Let me Hate you by Anjaani (the reading list .TXT) 📗

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Ignoring the shout from behind, Amaan quickly carried her in his arms towards his car. Without saying anything to anyone, he drove her to the hospital where his best friend Raj was a doctor.

On the way, he was glancing at Asmaira from the rear mirror and praying, “you will be, you will be fine, we are almost there.”

“Raj, Raj, where are you?” Amaan’s voice was shaking while talking to his friend over the phone.

“Are you ok? I am at the hospital,” Raj tried to calm him, sensing the urgency in his voice.

“I...I..my wife….she..she just fainted, I don’t know why?” he stammered, not able to conceal the shame.

“Your wife? You got married?” Raj could not help but ask out in surprise.

“RAJ!” he yelled over the phone.

“Ok, relax, get her to the hospital, okay? She will be fine,” still in surprise to hear about Amaan’s marriage.

Raj was his schoolmate and always treated Raina as his baby sister. When she left, he was always there for Amaan, knowing well how much he loved her. Amaan’s marriage came as a shock to him.

When Amaan reached the hospital, Asmaira was taken into the emergency; however, it came as a surprise that she had a fever and passed out due to stress and anxiety. The surprising part was Amaan’s reaction as if she was in danger. Raj was sure something was amiss, and he confronted remorseful Amaan.

Slap!

“You did what?” Raj slapped his friend and roared.

“I didn’t mean to; I don’t even know what I did...I ...I never meant to Raj,” Amaan was pleading.

“How can you be so fucked up? I advised you to have a session with a psychiatrist for your anger issue.” He said while pacing in his room.

“Please check on her, check her if she is fine. She didn’t look ok when I saw her. God, I don’t even remember anything,” Amaan said while fisting his hand on the last sentence.

“What should I tell Nisha? Hey wifey, look, Amaan just raped his wife?” he said.

“Raj, help me, bro! I can’t ask Asmaira about last night. She is already scared of me. I just want to know. Oh, God! How will I face Raina?”

Looking at his friend’s disheveled look, Raj had to call his wife, who was a gynecologist.

Giving a disgusted look to Amaan, Nisha informed, “Your ass is saved. She was not raped.”

With that, Amaan sighed in relief.

“Don’t be happy too soon; she has bruises and those bite marks. I never thought you could become a beast someday.” Nisha was infuriated.

“I am sorry; like I said, I was not sober then, I am deeply sorry,” Amaan pleaded.

“Save it for her, anyway. We have to keep her for observation. I will check her tomorrow; depending on how she is coping up, we will discharge her,” Nisha spoke in her professional tone.

Knowing that she was not raped, Amaan called Fariya and told her about Asmaira’s condition.

“I knew it could not be an allergy to prawn,” Fariya said.

“What?” Amaan was confused.

“She said her face was swollen due to an allergy to prawn.”

“Tell me, Amaan, what happened to her?” Fariya inquired.

“Ma, you are overthinking; it was food allergy only. You can ask Raj; he is attending her,” Amaan lied.

She wanted to come to the hospital; however, Amaan was ashamed and scared. If his parents see her, how will they react? What will they think about him?. He persuaded her to come in the morning.

Now that Asmaira was sleeping due to sedative, Amaan could look at her. Her pale face was covered in a thick layer of concealer to cover handprint marks. Her high collar dress was changed into a hospital gown, which displayed his brutal art on her neck.

One thing that surprised him was, why didn’t she tell anyone? Why was she hiding it for him? And why did she lie about her swollen face?.

If she was playing any game, she could have used this as an opportunity to overpower him. Taking a wet towel, he started wiping her face and hand gently. He applied ointment for her bruises and marks near her neck and shoulder. Amaan was in a trance applying the ointment as a caring husband.

Husband? He stopped doing what he was doing and looked at Asmaira.

Why am I doing all this for her? Why does it hurt to see her in pain? Why am I afraid if something happens to her? Amaan was contemplating.

Because you wronged her, why else will you feel bad for her? Amaan thought and was at ease to know it was his guilt and not something else.

“I promise it won’t happen again, Raina,” he spoke to himself.

The next day, Asmaira woke up and was at solace to find Fariya in the room. She didn’t know it was Amaan who was with her the entire night instead of Fariya.

The next week something was different in the air. Amaan didn’t turn up to the mansion and was unexpectedly busy in the office; it was as if he was giving space to Asmaira. Once Mehwish tried to stir trouble between them, but he ignored her.

“I saw her going to Kabir’s room,” Mehwish complained.

“Mehwish, I am swamped now. I got to go now,” having said that, he disconnected the call.

What’s with him all of a sudden? Mehwish frowned.

Maybe it was his guilty conscience that Amaan wasn’t angry with Asmaira taking care of Kabir. Gradually Asmaira also moved on from the past incidences and looked after Kabir. Soon Amaan went out for his business trip for two weeks, much to Asmaira’s relief.

At least I can sleep on the bed during the night, she giggled while thinking.

One day, Fariya called Asmaira to her study.

“We have a charity brunch invite from Mrs. Mehra this weekend. I want you to come along with Kabir. It will be refreshing for him and for you too,” Fariya said.

“I’ve never attended a charity event before, and I don’t even know what to do there,” Asmaira was surprised by Fariya’s request.

“Think about it, Kabir has never gone out, and one day you have to get used to the new lifestyle,” giving her an encouraging smile Fariya said.

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