Laila felt a wave of relief wash over her. She could not believe that she had been so foolish to think that Parth would actually hurt her. But at the same time, she could not shake the feeling that something was still off. It was not like she was in a dreamland but a part of her wanted to consider this as a consolation because she was stuck with this man, and they just got married.

"Can we talk?" she asked tentatively, trying to look for the silver ling out of this. "Of course," Parth replied, his expression serious now, "What's on your mind?" Laila took a deep breath and evaluated how things are. She does not even know the man enough, then would be the mood swings he has been having which has been scaring the living crap out of her, she knew she had to take a stand.

Laila took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. She knew that she needed to confront Parth about his behaviour and find out why he had been so aggressive towards her. "I just want to know why you're doing this to me," she said, her voice trembling slightly. She tried to study his face and his reaction to her questions, she felt frozen due to nervousness and heart beats reverberated in her body.

Parth's expression softened which was in contrast to his usual cold one, he took a step closer to her. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Laila" he said. "I didn't mean to be so aggressive. I-I Just I-I do not know, I guess I have been feeling really frustrated lately and I took it out on you, I should have considered the fact you too are new to this whole marriage thing, I have been out of place for some time."

Laila felt a surge of anger rise up in her with more cocktail of feelings, she too was frustrated and the amount of pain he caused his in a small window of time. "That's not an excuse," she said, her voice firm. "You can't just treat me like that and expect me to forgive you because you were feeling frustrated, I'm too married and it's a big change for me, I'm away from my home."

Parth nodded, looking in a thoughtful manner, "You're right, I'll try to do better," His soft manner of saying made her forget everything that happened. Laila smiled, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. Laila's eyes went soft, "Thank you, I know we can work through this."

As they walked away together, Laila felt a sense of hope for their relationship. She knew that they still had a lot of work to do, but she was willing to put in the effort if it meant that they could move forward together. She knew that she just had stepped into this relationship, and she had to make a solid effort to this, it has not even started properly yet to evaluate how it is.

Laila was in their room with Parth, and she heard a knock on the door, "Come in " said Parth and the door opened and Vanya stood there with her soft petite expression. "Is everything fine mom" asked Parth in his monotone voice taking his eyes off laptop. "Laila, I talked to your parents, and I wanted to ask you that Shall we conduct the ritual of you going to your house tomorrow."

Laila looked at her husband to see for any reaction but there was none , her mind was running at different directions but she trusted his words for now , "Yes It's fine , Everything is up to you" said Laila with a soft smile and Vanya returned the soft smile , "So It's fixed , Tomorrow he'll take you to your home and 2 days later , He'll pick you up in the evening" said Vanya

"I'll make sure he's there" said Vanya and glanced at her son, who was back at his work and was typing in the laptop, "Yes Mom I'll be there" said Parth in an annoyed tone and Vanya had a satisfied smile on her lips, "Good" said Vanya and left.

Laila looked at her husband and there were unsaid words in her eyes, but she stood there silent for him to speak but he did not mutter a single word, she decided to call it a day and went to get some sleep.

Laila woke up early on the day she was supposed to go to her parents' home, she was excited to go back home and sleep in her bed. She got up from the bed, stretched her arms, and looked out of the window. The sky was still in its golden shades of the dawn, and the sunrays were slowly peeking bright, but she could not wait for the figure sleeping next to her, drop her off at her safe haven, At her parent's home.

She walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She brushed her teeth, tied her hair in a neat bun, and wore a simple salwar suit. She applied some Kajal on her eyes and put on a light shade of lipstick. She was satisfied with her look; she found her husband standing behind her in his Office suit. She could not help but admire how good he looked.

"Ready?" he asked, extending his hand, Laila nodded and took his hand. The whole thing seemed like a fairy tale to her, a stark contrast to the nightmare she had a day ago. They walked to the car, Parth opened the door for her, and she got inside. The drive to Laila's parents' home was not a long one, but it was a long silent one for her, but she did not mind.

As they reached the destination, Parth parked the car and got out to open the door for Laila. She stepped out and took a deep breath. She looked at the house and smiled, it was the same house where she grew up. The familiar smell of her mother's cooking wafted through the air; the memories of her life flashed in front of her eyes. Parth walked her to the door and rang the bell.

Her mother opened the door and hugged her. "Come in, my child. How are you doing?" she asked, Laila smiled at her mother, "I'm Fine." "Parth come in" said Laila's mother with a welcoming smile, "Sorry Aunty, next time, I'm already late and I've a meeting lined up" said Parth and her mother nodded. He said a few words and left to his office; Laila was back at her home.

" Mumma, how are you?" Laila asked, she sat in the sofa, and it felt so strange than before. "I'm good. And how is Parth treating you?" her mother asked with concern and Laila did not know which was the correct narrative, but she decided to stick to the narrative which would not alarm her parents, "He is treating me very well, Mom. Do not worry," Laila said, smiling at her mother.

Laila rushed to her room and sat in her bed, it felt really soothing to be back at her room. She heard knocking on the door, "Come in," said Laila. A figure emerged from the door, she jumped out of the bed onto his arms, "Mihi" she squeaked and Mihir chuckled at her reaction. "I missed you too Laila" said Mihir and held her tight in his embrace, Laila felt safe.

"Finally, you had the thought of saying hello to your darling younger sister" said Laila with a fake angry expression, "You just reached here, and I had to let you settle" said Mihir with a soft smile. Laila sat back in her bed and Mihir sat next to her. Laila kept her head at his shoulders, The whole marriage thing had taken a toll on her, she sometimes feels like a stranger.

"Tell me something Laila" said Mihir something and Laila hummed a yes to continue his question, "How's married life treating you, How's Parth" asked Mihir and Laila's heart sank at the question. She had been dreading this question, ever since she had the encounter with Parth's bipolar behaviour. She did not know how to answer the question, an inner turmoil was going on in Laila's mind, but she decided it to rest.

"It's-fine" she replied hesitantly. and Mihir gave her a questioning look, "We're still getting used to each other" said Laila trying to cover up. Mihir raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound very promising." and Laila sighed. "It's not that, it's just um-complicated, Parth has a lot of anger in him, and I don't know how to deal with it sometimes." said Laila without any thought, she wanted to at least bare a bit of her soul.

Mihir looked at her with concern, "Has he hurt you?"

Bakbak
I'm well aware that I only update once in a blue moon but writing dark has not been kind to me so the struggle is real