"REVENGE"

It's been seven years of a happy marriage. For all these years Rose had fought every barrier with resilience and determination to keep her husband happy. It wasn't easy but she was happy that every impediment had been subdued in one way or another. A year after giving birth to her first child, Shalom, Lim decided to shift the family to the huge mansion that he had constructed in the countryside near his father's ranch. It was high time he learnt to manage his mother's property because Mrs Kelly, his mother, was growing old and no longer had the strength to do so.

It was a peaceful environment with the serenity of its seclusion. Mia, Lim's sister who never got along well with Rose ad changed soon after shalom's birth. She was now on good terms with Rose and had accepted her as part of their family. Often she would come to visit to spend time with her niece or would fetch her and take her to the park in town. Shalom was now a beautiful bubbly girl who had taken much from her mother, Rose. She was loved and cherished by everyone because of her cheerful character.

Being a holiday, Shalom was rarely at home. She would either be at her granny's or with Mia or Lim would go with her often on weekends to show her around. As for Rose, she loved animals and stayed at the ranch most of the time tending to them. She had always loved cows and now that she owned a lot of them felt satisfied.

That day, Mia had shown up in

the mansion in the morning requesting to take Shalom out to go visit her childhood friend in town. Rose was against the idea because her husband had promised to come early and take his daughter for an evening walk. After a lot of pleading and pestering, Rose had accepted but with much reluctance.

"I will make sure we return before evening," Mia had promised genuinely. Rose was convinced that she would stand by her word because she was aware that Lim would be upset if he didn't find his daughter home by the time he returned.

"Why are they not here yet?" she grumbled and flounced around with uneasiness. She kept peeking in the direction of the metallic gate. It was getting late and she wouldn't want to irritate her husband."Mia where are you. You promised to return early and now look at the time." She said with a grimace and lingered on her wristwatch. It was almost 4:30 pm. Lim always returned home this time unless he communicated that he would be home late.

A twinge of anxiety gripped her. She was getting tense. Shalom was her father's favourite. The truth is that Lim had always been a favourite with children and now that he had his own, he shared a very strong bond with her and often wanted to spend precious time with her after work.

"I hope Lim delays in town or else he will start fuming." She thought and made long strides towards the gate to peek. Perhaps they were close. She opened the gate halfway and stood poised waiting in anticipation. Every minute that passed brought her fear and distress. She paced back and forth but neither Mia nor Shalom was anywhere to be seen. "Perhaps they have gone to see mom." She muttered with an expression of uncertainty on her face. Rose referred to Mrs Kelly as her mom because she had always shown her affection. To her, She was more than a mother-in-law. Needless to say, she was her second mom. "Perhaps I should give her a call." She talked to herself. She thought and dashed into her room. She hadn't held the phone in her hands when Lim called. Rose's heart jerked. "That must be Mia." She intuited and her face shone."Thank God she finally called." She said and flicked her finger on the phone with verve and received the call,

"Yes, Mia, where are you?"

"Hello, darling!" She held her breath at the sound of Lim's voice.

'Ye..s honey, how.. are you?" She sputtered nervously.

"I am Ok. I miss you very much."

"Oh, dear, same here." Her mouth lifted a smile at the corner.

"May I talk to my princess? I want to hear her voice." She wrung her hands and clapped her mouth jittery.

She was confused. "What should I tell him? If I say she's out, he will be upset." She thought. It was taking her too long to answer such a simple question. She was stuck and now trembling.

"Honey, are you listening?" The pitch of his voice increased, making her shrink.

"Oh, yeah, but not clearly. It must be a poor network. So, honey, what did you say?"

" I would like to speak to Shalom. Please can you give her the phone now?"

"Ah, too bad. She's gone for a short call. Sorry, dear."

"No, it's ok, no worries. After all, I am almost home. Prepare her soon. I want to take her out for a sandwich. I must hang up now."

"Ok, darling." She spoke in a low tone and her face bore an injured look.

Her heart thumped fast. She was seized with nervousness.

"Why did I have to lie to him? I am such a fool. He ought to reprimand me for deception." She bumbled around and dialled Mia's number fidgeting.

"Pick up, Mia please pick !" She said nervously.

"The number you've called cannot be reached, please try again later." said the voice in the background.

She screamed, flushing with anger.

"This can't be happening. I am in deep shit." She said and slumped on the bed, her eyes filled with terror, her heart hammering violently in her chest as if it would rip out soon.

Suddenly she shifts to a sitting posture and mumbles, "wait," she furrowed her eyebrows. "Mia, don't tell me you have started your old habit again. Why did you do this? You are trying my patience this time. You know it wasn't easy for me. If you hadn't insisted I would never have agreed to your proposition. Now you might plunge me into trouble." A spurt of anger clutched at her heart.

In a moment a car honked outside the gate.

"Bless me! That must be him." She thought and went out hastily to open the gate." She had guessed right. It was her husband. She flung the gate open and wore a disguised smile on her face, but her heart was heavy with fear and anxiety anticipating that the consequences of her foolish action might spoil the peace between her and her husband.