Five months had passed since I began taking the pills, and three months since my mother-in-law had started cursing me for being barren. It all began when Rakesh shared the news that Manoj’s wife was pregnant.
I shouldn’t have been surprised — of course, they were still in touch. After all, birds of the same feather flock together.
“Look at her, not a hint of regret for being barren. We spent so much money to bring this girl into our home. I should have known better — she’s useless. A city girl would’ve given us an heir by now.” my mother-in-law began her usual rant.
She walked away, leaving me with my tears.
When I entered the room, Rakesh was getting dressed. The mere sight of him filled me with disgust. He picked a shirt from the wardrobe, and when he noticed a button missing, he flung it at me.
“What do you even do all day? You can’t even check my shirts properly? No wonder my mother complains about you,” he snapped.
I bit my tongue and turned toward the washroom, but before I could take a step, he grabbed my elbow and yanked me back.
“So now you’re ignoring me?” he barked.
I pulled my hand free, trembling but defiant. “Don’t you dare call me names. It wasn’t me who betrayed someone’s trust on the wedding night,” I said before I could stop myself.
His palm met my cheek in an instant. My face burned, and he grabbed my hair, forcing me to look into his cold, cruel eyes.
“So, you knew? then remember this — you’ll stay in your place, do you understand? I give you food, clothes, and shelter. Don’t test my patience again.” he hissed.
He smirked as I stood there, silent tears tracing down my face.
He leaned closer and pressed his lips against my neck. The familiar wave of disgust rose within me — his touch always made my skin crawl. I tried to move away, but he shoved me onto the bed. Before I could react, he had already restrained my hands with his belt.
“Don’t… please, let me go. I can’t take it anymore,” I pleaded, but my words fell on deaf ears. When his selfish desire finally subsided, he stood up with a satisfied smirk, his eyes cold and cruel.
“You can’t even give me an heir. The least you can do is serve your purpose,” he muttered, before untying my hands and walking out as if nothing had happened.
It took every ounce of strength left in me to reach the washroom. I sat under the shower, letting the cold water fall over me until I could no longer tell the difference between the water and my tears.
Later, I went up to the terrace and sat in the corner, crying quietly over the life I was forced to live.
After a while, I sensed movement from the opposite terrace. I looked up to see my neighbor watching me. She usually kept to herself, so I wiped my tears and tried to look away.
“Why don’t you leave him? You could go back to your parents instead of crying every day.” her voice called out suddenly.
I turned in surprise, unsure if she was talking to me. There was no one else around.
“My name is Radhika, and yes, I’m talking to you, Meera.” she said with a pitiful smile.
I stared at her, astonished that she knew my name.
“I hear your mother-in-law and husband shouting it often enough, Why do you still live here when all they do is torment you?” she said, her voice tinged with empathy.
For the first time, I managed a faint smile — someone had finally spoken to me.
“Finally you decided to talk to me. It’s not easy to leave just like that — my life is more complicated than people think,” I replied. Radhika ji regarded me for a moment, as if weighing whether to say more.
“Does this mean you’ll talk to me?” I asked, hopeful. She smiled.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll come by after ten tomorrow morning, But be careful, nobody in that house must know I’m talking to you. Your mother-in-law is like a feral dog when it comes to picking fights, and that’s why no one dares speak freely in your home.” she said and I nodded.
I’d watched Radhika ji’s husband and son leave every morning and seen her little boy play outside in the evenings. He was always careful not to send the ball toward our house.
She stood there for a while, watching the chillies drying in the sun, lost in thought. “I’ll meet you tomorrow,” she said, and I nodded eagerly.
Back in the kitchen, I started preparing lunch. I could hear my mother-in-law on the phone, as usual cursing me for being barren.
How many years would I spend in prison if I poisoned this family? But there are more people who’ve hurt me—would it be fair to target only two? No. If I killed them all, I’d end up in jail, and that wouldn’t help me. After everything I’ve endured, I don’t want to trade one kind of hell for another. I want my life back. I want to survive, to find myself, and to build a future that’s mine.
So I let them live — not out of forgiveness, but because my thirst to live and to find my own happily ever after is stronger than any urge for vengeance. I need to find myself.
I was eager for the next day to come — curious and hopeful to meet Radhika ji again. I wanted someone to simply see me, to exchange a few words, even if it was out of pity. So the next morning, I rushed through my chores, made sure my mother-in-law was taken care of, and then hurried up to the terrace with a small box in my hand.
Radhika ji arrived, smiling warmly at me, and I handed her the box.
“Radhika ji, I made halwa today and brought you some. Also… can I call you didi (sister) ?” I asked, my voice brimming with excitement.
She laughed softly at my eagerness.
“Of course, you can call me didi. But let this be the last time you bring me anything, alright? I don’t want your mother-in-law to notice a missing box from her kitchen and start screaming that someone stole it,” she said, and I chuckled at her words.
As she began hanging her clothes, I stood there watching her.
“I don’t know why you choose to live here with them,” she said after a pause. “But no woman — no human — deserves to go through what you’ve been enduring. Whatever the reason might be, don’t you think it’s utter foolishness to stay under the same roof with people who abuse you every single day?”
I lowered my gaze to the floor, unable to meet her eyes. She was right… but she didn’t know the full story.
“I don’t have anywhere to go, Would you believe me if I said my parents sold me to him? I can’t go back to them. And even if I wanted to leave him, I’d have to return the money he paid my father.” I murmured.
Radhika’s face fell in shock.
“You have to find a way, Meera, but please, don’t stay here. This isn’t safe for you. They’re more dangerous than you think.” she said earnestly.
I looked at her, puzzled by the weight in her words — as though she was trying to warn me about something but was too afraid to say it aloud. She must have noticed my confusion, because she quietly turned away, standing by the parapet wall, her eyes filled with silent pity.
“Meera, it’s for your own good. Leave this place. Even if not your parents, go somewhere… but not here,” she said and walked away, leaving me stunned.
What was she trying to say? My mother-in-law is a witch, and the man I married is a bastard. They know nothing other than abusing me, which I already know. But what else could there be? My father-in-law is a useless man, and I still don’t know where he goes in the morning or when he comes back in the evening.
What if he is some psycho? Is that what she was trying to warn me about?
I returned to my room and started collecting the dirty clothes from the washroom. I put everything in the washing machine and then entered the kitchen to start cooking lunch.
Lost in my thoughts, I was startled when I heard someone cough. Holding my chest, I turned and saw my father-in-law standing at the threshold.
“Can you give me some hot water?” he asked, coughing. My hands trembled as Radhika didi’s warnings rang in my mind, but I quickly nodded and handed him the water. He took it silently and walked away. I peeked out and saw him place some tablets on the table and gulp them down. He looked exhausted, wiped his face, and then lay down on the couch, closing his eyes.
“Maybe he is sick,” I thought, returning to continue with the lunch.
After finishing cooking, I went to the terrace to hang the clothes under the sun, but Radhika didi’s warnings continued to haunt me.
When I returned to the hall, I noticed my father-in-law shivering noticeably. Alarmed, I knocked on my mother-in-law’s door. She opened it, scowling, and I pointed to her husband on the couch. Immediately, she rushed to check on him.
He wasn’t even opening his eyes and looked like he was burning. She called her son, and we waited for thirty minutes until he returned home. They immediately got him into the car, and he was taken to the hospital.
I had lunch and locked the door before returning to my room to rest for a while. I couldn’t waste the little time I had to be alone without anyone screaming at me. I slept for a while, and almost two hours later, my mobile started ringing.
I saw Rakesh’s name and thought about ignoring the call, but then I remembered that he had taken his father to the hospital, so I answered.
“What are you doing? Open the damn door” he screamed. I rushed downstairs and opened the door. He was standing there alone, looking at me as if I had committed a sin.
“Seems like you were enjoying being alone? Serve lunch,” he said, and I moved to the kitchen to serve him.
“What happened to uncle? Is he fine?” I asked, but he dug into his food like a hungry pig.
“He’ll be in the hospital for a day. Prepare dinner early, and I’ll take them,” he replied, and I simply nodded my head.
Once he was done, he returned to the room, and I didn’t want to be in the same space with him, so I started cleaning the kitchen and washing the vessels. Halfway through, I felt him behind me, and I turned rigid.
His hands sneaked around my waist and hugged me from behind.
“You look beautiful, Meera, and I’m addicted to you,” he mumbled—no, almost moaned—nuzzling his face into my neck.
“You should rest. I’m cleaning the vessels, and you wanted me to cook dinner early, so I need to prepare for it,” I said and tried to wiggle out of his hold, but he held me tightly.
“I always had this fantasy of taking you in the kitchen, but with my mother always around us, I couldn’t do it. But today, it’s only you and me, Meera.”
I gulped and shook my head, denying him. He clutched my stomach too tightly as if warning me not to resist. I stood holding a dirty plate, gripping it a little too tightly while he pressed against me from behind. My tears mixed with the dirty water in the sink as he moaned in pleasure, his hands roaming over my body except for my face.
“Leave this place, Meera. No one deserves to endure all this abuse,” Radhika didi’s voice rang in my mind.
Maybe she is right. No one deserves to be treated this way. I don’t deserve to be treated this way.
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A/N:
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