Page 91 of Mrs. Pandey
"Not true?" His tone snapped. "Then tell me why a man like that even knows Pari exists. Tell me why he has videos of her...why he's touching her like..." He cut himself off, his breath shuddering. "You should have told me from the start, Ira. You should have cleared everything up to me. Now my sister's life..." His voice wavered, a bitter mix of rage and despair. "...is hanging because of you."
"I did this to protect you," I said, my own voice trembling. "If I told you, you'd go after him. And Kabir, he's not like other people, Prashant. He doesn't stop. He doesn't forgive. I was trying to keep you and your family safe, I was..."
"Safe?!" His laugh was cold and hollow. "Look at her now. Is this your definition of safe?"
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.
He didn't wait for my answer.
"I'm going to get her back. And when I do, Ira..." His voice lowered. "...we're going to have a very different conversation about what it means to be a wife."
The line went dead.
For a long moment, I just stared at the phone in my hand, the silence in the room so loud it felt deafening. My chest felt hollow, my lungs refusing to work. The walls seemed to inch closer, the air thinner.
Then another message from Kabir.
"Looks like your perfect little marriage is cracking, sweetheart. I told you... if you're not mine, you'll never belong to anyone else."
I gripped the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white, the skin stretched and aching. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
No. Not this time.
I couldn't lose Prashant. Not now. Not ever.
And I couldn't let Kabir hurt Pari.
______
Chapter 43
IRA
I rushed to the hospital the moment I heard about Pari's condition. She was found in her hostel with numerous injuries on her body and I knew who did that. Fucking Kabir. My heart was hammering, my mind a storm of worst-case scenarios. I had barely been able to breathe during the ride over, every second feeling like an eternity.
When I finally found her name on the patient board and learned she had only sustained minor injuries, my shoulders sagged with relief. But that relief was short-lived. No one had told me about her mental state, about what she might be going through inside.
And then there was the other truth gnawing at me, the reason this had happened at all. I was regretting, with every fiber of my being, ever stepping into Prashant's life again.
I had underestimated Kabir's hunger for revenge. I knew he was vindictive, but I never thought he would stoop this low, hurting Pari, spinning lies, trying to poison Prashant against me. He wanted to shatter my life piece by piece.
I swore then and there: he would never know peace again. I had already spoken to his ex-wife, gathered her testimony, and Pari was ready to give her statement. Between the videos, the witnesses, and the evidence in my hands, it would be enough to put him behind bars.
My steps were heavy as I walked toward Pari's room. But the moment I reached the door, I froze.
Inside, I saw Prashant. Beside him sat his mother, her face lined with bitterness, and Priya, her arms folded across her chest. They were speaking in low, tense voices.
I took a step forward but then I heard her.
"Now you'll tell me your wife is good," his mother's voice was sharp. "You'll tell me she loves you, and that she's pregnant with your child. You'll protect that woman who's been spinning lies from the day she set foot in your life."
"Maa..." Prashant began, but she didn't let him finish.
"She told our villagers she was pregnant," his mother went on, her tone heavy with contempt. "She manipulated you, she took over our house, and now look...Pari is in this state because of her. I don't know what you see in her, Prashant. I always trusted your judgment, but this..." She shook her head slowly, the disappointment in her eyes cutting deeper than any shout could. "Thank God your father is not here to see this."
"Maa, please..." Prashant's voice cracked, barely audible. "Don't bring him into this mess."
But she wasn't done. Her voice hardened into steel. "Listen to me, Prashant. If anything happens to my daughters in the future, I will never forgive you and that wife of yours. That... whore you married."
