Heartless Husband

part 11

Priya finally broke.
All morning, her mother-in-law kept circling her like a vulture-taunts sharp as knives, words dripping with poison. Nothing Priya did was enough. The tea was too cold. The floor still looked dirty. Her silence itself became a crime.
"You couldn't even give my son a child," the woman spat loudly. "What kind of wife are you? You eat our food and give nothing back."
Something inside Priya snapped.
"I am not a machine!" Priya shouted, her voice shaking but loud enough to echo through the house. "I am a human being. You torture me every day, and still you want more!"
Rudra, who had just entered the hall, froze.
His mother turned toward him instantly. "Did you hear how she talks to me? This is what you brought into our house."
Rudra's face hardened. His eyes darkened with rage.
Before Priya could say another word, he grabbed her arm roughly, his fingers digging into her skin. She cried out as he twisted her arm behind her back, forcing her to face him.
"How dare you raise your voice?" he hissed.
He struck her.
The sound of the slap cracked through the room. Priya stumbled, tasting blood as her lip split. Her vision blurred, but he didn't stop. He yanked her hair back, forcing her head up.
"Shameless woman," he snarled. "You think you have rights here?"
She trembled, her body weak, her mind screaming. He shoved her toward the door, throwing her bag at her feet.
"Get out," he shouted. "Go back to your poor parents. You wanted freedom, didn't you?"
His mother watched with cold satisfaction.
"Don't come back without dowry," she added cruelly. "We didn't bring you here for free."
Bruised, broken, and shaking, Priya walked out of the house barefoot. Neighbors peeked through doors and windows, whispering as she passed. Some looked away. Some judged.
She reached her parents' house by evening.
Her mother screamed when she saw the marks on Priya's face. Her father stood silently, tears filling his eyes. Priya collapsed into her mother's arms, sobbing like a child who had lost everything.
Still... she waited.
Every day, she believed Rudra would come.
One week passed.
Then two.
Then a month.
He never came.
People in the village began to talk.
"Thrown out already?"
"Couldn't keep her husband happy."
"Must be her fault."
Unable to bear the shame and pressure, her parents sold their goats-their only source of income. With trembling hands, her father held the money as they returned to Rudra's house to send Priya back.
But they were humiliated.
The door was opened only halfway.
"So you came begging?" her mother-in-law sneered. "Is this all she's worth?"
Rudra didn't even step forward.
Priya stood behind her parents, her eyes empty, her heart numb. The house that once held her dreams now felt like a prison she was being forced back into.
And she knew-
this was not the end of her suffering.

End of chapter Nine .