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Chapter 42: Fire

Propped against the pillows, her hair tied into a bun, Ritu took a gulp of the milk-and-turmeric concoction her mother had brought her. As she stretched for a paper tissue to wipe the rim of the chipped Nescafe mug, pain shot through her shoulder and she grimaced.

"Still hurts?" Her mother sat down beside her.

She shook her head. "Much better."

"I can't believe you never told us."

Her parents had been content in the illusion of her blissful marriage; she hadn't seen the point of disrupting their fantasy.

After the policemen took her to the hospital that night, she had called her father. He was so agitated that she started to worry for him. She called him a second time, as a nurse dressed the laceration on her arm. "Everything's fine. The doctors say I'll be out in the morning."

Then she had called Sameer, who stayed with Aayush and her till she was discharged the next morning.