Until The Very End

Chapter 5.

Imlie was driving towards Rathore Mansion, all the way scolding Aryan for driving recklessly, the day before, despite his injury.
Hence, she insisted on driving them today, although Aryan offered to call the driver since she was weak, but she stubbornly denied.

As the car entered the gates of Rathore Mansion, Imlie spoke up:- "ABP, Inaya is so cute.Nahi?"

Aryan nodded and replied:- " Yes. She is very cute. And sweet."

"Bilkul shakkar jaisi, sweet. Aaj se main usse Cheeni bulaungi." Imlie said excitedly as she parked the car.

"You gotta to be kidding me, Imlie. Cheeni kaisa nickname hain? Ridiculous!!" Aryan scoffed, getting out of the car.

"Akkadbagge! Cheeni kitna cute sa naam hain." Imlie tried to convince him.

"Oh please! It's not a cute name at all. Tumhara bas chale toh, tum humare bacchon ke naam Cheeni, Mirchi, Khatti, aise hi kuch rakh dogi." Aryan shuddered thinking of this possibility as he sauntered towards the main door.

He didn't realize what he blurted out, as he was so engrossed, bickering with her.
He was always lost in a different world when he conversed with her and spoke his thoughts aloud. It seemed he didn't have any filter when he was with Imlie, and let his guards down whenever she was around.

As Imlie heard him speaking about their children, she froze in her spot, her mouth open, eyes wide open, a subtle blush forming on her cheeks.

Aryan stopped in his tracks as he sensed that Imlie was not walking with him. He turned around to see her standing a few feet away from him, stupefied.

He called out her name, asking why she stopped all of a sudden.

Imlie opened and closed her mouth a few times, finally bringing herself out of the shock her husband just gave her and spoke,"What did you just say? Repeat it!"

"What? I just said that ki agar tumhara bas--" he started repeating his previous dialogue but stopped in the middle as realization hit him. He just spoke so casually about their baby.

He closed his eyes in embarrassment, wanting her to forget his earlier statements.

He couldn't believe his behaviour around her these days. Always carefree, teasing her, enjoying her teasing him, his heart fluttering with joy whenever his words made her blush, sometimes smiling to himself, missing her when he was in office, being happy when she smiled or laughed cheerfully.
He was acting so out of his character. He had definitely lost his sanity, he concluded to himself.

Imlie observed his actions. He looked so flushed as he registered his words. His ears turning red and a light pink hue forming on his stubbled cheeks. She grinned as she saw him so flustered.

She was initially surprised to see him behaving out of his character, but now she was getting used to it. She often saw him smiling to himself, behaving so carefree, sometimes laughing at her poor jokes and many more such instances which she cannot list out. She felt special as she noticed he behaved like this only when she was around.

She saw him standing their with his eyes closed and embarrassment clearly reflecting on his face. As he resumed walking, she smlied cheekily and decided to tease him.

"ABP, tum abhi se itni door ki soch rahe ho? Humare bacchon ke bare mein? Hume toh pata hi nahi tha, ki tum yeh sab sochte ho." She said in a playful voice.

Aryan understood the underlying meaning in her words and tried to reprimand her.
"Chup raho tum! I...I didn't mean all that I said. Forget that I said anything like that. Got it?" He said in a authoritative tone as he rang the bell, trying to escape from this situation.

Imlie laughed merrily as she heard him justifying himself.

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

In the living room of Rathore mansion:

All the ladies were seated on the sofa having their tea, when they heard door bell ringing, followed by Imlie's cheerful laughter echoing around.
Arpita smiled hearing this and got up to open the door.

As Arpita opened the door, Imlie tried to control her laughter.

Arpita hugged her tightly as soon as she stepped inside the house and asked, "Tu theek hain na Imlie? Zyada chot toh nahi lagi na?" Concern laced in her tone.

"Hum bilkul theek hain, Arpita didi. Kuch nahi hua humein. Waise bhi apke UNB the na, humara dhyaan rakhne ke liye."
She winked at Arpita saying this, making her giggle at her words.
Aryan groaned annoyingly hearing them.

Narmada who was witnessing all this, got up from the sofa and went towards Aryan. Holding his hands, she asked in a gentle manner, "Aryan, are you alright?"

Aryan was amazed at her words.
"Maa, I'm totally fine. It was Imlie who met with an accident. You should be concerned about her." He said.

Narmada chuckled humorlessly, " Look at her, she is so happy, cheerful and laughing merrily, when you were the one who was badly injured. Usse dekh kar lagta nahi ki uska accident hua tha. Tu bewaja pareshaan ho raha hai iss ladki ke liye." She spat bitterly, glaring at Imlie.

Imlie's smile vanished as she heard this.
Aryan was shocked after hearing her, would be an understatement. He was enraged hearing his mother spitting venom at his wife.
He removed his hands from her hold and spoke loudly, "What are you saying maa? How can you be so insensitive?"

Narmada remained unaffected by his words. "I am saying the truth, Aru. She doesn't deserve your care and concern. It's because of her, you were hospitalized." She said furiously.

Aryan couldn't endure it anymore and finally burst out:- "Enough Maa, I'm not saying anything since past few days doesn't mean that you will say whatever comes in your mouth against Imlie."

He went towards Imlie, made her stand in front of Narmada, held her right hand in his left and continued, "Because of her I was silent these days, controlling myself to not say anything disrespectful to you, but today I won't keep quiet." Imlie squeezed his hand, trying to lessen his anger.

His eyes red with fury as he spoke in an authoritative yet respectful tone:- "Pehli baat- Yeh koi aisi waisi ladki nahi hain, she is Imlie Aryan Singh Rathore, my legally wedded wife. She is the mistress of this house and holds power as much as you do.
Dusri baat- You ought to respect her Maa, because she deserves it, she is one of the most important person in my life.
Aur teesri baat- Udhaar rahi."

"And I'm sorry, but I will never regret saying this to you." He said looking directly into her eyes.

He didn't want wait for Narmada's response and just walked towards their room, with Imlie by his side and his head held high, proud of himself for standing for his wife and her dignity.

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Well, how was it??

This chapter didn't really turn out to be how I had imagined *sigh*

I hope you enjoyed reading it.

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Thank you❤❤