Under his gaze (his forced bride) by Olivia Jessie (the giving tree read aloud txt) 📕

" Dr ? When will she be okay? " Reema's brother asked holding his grandmother. She had been crying since she got to know about her. 

" Well. To be honest, there are very little chances for that. And even if she gets her consciousness back, she won't be able to speak all her life " He told both of them to make them believe that she would never recover and they should lose all the hope for her better future. 

" Oh God, why? " Her grandmother hugged her grandson. Advay excused himself from them and smiled at his work. Bitch, was mentally strong. He got her to the right place at the right time. 

Hunger kicked in and he hurriedly left the crumpled name saken hospital. It was an old building with not much facilities, what else can you expect at the end of Indian border. 

The day was really tiresome. First the police officer asked hundreds of questions then the other staff of the hospital introduced themselves to him. To say the least, he hated it all. 

While on way, he switched on the radio. The song made him remember his wife. He just wanted her to understand him and his love towards her. He wanted a family. His kids. His blood. Living and growing even if he dies. His name and genetics flowing in their veins. 

He had to stop the car when a herd of sheep came at the middle of the road. He tapped on the steering wheel impatiently. Someone stood beside his side of the window. A girl maybe in 20s smiled at her. Making a sign with her hands that it will take two minutes. He watched her innocent face. Her light brown eyes. She too glanced at him and blushed. He honked to make the sheep left behind run. And as soon as the road was clear again he started the engine. 

The girl continued looking at him. He watched her just once getting lost in the other direction. She was a wearing a beautiful ' kashmiri shawl ' . It looked good on her. And would look better on his wife. So he stopped in front an old lady selling some shawls and asked her to pack a deep green one. It would bring out her eye color more  . He gently placed the shawl on the left seat. 

When he was standing outside his house he could feel something negative in the ambiance. And his feelings got confirmation when he found the door unlocked. He walked in running inside the house. Searching for her. He called for her. 

" Mihika! Where are you? " He asked walking around the living room. " What's for lunch? " He tried to sound normal. She won't dare to leave him. She loved him. He loved her. He would do anything for her. She was his world. He was hers. 

" Pumpkin? Please. " He checked the bathroom too. She ran away.. 

He wasn't angry or mad at her. His heart beat was going crazy  . He felt the loneliness like when his mother left. Worst than that. Why did she leave? It was too dangerous out there. Wolves, hungry snow lions and humans. 

But then he wanted to slap her for being so silly. A wife never abandons a marriage. He hated those woman who leave their husbands. Leaving was never a solution. 

He put the shawl on the sofa and left to search his wife, empty stomach. His eyes filled with tears blurring his path. He stopped the car on the side to cry. Cry like he was an orphan again. 

Crying made his mind clear and he followed his instincts. She won't go to the store . They knew both of them. He had to search around the area enclosing the road. There were few houses  . He would knock on every doorstep to ask for her. The place and it's people was already in shock because of the girl being attacked. He would make some story to make them help him. 

The first house he knocked was of some writer. Trying to write in an isolated place. Ge didn't know about his wife plus he didn't seem the person who would help anyone. With eight houses, and few families he followed the same procedure. Asking about his wife, showing a picture and telling his made up story. And invading the houses In pretext  of using the washroom. But his wife was not there. He didn't find her smell anywhere. Her fragrance. 

The last house in the nearby area was at the end of the other side of the road. A beautiful house indeed  .  His wife would have loved a house like that. Covered with roses and vines. Lively home. Advay felt bile rose in his stomach. He didn't want the person he hated the most to be the owner.maybe someone else bought the house.He knocked on the door. And heard heavy footsteps. 

An old man greeted him. He showed his most polite smile. His heart was beating the fastest. His anxiety reaching the top. The man was his maternal uncle after all. The man he never wanted to see in all his life. 

" Advay? What a pleasant surprise! " He said at the top of his lungs. Advay forced a smile. This man broke his father's home ten years ago. 

" Hello uncle. You are still living here. " He asked him

" Yes of course. Your elder brother is serving the country now. " Advay faked a proud smile. 

" Great. " . 

"But what  are you doing here? " His uncle asked him. 

" Actually me and my wife were here to spend some quality time. We have the cabin by the other road. " Although his uncle knew all this. Because he was the one who made his father bought it. Or else why would they be having a property in here? 

" Oh. Congrats. Come in. " He finally let him in. " Where is she? " He asked 

" I am finding her. I mean she was lost here when I was at the hospital. She doesn't know much about the place. That's her photo. Have you seen her? " He showed him Mihika's photo. 

" No. I am sorry. I would have noticed a beautiful girl like her . " He smiled sadly at him. " Have some tea  . And about your mother.. " But Advay rose from his chair. 

" I must leave now. " He walked out of the house still feeling her fragrance in there. Was she there? His heart told him to check but he couldn't the man's face and judging eyes. He would find her  .she would never be here.