Page 2

Story: Tainted Bride

With her eyes closed, she sees a girl running around with a lot of laughter, her father laughing with her because she is his life and her mother's smile, and for her younger brother, as if he did not live a moment without her. Immediately, tears stream out of her eyes, and she says to herself,.

“I hate this face. I hate this beauty...”

She immediately runs inside. Their small house is on the bank of the river, and often she likes to sit on the bank of this river in the evening to pass the time but never likes to see her face.

Padma looks at her suddenly, as she has just run inside like every day. She doesn't know what fear always scares her all the time, but she never talks to her about it because it's probably something of a nuisance to her that neither lets her live nor does she smile as she puts tea and toast in front of her, which she begins to eat quietly as usual.

Padma's eyes are fixed on this girl, who will be about 28 years old. Her height is 5'5 feet, with a very curvy body that appears to have been meticulously sculpted by God himself, making her the epitome of beauty. Yes, she is extremely beautiful; she wants to cast evil every day on her, but she always likes to keep her face covered with her thick, long hair and never lets the scarf move off her head. She rarely spoke to anyone, but I loved to play with AASHI. Padma smiles and says,.

"Bundela Madam is very happy with you because you keep her granddaughter Aashi well."

Avi, who was comfortably eating tea and toast when she heard Aashi's name, smiled very lightly at Padma. This smile is so small that one can hardly notice it, but Padma is very happy to see it because it only appears on her lips sometimes.

"Madam ji has wished upon the 40-day circumambulation (round around the temple), but she was getting very upset for Aashi, so I said, "Whenever she will do the circumambulation, you will take care of Aashi; do I do it right?"

Avi quickly nods her head and swiftly finishes her tea biscuit, her entire focus now on meeting Aashi. She met Aashi just 8 months ago, when she had come for the first time with her grandmother to worship in the temple, but she was troubling her grandmother a lot, due to which she was not able to worship properly, and she had to leave. At that time, Avi had taken her in her warm embrace and cooed that 3-year-old sweet girl, so her grandmother, to do the prayer. This was the first time that Aashi had gone to someone other than her family, and at the same time, she was happy with her. Seeing this, her grandmother was quite surprised. She was very happy and relaxed that day. Every week, she visits the nearby temple for prayer, always accompanied by Aashi. Now, every time she goes, Avi takes care of that sweet angel, for whom she eagerly waits for a week. She quickly starts working at double speed because she wants to keep a lot of time for Aashi and does not want to do anything with her time. That's why she wants to finish as much work as possible before her arrival.

Vishnu, who had been silently listening to everything, suddenly turns his attention to Avi, who appears to be content with everything. He stares at his wife, who is looking only at Avi but is consumed by a different kind of worry, so he says softly to her:.

"Do you even know what you're doing? You are also putting her in danger for a few hours of enjoyment. Don't you know Bundela?”

“What kind of trouble? You know that Madam always takes flowers from us and performs prayers. This time Avi is with us,so she has just started getting to know this sweet girl and adores her a lot. What is the problem with this?”

“The problem is not with Bundela madam, but with her son... The whole town is afraid of her son, and Aashi is his daughter. If anything happens by mistake, he will neither leave us nor Avi alive.... This girl is already facing a problem in her life, and after his daughter's arrival, she is connecting to her very fondly, which he didn't like; if he came to know, I am sure she would be in trouble."

“I don't understand. Why are you talking like this? Nothing like this is going to happen. I only know that Avi likes Aashi, and Aashi is very happy with our Avi. Apart from this, I don't know anything. You are worrying about things that have not happened. You saw that Avi smiled lightly at the mention of Aashi, so I am also happy.”

Padma departs from there, while Vishnu silently gazes at the idol of God, prays for the safety of all three of them, and speaks softly.

“Keep your blessings on us."

CHAPTER 2

There is a stampede in the whole house; everyone is doing everything very quickly because they know that soon their first master will come to the dining table, and he needs his breakfast on time. The most significant event is that today, the first mistress will be performing a 40-day circumambulation of the temple as part of her vow, which has left everyone in a rush. The house servants talk to each other while working quickly.

"Do all the work quickly; otherwise, there will be a lot of problems. Everyone knows very well that Bundela Sir does not want any kind of mistake."

“Everyone lives here in a hurry. Everyone perceives the shortcomings of others; regardless of our efforts, they will undoubtedly identify our own faults. Today is the first day, and I am thinking about 40 days because the situation is going to be the same for 40 days. Madam will not come to the kitchen in the morning, and at the breakfast table, the master will scold everyone.

“You are absolutely right, but the truth is, thank God that the younger master is not here because he does not tolerate any mistake. I'm uncertain about the number of individuals who have already faced termination."

Everyone quickly sets the breakfast table, taking a deep breath after completing their tasks, and then looks up to where their master's room is, knowing that he could arrive at any moment.

Digvijay is sitting comfortably on the couch, gazing at Sandhya, who is not paying attention to him today because she is deliberately doing this to avoid him.

"Can I get a little bit of your attention?"

“No...”

When Shandhya uttered those words, a small child's laughter echoed loudly throughout the room. Digvijay lovingly holds his granddaughter in his arms and kisses her on the cheek.

"Please, princess, I want a few moments with your grandmother.”

Aashi puts both her small hands on her mouth, presses her mouth to hide her smile, and nods her head.

“Good girl... Just give us a few moments. Then we have our breakfast."

Aashi runs away from there by making a very loud noise about the anklet tied to her feet. Digvijay looks at his wife, who is currently looking at some lady suits, and smiles lovingly, a sight that makes him grit his teeth.