"Do you think we should consult another astrologer? I mean getting a second opinion is not wrong right? Since you believe it too much..... And we don't have to let our families know. Just us???" she asked with a pleading tone as Dev's eyes immediately popped open.

She wasn't desperate about their intimacy but the fact that Dev was controlling himself for the sake of keeping her life safe, was killing her. She wanted him to know the truth. At least with this way, she would be able to expose his mother's cruel intentions, she thought.

-----------------------

Sona's POV

I looked at him as he stared at me with unreadable expressions.

"Sona...I don't think it's a good idea darling." he said caressing my cheeks as I leaned closer towards his touch.

"Why not?"

"What if we don't like what they say? Won't you be more hurt?" he asked. I smiled as I already knew what the outcome would be.

"No Dev, I don't think so. We can check with a few of them. It would either be entirely different......or......the same. If what your mum checked is true, then I don't mind waiting for another four more months. After all, we have been separated for three years before. Four months is nothing!" I giggled as he pecked my lips.

"Okay. If that makes you happy, we will go tomorrow then." He said as he pulled me closer and drifted off to sleep.

------------------------

Next day...

Dev and I, were in the car. The atmosphere was tensed and I looked at Dev, who looked like he was in the verge of breaking something. There was mixed emotions in his eyes. Pain, anger and hurt. We had gone to almost four astrologers to check our compatibility and as I expected, everything was fake. All of them said that our horoscopes are extremely compatible and there is no such threatening consequences that would occur from the marriage or consummation.

I knew it was their evil plan and I was glad that Dev agreed to follow me. After all, he was trying to go to places where he had never gone and I loved him for taking that effort. But now, the look on his face was so confusing. He was hurt and betrayed. I never wanted him to feel such a way. I felt a little dumb. What was the need to hurt him, Sona? I should have just waited for that four months. What did I get by proving this to him?

"Dev... Are you okay?" I asked him hoping he would be calm as soon as possible.

"No... Of course not Sonakshi. What do you expect me to say? Believe this or my mum? I don't know Sonakshi. I just...." He choked as he laid back in his seat and closed his eyes. He was confused and he looked at me. I sat there not knowing what to do.

"Dev-"

"Let's go home Sonakshi..."

The drive back was a quiet one. Once we reached home, Dev just stormed inside his room and stayed there. Ishwari and Radharani were already back home and they were perplexed seeing Dev's sudden behaviour.

I made my way to the kitchen to grab some water when mami came inside and stared at me.

"Now what have you done to make Dev angry again? Huh? Why can't you leave him and give him some peace? Always troubling our poor beta!" she scoffed and went away.

Ishwari was still sitting down as she witnessed me making my way towards the room. She immediately came towards me and grabbed the glass of water from my hand.

"Don't worry! I can serve my son! Your work today is to make lunch for the whole family. Nisha will be here soon. Go and find all the ingredients in the kitchen and start your work!" she said in a rude tone before walking towards our room.

I just stood there shocked, still trying to digest her words. What did she think of me? A slave? Fine I will just cook the most horrible food that was ever found on the planet! Wouldn't that make Dev all the more upset? He needs to eat also right? Jay uncle and Neha would be here too. Do I want to do this? Maybe I should give it a try. Maybe my cruel mother in-law might change if I show her some of my good manners.... I thought.

It was two hours and finally, I found all the necessary ingredients that I needed to cook. Thanks to the servant Kichu, I managed to handle the items well. I tried my best to make biryani and all the dishes that I knew. I knew how to cook but I haven't cooked much at home since half of my life had been spent by studying and working. The rest of the time at home, my mum just would pamper me and cook all the delicious food. But now, life took a complete turn. I have to get used to this...

After about another hour, Jay and Nisha returned from the office. Even Ishwari retired herself from Dev's room. I was curious about the conversation they had inside the room. Did Dev ask her anything? Radha mami was the first one to assemble around the table. She was so impatient. One by one everyone gathered around the dining table except Dev. I was getting restless.

Before I could go upstairs, Nisha got up from her chair.

"Maa, I will go and call Dev!" she said before giving me a signature smirk. Before I could reply her, Ishwari interrupted me.

"Sonakshi....please serve the food. I am sure everyone is hungry." Ishwari said in an authoritative tone. Okay... What is happening here? Why wasn't anyone stopping Nisha? Excuse me people!!! I am his wife! My mind screamed while everyone were chatting and having their own conversation.

Few minutes passed and restlessness took over me. My eyes were still on the stairs waiting for Dev to make his appearance. I desperately wanted to disappear from the dining area and run into his arms. What the hell was Nisha doing inside?

"SONAKSHI!!!!!" I flinched as I heard Dev screaming at the top of his voice. God...what happened now?

Everyone looked shocked as I quickly excused myself and rushed towards our room. There I saw Dev, who looked like he was going to kill someone and a composed Nisha behind him.

"W-what happened?" I asked. I knew by the looks of it, it was something serious.

"What is this?" Dev asked pointing at the table.

It was the important contract paper. Dev had asked me to keep it safely and I had kept it in the file just an hour ago before we left to see the astrologers. But now, the paper was torn into pieces. My jaw just dropped at the sight of it. Obviously it wasn't me. I didn't even have the chance to go back to his room ever since I came back.

"Dev.... How did this happen. I remember that I kept it in the file before we l-" I was interrupted rudely as Dev yelled again.

"It was already this in the file, Sonakshi! I had clearly mentioned to you that this was important and yet... you just stuffed it like a piece of trash inside. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU EVEN THINKING? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS COST FOR ME?" he yelled as I stood numb.

"Dev...relax. We can deal this later. We need to go and have lunch first. Please come down na!" Nisha persuaded him as she placed her hands on his shoulders. I was totally irked and embarrassed. I didn't know how the papers got torn. Could it be Nisha? But she wasn't even at home when we left, right?

I stood strong without breaking down. I wasn't a weak person. I expected worse things from this house when I was going to get married but never expected hatred from Dev. Now, even he was being clouded by anger. I just waited for him to finish whatever he had to say. He turned towards Nisha and nodded.

"Nisha I will be down in a while.... Just give us a moment" he said as Nisha looked at me mockingly. I saw the pride in her eyes. I clenched my fists thinking about amount of embarrassment I had to go through in the last half and hours in my life. Once Nisha left, Dev looked back at me. His eyes didn't even hold an inch of regret or guilt. It was purely anger.

"I know you were freaking angry at me for the whole of yesterday. But this was too cheap of you! Don't you think so? And how can the paper be torn by its own? Are you out of your brains Sonakshi? This can cause almost a million-dollar loss in my business.... DON'T YOU EVER THINK BEFORE DOING ANYTHING?" he screamed. I was sure the people below heard at least a few of his harsh words.

"I.Didn't.Do.It" I said emphasizing on every single word.

"Oh really? So, what were you doing below so long? I was freaking waiting for you. Mum bought me water. She said that she called you but you just brushed of saying that you were tired. And now, Nisha came to ask me to join them for lunch. What the hell? Were you so busy that you couldn't even come up here and talk to me?" he asked furiously while I just stood there receiving constant shocks. Oh yeah, of course his mother would have told him that.

I resisted my eyeroll. I understood everything now. It was their plan of making him hate me and they were winning so effortlessly.

"You know what Dev? I just think it's a waste of time talking to you since you've already decided who is wrong even without listening to my part. No matter what I tell you, you are going to end up accusing me. So, guess what? I am not going to explain myself to you anymore." I said and walked towards the washroom after grabbing my phone from the nightstand.

I slammed the door and sat on the floor with a heavy heart. The grief surged with every expelled breath, always reaching higher peaks, never sufficiently soothed by my long intakes of the damp air. The awful hollowness, the waves of wretchedness threatened to engulf my mind, body and soul. I always thought I was stronger than this. Was I not? I tried not to cry but I couldn't stop the tears flowing out from my eyes. I looked through the contacts and found Pooja's number. Just when I was about to press the call button, I stopped myself.

'No.. You shouldn't complain about your marriage life to anyone...Every marriage has it's own flaws Sona...you should overcome it by your own. Only by that, your bond will strengthen. Not by a third person entering in it....' I recalled my mother's words. Yes, I should be more matured. But it was hard to digest since it was only two days of my marriage.

It wasn't even a long journey, yet I was already in the verge of giving up.

I came out from the washroom after washing my face and noticed that Dev wasn't in the room. Thank god at least I could do my own stuff. I went down and took my clothes from the laundry. I came back to the room and folded my clothes. I tried to find some place in Dev's cupboard but his cupboard was in a mess. I didn't want to help him clean it as I was afraid that he might get angry if he found a shirt torn or something. You never know!

Few hours passed. I was still alone in the room. I have never felt so abandoned in my life. Dev never returned back to the room. I didn't know how long I was waiting before sleep consumed me.

-------------------

Dev's POV

I was so frustrated and infuriated. Today was a bad day for me. I still couldn't take off the incidents which were happening in my house. Now I was working on re-typing the same document which was torn due to Sonakshi's carelessness. It took me freaking four hours to type it back! Even then, it wasn't a perfect one. Once I finished, I sighed and rested back on the sofa as my mind drifted to the afternoon's incident.

(5 hours back)

I came back to my room as the astrologers' words kept ringing on his mind. I was extremely confused and pissed off. Why did my family have to follow all these things? My mind was so restless and I was just waiting for Sonakshi to come and console me. After all, all I needed was a hug from her.

After waiting a while, I saw my mother coming to the room with a glass of water. I was angry with her due to the horoscope but I controlled and sat there. I was confused at first but once she entered she said something which already stirred some irritation inside me.

"Dev...your wife doesn't even want to bring this water here, for you! I have noticed how the past two days she had been avoiding you. Any problems between you guys, please solve it in your room and don't make it obvious. Tell this to your wife!" she said making me furious.

"Maa...before talking about her, tell me, which priest or astrologer did you see....I need to have a personal word with him!"

Ishwari's face paled and she stood rooted at her spot.

"W-why?"

"Just tell me maa...I need to know." I told her sternly,

"Ermm...your mami was the one who brought him in.... I heard he went overseas..." she trailed nervously as Dev just stared at her with rage. She had never seen such anger from him before.

She gulped down her fear, confused whether Dev found out or not. Restlessly, she kept an eye contact with her son..

"Just remember maa...no horoscope can change the relationship we share...especially a fake one...."

---------------------

Dev was brushed off from his thoughts when Neha tapped him from his shoulders.

"What?" I asked as she passed me a piece of paper and walked of. I read the note and my eyes widened.

'Bhabhi haven't eaten from morning. She skipped lunch, as she was waiting for you to join us... But you just called her and poured out your anger on her!!! She wanted to come and call you for lunch but Nisha ran off to your room first. It wasn't her fault! What an idiotic husband you are? Our dearest mum requested her to cook in the afternoon, when she desperately wanted to go to the room. She had no choice so she spent the whole day cooking. But you, being a jerk, scolded her in front of Nisha. Don't you think you're treating her worse than our servants here?' – Unfortunately your sister Neha

The letter was a tight slap on my face. I have never felt so heartbroken and I was in no place to gain sympathy here. I totally deserved this. It was my anger which blocked all the rational thoughts on my mind. I was angry after we went out today and after talking to my mum, my anger just increased.

When Nisha came to call me for lunch, she enquired about the contract file as she wanted to bring it office and discuss to our employees with it. When I found the papers torn, I just snapped. I couldn't hold it in me anymore. The contract papers were so important and she knew it.

I know bursting my anger in front of Nisha may not have been the best way but as everyone knows, an angry man loses his brains. Of course, now the fault was on my mother! She disliked Sonakshi so much that she ranted about her to me! If I had heard Sonakshi out with a clear mind, I would have figured it out! But now, it was too late. Everything had been ruined and nothing can go back.

I looked at the time and it was close to dinner. I thought Sonakshi had her lunch without me since she spent so much of time below. God...what do I do now? I rushed to our room and found her sleeping on the bed in an uncomfortable position. I could see that her brows were creased and her face was tensed.

Even in her sleep she looked sad. I caused her so much of grief in just two days of marriage. I failed so badly in making her happy. I claimed that I loved her but what did I actually do? She starved from hunger on the second day of her marriage. I felt so ashamed of myself. I didn't know whether should I wake her up or not. Will she be angry at me? DUHH... of course she will be stupid Dev. Just wake her up before she gets sick. My mind taunted.

I slowly went and kissed her cheeks when I saw her squirming in her place. She slowly opened her eyes and her body immediately stiffened once her gaze fell on my face. She sat up and looked at me confusedly.

"Urmm... Actually, I didn't....know you skipped lunch...... Do you want to join me....for dinner?" I stammered as she stared with me with perplexity. Idiot ask your sorry first!!!

"Ok" she nodded as she walked off from the bed. I just watched her as she walked to the washroom and came back after washing her face.

The dinner was a quiet one. Thankfully no one interrupted our moment. Sonakshi ate very little. She didn't look at me all, which stated how hurt she was. I needed to be prepared for a long night. When we finally retired into our room, she quietly went and slept in her place making me totally guilty.

I went close to her and slide my hands on her waist. She didn't move or turn back.

"Sonakshi, I am really sorry! Please forgive me..." I asked. I didn't know how I could gain myself forgiveness but the least I could do was try.

"I forgave you long time back because I have no choice in this house of yours. Can I stay here happily without forgiving you?" she asked making me feel completely numb.

"Sonakshi.....Please don't say like that. Of course, you do have a choice to make for your own self. I really do have a temper issue. You know that right? That doesn't mean I would snatch away your rights from you. I really do regret what I did in the morning. If you feel angry, then pour your anger. If you feel like hitting me, then go ahead. I would never stop you from expressing yourself to me. Today morning I was too frustrated. I really didn't mean to say such nasty stuff at you but......" I breathed in as I didn't know what else to say.

Sonakshi immediately got seated in her place and pinched the tip of her nose. She was completely stressed. I knew her better than anyone, loved her more than anything, but in these infrequent failures to suppress my rage, I tore her like only a lover can. I knew her weak spots and deepest pains and yet I failed to realize the depth of the mistake I have committed.

"You do know that you insulted me in front of your cousin right? A third person!!" she asked as I gave her a guilt-ridden look. It pained me. Obviously I was such a dumb ass. I disrespected my wife in front of another person. There was no forgiveness for that.

"... Yea, I know Sona... I will ask forgiveness in front of her too... Or if you want you can insult me back infront of her again. Just tell me what to do. I will do it for you. Anything that I can do to remove the pain I gave you. Please just don't ignore me." I pleaded looking down as she looked at me and turned away.

"Fine. I will forgive you. But at one condition!"

"What? I will do anything...just state it." I told as she gave me a thoughtful look and came closer.

"You have to listen to every single thing I tell you.... For the next 2 days! And if you deny anything, then I will move to the guest room for the next two months!" she said making my eyes wide.

***********************

HAHAHAHAHAHA HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT!

NOTE : Never insult your spouse in front of another person! It's the most horrible thing ever! And never believe in horoscopes blindly. They happen to be true sometimes but not always... it's better not to have it checked!!!! Then you can have some peace in your life

THIS CHAPTER IS PURELY EXPLAINING THE TORTURES THAT Sonakshi GOES THROUGH IN HER IN-LAWS HOUSE!!! I KNOW ITS HORRIBLE...BUT ITS MUCH NEEDED! HOT CHAPTERS ARE COMING AHEAD...A BIT MORE PATIENCE GUYS😂😂😂

Precap : Dev's dilemma and Sonakshi's demands! + something unexpected