My Better-Half

Vansh let out an exhausted exhale as he finally parked his car beside his house. Driving through Mumbai's traffic was no lesser than coming out of a war alive.

He and his family lived in a flat on the 5th floor of this residential building. As he waited for the lift to take him up, he glanced at his watch.

It was 7.30 PM. He was quite late today. The next few days were similarly going to be hectic for him. Some eminent foreign delegates were going to visit their company in a few days' time, and his Boss had specifically chosen him to look after all the work.

He had to press the bell only once, and his dearest mother had opened the door within a second.

"Vansh beta, you look so tired today," said Sakshi, wiping the sweat of his face with her pallu. "Ragini! Get a glass of water for him, please."

"Maa, I am fine," Vansh tried to say. "Ragini bhabhi already has so much work and responsibilities over her head. You don't need to trouble her more…"

He had not even completed his sentence that he saw a glass of water brought in front of him.

"You arrived at absolutely the right time," Ragini smiled. "Dinner is almost ready to be served."

Vansh closed his eyes as the delicious aroma of food filled his nostrils.

"You made palak paneer…"

"Yes, and some tasty chapattis to go with it, too," Ragini finished off the line for him.

Vansh grinned. As if suddenly remembering something, his eyes anxiously began roaming here and there.

"Where are Sukanya and Sana?"

"Oh, they have gone to the neighbourhood garden to play," replied Ragini, spreading out the table.

Vansh grew even more worried. "Look at the time! It has already turned quite dark. You know about the kind of news we keep hearing every day. And these girls are too small and gullible to take care of themselves in the midst of any…"

"Relax Vansh! Your Kabir bhaiya has gone with them, too," Ragini assured him.

Vansh heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, then that is fine."

Vansh scrunched up his nose as he saw his Dadi and his father, Ajay, head into the dining area. Vansh disliked his Dadi. She acted like the typical matriarch of the house, always bossing everyone around. She was a very orthodox and rigid person. Vansh often found himself caught up in arguments with her pertaining to many matters.

His father, Ajay Raisinghania, had also been unfortunately blessed with the same outdated ideologies. He couldn't bear to hear a single word against his mother, and blindly followed and sided with her, no matter what.

Nonetheless, Vansh mumbled a quick namaste to them.

The door of the house was thrown open, and all of a sudden, the atmosphere was filled with playful chuckles and giggles.

"Papa!" The little girls squealed with delight, flinging their small hands around Vansh.

"Aww, my sweeties! How was your day at school?" asked Vanish after making them sit on his lap.

"We had so much fun! And see, what Tauji got us?" Sukanya showed him the large box of candies.

"Kabir bhaiya, you are spoiling the girls!" Vansh spoke out as soon as he saw him appear through the door.

Kabir sat beside Vansh. "Aren't Sukanya and Sana my daughters too?"

With a hardened expression, Dadi said, "Of course, you'd say that, you've no children of your own even after being married for twelve years."

There was a pin-drop silence for a minute or so. Vansh glanced at his bhaiya and bhabhi, and sure enough, they appeared very hurt. He clenched his fists in anger. It was true that they did not have any kids, so what? They were happy with each other, and that's what the most important thing was.

"Chandrika and Vansh got married four years after them. And now, they are parents to two daughters, aged seven and six. But no good news comes from the eldest daughter-in-law even now," Dadi continued her rant. She was least bothered about how miserable Kabir and Ragini were feeling after listening to her.

Everyone remained silent, respecting her for the fact that she was quite elder to them. But Vansh thought otherwise.

"Dadi, stop taking interest in other people's lives. Instead, concentrate on yours. You do remember right what your doctor said? You don't have many years of life ahead of you!"

The rest of the family gasped at Vansh's utter disrespect, while he on the other hand, smirked, enjoying the effect he had created.

"This boy! How insolent he is!" Dadi scowled. "His tongue is as sharp as a razor. Even his wife is like that only. She speaks and acts without caring about others. Look, how callously she's roaming outside so late at night."

Vansh could not believe this old woman at all. Her hair had turned as white as snow, wrinkles covered each and every inch of her skin, her back was bent forward. But her words were as bitter as poison even now.

"How convenient to blame the daughter-in-law, when the son is the one, who is at fault?" Vansh mocked. "Plus, Chandrika is not simply 'roaming' outside as you make it sound. She's an IPS officer, and it is obvious that she'd be stuck up in some urgent and important work."

"So why can't she just stay at home, looking after her family? The girls are growing up really quick, and they need their mother at this stage," said Dadi. "Poor Ragini has to take care of your daughters when you both are at work."

Turning towards Ajay, Dadi further told, "I was against Vansh's and Chandrika's marriage. Already had a gut feeling that this girl would be a bad influence on him. But no, you were hell bound in fulfilling your dearest son's wishes!"

Vansh angrily dropped the spoon on his plate. "If Papa wouldn't have given me permission, I'd have instead run away from home and married her."

"Watch your tongue, Vansh! Do not forget that you are talking to your elders," Ajay warned him.

Ignoring the glares of his parents and grandmother, Vansh proceeded to leave the scene along with his daughters.

"A person requires some peace while having his food. But clearly, people over here think differently," he taunted before heading to his room.

Sukanya and Sana followed their father, looking confused. They were too young to understand these complex things.

.

Chandrika was getting ready in the dressing room. With red hot lips, smokey eyes, excessively loud makeup, and hair thrown into messy curls, she looked exactly like the other girls around her. She completed her look with a sleeveless pink short dress that reached midway above her knees.

The room that she sat in was filled with an intoxicating stench of alcohol, smoke and drugs. She saw the girls around her crazily screaming whilst the others were basking in the euphoria of intoxication.

Before heading out, Chandrika peered at her reflection for the last time.

She pulled the neck of her dress a little down. Perfect! Now he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her.

.

"After that, the prince and the princess got married to each other, and they lived happily ever after with their two cats and three puppies…"

Saying this, Vansh shut the storybook he was reading out to the girls. He watched with amusement as Sukanya's and Sana's eyes gleamed with happiness.

Tucking them under the duvet, he said, "Come on, it's time to sleep…"

"Where is Mumma?" Little Sana interrupted him. "I don't get sleep unless Mumma runs her hand through my hair."

Vansh looked at her lovingly. "Don't worry. For today, as well as the rest of the days when your Mumma gets late, I'll take her place and do all the things that she used to do. Is that okay?"

Vansh began tenderly caressing Sana's head, slowly lulling her into sleep.

Sukanya, on the other hand, was not done yet. She had quite a few questions for him.

"Why is Momma not home, yet?"

Vansh truthfully answered all her queries. "You know right, she works in the police. So maybe, she has got some important work."

"Does Mumma catch thieves and hit the bad goons?" she asked innocently.

Vansh laughed softly, "Haha, yes! That's exactly what she does."

Sukanya's face glowed up. "When I grow big, I also want to be in the police like her. And I will beat all the bad people up. Like this, like this!" She carried out some of her stunts on her father, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Ouch! You really hit me bad," he said rubbing his arm.

When she opened her mouth to say something else, Vansh shushed her up. "Enough of your quiz, baby. You need to wake up early for school tomorrow, too."

He planted a kiss on each of his daughter's head, switched off the lights and closed the door behind him.

He glanced at his watch. It was 12am. And Chandrika wasn't home yet.

She had informed him beforehand that it would get really late tonight, but this was actually getting too much. Even though he knew that she was an abled police officer and could protect herself, but still he was feeling weary and couldn't help worrying. After all, she was his wife.

He called her up many times, but she did not answer even a single one. On the way to his room, he happened to meet Sakshi.

"Did Chandrika return?" she asked him skeptically.

"Of course, she did!" He lied because already Chandrika was in everybody's bad books and he didn't want her image to fall further in their eyes.

"That's good. I need to talk something to her." Sakshi tried to make her way into Vansh's bedroom, but he stopped her in the nick of time.

He made up another excuse. "Actually, she is very tired and has already fallen asleep. So, you can talk to her later." He noticed the grim expression on his mother's face. "What's the matter, Maa? Anything serious?"

Sakshi took a deep breath. "Sukanya and Sana have already grown quite big. And we all think that it's high time that you both plan for another child."

"But we already have two daughters. What's the need for a third child?" he asked.

Sakshi hesitated before speaking. "In the hope of getting a son."

Vansh was shocked to hear this. And more than that, he felt pained. Being a woman herself, how could she say something like this? He later realized that his Dadi and Papa might have brainwashed her to utter all this crap in front of him.

Reading Vansh's angry face, Sakshi understood what he was thinking.

"Sukanya and Sana are such lovely girls and all of us love them dearly. But this family needs a heir. Unfortunately, Kabir and Ragini cannot conceive. Hence, you and Chandrika are our only hope."

Vansh clapped his hands and snickered. "First of all, I don't understand this concept of heir at all. Why aren't daughters ever considered as heirs? Secondly, we aren't any prosperous kings who have acres of land and a vast empire. These are the people who need an heir to take care of their assets after their death. But we are just ordinary middle-class people! What do we need an 'heir' for?"

"To take our lineage ahead…" Sakshi tried to say, but was instead cut off by her son.

"To be honest, there is literally nothing to boast about our so-called damned lineage!" said Vansh. "Also, Chandrika and I are very content with our daughters. We've no desire for a son. Plus, what's the guarantee that the third child will be a boy? Or do you expect us to keep popping a baby, one after the other, till it turns out to be a son?"

"But there's nothing wrong in trying, though," said Sakshi, not giving up.

He said, "After Sana was born, both of us had already decided that we won't have any more children. Chandrika has already taken enough breaks from her career during Sukanya's and Sana's time, and now she just cannot go through the same ordeal again. And tell me one thing, if instead of two daughters, we had two sons, would you still be standing here trying to coax me for a third child in the hope of a daughter?"

Sakshi looked on, rendered speechless. Before disappearing into his room, he sternly told her, "This is the last time we're even talking about something like this, Maa. Just remember this."

Sakshi could hear the door bang right on her face. She sighed, fed up of being a sandwich between the two parties - her mother-in-law and husband on one side, and her son and daughter-in-law on the other.

Vansh sat in his bedroom, as Dadi's and Maa's words began to ring in his ears. To say he was upset, would be an understatement. He actually felt thoroughly shattered after listening to the bitter words coming from them, especially Maa.

Chandrika, Sukanya and Sana - these three girls were his lifelines, and he couldn't bear to imagine his life without them. His mind began to wander over to that time when he first happened to meet Chandrika…

***

It was almost eight-and-a-half years back that Dadi had experienced a sudden chest pain and Vansh decided to drive her to the hospital immediately without waiting for the ambulance.

In a hurry to get his Dadi into the hospital as soon as possible, Vansh parked his car on the side of the main road. To his relief, it turned out to be nothing but a simple acidity problem owing to overeating.

Nonetheless, the doctors decided to do some further routine tests to rule out any other diseases that are common during old age. With his Dadi doing considerably better, Vansh remembered his wrongly parked car and decided to move it to some other place.

But when he returned, he was in for a rude shock when he saw his car being towed away.

"Stop! That's my car!" He ran after the tow truck but it had already driven away from his sight.

He saw a police jeep standing in the corner and proceeded to request them to give his car back to him. The constable refused to do anything citing that it wasn't something in his hands. However, he suggested talking to his 'Madam' if he wanted.

"Let me speak to her then," said Vansh.

No sooner had he said that, the door of the jeep was flung open, and out stepped a slender looking petite woman, dressed in the khaki uniform.

Her badge read 'IPS Chandrika Sinha'.

"Madam, actually my car got towed away so…"

"So? What should I do in that? Who asked you to park your car right next to the main road?" she spoke harshly.

"Actually, it was a medical emergency. I had to rush my Dadi to the hospital and in the hurry…"

At this, Chandrika started clapping her hands and snorted. "Bravo! What an excuse!" Her voice turned stern yet again. "Do you think I'm a fool or something? I've heard many excuses like these, so you better keep your mouth shut."

"But…"

"Didn't I ask you to shut up?" she shouted at him, not allowing him to talk even. "If you want your vehicle to be returned to you, go to the RTO tomorrow and collect it after paying the fine. Understood? Now get lost!"

Vansh realized that it was no use arguing with this stubborn and rude lady. Paying fine sounded better than wasting his time listening to this woman's shrill voice.

"Bloody liar!" she muttered under her breath as Vansh left from her sight.

"But he wasn't lying," one of the vendors standing there said. "I really saw him struggling to find a parking nearby, and when he couldn't, he took an ailing old lady, perhaps his grandmother, inside the hospital."

Chandrika started feeling guilty for misunderstanding him and speaking to him so roughly.

The next day, when Vansh went to the nearest RTO to collect his car back, he was surprised to see that his fine had been waivered off.

"I did that," a familiar voice spoke from behind.

Vansh turned around to see the same police officer he had encountered the previous night - Chandrika Sinha.

She walked up to him and said, "I'm really sorry for last night. I realized that you had been speaking the truth all along." She rubbed her forehead. "It's just that I was having a really bad day yesterday. But of course, it was no way to talk to you like that."

She handed him a bouquet of flowers, making him even more amazed.

"These are for your grandmother who was ill. I hope she's doing much better than before."

Vansh was absolutely impressed with this woman. He had come across many police officials who vented out their frustration over him for no fault of his, but nobody ever apologized to him or felt sorry for his acts.

But she, she was different.

He politely accepted the flowers. "Dadi is totally fine. But you really didn't have to go all the way to do this, Madam…"

"Why not? I know I'm a police officer, but before that, I'm a human. And every human being make mistakes, and similar is the case with me. But a real person is the one who apologizes for his mistakes. Besides, it's nowhere written that a police official cannot apologize to a civilian, isn't it?"

It was at that moment that Vansh knew that he had lost his heart to her.

He didn't even realize that he had been grinning at her stupidly, until Chandrika snapped her fingers.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh yes, I am," said Vansh trying to turn serious. "Actually, it's your generosity, humbleness and your charm doing their work on me…"

"What?" she blurted out, not understanding what this man was trying to say.

"Are you free in the afternoon for a cup of coffee?" he said all of a sudden, not able to contain his feelings any longer.

Chandrika looked at him in some astonishment. She took a glance at her surroundings and found everyone's weird stares upon them. Great! So everyone had heard that he had asked her out for coffee.

Even though, she secretly admired him for his guts, but she didn't want to show that to him, yet.

She instead, narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you think that you are being too frank, Mister…"

"Vansh Raisinghania," he forwarded his hand but she did not take it.

"Yes, I believe in being frank and transparent. And that's a rare thing to find in today's world of lies and deceits."

Seeing that he had her complete attention to himself, he continued, "If you are free and only if you want, you can come to Blue Moon Cafe at around 2pm. I assume you'd be having your one-hour long lunch break then, Madam."

Without saying any word, Chandrika left from there, suppressing her smile. But Vansh had already noticed that and he was confident that she'd definitely turn up for the date.

Later in the afternoon at the said café, Vansh was mesmerised when he saw Chandrika walk up to his table, dressed in a casual below-the-knee frock.

"You look beautiful," he said, his sheepish smile making a permanent residence on his face.

Chandrika thanked him and took her seat. "I can't believe it! We just met yesterday and today, we are out on a coffee date. Whoa!"

"Oh that's nothing. Tomorrow, we'll go for a candle light dinner," Vansh winked at her.

Not wanting to stay behind in flirting, Chandrika also decided to play along. "And what about day after tomorrow?"

"A late-night romantic movie."

"And the next day after that?"

"A long romantic drive and a walk along the beach."

"And then?"

"Our first kiss."

"So you won't kiss me until then?" she asked playfully.

Vansh leaned over the table that separated them and whispered, "If you want, I can kiss you right here and now."

The next two-three months flew by, as Vansh and Chandrika became much more seriously involved with each other, so much so that, they had literally become inseparable. They decided to take their relationship a step ahead by introducing each other to their respective families.

Chandrika's family instantly gave their nod for Vansh after getting bowled over by his politeness and charm, but Vansh's family on the other hand, had shown a plain dislike for Chandrika.

"She doesn't look very homely and appears way too modern for our family," his Dadi said, holding up her nose. "And she works outside! Can you believe it?"

"So what? She's an IPS officer, for crying out loud. Such an honourable profession!" Vansh tried to put some sense into the old woman's head.

"Such professions are best suited for a man. Not a woman," said Ajay.

"Which world are you both dwelling in? This is the 21st century where men and women are considered equal to each other in all aspects," said Vansh in exasperation.

"Men and women, can never be equal to each other. That's the law of nature," said Ajay. "There's a reason why the task of bringing a new life into this world is conferred upon a woman, not a man."

"I don't know about that, but the only thing I know is that I love her, madly and immensely," Vansh reiterated. "And I'll only marry her, and no one else."

"That girl is unfit to become the daughter-in-law of this house. There's no place for her in this house," Dadi interjected.

Vansh looked on absolutely hurt. He knew that his family was orthodox and all, but he never imagined that they would even go as far as to pose a hindrance in his love.

"Fine. If there's no place for Chandrika in this house, then there's no place for me, too. Might as well, I leave you all and take her somewhere else after we get married."

Saying this, he barged upstairs into his room, not wanting to argue with them anymore.

When Ajay got to know from Sakshi that Vansh had started packing his bags to leave the house, his fatherly love came over him. Fearing separation from his son, he ignored his mother's rants and finally agreed to Vansh's and Chandrika's marriage.

A few months into the marriage, Chandrika gave Vansh the best news of his life. He was going to be a Papa soon.

The first time that he had held Sukanya in his hands, he had been at the top of the world to see his tiny, little daughter. But his happiness seemed to lessen when he heard quite a few taunts from the society.

"Ooh! They got a daughter. Hopefully, the next one is a son."

"The eldest child should always be a son, so that he can grow up and start carrying out the responsibilities of the family as soon as possible."

"What if Chandrika doesn't have a child after this? What if they are stuck with an only daughter!"

Of course, Vansh and Chandrika together gave all of them an earful, shutting them up completely.

With a baby in their lives, Vansh felt his relation with Chandrika get much stronger than before. The responsibilities that came with the little bundle of joy, made them more mature, and more understanding and trusting of each other.

To devote more time to her baby, Chandrika decided to take a two year break from her job. But this two-year break got prolonged to a four year one, when she became pregnant yet again.

Vansh and Chandrika were ecstatic when their second daughter, Sana, entered their lives. But this time, the taunts from the society upped to another level.

"Did you hear that? Their second child is also a daughter! I don't think they'll ever get a son."

"Oh no! If they have no son, who will support them when they get old? Who will cremate their bodies when they die?"

It was at that time that Vansh had vowed that he'd never let his daughters feel lesser than any son…

***

Coming back to the present, Vansh realized that was exactly what his family was trying to do now - making his daughters feel inferior. They were small now, but what would happen when they grew and heard about their biased gender preferences? He firmly decided that if his family ever brought this topic up again, he'd leave this house along with his wife and daughters that very second.

.

Chandrika stepped onto the dais, and began dancing sultrily on an item song. She could see all the men leering at her with unrestrained desire in their eyes. Some of them hurled money over her, while the others called her all sorts of obscene names.

But she acted unaffected, and continued to please the audience with her moves, with a smile plastered across her face.

Her eyes began to scan the whole place around, until they finally landed upon him. He was Pathak.

He was sitting comfortably upon the VIP couch, with his legs spread and crossed over each other across the table.

Chandrika smiled and winked at him, giving him the indication that she was interested in him. Soon, she could see his filthy gaze fixated upon her and she knew that she had got his attention.

Holding a glass of drink in her hands, she boldly walked up to Pathak.

After handing him the drink, she turned away to leave. But she instead felt a sharp tug and even before she could know it, she landed straight in his arms.

For a moment, she was shocked and didn't know how to react. He hungrily began running his fingers down her naked arms, making her squirm in disgust.

Through the corner of her eyes, she saw one of her assistants coming over to help her, but she signaled him to stop.

Chandrika pushed Pathak and said with a smile. "Not here, let us to go to a room."

"Sure, my love," he grinned, flashing her his tobacco-stained teeth.

Chandrika led the way through a narrow, lonely passage. Pathak, who closely followed her, kept checking her out continuously from behind.

Not able to control his desires any longer, he pinned her against the wall. But before he could do something else, he started to go dizzy and soon, everything blacked out.

.

Pathak woke up with a scream as the jet of water being ejected on his face hurt like hell. Nearly breathless, he checked his surroundings. He was in a lockup and surrounded by rough looking police men.

"You cannot arrest me like this! You don't know who I am! I'll contact the CM and get all of you suspended."

His eyes widened with shock when he saw the same bar girl entering the scene, albeit now decently dressed in the police uniform.

As realization dawned upon him that he had been tricked, he started hurling abuses at her. "You bitch! I won't leave you. I'll teach such a big lesson to…"

Smack! He hadn't even completed his sentence, that a loud slap landed on his face, causing him to fall off from his chair.

Looking at the constables, Chandrika said with a hardened expression, "Take good care of him."

Saying this, she left from there while she could hear his screams echoing throughout the police station.

Her senior, the Commissioner, congratulated her. "I'm so proud of you ACP Chandrika Sinha. The constable told me how bravely you handled Pathak and didn't give up even when he began misbehaving with you…"

Chandrika flinched as she remembered Pathak's filthy touch against herself. Even though, she had put on a courageous face, but deep below, she had been thoroughly affected and traumatized by it. But she did not tell all that and instead thanked him with a straight face on.

-----

"There was no need for you to drive me back home, Vyom. You know that I could have managed," said Chandrika turning towards the man occupying the driver's seat.

Vyom was also an IPS officer and a good friend of Chandrika, too.

"You know how strict our police department is. They want to ensure the safety of all their female police staff. And I am just following their orders," said Vyom, his eyes on the road. "By the way, I forgot to mention it to you, but your dearest husband called me at least ten times in a row."

"What?" she blurted out. When she checked her own phone, she found that Vansh had made many calls to her as well. And why wouldn't he do that? It was almost 2am, and she had never been so late in her life.

"I understood he was calling me to ask about your whereabouts. Therefore, I ignored his calls. Obviously, I couldn't tell him that his wife was busy dancing in front of a group of lecherous men in a dance bar."

Chandrika narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean? Whatever I did was part of our mission to nab Pathak - a dangerous man who is involved in trafficking young girls."

"Mission or no mission, no husband can ever bear to imagine his wife trying to seduce another man," Vyom said matter-of-factly. "And I'm sure that every man would agree with me on that."

"Well, I should thank my stars that I didn't get married to a narrow-minded man like you," taunted Chandrika. "Not all men are same. My Vansh is different, and I know that he'll understand why I did all that."

-----

Chandrika used the spare key and tiptoed her way into the house and all the way up to her bedroom. It was 2.30am, and she was expecting that Vansh might be already fast asleep.

But she was surprised to see him wide awake, pacing about the room. As soon as he saw her, he grasped her shoulders. "Where had you been all this while? And why weren't you lifting any of my calls up?"

She made him sit on the bed and comforted him. "Breathe Vansh! I actually had an important mission to work on. So obviously, I couldn't take my phone along, or else I'd have got caught."

"What mission was this that required you to stay on duty till late night?" he quizzed.

"I had already mentioned about it to you yesterday. You forgot or what?" said Chandrika. "There's this big shot girl’s trafficker and in order to get him caught, I had to dance in front of him and trap him…"

"What?" Vansh turned aghast and furious. "You danced in a dance bar in front of all those creepy men? How dare you!"

Chandrika looked confused. She couldn't understand why Vansh was behaving so differently.

"But yesterday when I told you about this mission, you seemed absolutely fine with it. Then why this sudden annoyance?"

With his eyes burning in rage, Vansh grabbed her arms and began shouting at her. "I am your husband, and you are my freaking wife! How can I stay calm after knowing that a group of rowdy goons were watching you like a pack of wolves? Only I have the right to touch you, to stare at you Chandrika, no else does!"

Chandrika was so dumbstruck on seeing this new avatar of Vansh, that she did not even care to free herself from his grip. She was almost on the verge of tearing up, when Vansh's expressions changed.

"Just imagine, if I was a possessive husband like that, then what would have happened?" he winked.

As soon as Chandrika understood that Vansh was simply pulling her leg, she began smacking him.

"You nearly took my breath away! I can't believe that you played such a dirty prank on me." Her emotions got the better of her, and her voice cracked up. "I was so scared thinking that…"

"Hey," Vansh cupped her face. "How can I get angry with you when you are actually doing all this in order to save the lives of the young girls from falling into this hell? I myself am a father of two daughters, and I'd never want any daughter to face such atrocities. In fact, I am really proud of you, ACP Chandrika Sinha."

He brought her forehead close to his lips and kissed. "I am not that kind of husband who'd start getting possessive or suspecting his wife over every single little thing. I trust you, wholeheartedly, and I know that you'd never do anything to break my trust. Ever."

Chandrika smiled widely and tousled Vansh's dark, lush hair. He made a face when he found his neatly done hair messed up, but he also knew that Chandrika enjoyed doing this.

"Had dinner?" he asked.

She shook her head and clutched her growling tummy. She was so engrossed in her mission, that she had even forgotten how hungry she was.

Vansh held out a plate of aloo sabji and chapattis in front of her.

"I know you don't like palak paneer. So, I made this instead. Check it out and tell me if it is good enough."

Chandrika chewed upon a morsel and let out a string of praises.

"Hmmm! This is so delicious. You know what Vansh, you should consider opening your own restaurant in the near future." She licked her fingers as she said this.

"Haha! I'll surely do that soon, sweetheart."

"Sukanya and Sana slept?" she asked remembering her daughters. "I'm sure, Sana must have missed me. Even though she is six years old, she is still so very attached to me."

"No, she didn't," Vansh lied, trying to avoid making her feel guilty. "Now, her Papa is her favourite, and not her Mumma."

However, Chandrika saw through his lies and began questioning herself.

Lately, after getting promoted to the post of ACP, she had become much busier than before. She had had to miss out on her daughters' school functions and parent teacher meetings, too. Was she a good mother in spite of all that?

"But I'm a little miffed with you." Vansh's words broke Chandrika away from her chain of thoughts.

When she looked at him questioningly, Vansh folded his arms across his chest. "I didn't get to see your sexy performance on the dance floor today."

Chandrika chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll soon treat you with a much more amazing pole dance, exclusively for you."

When she saw Vansh's eyes gleam up with excitement, she let out a yawn. "But not today. I'm really tired now. Some other time."

"Alright. But remember, you can't back away from your promise now," he smirked.

"I wouldn't…" she said softly.

When they went to bed, Vansh found Chandrika burying her head in his chest and hugging him tightly.

"You look tensed. Is everything okay?" he asked with concern.

Chandrika inhaled deeply. She didn't know if she should share this with Vansh or not, and if he would understand. Nevertheless, she decided to go ahead with it.

"Today, when I was in the dance bar, standing in front of them, watching all those men ogle at me, I felt disgusted. I felt my inner woman screaming out at me to get out from that hell. I felt my self-respect, my dignity being broken into pieces. But instead of venting my anger, I was supposed to smile happily and to show how much I was enjoying all this, when the reality was totally opposite. And I realized one thing. If not all, most of the bar dancers, strippers and prostitutes feel this way. I had to bear this for only one night, but they've to go through this ordeal for each and every night…"

Chandrika squeezed her eyes while remembering her own experience at the bar. She did not want to think about it, but she couldn't help it. The lustful eyes and beastly touch, everything seemed to haunt her.

Vansh wrapped his hands around her and gently ran his hands through her scalp. Even though Chandrika had not said anything to him openly, but he had understood what she was trying to convey. He understood that tonight's incident had terrified her a lot.

His blood began to boil at the mere thought of someone misbehaving with his wife like that. But he also knew, that Chandrika was a smart and brave woman, and she'd tackle all her problems by herself. She was no damsel in distress. Plus, this was part of her work, and he respected that.

Vansh himself was feeling quite low after the drama that happened in the house tonight, so much so that, he wanted to pour his heart out in front of her.

Chandrika had no idea but she was his gateway to peace whenever he felt a storm raging inside his heart.

But he also knew that Chandrika already was herself very badly affected and wasn't in a condition to listen to all this. He decided to discuss everything with her once she felt better. The final decision to either stay in this house or to move out, would be taken only after talking it out with her.

They were better halves, and it was imperative that both of them mutually discussed with each other, and only then arrived at any conclusion.

After attaining some comfort in the warm embrace, Chandrika looked up at her husband, his face so calm and peaceful, his eyes that held so much love and respect for her, his touch that soothed her and made her feel so beautiful and pure, so unlike those men she met in the bar…

"When I am in your arms, I feel that no calamity can touch me," she whispered while clutching at his shirt. "I am so lucky, that I found such a compassionate and supportive husband in you. I remember that after Sukanya and Sana were born, I had lost all my zeal and passion. It was you, who kept on encouraging me to join back into the police force. Don't know what I'd have done without you."

"That's what better halves are for," he replied.

She ran her fingers all over his face. "I love you to the moon and back."

"But I love you so much more than just to the moon and back," he said pulling her into a kiss.

And in that moment, both of them forgot about all the issues that had been bothering them all this while.

When you have an understanding life partner with you, all the troubles seem tiny and life becomes much more beautiful…