Author's pov

"Stop."

Aratrika stopped and the silence prevailed. Everyone was shocked.
She turned around to face the person who stopped her from going.

"Aunty," She whispered in disbelief.

Piyali walked towards her and held her hand.

"Stop..Don't go." She said.

Lolita and Sanonda smiled whereas Siddhartha looked at his wife in disbelief. Saptarshi and Sanchita looked at each other in confusion.

Seeing Aratrika's clueless face, Piyali took a deep breath and decided to say whatever she had in her heart and mind.

"Aratrika, When Rishi came with you after marrying you, I had the fear in my heart that maybe someday he will leave me…leave us just for you as I saw him the way he fought for you and in fact married you against my wish.
As you started to stay with us, I realised that you are not what I was thinking of you..you were not selfish or opportunistic.
You are a sweetheart. I realised that. " Piyali said with a small genuine smile on her face. Aratrika smiled back softly.

" I started to accept you and your marriage as well. But when Seema again taunted me about you being widow and age and also about the fact how Rishi married you against my wish..I lost it.

Trust me, the taunt about you being a widow or age didn't affect me but when she said how Rishi went against my wish just to marry you …my old fear started to rush back and in anger I…I did all these. I didn't care about Rishi's happiness, your happiness …just because of my insecurities I tried to make you leave the house. " She said, wiping her tears. Aratrika shook her head to stop her from crying and squeezed her hands to comfort her.

"But last night…I saw whatever happened between you and Rishi. " Piyali said, making Saptarshi and Aratrika surprised.

Actually Piyali went to talk to Saptarshi last night. When she reached there, she heard them talking and also after that she followed Aratrika and heard whatever she was saying to her Maa Durga.

And that changed everything…her mindset ,her thoughts and her perception about Aratrika. Once again Aratrika's selfless nature and innocence won Piyali's heart .

" Then I realised how wrong I was about you. You were ready to sacrifice your marriage just for the sake of my love for my son. I realised that once again I was going to make a wrong decision.
I am sorry Aratrika, I am sorry for misunderstanding you since the beginning. I know that my apology isn't enough for the torments you faced due to me…but still if possible please forgive me." Piyali said to her while crying and joined her palms together in order to ask for forgiveness.

Aratrika shook her head and held her hand, "No aunty…please don't do it. I understand why you did it and trust me I have no anger or resentment for you in my heart. Please don't do it."

Piyali smiled and said, " Don't call Me Aunty…call me Mamoni as you do. I have heard you calling me that. Welcome to our family ."

Aratrika laughed with tears flowing down her eyes. It was tears of joy. Piyali hugged her lovingly.

Lolita and Sanonda hugged each other in excitement. Siddhartha sighed in relief and smiled, shaking his head. Sanchita jumped in joy and grinned.

But everyone stopped when Saptarshi cleared his throat.

They looked at him in confusion when they saw how serious he looked.

He looked at Aratrika who looked at him in anticipation. As their eyes met ,he turned his eyes towards his father.

"I am leaving." Saying this he left the house.

The bright smile on Aratrika's face faded and she looked down . She knew whatever happened Saptarshi was hurt because of that.

"He will come around. I will talk to him. Now come..have breakfast. " Piyali said to Aratrika, patting her head.

But what they didn't realise was that in the war between Mother in law and daughter in law and their sudden decisions Saptarshi was the one who was the most affected.

It won't be easy to deal with him this time.

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Sanonda reached her college and greeted everyone who greeted her  on her way to the staff room.

Entering there she spotted Aniruddha who was sitting on their regular table. He was reading something and taking some notes with utmost attention.

She smiled and walked towards the table.

Keeping her bags aside, she silently sat down in front of him. But he was so busy in his books and notes that he failed to notice any movement in front of him and to hear any sound.

Rolling her eyes, Sanonda shook her head and snatched the pen from his hand which made him look up with an annoyed expression.

"Oh ..it's you." Seeing Sanonda in front of him, his annoyed expression changed, he smiled at her.

"Yes, it's me. You are so busy that you didn't even realise that I was sitting in front of you." Sanonda complained.

"Sorry….I was making some notes . " He said apologetically. She smiled at him.

" By the way, you are looking very happy today." He commented.

Sanonda smiled brightly and said, " Yes, I am very happy today."

Then she explained everything that happened in the morning. Aniruddha listened to her with a smile on his face as he saw how excitedly and happily she was describing everything to him.

"Finally ,everything is back on track. Now I just hope that Rishi and Aru solve their issues between them." She said with a tense expression.

"Don't worry…they will solve everything. Love and Communication break every barrier." Aniruddha said with a smile.

Sanonda raised her eyebrows playfully and said, "So we have a Love professor here!!! Then Mister ,why are you still single?"

Aniruddha leaned towards her a bit and said, " Because Coaches never play , Miss."

" Oh shut up, just tell the truth that you didn't find a girl..or I say , not a single girl found you attractive enough." Sanonda teased him and bit her lips to stop herself from smiling.

" You also know that I am handsome enough and very popular among the ladies." He said with a smug expression. Then he continued, looking at her ," It's just I didn't find someone with whom I felt connected ,who would understand me and accept me the way I am ."

A few seconds they remained silent.

After some time Sanonda asked,  looking at him, " What if you find someone now or in near future?"

He smiled and said, looking straight into her eyes, " Then I am not letting her go..no matter what. "

They both kept looking at each other.

"Sanonda, a student from your class is asking for you." A colleague informed Sanonda which broke their trance.

Sanonda looked down immediately and Aniruddha looked here and there.

"I am coming." She said to the fellow professor who left from there.

" Ummm…here." She said nervously and gave the pen back to Aniruddha. He took it back ,looking at Sanonda which made her look down.

"Excuse me." Saying this ,she got up to meet the student whereas Aniruddha kept looking at her retreating back with a soft smile on his face.

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At night

At around 2 am Saptarshi came back from his work.

He deliberately came back this late so that he didn't need to face his mother and his wife as they won't be awake till 2 am.

But how wrong he was.

He went towards his room and opened the door only to get confused as the lights were on.

"Ami ki light jaliyei Chole gechilam..kintu sokal e toh Ami light jalayi nah..(Did I leave turning the lights on….but I don't switch on the lights in the morning usually.)" He said to himself.

But as soon as he turned to his right, he understood the matter.

Aratrika was sitting there with a smile on her face.

He was confused.
"What are you doing in my room?" He asked her.

" Why? I am your wife…obviously I will be in your room…..I mean our room." She replied with a smile.

"Really? But weren't you going to leave today? What happened?" He asked her with irritation.

She stood up and came in front of him.

" I think you have a short time memory loss. Did you forget that Mamoni accepted our marriage…she has accepted me." She said with a chuckle and was about to hold his hand when he backed off.

Her smile wiped away.

" Oh so now, everything is alright.  Let me guess, your next line will be ,"Saptarshi, forget whatever happened..let's start everything afresh."..isn't it? But let me tell you Mrs. Aratrika Chowdhury, it's not easy. Maybe you can forget so easily and my mother as well..but I can't. " Saptarshi said furiously. He turned his back to her.

Aratrika's heart jumped in joy hearing him calling her "Mrs. Aratrika Chowdhury " But at the same time, she felt pain when she saw the raw pain in his eyes before he turned his back to her.

"Rishi, Mamoni just wanted what's best for you and I didn't want you to feel the pain of your mother's indifference towards you..That's why…" She tried to make him understand and left the words incomplete.

" But what about me? Did you guys think about for a second what I wanted? What's my happiness? What's my desire? What's in my heart?
No…you both were busy in your demands…your words…fuck!!! " He said in agitation, running his fingers through his hair.

He turned towards Aratrika and said,  " You were only thinking about what will be my relationship with my mother….Did you even think for a second about our relationship, our marriage?
Did you even think for a second about my love for you? Did you even think for a second how I will leave without you? Do my wishes have any value in your eyes? Do I have any value in your life? "

Aratrika's eyes got teary seeing him so broken and hearing his words and feeling the pain which he was feeling.

Saptarshi was beyond furious now. He was trying hard to control himself.

She was about to touch his hand and open her mouth to explain herself to him but he stopped her.

"No need…I don't want to hear anything for you. I have seen and understood enough till now…now it's enough. Go to sleep…Good night." He said and was about to leave the room when Aratrika asked him in fear, "Where are you going?"

"I need to cool down. I don't want to do anything which I might regret later." He said and left from there leaving a heartbroken Aratrika behind.

Here you go.

So Piyali stopped her.

PurviParmar8 was right.

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