Mésalliance (Completed)

Chapter 15

Madhu couldn't concentrate on the food as her mind was boggled to know the rest of the details from Niyati but they met each other only at the dinner table where others were present as well. Niyati too sat far away from Madhu, so, waiting was the only possible thing that could have been done. Also, Vikram absconded from the dinner table.
Rati adjusted her glasses and noticed their disinterest in Madhu at the food. "Don't you like the food?" she questioned the younger woman with a bold voice. Madhu was engrossed in her thoughts that she couldn't hear the old lady. The others turned to Rati and switched their eyes to Madhu.
"Madhu?" Niyati called for her, "Grandma is asking something..."
Madhu blinked at the old woman, "Yes?-"
"Nevermind..." Rati deviated from the topic, "What did you learn from the hospital?"
Madhu shared her thoughts with Rati, "...that my marriage into this family is not the permit to own the business. I need to earn every ounce of reputation."
Sooraj seemed pleased with her reply, "That's why I made her work as an intern for a month."
"What?" Rati exclaimed to her son, "She is an heiress and daughter-in-law of this family. How could you dimwit?"
"It's alright for me," Madhu interrupted the old lady. "I need to earn his trust it seems."
Rati advised, "Sooraj, not everyone is as sly as those Kamats," but then stopped talking, considering the presence of Madhu and housekeepers in the dining room.
"Did he inform you about returning?" Sooraj asked Madhu. She nodded her head negatively and affirmed him to lie drunk at some local bar.
********

After they had retired to their bedrooms, Madhu pulled Niyati into the garden and demanded the details from her.
"Where did I stop informing you?" Niyati blinked in wonder.
"You told me that his ex-girlfriend complained to the Income tax department-" Madhu reminded her of the exact events. Niyati nodded, "Yup. Our hospital went through a tough phase and our family as well..."
Madhu could understand that there was more than shame. "Was your personal life disrupted, Niyati?"
Niyati nodded again and sighed, "Our mom committed suicide...."
"What are you talking about?" Vikram screamed from the pathway. They were shaken by his sudden arrival.
He paced near Niyati and frowned, "What are you telling her?"
Madhu felt the tremors of Niyati facing her beastly brother. She walked in front of Niyati, "I was clarifying my doubts..."
"As of?-" Vikram challenged her.
"Why is your dad not trusting me at work...." Madhu explained to him. "I got to know that you were duped by some ex-employee."
Vikram looked at both women, "You shared a lot more... I heard Niyati talk about my mom."
"Chill. She just told me that your mom committed suicide..." Madhu exclaimed to him. Vikram looked at Niyati, "This woman isn't worth my story. You both stay within your limits..."
Niyati rolled her eyes and walked away.
"Fuck your limits!" Madhu cursed him. "Your dad made me an intern just because your girlfriend tricked your family."
Vikram blinked at her, "How does this connect with knowing about me?"
She huffed, "I want to know why I am being ill-treated here."
"You don't need my history for that. I will talk with that old man and fix your issue." He assured her.
She pondered for a while, "I don't want your favour to work here."
He won't favour her but kept her out of his life. His dad was a fool to treat her that way. What if she sought help from her family and spilled the secrets about his past?
********

"Don't you have sense?"He blasted questions to Sooraj. "Why did you designate Madhu as an intern?"
"Oh! Did she complain to you? Doesn't she know that you are garbage in the hospital?" Sooraj replied calmly, checking the files. "Get out."
Vikram walked near his dad, "What will you do if her father comes to know this? They might sue us."
Sooraj shifted his eyes to Vikram, "What else should be done? It's the standard procedure for all my employees."
"She isn't a normal staff, damnit!" Vikram shouted. "She is my wife!"
Sooraj threw the files on the side table. "I witnessed your wedding. But your girlfriend brought such shame to our business that I can't trust my daughter-in-law too."
Vikram risked his life, bringing his girlfriend into the business. The whore had faltered their accounts with black money and killed a patient to ruin their name.
"She killed my wife," Sooraj said with damp eyes. "Even though I trust the law and justice, I want to strangle that witch."
Even Vikram wished the same. She had killed an innocent kid by mixing poison in his saline bottle and the accusations were named after his mom who committed suicide in shame. "But Madhu isn't like her...."
"My mind cannot believe anyone," Sooraj said sternly. "I will test her and decide."
Vikram left it as his dad wished. The old man had seen raids, court proceedings and the funeral of his wife in successive days. None of the staff could be spared from his eagle eyes. Madhu made sense to Vikram at least, he was confident about her sincerity.
Vikram, without knowing that she was the daughter of their business rival, lost his heart to her. She just used him for her revenge and trashed him. Sooraj was embarrassed to have raised a fool like him and ejected him from their house.
His ex-girlfriend never caught his eye after that.
********

"What did your dad say?" Madhu keenly questioned him as he entered the bedroom. He shrugged without a reply.
"That means... I am an intern?!" she wondered and slumped on the couch. "I can't step down from my status to an intern."
Vikram gave her a side glance and lay on the bed. Though he pitied her, he couldn't clear the issues with his dad. His attitude pricked her. Instead of being a support, he waited for revenge.
She hated the silence that engulfed their room. "How was your day?" she tried a small talk with the guy. He shrugged, "Like every day..."
"I meant... Where are you working ?" she asked him curiously. He met her face, "Doesn't matter to you."
She made faces at him. He shouldn't treat others like shit just because his past was crooked.
"Do you need something to eat?" she offered him a packet of cookies. He avoided her gaze that bored his soul.
Everything about that house suffocated her and the excruciating silence between those walls was the worst. She couldn't find a companion yet. Vikram, with his anger, could never be cordial. He always found bait to blast his anger and ego and Madhu didn't want to be that punching bag. The contract felt useless to her. She couldn't address him as a husband or that house as hers.
Vikram couldn't wait to get back to his house. He was tired of meeting his family members and recalling his dead mom. And Madhu became an extra problem on his plate.