My eyes moved between Ansell and Desy, who were looking ghosted, as they saw the feminine figure standing at the door but their reasons for getting aghasted were different.
Anyone would react the same if a person whom everyone believes I’d dead from the last eighteen years came in front of their eyes all of sudden.
The lady slowly walked inside and as the light of the hall fell over her face, I could see her clearly.
Her clothes were tattered, hanging loosely on her frail and emaciated frame. Her body looked fragile and skinny, as if she had gone through extreme hardship. Deep wrinkles etched her face, making her appear order than their father. It was evident that she had endured unimaginable trials and tribulations, leaving her in a pitiable and worn -out state.
A heavy silence hung in the air as all of us looked at her. She stopped a few steps away from us and the tears glistening in her eyes revealed the depth of her emotion as she gazed at her son.
“Ansell” she finally broke the silence, her voice quivering with the emotions of seeing her son almost after two decades.
In an instant, the pen slipped from my hand as Ansell rushed to her side, embracing her tightly. Desy followed suit, and the three of them shared a long, emotional hug, crying together.
“Mom?” You were alive?” Ansell asked her and she nodded meekly. “Where were you, mom?’ I could hear Ansell’s voice shivering and heavy with all the emotions he must be feeling.
She opened her mouth but all that came out was a gasp.
Her appearance and behaviour suggested that she had gone through unimaginable hardship. It was evident that she was in dire need of care. She seemed on the brink of losing consciousness.
Ansell acted immediately and led her to a seat, helping her sit down before pouring a glass of water for her. She dipped it thirstily, as if she had been deprived of water for a long time.
Looking at Ansell, I could see a lot of emotions in his eyes. At the same time, they were of astonishment, pity, and disbelief, ad if he couldn’t quite believe that his mother, whom he had believed to be lost, was now right before him. He was not even blinking, as if she would disappear from his sight if he did so.
Me and William shared a look equally confused by the scenario playing in front of us. He stepped closer to me and I felt a bit relieved.
He gave her enough time to drink water and relax before sitting on his knees, just beside her feet and asking.
“Mom, where were you all these years?’ his voice came out full of pity. “And just tell me, who is the reason behind your condition?” I could see anger boiling in his veins.
“Your father” she choked out.
A drop of silence followed her words.
Ansell froze to his place, as he himself couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Though he knows that his father is a devil, he cannot believe that he could steep so low that he could do such a dreadful thing to his own wife.
My breath also hitched in my throat because I was equally amazed to hear that. In my 26 years of living I have never seen my father talk to my mother in a high tone, let alone raise his hand, while it seems like Ansell’s mother has been tortured to death. The horrors Ansell’s mother had endured left me speechless and frozen in my place.
“Fath.. Father?’ this was the first time that I heard Ansell stutter. No matter how much of a monster he must think his father is, he still can’t believe it.
She nodded once more, tears streaming down her eyes.
“But now I am fine,” she reassured, her voice trembling with emotion as she tenderly caressed Ansell’s head. “I am relieved to see my kids after eighteen years” she continued, her voice quivering. “You have grown up so much. In not for being here, I would have recognised you in the crowd”
How cruel!
His father didn’t even show pictures of her children. My heart arched at the thought of what she must have endured.
“Why, mom?” Ansell’s hand lifted to cup the palm resting on his cheek. His voice quivered with the emotions that must have been building up inside him,. “Why did father do that to you and to us?’ he asked, his voice choked.
“Because I wanted to make you a human” she revealed.
Ansell’s eyes remained fixed on his mother’s face, and his expressions were those of sadness, anger, and disbelief as he awaited her explanation.
“You know, from the very beginning, I tried to instill good habits in you” she began, her voice trembling. “I wanted to teach you compassion and kindness because I never wanted my son to turn out like my husband. I wanted you to be a good person and to use your strength for noble feeds. But your father never liked that ”
She drew a deep breath.
“He wanted to make you a devil just like him so that you could take up the responsibility of his gang and expand his empire because you had that strength and brain from a very young age. He always saw you as a ladder to climb up the stairs of success and never as his son”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them away with the back of her hand before taking another sip of water.
“He warned me multiple times and torture me but that didn’t stop me from giving you the teachings at his back” she shifted. “When you turned twelve, he wanted to start your training, while I was planning to escape with both of you. But before I could do anything, he found out about my plans”
She closed her eyes briefly, allowing tears to trickle down her cheeks.
“And he faked my death, capturing me in a small home that had no escape”
A loud sob escaped the throat of Desy as she broke into tears.
“Every day, I longed to see my children, but he didn’t even show me pictures of you” she continued, her voice filled with anguish. ,”In the beginning, he used to visit me frequently, boasting about how he was training you and how much progress you were making in the way he wanted. I was terrified because I could see his traits in you, and without me around, he was succeeding in turning you into a devil. I felt helpless. I was well aware of your strength and knew that if he made you a heartless person, then no one could stop you from ruling this world in the way I never wanted. As the years passed, everything became too much for me, and I prayed for my own death every day, but he didn’t even grant me that wish, all because of his sadistic obsession with me”
“Sadistic obsession?” Ansell asked in confusion, as if the word were new to him. As if he himself doesn’t have that trait.
“Ours was not a normal wedding ” she she revealed and it seemed like her own children are unaware of that. “I was forced into it. You know that my father was not wealthy, he was poor, and your father took advantage of that”
She sobbed softly as she continued. “I don’t know where he first saw me, but he used to daily visit the library where I worked, and he developed an unhealthy obsession with me, one of which I was completely unaware of. When one day, all of sudden, he asked me for marriage, I declined because I knew that he was not a good man. I never got good vibes from him. When I didn’t bend in front of him, he resorted to threatening my father at gunpoint. I was left with no choice but to marry him”
She looked down at Ansell, who was already looking at her intently.
“I endured all the pain and torture that he inflicted upon me. I tried to escape him once but the end result was really scary for me. And then you two came into my life, making it easier for me to bear my fate”
Her eyes softened as she reminisced about those days.
“You two became the reason for my existence, my sole motivation was to impart good values to you and to shape you into compassionate human beings. I seized every opportunity to teach you whenever he was not around, but he couldn’t see that. He just wanted me to stay as his slave and take care of his kids and give him more heirs but I always used to kill my kids in my womb without him knowing because I didn’t want to give birth to another devil like him”
She took a deep, shuddering breath. She gasped as she was finding it difficult to breathe properly.
“When he locked me there, I tried to escape three times, but each time, I ended up back in his clutches, and he subjected me to the most painful torments he could conceive. Living in that sunless, desolate house, I lost all hope. He neither let me live nor die by saying that he was loves me and he can’t let me just die”
Her eyes grew heavy as she struggled to keep them open. There was a pin-drop silence as all of us heard her heartbreaking story.
“How did you come here, mom?” Ansell asked, breaking the silence.
“When I got to know the sadistic plans of your father to make take up the responsibility of the gang, I couldn’t stay quiet. Without your father knowing, I dug a hole, a tunnel to escape ” she replied, her voice trembling. “I used to cover it whenever he visited me” she sniffed, her tears falling freely now. “That tunnel is how I managed to escape today ‘
Ansell’s heart was heavy with emotion, and he placed his head gently on her knees.
“I am just glad I made it here in time” she continued, her voice full of relief. “I didn’t want Leonara to suffer the same fate”
“You.. you know her?” Ansell asked my question.
Her head turned to him before she nodded.
“How?’ he asked.
Her eyes stopped on me, and my breath hitched in my throat. I don’t want her to say anything.