Chapter 91: chapter 91

SRUTHII look at the time on my phone. It is six in the evening. I left our room at three. The story recording was successful and it came out wonderfully than I anticipated. I feel content and happy as I open the door to our room. Or rather try to open it. Because, the door doesn't budge.I knock a couple of times before ringing the doorbell of the room. I wait for a few minutes, expecting Madhav to open the door at any moment, but no such thing happens, and I unlock my phone to give him a call.All possibilities run through my mind as I wait for the line to connect.  What if the allergy returned to him when I wasn't there? What if he has passed out in exhaustion? Or worse, what if something else had happened to him?  Before I could fully entertain other thoughts, the operator talks about how Madhav is busy and asks me to call later. Why isn't he picking up his phone? He has a sharp hearing sense and is a very light sleeper. Even if he fell asleep, he would wake up to the sound of his phone ringing. I am damn sure Madhav is not the guy to put his phone in a silent mood.Forgetting all the decent behaviour and stuff, I pound on the room door like a money lender who has come to collect the money. I don't care if my pounding disturbs others but I want to know that my husband is safe. After five minutes of heavy pounding and with no answer, I walk down to the reception to get a spare key for the room. “Room number?” the receptionist asks.“159,” I answer. She glances down at the table and then says to my utter shock, “Are you the wife of Mr Madhav?”“Yeah,” I reply feeling a dread.“He has gone out for some urgent work and asked me to give you the room key if you come in search of a spare one,” the woman says, giving me the key.“Did he say where he was going?” I ask.“No madam,” the receptionist answers.“Oh, okay, thanks,” with a lot of questions rising in my mind, I walk back to our room. Where did Madhav go off? What work is so important to him now? I freeze in my tracks as a thought strikes me. What if?Just what if Madhav had gone out to kill someone?Suddenly, his actions for the past few hours make sense. He was the one who pointed out the mushroom hotel. He was adamant about not wanting to see the doctor. He practically begged me to leave him alone.I was surprised when Vikram suggested that we go on a honeymoon trip. My brother is not the kind of man to sit down and plan honeymoon trips. Nope, he is the defence minister, and Madhav is his right-hand man. I walk past a painting of a boat and then it hits me. The reason for this sudden honeymoon trip.HOLY HELL!Madhav is here for the traffickers. There is no way it is a coincidence that we ran into them.“Don't worry those people wouldn't be sold as slaves. Not on my watch.”His words come back to me. He was so sure about stopping those traffickers. Neither was he shocked about the traffickers like I was. He watched everything with an alert eye and even took pictures of the boat.Oh My God!How dumb of me?He was here for a mission and not for the honeymoon. I stupidly thought, he came because he too wanted to spend some time with me. My heart feels heavy as I open the door to our room. I feel a sense of foreboding like something is going to happen. I sit on the couch but I don't know what to do. I feel fidgety all of a sudden. I need to ask Madhav why he agreed to this trip. I want to ask him if he feels something for me. I need to know his feelings to stop myself from going and getting hurt again. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥The door opens slowly and Madhav enters the room. My eyes scan him from head to toe, searching for any signs of the wound on him. I still don't know where he went or what he was doing. I did try his phone a couple of times, but every time, the operator responded. His body looks perfectly fine with no visible wounds. But one look at his face and I know something is wrong. He isn't surprised to see me waiting for him. It is ten in the night and I have been waiting for him to return. Madhav meets my eyes and I am taken aback by the ice in them. He looks guarded, and suddenly, I am taken back to the day when we had that heated argument after he killed the kidnapper.“Madhav,” my voice is cautious as I think about how to phrase my question but I suck at subtlety. So, my mind comes up blank. I am still not sure how people can open a conversation in a pleasant tone and then smoothly take it to the point they want to address.Screw this! “How is your allergy?” I ask the first question to which I want to know the answer. I close the distance between us, but for some reason, I am afraid to touch his jaw to examine his allergy. His eyes are still cold but at my question, he looks surprised momentarily.“I am perfectly alright now,” he answers taking a step back from me. I blink in surprise. Did he just take a step back from me? No, don't overthink. But something is different about him. He is not gazing at me with a gentle look like he always does. Instead, he has a look of indifference and aloofness. The way he is looking at me is foreign to me.Questions flit through my mind but I hold back myself from asking him any. I don't want to seem like a noisy wife who interrogates her husband as soon as he comes back.Madhav sighs and tells in a wary tone, “Ask me the questions. I can see how much you want to.”Are my thoughts that transparent on my face?I aim for a direct hit and ask, “Did you go out to kill the trafficking gang?”Madhav flinches in surprise, “Yes and no. I did go out for the trafficking gang but I didn't kill anyone.”I hold his gaze to know the sincerity of his words. They hold mine without wavering. He is telling the truth. “Then, is the reason why you agreed to come on this honeymoon because of them?”There is no hesitation in Madhav's voice as he answers, “Yes, that was the only reason. No other one.”I try not to show how hurt I feel at his words. So, it was only me who was having thoughts of us spending time together? Did he never think about it? Was this trip only a mission to him? “Is your mission completed?”“Yes, it is,” Madhav answers and continues to answer my next unasked question, “Pack your bags. We are returning to the capital tonight. Since the mission is over, there is no need to prolong our stay here.”My mouth opens and closes in shock. Was I seriously a means of an end to his mission and nothing more?“Did you accompany me to this place only for the sake of this mission?” I ask again to confirm. He glances away from me for a second, and when he meets my eyes again, they are cold, “Yes, I did. It is not like we are married for love. You despise me and I have another woman in my heart. Besides, didn't you agree to this honeymoon only for the sake of your brother?”I turn away from him to hide the look of hurt on my face. Does he still think that I hate him? I know he loves another woman but to rub it in my face like this? The sake of my brother? Oh yes, Vikram did ask me to go on for this trip to take the media's attention off him. But I didn't agree with for the sake of my brother. I agreed because I wanted to spend time with this man.I am about to refute his words when he says, “Save it. I don't need any explanation from you, Sruthi. I can understand how disgusted you must feel having me as your husband. Just wait a few months. Once I am sure the threat to your life is permanently removed, I will leave you, and you can find your prince charming.”What in the name of the Holy God is he talking about?Why does he think I am feeling disgusted with him?I agree there was a time when I felt like that. That was before I came to know him. Disgust is not the emotion I feel for him but I don't think he will believe me if I tell him that. God! I want to shake him by the shoulders and tell him, ‘I don't need a Prince Charming. I need you.’But, I don't do any of that. I am still confused and processing the situation before me. “Get packing. The flight is in two hours,”  Madhav says going to the wardrobe.“Okay,” I answer in a state of confusion.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥