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Aanya:

After driving for good twenty minutes, we reached Hussein's place. It was not a house. It was a freaking mansion. The building was surrounded with a beautiful garden. There are flowers and trees everywhere. In the middle there was a beautiful fountain.

There were few pigeons near the fountain. And birds were chirping mellifluously. The chirpings, the fresh air, the smell of the wet sand, the fragrance of the flowers immediately lifted my mood. All of a sudden I felt refreshed and strong. A huge grin plastered itself on my face.

I didn't want to go inside. I just wanted to stay behind and enjoy this beautiful atmosphere. But, unfortunately, I had to. I followed the driver who was carrying my luggage. I tried to take it from him but he was persistent. So, I let him carry it and I simply followed him.

As soon as I stepped in, a woman who was in her fifties came rushing to us. She pushed the driver aside, making him to loose his balance and fall on the couch beside him.

She tackled me into a tight hug. I also lost my balance but thankfully she pulled into a hug. She squeezed the life out of me. I couldn't breathe properly.

"C... can't breathe." I let out. She immediately loosen her hold on me.

"Oh, sorry. But, masha Allah, look at you. Hussein got himself the most beautiful bride." She gushed while pinching my cheeks.

"Ruby. Give her a break. You are scaring her." The driver said to her.

"Oh hush, Kareem. I'm not scaring her. And what are you still doing here? Go and keep the luggage in the room." She scolded him. He followed the orders like an obedient child. I smiled at them.

"Ya Allah. Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself." She shouted making me jump at the high pitch voice.

"I'm Ruby. I'm the house keeper cum nanny to Hussein. And that fellow is my husband. I'll be taking care of you as well." She said and smiled warmly. I immediately felt my eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, why are crying?" She asked me in alarm.

"Umm... nothing. I just miss my parents." I whispered.

"Aww..I know it's hard for you. But its a tradition we can't change." She explained. I simply nodded.

"How was your flight?" She questioned me. With that all the memories came down crashing. I felt myself shiver. But I quickly snapped out of it.

"It was good." I replied.

"Oh, my bad. What is wrong with me? You must be tired and here I'm showering you with questions." She exclaimed. I giggled at her.

"Come beta. I'll show you your room." She said. I nodded and followed her. There was a staircase in the middle of the room. On the left side there was room, maybe Hussein's office. There was dining table attached to the kitchen which was also on the right side of the hall.

We took a right turn after climbing the stairs. Ruby stopped at the last door. I saw that Kareem came out of the room. He kissed Ruby's cheek and left. She turned to me and said,

"Come on." I nodded at her and moved towards it. The door was ajar, I slowly stepped in. I saw that the room was way too spacious. And in the middle of it was huge bed. I think atleast ten people can easily sleep in that bed. The room was mostly covered in black. 

I stepped further in and saw that there was a balcony attached to this room. I also noticed few photo frames of Hussein.

"This was Hussein's room. But now it's yours as well." Ruby said. Our room. It sounds so weird. I simply nodded.

"You take rest. I'll send fresh juice and something to eat." She said and left without listening to my reply. I sighed and roamed a little.

I saw my luggage was placed in one corner of the room. I opened the door of what seemed a like wardrobe. My eyes almost fell out of their sockets. It's not any simple closet. It's a huge walk-in closet. And it smelled like Hussein. Everything was sorted well. Each section was alloted to different kind of clothes. There are many number of shoes, suits, shirts.

Geez he is so freaking rich. That's why he is so full of himself. Arrogant prick.

I came out of the closet to find Ruby placing the breakfast tray on the table near the bed.

"Umm...it smells so good." I said. She smiled at me.

"I hope you'll like it." She said. As soon as I saw the food my stomach growled loudly. Ruby chuckled at this.

There was roti and kheema ( Indian bread and meat). I immediately dug in. When I took the first bite, I couldn't help but moan at the taste. I also realised that I haven't eaten anything from last night.

I saw that Ruby was still standing there. I quickly swallowed and asked her to have breakfast with me. But she denied. She told me I can call her if I needed anything and left. I nodded and continued eating.

After finishing the breakfast, I went down to the kitchen and kept the tray. I saw that Ruby was cooking.

"Umm..can I help you with anything?" I questioned her. She jumped and turned around. When she saw that it was she realised a sigh.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." I said feeling bad for her.

"Umm. No, no. Don't be sorry. And as for helping me, you don't have to do that. You just go and take rest." She replied.

"Aanya, I know you're sad because Hussein didn't come to drop you off. Just give him some time. He is not a bad person. It's just that he doesn't know how to express his love. And don't worry, he'll get an earful from me for behaving like that." She said making me giggle.

I excused myself and came back to our room. I fell on my bed, pushing my face into the pillow and broke down crying. I cried and cried until sleep took over me.

I woke up to the sound of the door being closed. Even though I was wide awake, I didn't open my eyes. I stretched my body, letting out a moan when I felt them stretching. Then I rubbed my eyes to get rid of my sleep.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a different place. I panicked attached first then remembered that I'm in Hussein's place. I checked the time and it said it was eight pm. My eyes widened and I immediately jumped out of the bed and rushed to the washroom.

I scolded myself for sleeping in. I missed my prayers. And it's my first day here and I did nothing but sleep. What will the people think about me?

I quickly snapped out of the thoughts and hopped into the shower. The warm water was soothed my muscles. I realised that I didn't bring my clothes with me. I face palmed myself.

Not having any other option, I wrapped the towel around my body. I peeked out to see if the path was clear. When I was sure that no was there, I rushed to the bedroom door and locked it first.

I wore a night pant which I found after a lot of troubles. I really need to unpack my luggage. After brushing my hair, I went down.

My steps halted suddenly when I saw that Hussein was in the living room doing some work. I remembered what he did to me this morning and my anger rose. I stomped towards him and was about to speak when Ruby interrupted.

"Oh, Aanya, you're awake. Come on, dear, I made your dinner. You must be hungry." She said and pulled me towards the dining table, not before calling Hussein to join me.

Hussein joined me on the table immediately. He hadn't uttered a single word till now and I was getting angrier with each passing minute. The air filled with a delicious aroma of biryani. My mouth became a fountain. I had to gulp down the water in order to stop myself from drooling.

Ruby served us the food. I asked her to join us. But, again she refused. I complimented that the food was delicious, which is a true. She asked us if she can leave, since Kareem needed her assistance in some work. Hussein dismissed her.

We ate in silence. Neither of us spoke anything. I was expecting him to start a conversation but I was wrong. He quietly ate his food. I was beyond frustrated by now. He left after finishing his dinner.

"Hussein." I called out before he could leave me all alone again. He stopped moving and turned around but didn't say anything. I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. Infact he started to walk away when I didn't say anything.

"Hussein. Wait." I said and hurried towards him.

"What is it Aanya?" He said quite frustrated.

"We need to talk." I said to which he heaved a sigh.

"Talk? About what?" He asked.

"About this." I said pointing my fingers between us. " We need to talk about us. About this marriage." I said. He frowned.

"What about us? And what's there to talk about this marriage? You know I married to avenge my insult. So what else do you need to know?" He said without even caring what I felt.

"Yes. I know that. You got what you want. You destroyed my life. I'm sure your ego is pretty much satisfied now. But, what's next? What am I going to do here? It is clear that we don't have anything to do with each other. How long are we going to continue this? Ignoring each other's existence, not speaking to each other. Is this how it's going to be from now on? Since you avenged your so called insult now, you're done with me right?" I asked him.

He looked surprised at my sudden outburst. But I can't help it. We can't just avoid this topic. We can't live like as if nothing had happened. He need to answer my questions.

I was still thinking when Hussein started to laugh. Like really hard laugh. He was laughing like a maniac. I could see tears at the end of his eyes. After sometime, he calmed down. He wiped off the tears and finally looked at me.

"I didn't know you were such a hilarious girl, Aanya. You really joke very well." He said making my blood boil.

"What the hell, Hussein? You think I'm kidding? Are you insane or what? Infact you're the one who made this marriage a sick joke. You're the most pathetic person I've ever met." I yelled at him.

"Shut up. Just shut the fuck up, Aanya. Don't raise your voice infront of me ever again. You've no right to do that. If you forgot, lemme remind you that you're standing in my house." He said in e very serious tone.

"You don't need to remind me of anything, Hussein. I know I'm standing in your house. Why? Because you forcefully married me and brought me here. If you're so tired of me then I'll make it easy for you. I'll leave this place, now." I said and went towards the staircase when he grabbed my elbow and yanked me back. I collide with his broad, hard chest.

He roughly grabbed my jaw and pulled my hair making me yelp in pain. I could feel tears in my eyes but I refused to show it to him.

"Where do you think you're going? Let me make this clear Aanya, you're not allowed to step out of this house without my permission. Do you get it?" He said.

"And you don't have any right to control my life Hussein." I gritted out.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong. I have full right over your life. You just didn't sign the nikah papers, you signed off your life to me. I will dictate your life from now on. And don't you ever think that I'm done with you. Nikah was just the beginning. I haven't even started anything yet. Do you remember, I said that I was going to make your life a living hell? Well, it's time to show what I meant." He said venomously.

I shivered in fright because of his words. His words were not a warning. They held a promise. A promise to torture me, to destroy my life in the most unexpected and the cruelest way.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, making sure of not showing my nervousness to him.

"I exactly mean what I said earlier. I thought of taking things slow. But you and your big mouth of your's had to poke the beast in me. Now be ready to face the consequences." He said. I gulped at his words. He again pulled my hair. I hissed at the pain.

"And as for this marriage, don't you dare to think that you can get away from this. You're married to me. And this you're biggest truth." He said.

"We'll be the perfect couple for the world. But in reality you're nothing but an ordinary girl who is paying for messing up with me. From tomorrow onwards, you'll be cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and all. To be precise you'll do every thing that a maid does. You'll be doing everything I order you to do. You'll get every privilege, every luxury for being my wife but at the same time you'll be working as my maid. And don't worry I'll pay a good amount for your work." He said.

"You're a sick bastard. I'll not do any such thing. I'm not your slave. You said that I'm married off to you. And that I'm your wife. Then tell me, is this the way a sane man treats his wife?" I questioned him. To this he laughed again.

"Sane? Now I'm sane? I remember you calling me insane just a few minutes ago. Now you're calling me sane. And who told you that you can defy me?"

"Aanya, heart, you're in no position to defy me. Wanna know why? Then answer me this. How did I made you to marry me?" He questioned me.

"I, obviously, blackmailed you. I told you that I'll destroy your brother's career. That's why you said yes." He answered his own question.

"What are you trying to imply at Hussein?" I asked him.

"You still didn't get it. Oh, you're so innocent, heart. How will you survive in this world without me?" He questioned me while pinching my cheeks. I swatted away his hand.

"Stop beating around the bush, Hussein. Just tell me what you're up to? What is going on in your evil mind?" I questioned him.

"Okay. Okay. What I'm trying to say is that, I can easily turn the threat into reality and destroy your brother's career. Of course, only when you go against my words." He said calmly.

My eyes were wide. My mind was numb. All I could do was to stare at the person standing infront of me. No he is not a person. He is a monster who is hidden behind this man. I've never felt so disgusted with anyone in my whole life. My mind took sometime to register his words.

"You rascal!! How dare you?! You promised me that you won't harm my family if I agree to this marriage. Then how dare you to threaten me again? What did they ever do to you? Why are you doing this?" I questioned and threw punches at him.

"I never promised you anything, Aanya. I can and I will do anything that pleases me." He said and grabbed my wrists and locking them.

"Pleases? Are you out of your mind? How can playing and destroying someone's life gives you pleasure?  My brother worked his ass off to get to the position he is in now. And you, for the sake of your entertainment, want to play with his life?" I shouted at him.

"Lower your fucking voice. I don't tolerate such behaviour Aanya. This is the last time I'm saying. And I dare you to go against me. I will be more than happy to torture you." He spat out. His eyes were red with fury.

"Either you do what I tell you to do or sit here and watch how your family suffers. And who will be responsible for their suffering? You. Only you. So, the choice is yours." He said while shaking me.

And now it was my turn to laugh. I laughed so much that my stomach ached. I bent down clutching my stomach and laughed like an insane person.

"Choice? You say that I've a choice? You know it very well that I can do anything for my family. If you had asked my life to keep them safe then I would have happily died. But why am I even telling this to you? You don't know what true love is. A monster like you can never be loved."

"And as for the things you asked me to do, I'll do it. I'll do anything you want me to do. You think I'm scared? Then you're wrong Mr. Hussein. My parents raised me as a strong women. I'll face whatever hurdles you through in my way with courage." I said.

He looked stunned. But quickly maksed his expression. He smirked at me.

"Umm.. courageous much? Are we? Okay, let's see how much you can handle. First of all, you need to wake up at five am. And before I wake up you need to keep the protein shake and the gym dress ready for me. And don't forget my bed coffee. And as soon as I return from the gym, I want the hot water to be ready for my shower. My clothes, including my watch, shoes and socks should be placed on my bed before I step out of the washroom. While I get ready, you need to prepare my breakfast and coffee. I want it to be lukewarm and as tasty as Ruby's dishes. If not, you'll prepare me another breakfast. You'll be informed about the rest of the work tomorrow. All the very best Aanya." He said and walked away.

I came back to my room. The first I did was to check my alarm if it was ready. This time I refused to cry. I gave myself a pep talk telling that I need to face him with courage. I'll show him that he doesn't effect me. I'll show him that he can't break.

.............................

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