Page 18

Story: Tainted Bride

Prakram quickly takes Aashi into his lap and tries to push her away from Avishka, but as soon as he tries to push her away, Avishka holds Aashi's hand and starts looking at Aashi with her half-open eyes only. To free Aashi's hand, Prakram holds her hand and starts opening her fingers from her small wrist, but Avishka suddenly grabs Prakram's hand and starts pricking her nails into his wrist. Prakram immediately picks up his daughter with one hand and leaves the other hand in Avishka's hands. Her nails have caused blood to start dripping from his wrist, but he is unable to free his hand. She is staring at Aashi with her eyes half-open, tears streaming from them.

Seeing the tears, Prakram, for some unknown reason, feels his heart melting for the first time, and Aashi, who was trying to get free from his embrace, loosens his grip, which causes her to come closer to Avishka and tell her while kissing her cheek.

"Avu, it hurts... Ashu, blow some air on your wound.”

Avishka's eyes are only on Aashi, who kisses her again. The doctor, who has been trying to control her with injections and everything else for a long time, is also watching everything as Avishka's grip on Prakram's hand loosens. It appears Prakram releases his hand from her grip and starts looking at both of them very carefully. Aashi is smiling and trying to talk to Avishka.

"Avu, don’t be afraid. Aashu will not leave you and go anywhere.... I am here with you...”

It seemed as if there was a lot of magic in these few words from Aashi. Avishka felt very relaxed and closed her eyes with a faint smile. The doctor thoroughly examines her before engaging in a conversation with Prakram, who is observing his daughter and has begun to listen to the doctor from a distance.

"Perhaps due to a previous incident, she experienced a severe panic attack. However, your daughter's words create more magic than the medication. As a result, she has calmed down and resumed her sleep, indicating that there is no need for concern. However, it's important to note that she should not experience such panic attacks in the future."

The doctor leaves from there, and Prakram begins to observe his daughter, who has once again found her place in Avishka's arms. She is lying close to her, placing her hand on her chest, and patting her gently, as if attempting to put her to sleep. However, all this is very new for Prakram because Aashi never does anything like this. Prakram comes and sits in front of Aashi and says this to her while caressing her forehead.

"Aashi, what happened?"

"Avu was scared, so I was scared too."

"Your father is here, so you don't need to be afraid."

"Will you protect my Avu too?"

Prakram has no answer to her innocent question at all, but he does not want to trouble his daughter with anything, so he smiles very lightly. Aashi immediately smiles, due to which Prakram is also forced to smile more. After some time, Aashi falls asleep again. Prakram is looking at his daughter very well, and he is also looking at Avishka again and again. He doesn't want to believe anyone at all, but he doesn't know why, after seeing this girl, he feels like believing. He is extremely upset and unable to sleep, which is why he feels the urge to smoke cigarettes. He immediately goes outside the hospital, where Padma and Vishnu are still awake and talking to each other.

Observing both of them engaged in conversation, he silently stands behind them, carefully concealing himself, confident that something significant will undoubtedly emerge from their conversation.

"I feel that we should tell everything we know; at least that girl will not have to face any more trouble."

"I am not able to understand what to say. We've already told them that we found her unconscious on the river banks one and a half years ago... In a very bad condition."

"Why don't you tell them that when we took her to the hospital in a half-dead condition, the doctor told us that the girl had lost her child some time ago? ... Perhaps that is why she loves Aashi so much."

On hearing this, there is a strange movement in Prakram's heart; his heart starts beating vigorously, on which he suddenly places his hand. Padma says this while controlling her tears.

"I don't know how many of my children have died in the womb, one after the other... I have personally experienced this pain, so I can empathize with this girl's anguish. I had also asked her about her parents, but in her eyes, I saw nothing but tears. Only God knows what calamity she has gone through. And now the trouble is not ending here either.”

"The truth is, when she started meeting Aashi, I told you that she is the daughter of Bundela Sir, and he would not like this at all, so keep Avi away. But God knows what happened between them.... Both of them are always seen around each other as if they are pulling each other... It is like a string where both are drawn towards each other."

Prakram cannot let his heart melt even more after listening to these things because he cannot believe anything just by listening to these people. He immediately sits in his chair, lights his cigarette, and closes his eyes.

"Don't melt yourself; this is just a deception, and deception is in the nature of these people."

He quickly takes out his phone and calls Armaan while smoking his second cigarette.

“Yes sir…”

"We should know every little thing about this girl because she has completely trapped my Aashi in her lie. My baby girl doesn't even want to listen to me; if there is anything about this girl, then let me know about every single thing. Find out whetherit takes a month or two. I want every detail about this girl. EVERY...SINGLE... DETAIL... DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

He emphasized his last words very loudly, which already alerted Armaan, so he quickly answered.

"As you wish, sir..."

On his mobile, he turns on the CCTV installed in Avishka's room and starts looking at his daughter carefully. He fixes his gaze on his daughter.

"It is not so easy to deceive me, and the day it is proven that you are a fraud, no one will be able to find even your nails...You've made a big mistake by implicating my daughter."

He completely finishes his cigarette and immediately comes back into the room with long strides because he cannot leave his daughter here alone at all. He is exhausted from the morning rush, so he lies down on the sofa in front and turns his face towards his daughter, who is currently sleeping very comfortably in Avishka's arms, as if she were in his arms. All these things are making him very angry. At the same time, he is also being forced to think about why Aashi is so attracted to Avishka.