathetic, Khushi. Totally pathetic.

Tears stream down my face, and I hate myself for feeling weak and scared in front of him.

"Go, Khushi. I will bring you something to eat," he says, and I am too confused.

Why would he bring me something to eat? Why is he not calling me a slut or a whore? Why is he not punishing me?

All these questions keep whirling in my mind, making me more apprehensive with each passing second.

I stand up from the floor, taking small steps to walk to my room, when he stops me.

"Khushi, I have ordered a few clothes for you. The types of dresses that you used to wear before our wedding. You can wear those from now on. No need to wear the nightdresses."

My heart races as I hear him. I know he is planning something big to hurt me.

Maybe he is giving me some time without punishment so my bruises can heal before punishing me mercilessly again.

Perhaps he is pretending to talk appropriately to make me trust him again and then brutally yank that trust again.

Maybe he is trying to make me whole again so that he can sadistically shatter me all over again.

But he does not know that he has broken my trust in a way that I will never be able to trust again.

He has shattered me in a way that I will never be whole again.