Chapter 241 - Learning About the Truth (4) (2/2)

”Yes, I'm. Do you want to see the more heartless side of me? Tomorrow I'll prepare fresh juice of leaves of Azadirachta indica.”

'Azadirachta indica?' It took me some time to understand that he was talking about neem leaves. There were a couple of neem trees in our garden. From the balcony of the guest room, we could even pluck out leaves if wanted as the branches of one tree were accessible by stretching a hand from the balcony. Would he really give the juice of neem leaves to them?

At this point, I thought he would. Arjun's scream proved my speculations.

”NOOOOOOOOO!” Arjun stood up with a jerk. His eyes went wide, and he almost dropped the glass in his hands on the ground.

Eshan's father raised his eyebrow at Arjun's reaction. Without any more words, Arjun breathed deeply, holding his breath, he drowned the whole juice in a single breath.

He did not stop at that. He picked a second glass from the tray and did the same before dropping on the sofa lifelessly. My heart ached for him. Drinking two glasses of bitter gourd juice was not an easy feat.

There were two spoons on my plate- one for biryani and other in the bowl of gulab jamun. ”Here. Have this…” I scooped one gulab jamun with the spoon and forwarded it to Arjun first. His bitter expressions softened, and without a delay, he bent down and swallowed the medium size round ball.

Once he took the gulab jamun in his mouth, I turned my gaze away from him.

Just then, my attention turned to Eshan, for he was doing the same. Not only him, but his mother did the same. Three people finished those six glasses as if they were drinking water.

'What? Are these people even human? But then again, if there was a choice between bitter gourd and neem, any sane person would know what to choose.'

I felt awful on their behalf. I used another spoon for picking up another gulab jamun.

I silently put it before Eshan's lips. Eshan's eyes flashed for a moment, and there was a thin layer of moisture in them. Was the juice that bad? It caused tears to appear in his eyes.

Those slightly pinkish lips parted slowly, and I recalled how they were on mine approximately half an hour ago. They teased me, played around… I fought the blush rising on my face and immediately pushed the spoon in his mouth before looking down at my plate.

There were two gulab jamuns left in my bowl. Through the corner of my eyes, I saw the scrunched up face of Eshan's mother. I thought she drank her glass, but her second glass was almost half.

No one complained or refused the drink juice. That was surprising. No matter how bitter they felt from inside, the three people drank the juice silently without any protest.

Eshan's father did not say a word. Well, I did not glance at him purposefully. What if he objected?

From the corner of my eyes, I caught visible tears in Eshan's mother's eyes. My mind was in a fix. I fed gulab jamuns to Arjun and Eshan after witnessing their plight. However, I could not bring myself to offer the same courtesy to his mother.

However, my heart could not bear to watch her suffer. What should I do?