unwanted bride

chapter : 5

After hearing Baldev Sahay's words, Rekha Sahay burst into tears. Sobbing uncontrollably, she pleaded, "Thakur Sahab, I don't know where that girl has gone. We told her that she was getting married, but I don't know why she ran away. We asked her about it, and we did everything with her consent. Now, I have no idea where she has disappeared to. We'll find her, but please, spare our daughters!"

Rekha glanced at her two daughters, Mahi and Khushi, as she spoke. The younger Thakur had them in his grasp, and both girls were crying as they looked at their parents.

Baldev Thakur turned to his two brothers. One was thirty-five years old, while the other was thirty.

Looking at them with a menacing expression, he declared, "If my wedding palanquin doesn't leave this place today, then both your funeral biers will leave alongside the wedding palanquins of these two girls!"

The moment Mahi and Khushi heard his threat, they cried out together, "We don't want to get married! We absolutely refuse to marry either of them!"

The younger Thakur looked like the devil himself. From head to toe, he resembled a ruthless thug, with a thick beard, bloodshot eyes, and dark skin. Why would any girl willingly want to marry a man like him?

Baldev Thakur turned to his men and ordered furiously, "I don't care what it takes. Find that girl and drag her out of whatever hole she's hiding in! She will pay for what she did to me. I'll make her suffer so badly that no girl—or anyone else—will ever dare to go against me again. I don't care what you have to do, just bring her before me!"

As soon as Baldev Thakur finished speaking, his men hurried away to carry out his orders.

At that moment, he was burning with uncontrollable rage.

## The Next Morning… At Abhimanyu's Mansion

Morning had arrived, and Abhimanyu was sleeping peacefully with his arms wrapped around Sanjh. Perhaps he was experiencing such peaceful sleep after countless days of restlessness. In his dreams, it felt as though he was holding his beloved Kashish in his arms. One of his hands rested on Sanjh's chest as he slept soundly.

Sanjh was sleeping peacefully, too, until the morning sunlight fell across her face. She stirred uneasily and slowly began to open her eyes.

It felt as though something strong had wrapped itself around her, holding her firmly in place.

She tried to move, but whatever was holding her had wrapped itself around her far too tightly, leaving her unable to move even an inch.

Sanjh opened her eyes fully and looked around carefully. That was when she realized someone was holding her.

She tilted her neck to get a better look, and the moment her eyes fell on Abhimanyu's handsome face, she forgot everything else for a second. She found herself staring at him, completely mesmerized by his features.

But the very next moment, reality struck her. A man was sleeping with his arms wrapped around her!

A scream escaped her lips.

Hearing her shriek, Abhimanyu, who had been sleeping peacefully with his head resting against her chest, slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he woke up, he felt as though his beloved Kashish was right there in front of him.

Still half-asleep, he pulled Sanjh closer and murmured affectionately, "Kashish, why are you screaming? Let me sleep, sweetheart."

With that, Abhimanyu mistook Sanjh for Kashish and pressed his lips against her cheek.

The moment Sanjh felt his lips against her cheek, her mind went completely blank, as though she had been transported into a dream. She was so shocked that she couldn't even find the courage to utter a single word. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as if they might pop right out of their sockets.

After kissing her cheek, Abhimanyu tucked his face against her chest again and settled down to sleep.

Sanjh remained frozen in the same position, unable to process what had just happened.

Just then, a loud banging sound came from the door, as though someone was pounding on it with all their might.

The noise jolted Sanjh back to her senses.

She quickly pushed Abhimanyu away and blurted out, "Where... where am I?"

The moment Abhimanyu heard her voice, he jolted awake from his peaceful slumber.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he realized that he wasn't with his Kashish. The woman in his arms was someone else entirely.

The realization hit him like a thunderbolt.

Without a second thought, he used all his strength to shove Sanjh away from him.

The force of his push sent Sanjh tumbling off the bed, and she landed face-first on the floor.

A painful scream escaped her lips as tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

Abhimanyu sprang to his feet and began pulling at his hair in frustration. He couldn't remember a single thing about the previous night.

He roared, "Who are you?!"

His terrifying voice made Sanjh tremble in fear. He sounded so furious that it seemed as though he wanted to destroy everything in his path.

When Sanjh remained silent, Abhimanyu demanded again, "I asked you, who are you?!"

The moment those words left his mouth, memories of the previous night suddenly came rushing back.

He remembered going for a walk by the pond with Dhairya in the evening. He remembered seeing this girl drowning and rushing to save her. And he remembered bringing her back to his mansion later that night.

As everything came back to him, Abhimanyu grabbed his hair in sheer frustration.

With a furious roar, he kicked the bedside table beside him.

The moment his foot struck it, everything placed on the table came crashing down, shattering across the floor.

Sanjh watched him with frightened eyes, too terrified to move.

She lowered her gaze to herself and realized that she was wearing nothing but a shirt. Her long, fair legs were clearly exposed beneath it.

The sight of herself in such a state made her tears flow uncontrollably. She felt as though she had lost everything.

"No... this can't be happening!" she sobbed. "This can't happen to me! I ran away from that monster to save myself, only to end up in the same situation all over again. No... this can't be happening to me!"

Sanjh struggled to gather herself, while Abhimanyu was practically losing his mind with rage.

He was furious with himself. How could he have slept so peacefully in the arms of someone other than his Kashish? How could he have kissed another woman?

He remembered kissing Sanjh's cheeks while mistaking her for Kashish in his sleep.

The memory only intensified his disgust with himself.

Furiously rubbing both hands over his lips, he muttered, "No! I could never do something like this! I can never touch anyone other than my Kashish. Never!"

Watching Abhimanyu behave so violently, Sanjh didn't dare utter a single word. She simply sat curled up on the floor, crying with her knees drawn to her chest, stealing frightened glances at him.

Abhimanyu turned toward her with a murderous look in his eyes. At that moment, he was so furious that he felt like killing her with his bare hands.

Just as he began striding toward her, a small voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.

"Daddyyyy! I'm here!"

Hearing Dhairya's voice, Abhimanyu turned toward the door.

There stood little Dhairya, all dressed up and ready for the day, even though it was still early morning. Two female servants stood beside him.

His little face practically glowed with excitement, as if someone had turned on a 440-volt light inside him.

The moment Abhimanyu saw his little boy, he was left speechless.

Meanwhile, Dhairya ran toward Sanjh on his tiny feet.

Reaching her, he gently wiped away her tears with his little hands and asked innocently, "Why are you cwying? Did Daddy give you punishment? Did Daddy scold you? Tell me, pwease!"

Dhairya spoke in his adorable, lisping voice, his concern evident in every word.

His sweet little voice felt like honey to Sanjh's ears, soothing something deep inside her.

So much had happened to her, yet not a single person had stopped to ask whether she was okay. And now this tiny boy, who was still too young to understand what it truly meant to be okay, was asking her if she was all right.

Sanjh didn't know what to do.

She hadn't even noticed that Dhairya had called her Mumma.

All she could do was open her arms and pull the little boy against her chest, bursting into tears all over again.

Seeing Sanjh cry so bitterly, Dhairya began crying just as hard.

The sight of his son crying in another woman's arms sent Abhimanyu's temper soaring.

He strode toward them and abruptly grabbed Dhairya by the arm, pulling him away from Sanjh. Then he lifted the little boy into his arms and held him tightly against his chest.

"How dare you touch my son?!" he thundered.

Abhimanyu's voice was so terrifying that Sanjh began trembling all over again. She couldn't even bring herself to speak.

Meanwhile, the moment Dhairya found himself in his father's arms, he burst into even louder tears.

"Daddy, wet me go! I want to go to my Mumma! Wet me go, Daddy! You're bad! You made Mumma cry! Mumma was crying because of you! Wet me go! I hate you, Daddy! Wet me go!"

As he sobbed, Dhairya repeatedly pounded his tiny fists against Abhimanyu's chest.

The moment Abhimanyu heard the words I hate you coming from his son's mouth, a sharp pain pierced his heart.

He glared furiously at Sanjh.

This was all because of her!

Dhairya might get upset with him or refuse to speak to him, but the little boy had never once told him that he hated him.

Yet ever since this girl had entered their lives, Dhairya had said those three devastating words twice.

Abhimanyu had never cared about anyone's love or hatred. The only person who mattered to him in this entire world was his son. Nothing else mattered.

And now, because of this strange woman, his own son was telling him that he hated him.

Abhimanyu turned his furious gaze toward Dhairya and snapped, "She is NOT your mother! How many times do I have to tell you? Your mother has gone to be with God! Why can't you understand that?!"

Hearing his father, Dhairya cried even harder.

"Daddy, she is Dhaiwy's Mumma! Yesterday, when Dhaiwy was going to God, God gave her to Dhaiwy so Dhaiwy wouldn't come to Him! She is my Mumma! Let me go to her, or I will never talk to you again! Never, Daddy! I won't even eat my food!"

Dhairya had cried so much that his little face had turned bright red.

He had always been an extremely sensitive child, which was why Abhimanyu took such good care of him. Whenever Dhairya cried too much, he would develop a fever and suffer from a headache.

Abhimanyu shot another furious glance at Sanjh.

She was sitting curled up on the floor, looking at him with terrified eyes. Just like Dhairya's face, Sanjh's face had also turned red from crying.

At that moment, she looked like an adorable little girl whose face had turned as red as a ripe tomato.

Abhimanyu glared at her angrily before finally putting Dhairya down.

The moment his feet touched the floor, Dhairya hurried back toward Sanjh on his tiny legs.

He gently cupped her little face in his hands and said in his sweet, innocent voice, "Mumma, pwease stop cwying. Dhaiwy is here, wight? Nobody can huwt Dhaiwy's Mumma. Dhaiwy will pwotect his Mumma!"

Hearing his adorable little voice, Sanjh slowly lifted her face to look at him.

But now, she no longer dared to pull Dhairya into her arms.

Abhimanyu's terrifying voice kept echoing in her ears, reminding her of what he had said.

When Dhairya realized that Sanjh wasn't hugging him, he began crying even harder.

"Mumma, pwease pick Dhaiwy up! Dhaiwy wants to go into his Mumma's arms!"

Sanjh looked at him through tear-filled eyes, but she still couldn't bring herself to move.

Abhimanyu's frightening voice continued to ring in her ears.

When he saw his son crying because of this girl yet again, he lost his temper completely.

He roared at Sanjh, "If my son sheds even a single tear because of you, I swear I won't spare you!"

The moment Sanjh heard his threat, she immediately pulled Dhairya into her arms.

As soon as Dhairya nestled against her chest, his crying stopped.

He wrapped his tiny arms around her neck and clung to her as tightly as he could.

Then, in his sweet little voice, his throat still hoarse from crying, he asked, "Mumma, you won't ever weave Dhaiwy again, wight? Everyone says Dhaiwy is a bad boy because he doesn't have a mumma. But now you'll always stay with me, wight? God gave you to me, so you won't go away from me, wight, Mumma?"

Hearing his words, Sanjh felt an unbearable ache in her heart.

She couldn't understand why she felt so deeply attached to this little boy, even though she had absolutely no relationship with him.

When Sanjh didn't answer, Dhairya moved his tiny face closer to hers and asked again, "Pwease say something, Mumma! You won't weave Dhaiwy, wight? My first Mumma went to God, but you won't go away too, wight?"

Sanjh looked at the little boy, who had cried himself into such a miserable state.

Her heart ached as she softly replied, "I'm not your mother."

The moment those words left her mouth, Dhairya burst into loud sobs again.

He turned toward Abhimanyu and cried, "You thweatened Mumma, didn't you? Just wike the villains do! You're a villain, Daddy! You're a villain!"

With that, Dhairya broke down all over again.

Hearing such words from his own son made Abhimanyu's temper flare beyond control.

He turned toward Sanjh and glared at her with such murderous fury that it seemed as though he might strangle her at any moment.