Love Happens

11

"Let's go."

Anand pushed his hand against the invisible wall, sighing, and immediately entered his car to pursue them. Upon reaching the gate to the house, the guard there informed Mr. Pandey's driver that Riya wasn't at home.

"Where is she?" Shraddha asked.

"She visits her family today."

"Take me there," she said, as she was planning to soon visit Anand's father and check on his health.

"Why are they taking the route that goes home?" Anand wondered while following them. Both of them arrived at the compound inside his house, and after Shraddha stepped out, he called her name, coming out of his car at a quick pace and meeting with her.

"Don't go in."

"Because your wife will be there?" She took her eyes from him to the house, not bothered. "I'm not going to meet her. I'm going there for Riya and also to meet your father. You can't stop me after coming so close." She proceeded to the door with him walking by her side because he wanted to protect her from Riya's unhealed anger.

Her eyes roamed over the empty hall, and Anand told her to leave as they weren't home.

"Riya!" she voiced loudly.

"For God's sake, Shraddha, don't start a feud here. I don't want any of them to say something that will hurt you." Anand verbalized his concerns, while Shraddha turned a deaf ear and called out to Riya once more. His mother came downstairs alongside Lakshmi and Poonam. While the anger Ananya came with for Riya loosened in the presence of his mother, as she still had great respect for her, his mother, on the other hand, considered her not worthy of any of them since they now had a daughter-in-law, whom her grandchildren love.

"How did you come in?"

"Mother, please." Anand stopped her.

"Let everyone say what they want to. In the end, I'll walk out of this house with a smile because nothing they will say will affect me."

"You are late now, Shraddha."

Her eyes moved to the girl who spoke. She remembered seeing her in the hospital too.

"Father married Mother Lakshmi. There's no place for you here."

She marveled at the lady she recognized as Poonam and how she grew so tall within a few years. Got bolder and more beautiful.

"I came for Riya! Who your father married is none of my concern." She responded, as it was really not her concern. She briefly met the eyes of the woman who was Anand's wife, and she looked away as there was nothing in her to envy or be jealous of. Both of them were women and were beautiful in their own way.

"Never utter my name with your filthy lips," came Riya's voice. Shraddha looked at her with bulging eyes, and as her lips pressed firmly together, she stood before her, crossing her arms and staring at her with a straight face.

"I had warned you not to appear before me again."

"Forbidden. They fear it so much that they don't take its name. They run away. They act like there's no stop. They forget that it decides the future. Snatching it when it wishes. It is a nightmare for people like you. It comes and announces its presence to the lucky while appearing when they're least expecting it to the unlucky. It blinds their conscience. It glitters their sight with illusion. It makes their ears go deaf. Only to enjoy seeing them suffer. It cries when the people are just. Laugh at the cruel. In the end, it still does its job and takes the soul away. Do you know what this is, Riya?" Shraddha exclaimed while looking confidently into her eyes.

"Death. I took the name. I'm summoning it. However, it's not brave enough to take me. What will happen then?" she answered.

"You will live every second, every minute, every hour, and every duration of your remaining life thinking about your death. I won't kill you today, but I can't guarantee it tomorrow. You can die after eating. You can slip in your bathtub filled with acidic water. You can get suffocated in your sleep. You can be pricked by poisonous thorns in your clothes. You can be hit accidentally by a truck when you go out. Accidents can occur at any time. Be wary. You survived this moment, but you may not survive the next. I'll give you the first and final warning. Kill yourself, because if you let me kill you, you'll die a painful and slow death. You said this, didn't you? You came and threatened me in my room last night. How dare you? Who were the four people with you?"

"Riya?" Anand couldn't believe what he heard and understood why Shraddha was persistent in visiting her.

"Did you see me?" Riya asked her.

"Don't pretend like coward. At least admit your threat so that I can inform you that I'm not scared at all. I ate today. I bathed. I will even go for a stroll later tonight. Send the truck if you're brave enough."

"What are you talking about, Shraddha? I have no idea what you're saying. Don't blame me for no reason."

"You can keep a straight face and maintain your calmness, but I know you. Lie to your family as much as you want. You can't fool me. I will tell you again. I didn't kidnap that child or kill it. You never asked me whether I did, so I'm clarifying that I didn't. I've never kidnapped or killed anyone. But I swear if you're not careful, I won't mind being imprisoned for the rest of my life." Her eyes moved to the other members of the family, especially Poonam, whom she suspected might be among the people that visited her yesterday since she had also grown tall. "Whoever tries to kill me again will die. I refuse to let any of you attend my funeral before I see yours."

Anand backed away slowly and sadly left the hall, going out. He dabbed his fingers against his eyes, and a single tear oozed out. "The person who visited today wasn't the Shraddha I married," he said.

"Get out of my way. I want to see Mr. Kapoor." Shraddha warned Lakshmi that blocked the stairway path.

"Who do you think we are to remain silent as you threaten us? I was quiet because Anand was here, but he isn't anymore. Leave this house at once and never return."

Shraddha eyed her before moving her out of the way, which resulted in her hitting her knee on the wall. She started going upstairs.

"Just who are you to walk in here and act like you own the house?" Poonam's voice faded after she reached the second floor. She has long forgotten the days when she would argue with her. She was here for the people who hurt her soul and her mother. Whoever was to stop her would be hurt as a result.