Taken As Reward (The war of politics and love BOOK 2 )

43. Haadsa

He broke eye contact with me and turned to face his brother, “Take her back to her house, her hometown!” He ordered his brother, his feet scraped to turn and leave.

But I stepped before him and caught his arm, "Daiwik?" I asked him, and he caught my wrist and dragged it off his arm.
"You begged me, to let you go? When I took you from Chandravani Haveli. I am simply doing that!" He said so carelessly, trailing his hands away from my wrist.

"Daiwik?" I called out to him, and he turned to me.

"Life, Zehra! I wanted to have a life with you! For the fuck finally! I told you don't ask me the questions because I wouldn't be able to lie to you. Not once again,"

"We can still have it! If you let me know the truth! Daiwik?"

"No, Zehra! The things I have done are not even formidable. I might be tortured the same again, and yet I will. be covered with the same guilt because that is how bad I am. I sinned," He took another step back.
"And how can I ask you to forgive me for the things even I haven't forgiven myself for?" He asked me. Before he threw the car keys to Dev.

He patted his shoulders, "Take her back, safely? Please?" He asked Devakshaya. Who caught his brother?

"Tell her, Daiwik!" He insisted.

"I would be able to live with the fact that she isn't in my life because I stranded her, yet again. Rather than, dying knowing that she hates me, Dev." He strode away, and further.

Dev turns to find my face, "Zehra?" he hushedly whispered,
"Tell me the truth Devakshaya?" I asked him now,

And he shook his head, "He made the mistake Zehra, only he gets to amend them!"

"He left me, Dev! He gave me this ring moments ago, and he chose to let me die in Vandigana the next! For what? I demand to know how he has played me like a sitar he used to play when he used to sing." I laughed tears slipping from my eyes, I whipped them away.

"Where is that overprotective? Man! Who said I am his sister? It's you right? So go and bring him back and ask him to tell me the truth!" I don't know what kind of pain brewed inside my chest, all of them were becoming so unbearable that I stopped acknowledging them. I tried to be numb.

Devakshaya walked a step towards me, "You chose that brother of yours? Before me, Devakshaya." I declared, not a question. And he zipped his lips.

"No, Zehra. But you should know who made the mistakes! By the one who made it. So both of you can move past it!"

"He is sending me home! Devakshaya!" I cried, and he shook his head.

"And he will come back. If he doesn't. It's either he lives or his secret." He assured me, that he walked towards the passenger door and opened it waiting for me to step inside.

~

PAST (7 years ago) -:-

DAIWIK POV ~

I sat across from my six friends who were talking about this, a girl one of them had found in his coaching centre. The jokes were made, to tell him that with his ugly face, there is no blind who would truly fall for him.

And, I agreed.

The abandoned fort was a chaos of laughter with how much we managed to make this guy feel a whoosh in the air with our bad humour.

The smile plastered on my face, the empty fort echoed with our sounds our words.

There were seven of us Abhay, Biju, Jaman, Mohan, Nandan Vikram and myself, Daiwik.

We seven have been best friends since childhood, some are to blame the neighbourhood we live in and some are to the same school we all go to. But we were friends we were bound together not by blood but by loyalty.

And nothing comes before loyalty, for me and all of us.
When another joke was cracked, I heard the running feet from the entrance of the fort.

We all were sitting down on the dirty floor, all the heads turned and the sight of my young sister came into my vision. Her heavy breathing and she leaned to take support of her legs to stand.

The tears were streaming down her face. She wiped the tears away and started to fumble on her words, "Bhaiya...bhaiya!" She cried and I stood on my feet.

She pointed to all of them, and they all looked surprised themselves, "Please, just come!" She cried. And I strolled towards her hugging her to calm her down.

Divya doesn't cry. She never does, she is too cheerful to let sadness overcast her.
I pull back, "Everyone!" She said under her muffle and I looked at my brothers and nodded.

I did not realise where I was heading until we took the turn to the factory where Baba used to work and now Daman works.

He took over the responsibility of the house right after Baba started to retire with his head injury and his strange fatherless behaviours

Divya dragged me towards the factory. The crowd gathered outside of the factory shattered my illusions and was a clear indication that something strange happened.

Divya held my hand even more tightly, I half hugged her on my side, trying to ease her when I reached closer to the crowd and when my steps probed forward.

I found sheets lying on the floor, not one or two many! In a straight line, sheets were lined across the entire factory from one end to another. All the people were howling with tears and agony.

Deep lost in pain, because offer the sheets relayed their family members,
My heart clenched at the scene. The pain piqued my nervousness. I covered Divya's eyes.

She was too young to see all this, so my mind lingered on the family members. Wives of the young man, who recently got married. Her red bangles were still in her hand, a week ago. I was dancing at his wedding.

The pain pierced my heart, I stepped further. The old woman, with whom I have seven daughters and her husband never quit working before he had to get them married lay dead on the sheet. She broke her bangles on the ground crying holding her daughters blaming him for whom he could leave all of them alone.

People cried holding on there families. A woman sat with her infant in her hand, no emotions on her face. Just staring at her dead husband.

And then laid one man.
The man I know, the man I grew up with, the man who was always there for me and I was for him. Attached to each other's hip.
My brother, my everything. Someone I couldn't spend a day without.

He lay there stone cold, face and body wife like the blood was drained out of his system, the foam was covering his dried face. And my mother and father sat there with their hands on their heads.

I walked up to my brother, "Daman!?" I shouted at him. And he didn't move.

"Daman!" I said again, kicked him, "Wake up!" I told him!

I looked at Devakshaya who walked up to me and held me back, "Don't! Don't!" Devakshaya held me by my shoulders but I turned and hit his face.

"He is fucking asshole! Did he die alone? He promised me! We will go to the cities together! Work! And make our names! But motherfucker died alone!" I shouted at the betrayal I felt but deeper than that, with the realisation I had of his demise.

I broke down on my knees, "Motherfucker! Didn't even complete his promises before he died!"
I cried to him, and Daman's dead face stared straight at me with mockery.

"The canteen food was corrupted with the chemicals of the factory, after the leakage in the pipeline of the instruments above the cooked food," The head leader stepped in front explaining the situation.

"A cruel accident!"

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