CHAPTER XLIV
After dinner, I quietly went to see my sister. When I entered her room, I found her sitting alone, her gaze fixed on a framed photograph of her husband. The dim light of the lamp cast soft shadows on her face, but I could still see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. She was tracing his face in the picture with her fingertips, as if her touch could bring him back. My heart tightened at the sight, and I walked over to sit beside her.
"How wonderful it would've been if he were still here with us today, wouldn't it?" I whispered, my voice trembling with emotion.
She tried to blink back her tears but they slipped free, one after another. She pressed her lips together, her voice shaking as she said, "If I could have saved him by giving my own life that day, I wouldn't have thought twice. I would've done it."
Her words stabbed through me, making my chest feel heavy with sorrow. "That night… it was truly horrifying," I murmured, my eyes falling to the floor. "I still regret that we lost RK that day…"
She immediately shook her head, her expression soft yet firm. "Vedu," she said gently, "don't ever carry that burden on yourself. It wasn't your fault. What happened that day… was a tragedy. A cruel accident. None of us could have stopped it."
Her attempt to console me brought a fragile silence to the room. I sat there, absorbing her words, but then she suddenly turned her gaze toward me, her tone laced with quiet concern.
"And Rama?" she asked, almost hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer. "Is she… alright now?"
I froze for a second at her question, my breath catching in my throat. Slowly, I lifted my eyes to her, my voice trembling as I answered. "I… I wish I could say yes. But… her sister has found out. She knows that Rama is… in London."
Her eyes widened at my words, alarm flashing in them like lightning. "How?" she whispered sharply, her voice low yet filled with urgency, as though even the walls might be listening.
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding, the weight of her question pressing down on me like a shadow.
The room felt heavier with every word I spoke, as if even the air itself was holding its breath, waiting for my confession. I finally told my sister everything—everything I had been keeping buried inside, the truth about that night with Kanika and Jasmine.
"That day," I began softly, my voice quivering under the weight of memory, "the day I came to your house… Saumya's sister-in-law, Jasmine, was with us. We had left her at a club owned by her friend Kanika. We thought it was safe… that she would be fine there. But Jasmine didn't stay at the club. She left with Kanika—to her house. Because…" I hesitated, glancing at my sister's concerned face, "…because the two of them were seeing each other. They were in love."
My sister stayed silent, her expression unreadable, urging me to continue. I clasped my hands tightly, my voice faltering as I recalled the events that followed.
"When I came back home with Sita, I expected Jasmine to already be there… but she wasn't. She still hadn't returned." I paused, feeling my throat tighten. "When I saw how worried Saumya was, I couldn't ignore it. I went out looking for Jasmine, hoping she'd just lost track of time. I drove straight to Kanika's house, praying I'd find her there, safe."
The memory hit me like a wave as I recounted it, my heart pounding in my ears. "Kanika was the one who opened the door. And behind her, there was Jasmine… she looked… nervous, almost as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't. I stepped inside, trying to calm my own racing heart, telling myself everything was fine. I wanted to ask Jasmine why she hadn't come home yet… I wanted to talk to her."
I swallowed hard, and my hands instinctively gripped the edge of my shirt. "But then… I saw it."
My sister leaned forward, her eyes wide with worry, as if she could already sense the darkness lurking behind my words.
"There… on the wall of Kanika's house…" I whispered, my voice breaking. "…there was a picture of Rama."
Her breath caught sharply at the name, but I couldn't stop now. The memories from eight years ago were clawing their way to the surface, dragging me back to that night I had tried so hard to bury.
"The moment my eyes landed on that photo, my whole body froze. It was like being struck by lightning. The air was sucked out of my lungs, and I… I couldn't move. My fear… it paralyzed me." Tears burned at the corners of my eyes as I spoke, my voice trembling. "In that instant, every memory of what happened eight years ago came flooding back. The pain, the loss, the fear I had buried so deep—I felt it all again. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. And Kanika… she saw it. She saw the terror in my eyes and she… she recognized me."
I looked at my sister, my voice breaking into a whisper, heavy with dread. "She knew who I was. She knew I was Rama's friend… Vedehi."
My hands trembled as I remembered Kanika's cold, knowing smile.
"And then…" I hesitated, my chest tightening as though reliving the moment all over again. "…and then everything I had feared… everything I'd tried to keep from happening… it happened."
The room was silent, except for the sound of my shaky breaths. My sister reached for my hand, her face pale, but her grip was strong, anchoring me.
"Do you remember that day, Vedehi?" Kanika's voice sliced through the heavy air like a knife. Her eyes bore into mine, sharp and unyielding, filled with a mixture of fury and grief.
I froze, unable to answer, my throat tight as her words dragged me back to the past—the very memories I had tried so desperately to bury.
"My sister," Kanika continued, her voice trembling now, not with weakness but with suppressed rage. "Where is she? Where is Rama?" Her voice cracked on her sister's name, the pain in her tone undeniable. "I haven't spoken to her in eight years, Vedehi. Eight years! Her number is disconnected, and no one seems to know where she is. I even went to the police… but they found nothing."
The weight of her words pressed down on me like a suffocating fog. I wanted to speak, to tell her the truth, but my lips refused to move. The guilt clawed at my chest, threatening to rip me open.
Before I could find the courage to respond, Jasmine stepped in, her tone cautious but firm. "Kanika… how could Vedehi know anything about Rama?" She glanced at me, worry flickering in her eyes. "Vedehi has been living in London all this time… with Sita."
Kanika's brows furrowed in confusion, her anger momentarily replaced by disbelief. "Sita? Who is Sita?"
"She's… Vedehi's wife," Jasmine said softly, almost as if she feared how Kanika would react.
The room fell silent for a fraction of a second—a dangerous calm before the storm. And then, without warning, Kanika's hand struck my face with a resounding crack.
The sting burned across my cheek, but it was nothing compared to the storm of accusations that followed.
"So that was your plan all along, wasn't it?!" Kanika's voice was shaking with rage, her eyes blazing like fire. "You killed her, didn't you? You killed my sister… just so you could be with Sita!"
My breath caught in my throat, and I staggered back a step, stunned, tears welling in my eyes—not from the pain of her slap but from the weight of her words.
Kanika's anger only grew as she took another step toward me, her voice cracking as she spoke. "Rama told me so many times, Vedehi! She told me you were like us… that you loved women too. But you—" her lip trembled, "—you could never hold on to anyone, could you? No one wanted to stay with you."
Her words struck me harder than her hand ever could, each one slicing deep into my heart.
"So you used Rama, didn't you?!" Kanika's voice rose, her grief twisting into venom. "You saw Sita's picture on her laptop, you reached out to her, and then you married her. Is that it?! You ruined Rama's life and took everything from her!"
Her voice cracked, tears spilling down her face as her anger gave way to raw heartbreak. "You destroyed my sister… and for what? For love? For her?!"
I stood there, trembling, unable to speak, tears sliding down my cheeks. Jasmine tried to hold Kanika back, but she shook her off, her eyes fixed on me like a predator cornering its prey.
"You know what hurts the most, Vedehi?" she whispered bitterly. "That I ever trusted you. That Rama ever trusted you. You were supposed to be her friend… and now, she's gone, and you're standing here with her picture still haunting your face, with her wife in your arms."
Her voice broke entirely, the sound of a heart shattered beyond repair. And I… I had no words. Because maybe, deep down, a part of me believed I deserved every single accusation she threw at me.
The silence that followed was deafening, the kind of silence that crushed you under its weight. The air between us was thick with grief, fury, and an unspoken truth neither of us was ready to face.
To be continue....