3
Third Person’s POV
Nandini hesitantly walks inside the kitchen to make breakfast because she is unsure whether she has the right to do so.
She had thought there would be a ritual of her making a sweet dish in the house as per the tradition, and her mother-in-law would show her how to do it and what to make for the first time in the kitchen.
But nothing of that sort happened.
No one is in the house and the kitchen, and no one seems to care that she is a newly wedded bride who came to this house just last night.
"What did you expect, Nandini? Your husband does not want you, so your in-laws also would not be fond of you," she says, opening the refrigerator to get the milk and make a cup of tea for herself.
She is about to light the gas when she hears someone gasp.
"What are you doing, Nandini? Today is your first day in this house and kitchen. We must first do the proper ritual before you can cook anything here," her mother-in-law, Nishitha Sisodiya, says to her, and Nandini is pleasantly surprised.
"Umm, Aunty, I did not see anyone when I came down. So, I thought to make tea," she replies, twirling the shawl of her salwar suit to curb her nervousness.
"Ok, first thing first. After you married Manik, you became the daughter of this house. So, you will call me Mom and call Siddharth Dad.
"And the second thing. Since today is your first day in this house, we will do a Puja (worship ritual), and as per the ritual, you will make a sweet dish for us today.
"So, nothing doing here now. You go out and let me make breakfast," Nishitha says to her, and Nandini feels overwhelmed.
Manik had told her last night that he would never consider her his wife, and they would only pretend to be husband and wife in front of his parents and the outside world.
Since then, she did not have any expectations from anyone in this house.
That is why she is pleasantly surprised, seeing the welcoming gesture of her mother-in-law.
"Why are you still here, Nandini? Go out and wait for me. I will instruct our cook on what to make for breakfast today, and we will then do the Puja. Also, please go to your room and call Manik down for the Puja." Nishitha smiles at Nandini and proceeds to instruct their cook who comes in right that moment.
Nodding at Nishitha, Nandini walks out of the kitchen and climbs the stairs to go to Manik's room.
'Not my room.' She notes, deciding that if Manik cannot accept her, she too cannot accept anything that is his.
She enters the room and sees Manik standing in front of the mirror, wearing his tie.
"Umm, Mom has called you downstairs for the Puja," she tells him.
Manik frowns when he hears Nandini. "I told you last night that this marriage means nothing to me. So, why are you calling my mother Mom?
"For a moment, I assumed you to be different because you did not cry or make a fuss after I told you the reality of our marriage.
"But you are also like the other girls. I know you are from a middle-class family, so your eyes must have shone seeing this grand mansion. You must have decided to make a good relationship with my parents, trying to pave a way for yourself to stay here forever.
"Before you start dreaming about living a rich and extravagant life, do mark my words, Nandini. You will never get the status of being my wife. You will be out of here once I am done achieving what I want to achieve by marrying you," Manik finishes speaking, anger eminent in his voice.
Even though each of his words pierce her heart, Nandini tries her best not to let her hurt show on her face.
"It is your mother who told me to call her Mom. If you have any problem with that, go and tell her. After you do that, I will stop calling her Mom. Also, you have not known me even for a day, Mr. Sisodiya. So, I will request you not to judge me when you don't know me at all.
"I silently accepted it when you said that this marriage means nothing to you. But that does not mean I will silently accept everything you say to me.
"I don't know what it is that you want to achieve by marrying me, and I do not want to know too, as it is none of my business.
"You have ruined my chance of being happily married, and I am still trying to digest it.
"All I am doing right now is obey your parents and be a good daughter-in-law because I do not want any drama or trouble in my life more than I already have.
"You said you want me as your wife until you are done achieving what you want. Tell me when that day comes, and I will be out of your life the very next moment. I will not live in the place where I am not wanted," Nandini says, and walks out of the room without giving Manik a chance to reply.
Manik stands stunned in his place, staring at the door even after Nandini is long gone, shocked by her audacity to show such attitude to him.
‘This girl is—’
Before he can dwell on that thought, he is interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
Looking at the screen, he sees it is Myra calling him.
Gritting his teeth in anger at seeing her name, he receives the call.
"Myra, how are you?" He tries to keep his voice as calm as possible. After all, he needs to continue pretending to be their friends until he gets his revenge.
"I am fine, Manik. How are you? And how is your newly wedded bride?" Myra asks, and her cheerful voice makes his blood boil.
"I am good too, and Nandini is also fine. How is Raghav?" Manik says through his gritted teeth, hoping Myra would not sense the anger in his voice.
"Raghav is busy, Manik. His company is trying to crack this new deal with an international company to expand their business in the US. That is why Raghav and his father are busy due to daily meetings and all the additional workload," she replies, giving Manik the perfect opportunity.
"Oh, really? That is great," he tells her. "Listen, Myra, I need to go now. Mom is calling me for Puja. If you are free today, you can come to my office, and we can have lunch together."
He hangs up the call after Myra agrees to come to his office during lunchtime.
***********
Slumping against the door of an empty room, Nandini takes deep breaths to lessen the hurt she is currently feeling.
She gave the fitting reply to Manik earlier, but now she can feel its after-effects.
Since her childhood, she has never been good at confrontation.
She does stand for herself when someone says wrong things to her or about her. But she always gets panic attacks after doing that.
That is the reason why she avoids confrontations as much as possible.
Earlier, when Manik implied her to be a gold-digger, she defended herself because she could be everything but that.
'He said I should not dream about rich and extravagant life.'
Nandini shakes her head, recounting Manik's harsh words.
'If only he knew that it is not the life I have ever dreamt of. I have only dreamt of a life with a family who would love me and want me. Only that and nothing else.'
Wiping the tears that pour out of her eyes, she wills herself to be strong.
'I don't have any other choice. I need to live here until I get a job and save enough money to go and live somewhere else,' she reminds herself one more time, before walking out of the room.
***********
"Ok, Nandini, the Puja is done. You can now make a sweet dish of your choice for us." Nishitha smiles at Nandini, affectionately stroking her hair.
"I hope you have better cooking skills than your mother-in-law, Nandini. Because I am hoping to eat a good dish today," Siddharth jokes, earning a smack on his arm by his wife.
"Oh, really? Then why do you always praise my food and even lick your fingers after eating?" Nishitha asks Siddharth.
"Well, I do that just to keep you happy, my wife. You see, there is a saying happy wife equals happy life, and I have been following that saying since day one of our marriage," Siddharth replies.
"You have a reply for everything, don't you?" Nishitha shakes her head at her husband.
"Of course, I do," Siddharth says to his wife, then turns to Manik and Nandini, who were looking at them with a slight smile on their faces.
He places a hand on Manik's shoulder.
"Being your father, I will give you a Mantra today, Manik. Make sure you remeber it your whole life," Siddharth says to his son. "If you want a happy and peaceful life, learn to accept that whatever your wife says is right and always keep her happy. If you do that, she will also always keep you happy."
"You and Mom have always had a special relationship, Dad. Not everyone is lucky to have that kind of love and understanding in their marriage," Manik says to Siddharth, feeling a pinch in his heart because he had envisioned having that kind of relationship and marriage with Myra when they used to date.
'But she destroyed everything by cheating on me with Raghav.' Manik fists his hands in anger due to that thought.
"Your Mom and I also had an arranged marriage, Manik, and our relationship was not perfect at the beginning. We worked on it. We gave time to each other and understood each other, which made love bloom in our relationship.
"In fact, we are still working on our marriage. It is a lifetime commitment, so it requires lifetime work too. But you will see, once you start working in your relationship, you two will also be happy in this marriage as your Mom and I are in ours," Siddharth says, looking at Manik and Nandini.
Nandini feels a raw pain pass through her as she hears her father-in-law.
She, too, had thought exactly that on her wedding day.
She had been nervous that day as she had not met Manik before the wedding. She had been anxious, wondering how it would be to get married to a stranger. If they would have a good relationship. If he would also try to make the marriage work as she would be trying.
But she had some belief in her parents. No matter how much unwanted she was to them, she had trusted them to at least find a good husband for her.
She had a hope that her husband would be a kind man and would understand her when she would tell him about taking time and knowing each other better before moving forward in their marriage.
She had thought that they both would try to understand each other better, be comfortable around each other and grow to love each other eventually.
She had dreamt of a happy married life with a man who would love her.
'But my parents hated me so much that they got me married to a man who does not even want me as his wife, let alone love me,' Nandini thinks, feeling her heart clench painfully against her chest.
