"It's a good thing most people bleed on the inside or this would be gory, blood-smeared earth." With the advancement of technology, we have reached a level where with the help of just a pinch of some white powder, we can control any person as we desire. We can make them lose their free will, and make them behave like some zombies. Chandani's father was involved in the import and export of illegal drugs from various parts of the world, but one day one such drug caught his attention which was also known as the world's scariest drug. Scopolamine or the Devil's breath is the scariest drug. The drug puts people into a zombie-like state in which they lose both their memory and free will and can be convinced to do anything whatever the assaulter asks him/her to do. Scopolamine blocks neurotransmitters that carry information to the part of the brain that stores short-term memory. In other words, what happens to people under the effect of scopolamine is simply not recorded by the brain. So, Dhruv too hadn't known that what happened with him or what he did with his wife after the effect of Scopolamine would leave him, every single time. At the same time, the drug makes people more open to suggestions. It starts its effect in twenty minutes and lasts till four-to-eight hours. That was what Chandani was doing to Dhruv from the day he was ready to get married to Ayushi. His all beast and monster-like behaviour was the result of the drug that Chandani had always mixed in the water which she used to give to him. Every time after spiking him, she used to speak venomous words against Ayushi, invoking the beast inside Dhruv, and after that only Ayushi knew how much slashed and bruised she was as she had to face the repercussions of that dreadful drug, it had destroyed her. Chandani's father was behind all these, he had asked his daughter to do all these because he wanted nothing but to avenge those Rajputs in a slow yet painful manner. He didn't want the death of Dhruv and his family members, but he wanted a slow and painful living-death for them, giving them all kinds of sufferings so that even they'd wish for their deaths. When Dhruv had left Ayushi at the airport, there was still some effect of that drug inside him, which was invoking him to somehow hurt her. Although that drug has its side effects, on Dhruv, it wasn't much. He had a sharp memory, so even while he was being drugged he still used to remember the basic and important things related to his life. But most of his brain was occupied by the terror he wanted to inflict on Ayushi. He wanted to somehow hurt Ayushi, as Chandani never left a chance to provoke him, anger him against Ayushi, making him hurt her like hell. "I'll make you both suffer a lot," Chandani had pledged to herself. **** "Sir, I can carry this luggage," the humane taxi driver had spoken in a pleading voice, he didn't want to see his sister carrying that heavy luggage. "Am I asking for your opinion? Just put down that luggage and go away from here. It's between my wife and me," Dhruv's words were too harsh and bashful that the driver was stunned. He had seen him in the local newspaper a few days ago, but he didn't know that this man would be this much rude and obnoxious. "But sir..." he couldn't complete his sentence as Dhruv's bodyguard lifted him with his collars and shoved him inside the taxi and asked him to go. The driver reluctantly left the place but he wanted to help Ayushi, to get out of this hellhole. Meanwhile, Ayushi carried her luggage with very much difficulty, as her hands were still covered with the slashes left by Dhruv with his belt. "How long are you gonna take? I don't have the whole day," he was already sitting inside the car with his shades on and shouted out loudly at Ayushi. She tried her best to be fast but her bruises were slowing her down. Her eyes were full of tears, in pain and anger. After she was done keeping her luggage inside the boot, the car finally raced towards Dhruv's bungalow which was located at the far end of Bangalore which was of course for a certain reason. When they finally reached their bungalow, Ayushi was busy admiring the heavenly nature that had inhabited her new house, forgetting that she was seated alongside her cruel husband. Green, lush trees were surrounding the bungalow with a magnificent fountain in the middle around which beguiling flowers were making the scene more mesmerizing and alluring. "Will you come out or not?" Dhruv's harsh voice made her come out of her trance and now she was again back to the cruel reality. She meekly came out of the car and was going to take out her luggage but that had already been taken out by Dhruv's driver. She thanked him sweetly and moved towards the porch where Dhruv was busy entering his card inside the electronic door. The door opened and they both entered inside. It automatically closed and now they both were alone in this bungalow, without being interrupted by any guard or something. "So, my dear wifey, let's start with the rules. Rule no.1: You're not allowed to go outside this bungalow. Rule no.2: You will be doing all the household chores and rule no. 3: You'll call me not with my name, but "Sir", you get that?" Dhruv's voice held so much acid and venom inside it that Ayushi just smiled at him sarcastically. "That's what I'm doing right from my childhood, being the maid of my own house, so it's not new for me," she whispered to herself and just nodded her head. "I'm having a headache, prepare some coffee for me," he commanded her boastfully and went away towards a room which was located on the first floor. She just looked at his back with her glaring eyes. "Sir, wait," she stopped him abruptly when suddenly she remembered something. Dhruv halted and turned towards her side, now coming towards her. "What?" he barked loudly. "I do not want to just lie in this house and break the chapatis. I want to continue my work. I promise you that I'll do the household chores as well as my job too," Dhruv's head was aching too much that he just nodded his head in haste, not really understanding what Ayushi just said now. "Bring me a coffee," he commanded her again and rushed towards his room. Ayushi just sighed and went in search of the kitchen. She too felt drowsy but she was hungry too. Aeroplanes had always been a bad experience for her, that's why she had skipped her breakfast and now it was noon. Very soon, she found the kitchen and prepared some coffee as well as some toast as she couldn't find other useful groceries inside the refrigerator. She moved towards the same room where Dhruv went but saw him already sleeping on the bed. She wanted to wake him up but gave up on that idea. Who knows he might kill her for that! She moved towards the room which she had seen adjacent to the kitchen which was probably the guest room. She shifted her luggage there and after having some coffee and snacks, she too napped on the bed after changing her clothes into some loose ones. **** Ayushi didn't know when this one month passed in a blur. Fortunately, Dhruv was too busy to even have time to torture her as Chandani too was now not much in touch with him so she wasn't able to give him any kind of spiked water. All in all, everything was normal. Dhruv was back to his normal self from the past thirty days and Ayushi was grateful for that. Every day he'd drop her at her office and then only would go to his office, it had been his duty as a good husband. She'd talk with her in-laws daily on the mobile phone, some time video-calling them too, they were missing her and Dhruv but they knew that the work there was important. And day by day, Dhruv was falling in love with her. He realized that he loved her, but he was doubtful about Chandani too because he had thought that he loved her too. Keeping all these things aside for a while, he was busy in focussing all his attention on his business. He couldn't tolerate a glitch in his business, that was his rule. Ayushi too was busy in her own life, with her new job. She was content with this new job as a software developer. Although people had always been grateful to her because she was the wife of the famous business tycoon Dhruv Singh Rajput but she never allowed anyone to cross their limits, out of her predefined boundary to come near her. Even she too had started feeling something for her husband, unknowingly. She knew that he'd be never hers, but her heart desired for him only. **** But one day, everything changed. Nothing was normal that day, nothing. And this happened after three months of their stay in Bangalore. Dhruv was at his office when Chandani suddenly barged inside his cabin and showed him something which made him so enraged that he broke the glass table which was placed right in front of the couch with his bare hands. His hands were injured too and now it was bleeding. But he cared less. The wife whom he had trusted so much, even loved so much, was having her own great time with some other man. How could she! Even without the drug, the stunt which Chandani played on her mobile phone of his beloved wife, was enough for Dhruv to be enraged like hell. The video was of Ayushi, making out with another man inside a dimly lit room. Dhruv with his calculative eyes knew that this video was not morphed, it was true. He was furious, he wanted nothing but to see the end of Ayushi. But somehow Chandani controlled him and asked him to make her sign the divorce papers, as there was a solid proof against Ayushi which he could show to his family how slutty she was actually. "You were right. That whore was just a manipulative bitch. She doesn't deserve to be in my life anymore. I'll just kick her out of my life as well as my house," Dhruv had promised to himself once he sat inside the car with Chandani seated beside him. Chandani just smiled smugly. How happy and content she was feeling now, only she knew. "You whore! Now I cannot even tolerate your presence in my house. You'll make it impure and untouchable with your characterless nature. Sign on these divorce papers and just leave me," once Dhruv entered inside his house, he had pounced on Ayushi and shouted out loudly at her. "What?" Ayushi was excessively shocked that suddenly what happened with her husband who was all normal from the past three months. "Sign on these and get out of this house right at this moment," he sneered at her loudly and she flinched at his high tone. "Where will I go at this time of the night, Dhruv?" she asked him while crying miserably. "To hell or whatever. I don't care. Just do as I say," he held her hair tightly in his hand and compelled her to sign those divorce papers. After she signed those papers with shivering hands and a throbbing heart, Chandani too arrived there with a suitcase in her hand which belonged to none other than Ayushi. "Take your slutty clothes with you and get the hell out of here," Dhruv threw her out of his bungalow and threw the trolley too which fell on her left side. He closed the door on her face and moved towards his room while Chandani followed him behind with a smug look on her face. "Where will I go Dhruv at this late hour of the night with our baby in my womb?" Ayushi cried out miserably while walking on the deserted road like a lost soul. **~•~** Please don't forget to leave your comment and voting is your birthright!