Hridhi Chatterjee:
If I were to describe my mother, I would use only one word--19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kiLwLu0U9
Perfection.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0hk803mY7
She was literally perfect. In grace, intellect and sense.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuC4VsOBnn
She looked like a tragically defeated princess draped in velvet and silk and cut open with a shiny silver dagger glistening with a red, perfectly red and perfectly shaped little drop of blood.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKtoJuO97a
So perfectly human. So perfectly who I always wanted to be.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6IRb298yc
She was so nice. So good. So polite. So...I don't know...perfect?
It was totally like how the bots commented on every channel,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkML3lE15Wn
'She is a perfect combination of beauty annd grace. So inspiring!' Followed by a whirlpool of pink emojis.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtN9Stphici
Maybe I had a secret, a petty dark secret : I was jealous of my own mother.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIt2X77sbk
You know why?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6UOwJ1lij
It was because she was always..always right.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaufQPzniL9
And there was only one ambition in my whole stinking life: To prove her wrong.
The moment I thought of pressing the publish button, I knew the outcome the way I knew the back of my hand.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OiBq2pxbq
It was that obvious.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXwNK3TqOR
I texted my mother the next second:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8gbKFz9NG
Spare key under mat.
Maybe she would notice, right after she had cleaned the entire house for 6 times and dusted the shelves like my father's perfect wife.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgno6lL0dm
I silenced my phone right after that. My cameraman looked at me with dovelike eyes.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxwNIUlTDD
"What's up?"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6285eNi7R
I shrugged my shoulders like the directors at Marvel movies lying about a new release any time soon.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLmrZ6iJO9
Jake even insisted on taking me to the bar. And at last, I finally agreed. He drove me to the nearest one. It had a lively atmosphere. People here were damn serious about drinking, I must say. So many people. So many dim colored shirt. Such randomly mixed scents lingering in the air.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcFjzWTJYk
The bar was buzzing with lights.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB8COxFsh7
Red.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0F57evzgf
Blue19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33aHEI4JIH
Red19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLjdrx1pzd
Blue19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYPNmedbU6
I smiled at Jake while he paid the bill. His cheeks were red, like the sweet guys like him go with cheap champagne.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay2vpIjB51
"Let me buy you another one," I offered.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5njGEUyEum
He protested.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNERZqTGER
"Perhaps next time. Anyway, will I drop you home?"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrwFlnV7xz
I shook my head, my phone vibrating against my thighs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvSMKKF0Yk
Not now. Please. I was not ready for her lecture.
"Issues?" Jake asked me.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApNvGtNovP
I shook my head again and cast a fake smile.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSVMMTGTef
"Goodnight, Jake."
********19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GUSNgeR19
I looked at my doorstep. He was not home. Thank God, he was not home. I finally took a deep breath, like a child famishing the absence of Their math teacher.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdp7I6BWny
I took out my key. But unfortunately, it was unlocked.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl6aey7EiO
And it was opened ajar, waiting, like the way a lion waits hours and hours for the zebra to come closer.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRX73KcQOV
I felt like that zebra.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKFcjBNyOR
I found myself face to face with my parents sitting in the living room.
"Why weren’t you picking up your phone, Hridhi?" asked my mother, her phone on the coffee table.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpluSjkFCX
"Oh, ma, I was actually in a really important meeting with the camera crew."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX4QM7rg1F
I was trembling without any reason because my mother had big eyes and stared at me as if she could see my tar black soul.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2atzILYT3
My father however, looked at his phone. Facebook still hadn’t been outdated in Bengal, I guess.
"Hridhi, I can bet that you were in the bar," said my mother. "Sit down. Sit beside me."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQdqSO3aHt
She gestured me to the empty Ottoman in front of her and I sat like the obedient little kid she had raised.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWrlwPHY3p
She glared at my father before she continued,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrPVLGp7Ki
"Will you explain what just happened?"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaexQRvUosl
I explained. From his hands on her waist and him fucking her at hotels. I had proof. I said I had his transaction receipts amd everything. Journalists had access to things like that. CCTV footages are our left hand and fishing out answers from stubborn people was our right.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxwDvALDC9
After I had finished, my mother stared at the ceiling. She was in thinking mode. Deep thinking mode.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkulTIKl1Fv
And the uncomfortable silence was something my father hadn’t gotten used to.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQIpYykPbV
"We can wait till Advik arrives, Hiya,"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9LerVWbAk
"No," interrupted my mother.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHYNYPb3zi
"Hridhi, let's talk in your room."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiFwwReJHJ
I followed her to my room. I knew why. She wouldn’t be able to keep her cool with my father's constant questions that I stored inside my stomach.
"Ma, I have one and only thing to say. I am leaving him." I said. "Look, all the powerful women out there divorce their cheat of a husband and lives happily ever after."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyy1RP8BRwM
"This is not how it works, Hridhi. You have my blood in you. This is not how marriages work."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtE20rrNPXA
"Ma, he literally cheated on me!"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkp1n4iEj6
My mother smiled.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwRwcBtpPv
"Come on, Hridhi, don't pretend to be a saint. You are also dating guys like a whore."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjIACCrqMM
"Wait, at least I didn't slee--"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofqMY2qlDs
"Hridhi, I have seen the world for a longer time. You came from ME. I know that you are obsessed with him. Don't lie."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nZA67XxBg
Her words struck me like lightning in the sky. Fire burnt through my blood vessels. I wanted to lash at her. Burn her. Throw spit at her and tell her it was NOT TRUE.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYF3nDfYZOn
"I hate him, ma. I don't like him."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8YXdWRfAe
"So lame, Hridhi. You are still not convincing enough. You are more like convincing yourself."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay2UwQDm6M
"No, ma! You are wrong like you always are."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwho5PV787u
Just then, the door bell rang and my heart almost bursted out of its ribs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYc7g9eGPYj
"Perfect!" said my mother. "Advik is here."19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlkHlxe9kS
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and then Add to home screen.