Twist of fate

Part 3

continued connection.

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On the other hand, Ragini, realizing it was noon, had to return home. However, she had lost her

phone and had no way to contact her family. Returning now would invite questions about her

whereabouts the previous night. As she pondered her next move, she decided to contact her

cousin brother, Rudra, despite their strained relationship. Surprisingly, his was the only number

she remembered.

She quickly called him from the cottage landline and urgently requested him to meet her.

Rudra, on the other end of the line, received her call with wide-eyed astonishment. It had been

eons since they last exchanged words, and here she was, dropping a bomb on his ordinary day.

"What happened to you?" Rudra asked, taking in her disheveled appearance.

"Long story," Ragini replied with a sly grin. "But before that, can you call home and say I've been

with you? I lost my phone, couldn't contact them, and you conveniently forgot to update them on

my whereabouts."

Rudra's eyes widened. "What do you mean to call them and inform? Wait, did you just spend a

night away from home? Oh, God, what a day I'm witnessing!"

Rudra was still grappling with the shock of it all when Ragini shut down his over-the-top

reactions. "Stop overreacting and do as I say."

"Why should I?" Rudra questioned, folding his arms.

"Rudra," Ragini called his name sternly.

"You better explain to me what you did and why you're away from home." Rudra said

When Rudra called Shekhar, Dadi was the most surprised to learn that Ragini had been at her

maternal family's home. Urgently, she requested Ragini's return.

With a triumphant smirk, Rudra turned to Ragini. "Now, spill! What's going on, and why are you

in this cottage?"

Taking a deep breath, Ragini explained about the whirlwind of events - Laksh's confession, the

romantic entanglements, and her own indecisiveness.

"What the heck! How could they, and how could you agree despite knowing what they did

wrong?" Rudra exclaimed in a dramatic tone, gesturing wildly.

Ragini, in stark contrast, remained surprisingly calm. "Don't tell me you're going to tolerate all

this and do nothing," Rudra added, still in his exaggerated tone.

"No, I am not tolerating it," Ragini declared.

"Then what have you decided on?" Rudra pressed.

Ragini, caught off guard, had no immediate answer. Rudra, seizing the opportunity to remind her

of some sound advice from the past, asserted, "You know, I said this to you four years back, and

I'm saying it again: your Dadi cares about her image, and your father cares about nothing but

himself. It's high time you take charge of your life and not agree to everything they say."

"You are our family, and my parents would never hesitate to support you. They already regret