A marriage for revenge

Chapter 11

Anu was taking a stroll on the lawn with her physics book in her hand. It was a beautiful evening and she knew it was time for Vinoth to be back from work. He had recently joined their family business.

Though she never had the courage to speak about her love to Vinoth, she made sure to always do small loving things for him. This was one such thing, to be present there when he came home.

The sound of the gate opening made her ear perk up as she knew he had come. A soft smile played on her lips to see his black Mercedes entering the gates.

She quickly turned away, not able to handle the sudden rise in her heartbeat.

"Hey, Anu!!" Vinoth greeted her and Anu unskillfully pretended as if she wasn't aware of his arrival and then slowly looked up only to feel warm fuzzies in her tummy. Even after a whole day at work, he looked fresh and energetic.

"Hi.." She pushed her loose locks out of her face and tucked them behind her ear. He was so handsome adorning his Ray-Ban that she couldn't take her eyes off him. "You are home early today.." She said when he actually was right on his usual time.

"Is it?" He looked down at his wristwatch, "but I don't think so. Looks like you got busy with your studies and didn't know what time it is.."

"Maybe.." She blushed at her own foolishness.

"So what is it that you are studying today?" He inquired, dragging his eyes down to the book cover.

"Physics.."

"I can see that, but what topic exactly?"

"Huh?" She looked down totally clueless, "Ohm's law.."

"Interesting.. Should I ask you a few questions??" Vinoth asked, making her gulp.

"Hmm.. No.." She shook her head, "I will not be able to answer your questions.."

"Why not?" He asked with concern.

"Because I really didn't understand anything about it.." She said glancing around, suddenly feeling like an i***t for carrying this subject book.

"What is it that you didn't understand?" He leaned himself against the car and tried to understand what was so difficult about Ohm's law.

"Nothing.." She mumbled.

He quickly pulled out the pen that he had pinned in his shirt pocket and the bunch of documents that he was holding in his hand. They were some important documents his secretary had given him regarding the deal that was to be signed next week but he didn't care.

He motioned Anu to come closer to the bonnet of the car as he began to scribble on them the definition and formula along with a diagram to explain Ohm's law.

All the while Anu couldn't take her eyes off him. He was a bright student, no wonder but how could someone be so good at teaching a concept so instantly? He didn't even refer to the books once before explaining them to her.

"So, V=IR where V is the??" He left it hanging for Anu to answer and she immediately did.

"Voltage.." How could she not when the teacher is so good?

"And I and R are ?"

"Current and resistance.." She completed it once again.

"Good.." With a proud smile, he ruffled her hair. His eyes were home to so much love and adoration for her. Not the kind of love one has for his lover but the kind of love one has for a friend, for a dear one. "Let's get in, looks like it's going to rain.."

Anu nodded and walked beside him inside but winced when something pricked her ankle.

"Ah.." When her eyes moved down to her legs, she found two snakes folded on her leg.

She wanted to scream but her throat felt clamped. She wanted to move but she was rooted and stuck to the ground.

"Vinoth, help me.." When she looked up at Vinoth, he wasn't a young boy but a full-grown man, with thick stubble covering his strong jaws. His eyes no longer held love for her but only strong abhorrence.

"You deserve to die.." He snarled at her.

Tears kept streaming down her face since as he left her there to fall on the lawn and die, alone and miserable.

Anu jolted up from the heartwrenching dream. The first half of it was a sweet memory, but the latter was a nightmare that her brain had made up to wake her up from sleep. The first thing she felt was the wetness against her cheek, then the stinging pain in her neck and leg. Forgetfully, she touched the spot on her neck and winced when she felt the damaged skin there. Her eyes widened, remembering the snake bite.

How the hell am I still alive, she asked herself.

She checked on her leg. The two puncture marks looked deep, scary, and still fresh. The blood had clotted but the skin surrounding it had become deep purple in color, telling her it was well infected.

She slowly stood up from the bed and to her fortune, she wasn't tied to the bedpost. Limping her way, she reached for the door and tried to turn the doorknob but it was locked from the outside.

"Vinoth.." She tapped on the door. She really wanted to get out of there, it was suffocating her. "Please open the door.. I beg you.."

"Let me out, Vinoth.."

For a brief moment, there was no sound coming from the other side but then she heard heavy steps approaching. She moved back instinctively before the door was thrown open.

It was Vinoth. He was dressed only in an undershirt and track pants and looked like he was home for a long time now. If not for Nelson who had been here to take back a few documents to work, Vinoth would have not heard of the knock on the door.

He leaned onto the frame of the door, taking time to look at her up and down with disgust.

"So, you aren't dead yet..?" His baritone sarcasm was followed by the click of his tongue, "Looks like even the poison of two snakes isn't a match to the poison in you.."

"It hurts, Vinoth.." Anu whimpered clutching her neck with her palm. She didn't want to admit it loud but the pain was unbearable.

"Well, it should. Why else do you think I sneaked those snakes into your bed?"

His words cut her deeper than a sword and more tears brimmed her eyes but ignoring the ache from his words, she decided to speak.

"Please, take me to the hospital or bring a doctor home.." She muttered but was clear enough for Vinoth to understand.

"So, after all this, you still have the will to live, huh? You really are something.." He forced out a chuckle.

Pulling out his phone, he typed something on his phone and before he could put his phone back into his pant pocket, he watched Anu lose consciousness. He cursed his reflex for catching her before her head could slam on the floor. He should have simply left her to fall and crack her skull.

With a heavy sigh, he carried her back to the bed. The room was reeking of sweat. He realized that Anu had been in this same dress for the past few days and to his utter disgust, she was stinking.

He didn't want the doctor to see her in this condition because he didn't want him to know that the girl was being held captive so he quickly called Nelson.

"Do you have a wife?" Vinoth came straight to the point.

After a few minutes of hesitation came his reply, "Yes, boss.."

"Good, ask her to come here immediately and also ask her to bring some of her clothes.."

"Sir, I don't understand.." The guy stammered thinking about what his boss wanted to do to his wife now.

"Don't worry, I have no business with her but I need her help for something here.." He said, pointing at the guestroom.

"Alright, sir. I will call her." He wanted to disagree but didn't.

"Twenty minutes. That's all she's got. She better be here before that.." He barked the order before dismissing him.

Exactly after twenty minutes, Nelson's wife Missimma was standing in his guest bedroom. She instantly felt bad for the young girl. She looked so weak and the natural frowns on her forehead told her she was miserable living here. Her husband hadn't told her much but she was aware of what kind of monsters these rich young men could be.

"You need to undress her and change her into something better before the doctor comes.."

She nodded and signaled for the men to get out. Once they did, she started doing her task. She started by wiping the girl's face, neck, and limbs with lukewarm water. The poor girl's skin was burning with a high fever but what made Missimma's blood run cold in her body was the bite marks. They definitely were snake bites.

With trembling hands, she quickly dressed her in a fresh piece of nighty. It was quite big for her considering the fact it was Missimma's. When her husband asked her to pick a few dresses from her wardrobe she didn't know what it was for and grabbed whatever her hands could reach. If she had known it was for a young girl like her, she would have picked up a few of the clothes from her daughter's. Now looking at her closely, she must definitely be a little older than her daughter but her small and weak frame made her look a few years younger. Now that she reminded her of her own daughter, the urge to know what happened to her grew more inside her.

Sighing, she walked out of the room to find her husband, his boss, and another man who seemed like a doctor standing out.

"She's got snake bites.." She marched to stand in front of Vinoth. Nelson, who was wise enough to know that his boss wasn't someone to be messed with, pulled her behind him silencing her with a 'shushh..'

With arrogance clearly written on his face, Vinoth gestured to the doctor towards the guestroom. The doctor was his father's old friend and knew him for a very long time. Without any judgment, he began to check Anu. "When was she bitten exactly?"

"Yesterday evening. The venom glands of the snakes are removed. They are my pets.." Vinoth said when the doctor took a closer look at the bite marks.

"I can see that, otherwise she would be dead by now.." The doctor spoke without taking his eyes off his patient.

How much Vinoth wanted it to have happened but he didn't want her dead yet, as he said before. There is so much she had to go through before death knocked at her door.

"She's been infected though and that's why the fever. The bite marks need to be treated and for that, she needs to take these meds.." He added scribbling on his prescription notepad before handing it to Vinoth.

Vinoth sighed with irritation. This is complete bullshit!

He got her here so that he could punish her not for taking f*****g care of her. He snatched the prescription from the doctor, paid him, and then lead him out to the door.

As soon as he closed the door shut, he crumbled the prescription and threw it into the dustbin. If she was going to die because of some stupid infection, then so be it but he wasn't going to save her.

If she dies, he wouldn't get to torture her like planned but at least she would die a slow and painful death.

"Aren't you going to get her those medicines?" He stopped walking when Nelson's wife encountered him.

"Missimma. Let's get going. Our job here is done.." Nelson reprimanded her by pulling her away from his boss. In his heart, he knew his boss was wrong to torture this girl but he was his boss and he was in no position to go against him.

"I'm not leaving that girl alone.." Missimma snapped at her husband.

Suddenly Vinoth's mind took a one-eighty-degree turn about letting Anu die so soon, not because he couldn't see her die but if he still had a chance to save her only to kill her slowly and torturously, then he wasn't going to let that chance slip.

"Then, be my guest.." He walked closer, "I will even pay you to take care of her.."

"I don't think that's a good idea.." Nelson vocalized his dislike for his boss's suggestion. He didn't want Missimma anywhere close to this man.

"Why not?" Missimma challenged, "I am not letting her die.."

"It's solved then.." Saying that Vinoth stepped away leaving the couple to argue.