FALLING FOR MY MAFIA BROTHER-IN-LAW

NUR “Wear your mourning clothes; your husband is dead.” I froze as Auni, the bearer of the news, waltzed away. “ “Aren’t you going to the hospital again?” Sri’s voice woke me up. “My husband is dead; I guess I should start packing.” I muffled out the thought that has been in my head all these days; my husband has been sick for days, and my mother-in-law has been able to pour her venom on me directly. “Madam?” The bewildered Sri retorted. “I want to start packing…” “To where?” That was Auni’s voice, filtering into the room before her. “I didn’t know you were such a coward, for someone who claimed she loved my son to death. Running away even before the burial?” I straightened out, releasing the pent-up air in me, and stared at the mother of the man I love. “I will stay till the burial is done, and I will leave.” With a laugh, Auni breezed out, “We will see.” Taking her leave once again. “Why don’t you ever stand up to her?” Sri complained. I walked away from Sri and headed to the hospital; I needed to see my husband for the last time. I already felt bad that I wasn’t there to witness his last moment. A nurse met me with a sober face. “He has been asking after you for some time now. Please hasten up.” I squinted my face in amusement, wondering what she was talking about; maybe I didn’t hear her well. I walked into my husband’s hospital room and found him propped on the bed with the mom whispering to him. Anger, pain, humiliation, and anguish washed over me. “You told me he was dead,” I stammered. Auni smiled. “I was just telling him how you’ve started packing your things to leave because you were tired of the marriage.” “Leave us, Mother,” Aiden whispered just as shame took over me. “My son’s death will be the beginning of your doom.” Auni whispered immediately she got close to me. I closed my eyes in pain as my husband’s voice wafted to me, “Come and sit.” He wheezed out. I lowered myself to the bed and held onto the first man I’ve ever loved. “She told me you were dead,” I sobbed out. “You need to leave immediately; I die. My mother will make your life miserable if you stay one more minute after my death.” “You are not yet dead!” “But I will be. Get yourself ready for that and leave as soon as you can. Call my mother in.” I opened the door, and Auni barged into the room and went to hug her son. That was when Aiden breathed his last. I couldn’t cry; those tears had already been shed before his death. I quietly went to the house and wore my mourning clothes just as Auni had instructed earlier in the day. I won’t leave until after Aiden’s burial. That’s the least I could do to honor the man who had shielded me from the hate of his mother. “Madam, please accept my condolences.” Sri, who had quietly entered the room, said. “Aiden saved me from a family that hated me, a stepmother who was evil, and a dad who was a drunkard. The day I met him, I had gone to a bar to escape the pain of my stepmother’s brutal words. He had looked at me and called me his, with a promise to marry me. A promise he fulfilled to the chagrin of his mother, who wanted someone from a rich family and not a pauper like me. And now, he is dead, Sri. He is dead.” I lamented with a heavy heart. “The burial will be tomorrow; get yourself ready. Nobody needs your tears; just make yourself presentable and be there.” Auni sneered at me, sized up Sri, and banged the door after her. “I can’t even have privacy!” I screamed in pain. “I am so sorry, Madam.” Sri apologized, hastening after Auni. Tired from the pain, I walked into the kitchen for some meal and was met with a deafening silence and then a chuckle as Ana, the head maid, made a funny gesture to the other maids indicating my presence. “Her royal Majesty is here.” She sneered, causing the snickers from the other two maids to increase. “You know you are just a maid, right?” I lashed out. “And you are currently one of us.” Ana retorted. “Your protector is dead; madam is just waiting for him to be buried, and she will come for you. You pauper.” The swishing sound of my palm resting on her cheeks caused the other maids to gasp and Ana herself to look at me in shock. “Until the day I leave here, never speak to me in that manner again!” She flinched; for me, that was an indication that she had gotten what I meant. With a flourish, I left the kitchen, all appetite gone. I was in the room repacking my already packed bags when Sri ran into the room, hugging me to herself. “They said you slapped Ana.” It was a statement, not a question, and I nodded. “You are leaving after the burial?” “Let’s go for a walk,” I responded, suddenly feeling choked up. I dragged her with me and through the back door to the garden, and just then, I saw Ana running towards me. “Madam sent for you.” She spluttered out and walked away immediately. I smiled; the slap did its job, and at the same time, I remembered her words, and my stomach dropped to the ground. Walking into the house again was like being led to a gallows, having sent Sri away. It was just me against Aiden. “You sent for me,” I muttered immediately when I got to where she was sitting. “Have a seat; let’s converse and pretend that you are civilized.” I did as she said, trying to push the anger that her humiliating words were trying to elicit. “I know you are planning on leaving this house.” “I am.” I replied, and she laughed and then continued. “Nur, I know you killed my son so you can take over his estate, but I promise you. You will get nothing from this family.” “I loved your son…” “Oh, you did? You have to prove it.” “How!” “Marry my second son.”