My Vulnerary Husband- our journey towards love - Chapter 246

|Innaya|

“Haha…. Haha…” The man broke down into a burst of gleeful laughter after his initial surprise wore off. The happiness radiating from him was too infectious not to get affected by him. The aftereffects of his asthma attack still lingered in his breathing, but he laughed regardless. His white teeth flashed, and his eyes behind those glasses shone brighter than the sun.

“Dad… good. No… great… haha… Finally, I can count on someone. ” Dad muttered while rubbing his chest. Through the transparent glasses, a thin layer of moisture pooling in his eyes had stunned me momentarily.

Never had I witnessed someone turning so emotional because of such small action from my side. Anyone who did not know my past would not consider this as a big deal. Addressing in-laws as mother and father or mom and dad was not a big deal nowadays.

However, for someone like me, whose whole life was plunged into nightmares because of my very own father, this was tough. The moment my back was slashed, and that demon had his claws wrapped around my neck, digging in my flash, drawing blood, manically watching me struggle to… live and taking pleasure in my misery… the term ‘father’ had turned into a curse in my heart and memory.

Calling my father-in-law as a father should not have been easy for me- rather, it should be next to impossible because of the shadows of my past hovering over my mind, but that did not seem to be the case. Was it because of the adrenaline rush watching him struggling? Was it because of his affection? Whatever was the case, I was happy as long as I did not sink in the clutches of that haunting past where I could not even breathe.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Dad thanked profusely. Slightly pushing his back from the sofa, he raised his hand to my head. His hand hung mid-air, turning my head. I waited for his next actions. Perhaps, the lack of a zero amount of threat from him quelled all my worries. Placing his palm over my head, he gave two gentle pats before he pulled his hand away. He was too overwhelmed to speak. All I witnessed was the man whom I met after so long, showcasing his different versions in a short amount of time.

Eshan slowly inched further. Dad did not notice it, and thus it allowed Eshan to unnoticeably creep forward. Sitting on the armrest beside dad, he then dr.a.p.ed his hand across dad’s back and rubbed it in slow motion. “There there… Now calm down. Your wish to have someone in your team is complete. Stop playing with your health now.”

Dad sternly glared at Eshan. Lowering his head, Eshan retracted his hand and reluctantly stood up. He then went back to stand beside his mother. Eshan’s mother, Arjun, and Eshan stood together in a line, with hesitation written all over their faces. Dad’s condition had sent everyone in a moment of panic, but once he settled down, we all could breathe a sigh of relief.

Those three looked like they had done something wrong and were waiting to be punished. Dad did not care about them as he ignored them and turned to me. “Are you saying this because you feel pity for an old man like me?” He asked while looking at me gravely. Seemed like once the moment of excitement had died down, he was thinking things thoroughly and could not believe that I called him dad.

Arjun laughed out aloud before I could reply. “Who is the old man here? Are you joking?”

“Be quiet!” Dad snapped.

Arjun immediately zipped his lips and placed a finger on them. His eyes still betrayed him- he was not going to keep quiet. “But, if I shut up, who’s going to explain the whole situation to your daughter? She wants to know everything, right Innaya?”

“Yes, I want to know. Please continue,” I said, ignoring the eyes of the man who was euphoric being called ‘dad’.

“It’s settled then. Aunty, please sit down.” Arjun helped aunty to her seat, which was not necessary for my opinion. He was just stalling for time. Just for sitting down and making himself comfortable, Arjun wasted precious ten minutes.

I could not even urge him. Eshan stayed standing quietly for a while before striding upstairs. His broad back going further and further away, evoked the feeling of loneliness in my heart, which I could not overlook. Actually, no one noticed when he disappeared from the room. That was Eshan- a silent man who kept everything to himself.

Why were his walls extremely difficult to break? He so effortlessly got through me, but I could not. For him, it was easier to read my emotions. That was the reason the last month passed extremely slowly and tortuously. He understood that something was wrong. I spent all the time on tenterhooks because it was harder to hide the truth from him.

Lying to him was more difficult.

“Stop dawdling already.” Dad moved beside me and threw the cushion at Arjun.

Averting my eyes, I pondered on giving a chase to Eshan or not. Karan’s name had angered him to a great extent. That was given how he had lashed. Though he hid it well, I knew Eshan wanted nothing more than settling scores with him. Leaving him alone in such a condition was starting to worry me. One look at my wrapped up the leg in a cast, and all my desires to chase him died down.

Instead of helping him, I would only add more to his burden.

“Okay. I’ll start now,” Arjun said before he abruptly stopped. Turning his head, he looked around, his gaze searching. “Where’s Eshan? Don’t tell me he went to find Karan now. Ah! You moron… uncle, wait for me here, let me bring your son here, otherwise, god knows which hospital we would be frequenting,” Arjun rattled on, ready to bolt out of the main door in search of the Eshan.

“Eshan went upstairs,” I said slowly.

“Oh!” Arjun sat back. “Let’s wait for him then. He’ll kick a fuss if we start without him.”

“By the way, why did he leave suddenly?” Arjun raised his eyebrow questioningly.

Dad forwarded his right hand before Arjun. “Give me your wallet.”

Arjun frowned, but he took out his wallet from his pants pocket. “Uncle, I don’t have much cash.”

“Cards will do,” Dad said, still outstretching his palm.

Why would he suddenly ask for a wallet and money? The train of thoughts of these people was too hard to follow. What they would do and what they would say was beyond my imagination.

“What’s your bank account?” Dad turned and asked me.

‘What? My bank account?’ Did not I say, these people were hard to follow.

Before I could decide what to answer, he waved his hand and said,

“Leave it.” Fiddling with his mobile, he sent a message. “Transfer 5 lac to this account. Do it now,” he ordered Arjun. So, the receiver of that message was Arjun.

“Are you in debt?” Arjun asked carefully.