What happens when betrayal mars innocent hearts in love?
What happens when innocence is destroyed and a monster is created?
What happens when judgement is ruled by the burning feeling of retribution?
This is a Quartet (4 part book) and this one bein...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Rudra's eyes narrowed with bafflement just as he heard her. He watched her walking away from him and all of a sudden urgency erupted inside. He briskly crossed over to the door and caught her before even she could step out. Dragging her inside, he closed the door and pinned her against the door.
"Open your eyes," he commanded softly.
Something in his voice just forced her to open them and look at him.
"I know I screwed up. But, I am never going to leave you again, please believe me."
Ishani shook her head as her heart twisted with his words but her mind refused to acknowledge them at all. It was like a battle of tug where once she was dragged towards her heart and the next second pulled by her ever strong mind.
Suddenly she lost the energy to even stand. Her legs started to buckle under her when she felt powerful masculine arms going around her protectively. Giving up totally, she rested her forehead on his shoulder blade and felt him slowly steer her towards the bed.
"Ishani!" he softly called cupping her face in his palms as she sat down.
The clouds of doubt were still hovering in the horizon of her mind. Looking into his eyes, she tried to find answers to her questions but couldn't.
"Come on, Ishani, speak to me, please. You know I can bear anything but your silence," she heard him say as he sat next to her and turned her to him.
Swallowing hard, she summoned all her strength and asked the one question that was bothering her so much since long.
"Why do you love me?"
"You really don't know the answer?" he asked taking her hands in his.
"Please!"
"That's coz I see my world in you. You are my world, Ishani Raijdas. You are my breath. There is no way I can survive without you."
"Then why didn't you say anything that day when I saw you with Nina? Why didn't you clear the misunderstanding?" she asked clutching his collar piqued.
"Because I was a fool to believe that you would trust me before jumping to conclusions," he said as he got up from the bed and walked away.
The taut muscles of her shoulder and rigid back were enough to convey that he was upset and instantly she felt guilty of believing what she saw.
That day you should have stayed and confronted him.
"I am sorry. Please don't be angry," she said getting up from the bed and going near him.
As he felt her hand softly squeezing his shoulder, he turned and sighed.
"Believe me, Ishani, you don't want to see me angry. Bad things happen when I get angry and lose it. And, as per leaving you is concerned, ask your heart, can I leave you after all this?"
She didn't need to ask her heart; she knew the answer. Smiling, she shook her head and hugged him hard and immediately felt his arms clasping her body to his.
The next one week felt like a dream for Ishani as Rudra was always there with her whenever he could. He had practically planted himself at her home. While she slept in her bedroom, he crashed on the sofa every night. Every now and then she would request him to head back home but he wouldn't listen.
"I want to see your face first thing the moment I open my eyes in the morning and baby I can't drive with my eyes closed," he would reply.
Finally, she had given up; so, every day in the morning, she would wake him with his coffee. Yes, he had taught her how to make his coffee, which according to her was the acridest thing she had ever tasted in her life.
Even though they were close still sometimes she felt quite distant from him because all of sudden he would act mysterious, which bothered her but she never mentioned this to him.
Ishani sighed and moved away from the window of her office in the NGO. She picked up her phone and as usual, there was a message from Rudra.
'Let me know when you'll wrap up. I'll pick you up.'
She smiled and replied to the message, 'Come at your usual time.'
Within seconds, she got a reply, 'Missing you sweetheart. Don't make me wait.'
She couldn't believe a man of his stature had the capacity to love so much. In the past 5 days, he had not only designated Kabir to take care of their side of investment in the NGO but had also got some people to check the building for its renovation. And, yesterday he had asked her to hire some staff so that she and Annie could have some free time.
Annie!
Her friend was the happiest of the lot. When Ishani had told her everything she had squealed with excitement.
"I can't wait to be back. I am missing all the action," Annie had said elatedly.
But she knew Annie wouldn't be back before mid-December as her mother was still not back on her feet and at this time her father needed her most.
The joyful cries of the children back from school interrupted her thoughts and she quickly sauntered outside to check on them. And, the next couple of hours just went in playing, eating and chatting with them.
By the time she looked at the clock, it was already 5:30 in the evening and she still had the monthly medicine list to check on. Rushing to her office, she picked it up and started tallying them with the medical supplies.
More than 1 hour later, she finally closed the boxes and gave the list back to Jithu. Wrapping up, she checked everything one more time and walked outside.
And, as usual, Manna and Ram were standing by the car chatting while she knew Rudra would be inside.
She started to relay some last minute instructions to Jithu before she left for the day.
"Make sure everybody has their dinner properly and none of them should skip doing their homework. Also, close the corner window; it has started to get cold in the morning."
Panting, she neared the gate and turned towards the car and instantly saw Rudra smiling at her.
"Sorry, I kept you waiting," she said as she came near.
Circling an arm around her, he pressed a small kiss on her forehead and said lovingly—
