Realisation And Nurture (BOOK #2) ✔

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

     The truth was barely a few minutes away, and Sanchi would be acknowledging that terrible period of Vihaan's life when he had to deal with humiliations on every level, from public humiliation to mentally accusing himself of Aadhir's sacrifices, including the latter's life.

"The morning after Aadhir's death, local cops showed up at our door with a warrant for Vihaan's arrest in connection with Aadhir's death— or, more accurately, his murder. The next morning, Ashna went to the police, alleging that Vihaan had taken her lover's life when Aadhir was trying to save her from Vihaan, who was molesting her." Dheeraj spoke up, an icy finger running down his face.

Durga advanced a venomous look at Ashna and said, "She did not stop here. She went so far as to accuse Vihaan of raping her after murdering Aadhir, who was attempting to save her from his clutches."

Sanchi shifted her gaze to Vihaan. "You we-re well aw-are that the alle-gations were false. Why didn't you pro-test?"

"I tried to, but I wasn't able to. The police had received extensive proofs from her." Vihaan took a breath and stopped, his mouth trembling with sorrow. "I dreadfully recall the terrible night when my best friend wafted his final breath into my arms."

"Vih-aan, please tell me what rea-lly had happ-ened." She moved her hands along the surface of his shirt, reducing her distance from him and taking his shaking hand in hers. "You're mak-ing me ner-vous."

"After so many months, Shaurya, a couple of other guys and their respective girlfriends, and I — we all enjoyed having dinner together. I became concerned about Aadhir's absence from the dinner table, so I excused myself to go outside and look for him. Ashna was also missing, and for a brief moment, I assumed they were together." Vihaan muttered, "As I stood in the doorway to his room, Ashna collided with me and prevented me from attempting to enter. We had a heated argument, and I accidentally pushed her away in the trance of barging into his room."

"Cr-ap!"

"Things got a lot messier when she started putting her hands on me, and the argument turned into a kind of unwelcome aggression. I was so enraged that I started to lose control because I couldn't find Aadhir." Vihaan lowered his voice and clenched his grip on Sanchi's palm even harder than before. "As I was learning the perks of investigation, my mind wandered to the idea of Aadhir's health weakening and I'd discovered he was being drugged by someone."

"Did Ash-na have any-thing to do wi-th it?"

With a shake of his head, Vihaan expressed his frustration. "I just had a nagging suspicion because she was the one who tried to manipulate him at the time. I smashed the door open with all my might, but Aadhir was nowhere to be found. I tried to keep my aggressiveness under control, but Ashna's bloody tongue wouldn't let me. She continued to provoke me, and we ended up in a physical brawl."

"Oh no!"

Vihaan said spontaneously, "Aadhir appeared out of nowhere, negotiating between us to keep us from the ruckus. I slowly regained control of my temper and apologized to Ashna after seeing him alive. Aadhir regretted not being able to join us for dinner and soon volunteered to accompany us. But we hadn't taken a step forward when a gunshot rang out, and Aadhir pulled me backward, falling in front of the bullet's trajectory."

"Vih-aan!" Sanchi stood silently in front of him, her nails digging into his palm. "I can feel yo-ur pain and suffe-ring."

"A masked man came to my vision as I turned in the direction of the shooter, and while I chased him, the pistol from his hand dropped to the ground, but he had unfortunately escaped," Vihaan told her. "I picked up the gun but before I could put it down, I heard a wailing Ashna and immediately ran towards them. After hearing the gunshot, Shaurya and the others approached us, and a collapsing Aadhir spread his arms for me."