Page 40 of Mrs. Pandey
He chuckled softly. "You're great, inside and out, Ira. I'm happy to have you in my life."
"Feelings are mutual, Mr. Doctor," I replied, smiling before glancing at my parents. They were deep in conversation with Kabir's parents, and looked truly happy. That alone was enough for me.
"Ira, my beautiful girl..."
A shiver ran down my spine. Amish Patel. I shot my eyes at him as he stepped toward me. He reached me and instantly pulled me into a suffocating hug.
"Uncle Amish," I forced a smile and hugged him back.
"Look how happy my girl is with my Kabir," he said, his hand lingering far too long on my waist before he finally let go. Then he glanced at Kabir. "Just keep her happy or I swear, I'll break your nose. She means more to me than my own family."
"Of course, Uncle Amish, you don't have to tell me to keep my woman happy," Kabir replied, possessively placing a hand on my shoulder and gently pulling me toward him.
"Mr. Patel..." My father walked up just in time, and I exhaled in relief as Amish turned to greet him, leaving us alone.
Kabir looked at me. "Are you not comfortable with Uncle Amish?"
"No...no... I'm perfectly fine," I corrected him and plastered a smile before he suspected anything else. Kabir was smarter than I thought.
"Come on. Let me give you a tour of your house."
"My house?" I frowned, chuckling softly.
"In three days, you'll be living here. So yes, it's yours now."
______
I looked around the hall as everyone sat praying, but Kabir was nowhere in sight. He'd told me he'd be back in five minutes, just going to the washroom. But it had been more than thirty minutes since he left.
Finally, the rituals ended, and the priest approached me to give blessings.
"Where is your fiancé?" he asked, applying a red tikka to my forehead and tying a red thread around my wrist. Then he placed the same red thread in my palm. "This is for your fiancé. Tie it on him yourself...it's part of the ritual."
I smiled and gave him a nod.
"Where's Kabir?" Mom asked, glancing around the hall.
"I don't know," I replied.
"You should check on him, sweetheart," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder and nudging me toward the stairs. "Try his room first."
"Mom, are you crazy? How can I go into his room unannounced?" I glared at her, but she just pushed me gently again.
"Just go...he'll be your husband in three days," she winked.
I wanted to refuse her but gave up the idea and headed upstairs. I remembered where Kabir's room was from the earlier house tour. But just as I was about to turn toward it, a scream rang out.
A terrified, agonizing scream like a wounded animal.
I froze. My eyes widened, I clutched my chest as my heart jumped into my throat.
"What the hell was that?" I muttered, glancing downstairs. But no one seemed to have heard it due to the music system in the hall was playing.
Without thinking, I followed the sound, but everything went silent again.
"Was I hearing things?" I whispered to myself, glancing around the empty hallway. There was no sign of anyone. No voices. No footsteps. Just silence.
"Maybe someone's pulling a prank," I mumbled, shaking my head and turned toward Kabir's room again but halted.
