Chapter 9 — The Anger She Carried

The bedroom door remained closed.

Poornima had not come out since Veeresh had told her about Noor.

She sat on the floor beside the bed, her knees pulled close to her chest. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks, no matter how many times she wiped them away.

Her mind refused to stop.

Twenty years old.

She was only twenty.

She was still studying.

She had dreams.

Plans.

A future she had imagined for herself.

And within a single day, everything had changed.

She had become a wife.

She had been brought into a family she barely knew.

And now she had discovered that her husband had an eight-month-old daughter.

Poornima covered her face with both hands and cried.

Poornima: "Why me?"

Her voice trembled as she looked toward the door.

Poornima: "Why did this have to happen to me?"

She suddenly remembered her sister.

Rukmini.

The person who was supposed to be standing beside Veeresh.

The person who had run away.

The person who had left Poornima to face everything.

Poornima's anger grew.

She picked up her phone and immediately called her sister.

The call went unanswered.

Poornima stared at the screen.

She called again.

Still no answer.

Her tears turned into anger.

Poornima: "Of course you won't answer."

She wiped her cheeks roughly.

Poornima: "You ran away, Rukmini."

Her voice cracked.

Poornima: "You ran away and left me here."

She looked down at her bridal bangles.

Poornima: "I am twenty years old, Rukmini."

Her voice became louder.

Poornima: "I am still studying. I had a life. I had dreams. I had plans."

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Poornima: "And now I am married."

Her eyes filled again.

Poornima: "And now there is an eight-month-old baby."

She covered her mouth as another sob escaped.

Poornima: "How could you do this to me?"

She threw the phone onto the bed.

The anger she had been holding inside finally broke.

Poornima: "You should have stayed and faced it yourself!"

She began crying again.

Poornima: "Why did you make me the replacement?"

The word itself hurt.

Replacement.

That was what she was.

She had not been chosen.

She had not been wanted.

She had simply been placed where her sister had been supposed to stand.

Poornima pulled her knees closer and buried her face against them.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Veeresh remained in his study.

He had barely moved since morning.

Documents were spread across the desk, but he had not read a single page properly.

His phone kept lighting up with calls and messages.

He ignored them.

His thoughts were upstairs.

With her.

He knew Poornima.

Not well enough.

But he knew enough.

She had a bad temper when she was hurt.

And when she was truly angry, she withdrew completely.

Veeresh leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He remembered the previous day.

He remembered the way she had stood in front of her parents.

Rajiv and Rani had tried to explain themselves.

They had tried to tell her that they had no choice.

That the circumstances had forced them to make the decision.

But Poornima had refused to listen.

Her eyes had been filled with tears and anger.

Poornima: "I hate you, Appa."

Rajiv had gone silent.

Rani's eyes had immediately filled with tears.

Poornima had continued crying.

Poornima: "You did this to me."

Rajiv had tried to reach for her.

Rajiv: "Poornima, please listen to me."

She had stepped away from him.

Poornima: "No, Appa. I don't want to listen."

Her voice had broken.

Poornima: "You knew I wasn't ready."

Rajiv had lowered his eyes.

Poornima: "You knew I wanted to study."

She had wiped her tears.

Poornima: "You knew I had dreams."

Her voice had become quieter.

Poornima: "And still you married me off."

Rani had tried to speak.

Rani: "Poornima, we didn't want to hurt you."

Poornima had looked at her mother with tears streaming down her face.

Poornima: "But you did."

The room had fallen silent.

Poornima had turned toward her father one last time.

Poornima: "I am not going to talk to you."

Rajiv's expression had fallen.

Rajiv: "Poornima..."

She had shaken her head.

Poornima: "Don't call me."

She had walked away without looking back.

Veeresh had watched everything from a distance.

At the time, he had thought she was simply angry.

Now he understood.

She had every reason to be.

Veeresh opened his eyes.

He looked toward the study door.

Poornima had not come downstairs once the entire day.

She had not eaten breakfast.

She had not eaten lunch.

Nobody had been able to convince her to leave the room.

Veeresh glanced at the clock.

It was already evening.

His expression tightened.

He knew she was angry.

But beneath the anger was something else.

Fear.

Confusion.

And heartbreak.

He stood up.

For a moment, he considered going upstairs.

Then he stopped.

If he went to her room, would she tell him to leave again?

Probably.

But he couldn't simply sit there and do nothing.

Veeresh walked out of the study and stood at the bottom of the staircase.

He looked upstairs.

The corridor was quiet.

He remembered the words she had said earlier.

Poornima: "I am your wife. I have every right to call you anything."

Despite everything, the memory almost brought a faint smile to his face.

She was angry.

Very angry.

But that was Poornima.

She never hid what she felt.

Veeresh sighed.

Veeresh: "You really are impossible."

He started walking upstairs.

But before reaching her door, he stopped.

His hand hovered near the door.

He didn't knock immediately.

Inside, Poornima was still crying.

Veeresh could hear the faint sound through the door.

His expression changed.

He lowered his hand.

For the first time, he didn't know whether entering would help her or make everything worse.

So he stood outside quietly.

He had spent the entire day thinking about how to explain the truth.

But now he understood something.

She didn't need another explanation tonight.

She needed time.

Veeresh slowly stepped away from the door.

He looked at it one last time.

Veeresh: "Take your time, Poornima."

He turned and walked back toward the stairs.

Inside the room, Poornima continued to cry.

She didn't know that Veeresh had been standing outside.

She didn't know that he had heard her tears.

And she certainly didn't know that the man she was angry with was beginning to understand that protecting her would not always mean making decisions for her.

Sometimes...

It meant giving her the freedom to be angry.

Even if that anger was directed at him.