chapter 33

EnslavedIshana controlled herself and sat back. “So, Mr. Reporter, what would you make out of a girl who is still sleeping in her dead husband’s bed, wearing his clothes at night and spending each night in his arms?”Ravi wiped his own tears. He finally realized that Ishana was not just enslaved by Pratham’s love, she was enslaved to his memory. And worst of all, she was enslaved to this room and house where she had preserved his memories. Isn’t love a funny thing, a few moments of happiness, and then a lifetime of enslavement?“He would say that every man wishes to have a wife like you.” She smiled at the sentiment. “I cannot even imagine what you must have gone through.” “I was devastated, Ravi. Shiva helped me. But nobody could replace him. I had lost my father, my brother, my best friend, but losing one man who was my everything was beyond repair. I had just started my life with him, and it was snatched from me. I was lost. I was all alone, and I was suicidal.”“I can only imagine,” he spoke grimly.“His parents tried to help me, but how could I face them. I knew I was cursed, and yet I married him. I had ruined them enough, I didn’t want to take more, so I stayed away.”“They could have helped you,” Ravi started.“They lost their second child Ravi. It was them who needed help,” she cried again. “And all because of me.”“It was not your fault,” Ravi shouted.“Whose fault is it then? It was my work due to which he was there that night. I was on that goddamn plane, and I couldn’t even be there in his last moments. I am the cursed one. And that’s why I am all alone. I am destined to be alone,” she cried and cried again.It was time…Ravi stepped out and came back with an envelope.“Where are Sarv and Shiva now?” he asked.“They are busy in their own lives. I drifted away from them. My grief overtook me…” She closed her eyes and hugged Pratham’s pillow. “At times, when I miss Pratham too much, I can feel his presence. You know Pratham had once said that ‘Even if I die tomorrow, I will stay with you forever,’ and you know what, he has kept his promise. Call me mad or whatever, but he is with me. Sometimes I talk to him, and he replies, in here,” she murmured, pointing at her heart. Ravi stared at her pitifully.“You think I am crazy, isn’t it?” she muttered, her eyes still closed. “You can think whatever of me Ravi, but I am all alone in this pathetic world. And memories of my Pratham are the only thing keeping me alive.” She took a deep breath in his pillow. Pratham’s scent had gone long ago, but its memory was still fresh in her mind and heart, and she still cherished it.“You are wrong,” Ravi spoke sternly. She opened her eyes and saw that he was standing alert with a very cautious look.“About what?” she inquired, sitting straight.“Here, you would need this,” he remarked, handing her a bottle of Vodka. Ishana took it gratefully and sipped from it. Ravi stared at her for a long moment, gathering courage. “Waiting for me to finish this bottle?” Ishana asked, swallowing a mouthful of Vodka. Sighing and with shaking hands, he handed her the envelope. She accepted it, bewildered.“Whatever is inside, it is true,” he whispered as she emptied the contents in her lap, and she felt as if her world had turned upside down, yet again.She scanned through the contents over and over again, unable to believe what she was holding. The envelope contained many photographs and documents. Could it really be? Who was Ravi? She wondered as she shuffled through them once more. And finally, she understood. She couldn’t believe that Ravi, a man she trusted so much and opened up to, had betrayed her so brutally.She took another sip and then another. Ravi stared at her expectantly. He was waiting for a realization to dawn upon her. But instead, he saw the streak of sociopath reappear.Ishana stood up, and Ravi retracted his steps.“What is the meaning of this?” she shrieked.“I…” he started, but Ishana continued, enraged. “You want to blackmail me? You want to use these to come back at me. You…” she snarled, accusing him of all the vile things she could think of at the moment.“I… I am not…” he tried explaining, but she didn’t listen.“You know what I do to people like you,” and he saw savageness corrupt her eyes. She raced towards him, and before he could run, hide or save himself, she swung the almost empty Vodka bottle and hit it hard on his head.Ravi fell on the ground lifeless. Ishana checked his pulse, he was still alive. Ishana sat next to him and caressed his face. “I don’t spare people like you anymore. I kill and make them disappear forever!” she whispered with a sociopathic smile.Dragging him to the kitchen, Ishana tied him to the pole. “Sleep now, my imposter. You have to endure a lot of torture and answer my questions when you wake up.”Â