"Congratulations. I hope you liked my wedding present."
My jaw clenched at his deep yet mocking voice. He was just purely odious. The nerves this guy has sometimes confounded me. What was I even expecting?
I was on the verge of breaking his nose and dumping his body into the vast sea. But then I realized why I am here.
"Let's get this straight, Shubham. After all these years of torment, you put me through what more do you want from me?" I asked in a way that would put anyone in shame but unfortunately, he wasn't just anyone.
And shame? God no, hell will freeze if this guy ever encountered that emotion in his life.
"Oh? I did? Sorry, I don't think I remember kicking you out of the house. Maybe my memory is just blurry but if it serves right, it was your so-called Papa who did the honors." That nerves wrecking and taunting smile never left his mouth as my fists tightened at the side of my hips.
"Don't even think about it." I said through gritted teeth. "I am not that naive teenager and I will not entertain your manipulations."
He shrugged. "You were never easy to manipulate in the first place."
"So you chose to manipulate everyone else who wasn't me." I spat feeling the itch on my hands that begged to be curled in a death grip around his neck.
"Being calculative, now are we?" He chuckled. It was dark and sinister. One which didn't invite any joke but the kind which made your skin crawl.
"Just answer the damn question. Why am I here? What do you want now? What is the purpose of reopening that case? You yourself made sure it was closed right away and now you are ready to open it? Why?"
"I love the way you are always so talkative around me. They say only the people who deserve us bring out the best in us."
It makes me so irritated that he is stalling my time. This is the moment when I was supposed to visit Shrishti's school with Vivaan. After the heartwarming breakfast at the Singhania mansion, I was free today. But no, this guy had to call me here and dare I say bring out the worst in me.
"The only person I ever deserved in my life is my husband. And you better stay within your limits. I still very clearly remember how you fooled me into stupidity years ago." I pointed a finger at him sharply. My patience was thinning with each passing second and he very well knows it.
"Your husband. Yes, I know him. A very good doctor he is, saved my father two years back. And God, did I feel like snapping his neck into two? But I am sure you wouldn't like to hear that would you, Mayra?" He raised his eyebrows.
It was taking me my all to not literally kill him right now. "What?"
"Oh yes, Baba passed on last year due to a heart attack." Fake but as real as his sadness might look, he wiped the imaginary tears from his eyes.
"You are a monster." I shook my head in disbelief.
"You are too eager to judge me, love. Trust me, it had nothing to do with me. I mean we just discussed how his dear daughter went into a coma. That's all. I didn't even touch him. Now, what's my fault if he had a faint heart?"
I still can't believe how I overlooked this wickedness in the past. Everything was right in front of me and I foolishly fell into the same trap twice. Might even turn thrice if he decides to kidnap me now. But I am sure that's not what he wants or I would not be standing here today.
"Abha was your sister! How could you do that to her?" I yelled angrily. Even though we were not exactly on friendlier terms back then, Abha is still one of the people I am grateful for in my life. The only remorse I have is that I couldn't help her myself.
"She was a betrayer. She deserved it." He looked me in the eye and I could see the storm building in his black orbs.
"And so what? You shot a bullet in her head?!"
"As I said, she had it coming." He gritted lowly as his jaw clenched and eyes turned sharp, slipping off the mask of pretense just for a second before regaining his composure.
Just as I was wondering what he would do next, he took a few steps in my direction. I instinctively backed away. He made me nervous for a good enough reason to run for the hills. I am pretty sure he noticed that too.
"Relax, I am not going to hurt you." He said, stopping in his tracks and I scoffed.
"And you think I believe that? After you drugged me twice, almost killed me once, and made me homeless? No way."
"Fine. Have it as you may like." A soft sigh left his mouth making me surprised for a while. Why is he behaving so willingly?
I wish I could say he has not changed at all after these many years but anyone who sees him right now can confirm that yes, he has changed a lot. I don't know for better or worst he is a lot more patient now and a lot less reckless.
It shouldn't bother me but for some reason it does. It conveys a message that he has become more dangerous to deal with. He definitely has something up his sleeves. I just hope I know how to come out of this mess without much damage.
The short boxed beard he has grown changed his features completely. I am not sure I would have recognized him at first glance if he had strolled past me on a road or something. The last time I saw him he was clean-shaven. Now the beard gave him a more mature and rough look. So much so that people would actually consider him as some renowned figure.
"I think we have met before." I said suddenly.
Yeah, now if I remember, he seems familiar. Where did I see him recently?
I immediately racked my brain in search of him but before I could think more he himself revealed it.
"Day before yesterday at the club, when you were celebrating your bachelor's party. I was there." He said and my eyes widened.
"It was you." My eyes trailed him up and down. I couldn't believe it was really him. What a creep.
The thought of us together at some unknown place where even if I wanted I couldn't do anything threatens me to my core. What if something had happened? What would I have done then? Thank God, Vivaan came immediately afterward. To put it simply, I could never trust Shubham on anything.
He played dirty to his own sister, who was I to take him lightly?
"You seriously can't hold your liquor, can you?" He joked as if I was not someone who wouldn't think twice before murdering him but an old friend.
"You put Abha into a coma, Shubham. For how many years? Seven or eight something? Have you got no conscience? No guilt? No regret? After all, she was your own sister. Wait is she still in a coma?" I asked in shock as my hand slammed against my mouth in horror.
"Now, don't act like you care Mayra. You know you don't. You never did." He snapped and for a fraction of a second I felt hatred rolling off his voice in waves, that I am sure would send me flying across the globe.
"That's not true." I said, nervously.
I was taken aback by him and I got chills when I saw the glare on his face. I stumbled back a little remembering that unfortunate day when he kidnapped me. He had the same expression when I was running away from him while he stood beside his bleeding sister. At least he didn't follow me.
He liked making me scared. That's what best he does anyway.
"And who are you to judge me? You played me in the worst way possible! You took everything from me and made me a culprit of unfiliality. The house I called mine for 19 years and the parents I thought loved me unconditionally, you snatched them right from my life in some mere hours. What do you think that made me? An orphan? No. It killed me. It killed that Mayra who was always dependent on her parents, and her brother. It killed that naive girl who thought life couldn't possibly be any worse. It killed that girl who still searched for good in people." I went on and on.
He was right. I am talkative around him. But that's only because I hate him. I hate him so much that I can't help but remind him how much misery he brought into my life.
"Why am I even telling you this? I am sure you were delighted seeing me get humiliated and emotionally stripped bare in front of my parents. The disgust and disappointment in their eyes must have swelled your chest in happiness." I gritted and he looked down at the sandy ground before again looking into my eyes.
"You brought it on yourself, Mayra." He smiled. "And I know what you are trying to do here, love. So, don't try to blame every single thing on me when you know it takes two to tango. Your distrustful family didn't ask for my opinion when they kicked you out. Granted, actions speak louder but trust is not something that can be overturned in as you may call it, 'some mere hours'."
"Don't you dare conceal your doings under my family issues."
"I was just stating facts." He said calmly.
"Your stating facts and manipulation have no difference whatsoever."
A sly smirk came across his face as he leaned a little closer to me. "Good to know. At least I can manipulate my way through anything. The same can't be said about you though. I mean you acted pretty stupidly back then. But I guess emotions make you stupid. Or should I say, family?" He chuckled. "You were damn emotional that day."
"What do you mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him. This psychotic bitch.
"You stupid girl. Your parents caught us red-handed, half naked in your own bedroom. Of course, they would be angry. On top of that, you bluntly said that nothing happened between us. Then what were we doing, cuddling? I mean we were, practically but no one knows that, right?" Seeing his non-apologetic smirk, I did the best thing I was waiting to do for ages.
I slapped him. And god, was it satisfying to watch his right cheek turn left with the force? Believe me, it was.
"You should be grateful, I wasn't in a state to send you to jail for what you did to me years ago." Wiping my nose with the help of my sleeves, now I wish, I did back then.
I heard him snorting in humor as if what I said was a big joke and muttered something under his breath. If I am not wrong it sounded something like, 'I wish'. As if on cue, his sharp gaze met mine and I gulped.
"I'll take that slap, love. For what it's worth, your hand touched my cheek willingly." He still smiled.
"You disgust me." I shook my head in disbelief. How can someone commit so many crimes yet sleep peacefully at night? Especially someone like him.
"Well, that still brings me back to 7 years ago when you were crying hysterically and begging your parents to believe you. You saw the distrust, disappointment, and whatnot in their eyes. But you know what I saw?" He asked wickedly, his words playing with my mind.
"Stop it." I trembled.
"I saw the desperation in their eyes. The eager wait for you to accept your mistake and admit your fault. You know the desperation only a parent can show? For when the child finally realizes what she did was wrong and apologizes for the same, they can immediately haul her back in their arms and tell her that it was okay to make mistakes. They were waiting for you to accept it and plead sorry. All it needed was a little compromise and nothing would have changed. But the irony is love, you kept denying it till your last moment in that house. You complain that they didn't understand you, but my sweet, Mayra. Did you ever try to understand them? Thought the way they think?-"
"If you are done trying to pin me down on it, please shut up. I don't need your thesis on this." I don't know why but I felt like crying right now. And I am sure if I blinked a few more times anyone would notice the tears running down my cheeks.
"No? I thought we were playing the blaming game."
His every single word sting my ears like pointed needles and I wanted the earth to swallow me whole so that I wouldn't have to hear his bullshit. I know he is just trying to rile me up. But the possibility of what he said actually making sense drives me crazy. No, It can't be true right?
It wasn't my fault, everything was ruined, was it? I am not to be blamed for my own destruction, right? He is a liar! A deceiver! A poor excuse of a human being!
"Why did you do it? What did you gain by making me so miserable?" My voice cracked. It was barely audible to my own ears as I clutched his arm in a tight hold. My nails were digging into his skin painfully but he didn't stop me from drawing out blood from his body.
No matter how much I restrained myself and tried holding myself back, the volcano inside my heart erupted on its own. I felt myself burning from inside and out.
All my life I had spent days and days wondering, what exactly happened. Where did it all go wrong? How come one moment I was happy and the second homeless? Most importantly why did it happen? Who's fault was it? Shubham? My parents? Or me?
It wasn't easy. No, not at all. To travel to a different country with no parental support, and no family. Heck! There wasn't even moral support, to begin with. All I had was my broken self, some cash, and important documents.
From taking loans to working my ass off I did everything I could so that I wouldn't have to beg on the streets. For one whole year, I was on a constant pedestal. I changed from place to place, met some horrible people, cried at night then again got up in the morning with a smile on my face, went to university, went to work, again cried at night again woke up with a smile, and again and again repeated the same cycle.
And suddenly this guy has the nerve to tell me that I brought it on myself? Did some mad dog bite me or what? Why would I go through so much for nothing? It wasn't some sort of adventure I would recommend to anybody living on this planet.
Hearing my question, he raised an eyebrow at me. His sight went towards my hand and I saw the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He probably thought I was amusing him. Or maybe the significance of my doubts had no effect whatsoever on him.
Out of nowhere, he caressed my hand that was on the very intent of ripping his flesh off and as if treating a fragile piece of artifact, he carefully unclutched my fist. I didn't want to let loose but his touch on my hand sent shivers down my spine which ultimately led me to snatch my hand right back from him.
"You said it was revenge." I said. "But I can't see where you're coming from! I don't think I have done anything to you that could result in me getting subjected to such a filthy ploy. What's even the point? I know I didn't reciprocate your feelings but I made it clear in a very respectful way. By getting me out of the house and degrading me in front of my whole family, did you really think I would come running back to you? I mean come on, you know me. I am not that petty."
"I feel extremely sad knowing that you have some misconceptions, love. It was never my intention to make you come running back to me." He answered in a calm tone.
"Then why?" I asked, frustrated.
"You see, you disrupted my life as badly as I did yours. And I really don't like to owe someone, keeping my business unfinished is the last call." He said nonchalantly, putting his hands into his pockets.
"But what did I do to you? Hurt your feeling? Get over it man, you never loved me. You were obsessed with me." I ridiculed and he took a thoughtful breath.
"Hmm... Maybe." He nodded. "Who cares?"
I gaped at him as he looked at me in self-possession. Do my words not affect him? I just said he didn't love me. If it was him back then, he must have been livid by now.
"What happened to you?" I asked, bewildered. It happened fast. Before I could even think the question was already out of my mouth.
He simpered, blinking innocently. "Why, are you worried, love?"
"You wish." I sent him a deadly glare and he sneered.
"Well, that's not what I called you to discuss, anyway. What I want from you is pretty simple." He folded his hands and stood in front of me authoritatively as I waited for him to continue.
That whole five seconds of silence was highly strung. I could feel my hands being sweaty and my legs shaking due to anticipation. What does he want from me?
"I want you to rot in jail."
"What?" I asked in shock.
"You heard me." He replied.
"No, I did not!" I yelled. "What do you mean by rot in jail? And for what? I am not a criminal."
"Why don't you leave that to me? All you have to do is follow my instructions and everything will set back right."
"This is absurd!" I exasperated. "Why should I follow you? And why the fuck should I go to jail? If there is anyone who should, then it's you!"
"Yes? Then maybe you would prefer your daughter to go to jail." He said. "Right, Mayra?"
I froze. Right when he mentioned Shrishti, my body stopped working. I couldn't think, couldn't process and it was hard for me to even understand what he was saying.
"What are you talking about?" I asked slowly.
He smirked, taking out his phone from the pocket of his pants and passing it to me. I took the phone from him wordlessly. What I saw shook me completely. My breath hitched and I forced myself to inhale long after watching the video. Tears sprang noiselessly from my eyes as I returned the phone to him with my trembling hands.
He appeared to be unusually composed. I hated it. I hated how he just turned my life upside down again and still had the guts to stand in front of me and look me in the eye without any remorse. I hated how he always made me feel so helpless and miserable.
"That was so cold-blooded of her. Indeed she is your- wait whose daughter is she again?"
He knows. He fucking knows.
My jaw clenched and I knew I was already devastated. There was no use in deleting the video. He wouldn't come without a backup, anyway. "Shut up."
"Yeah, a gangster's daughter. Isn't that right, Mayra?" He mocked, cocking his head to the side and giving me a meaningful look. "I mean, she didn't even blink before smashing someone's head with a rode. A bit messy, I think but too daring for a six-year-old."
My arm lunged forward and instantly wrapped around his neck in a deadly grip. I made sure to put extra effort there and squeezed his trachea with an evident warning. My eyes that were shooting daggers toward him did not take him back but my actions sure did as he stumbled back a bit in surprise.
"Careful there, you fucker. Otherwise, it might be your head that will get busted for good now. And trust me when things concern my daughter, I don't mind being messy at all."
Because of the pressure on his windpipe, he struggled to breathe, and to be brutally honest, it gave me a weird kind of satisfaction.
Yeah, struggle more you asshole. Struggle the way I did. Struggle to breathe, to live, to gain control over your own body. Struggle in the same manner I did when I woke up from my nightmares– The nightmare you gave me. If it was even the ounce of struggle you faced in your life compared to mine, maybe I would feel a little bit merciful.
No, I am joking. He doesn't deserve any mercy.
"Leave." He gritted, looking down at my hand that was stubbornly fixated on crushing his neck.
"No, you listen to me. I am not your fucking puppet. I will not follow your commands and I will definitely not entertain your blackmailing. That video doesn't scare me. What Shrishti did was self-defense. If you plan on using that to control me, you are playing a losing game."
"Get off!" He pushed me away and coughed violently. "Don't take my patience as my weakness, Mayra. If I lose it, even I don't know what I'll end up doing."
"What will you even do? Kidnap me again? Try to forcibly marry me? Or maybe drug me so that you can take advantage of my unconsciousness?" I shouted in rage and saw him getting angry too.
"I won't do anything to you. You will do everything on your own. And that too without any complaints, got it?" He asked and his tone was extremely ugly. If that was even possible.
"What if I don't?"
"That's a question I suggest you keep far away from your mind. Or it will not even take a few minutes for me to make this video viral on social media. Self-defense or not, your daughter will face the consequences of her actions. I am sure you know how sensitive kids are. Her future will be ruined. And this might be just a cherry on top, but the brother of the guy she killed is searching for his brother's killer. He is a very dangerous man, Mayra. And he will stop at nothing before he has her blood on his hands." He said coldly.
"What the fuck are you saying?" I questioned. Please someone tell me he is lying. Please.....
"They work in human trafficking, both of them. Your daughter was lucky last time that she was saved before anything could happen. If you were even a minute late, you could imagine what would have happened. Or what will happen if you still don't listen to me on this. You possibly can't keep her safe for the rest of her life, Mayra. If she is anything like you, she will not agree either."
"So you are telling me that the reason behind my daughter's kidnapping was You? You planned it? How dare you, you filthy gangsters?!" I shouted in a blind rage.
"I am not a gangster." He held my shoulders and sneered at my face. "I am someone far worse than that. I can do a bloody massacre and get away with it without a single scratch. You don't wanna mess with me, love. You will regret it."
My head is spinning. What the hell is going on? How did I end up in this mess?
"I will not-" I started but he cut me off almost instantly.
"Yes, you will. You will go home today and spend your evening with your family. Tomorrow you will wake up, file for divorce and admit that you tried to kill my sister eight years ago. You left her bleeding in an abandoned warehouse while you ran off to cover your tracks. You can make up a story about being jealous of her. Knowing you two never got along they won't doubt." His voice contained that vengeance that made me shudder in fear.
Fear of what he was capable of doing.
"It doesn't make any sense!" I cried. I don't agree with him at all. I can't give in to him. But I can't underestimate him either. He can do anything. Literally anything.
"Once they see the evidence, it will. All you have to do is pay for your sins peacefully in jail for the rest of your life." He said as if he had it all planned long ago.
"Are you insane?"
"Don't try to test my patience, love. I am not in a state to hold myself back anymore. Whatever sane part of me resided left my soul long ago. So you better do as told or it will end very badly. Trust me, I mean it."
He actually appeared to be inhuman. So cruel and merciless. He changed for the worse. I wish I never met him.
"I hope you rot in hell." I spat hatefully.
"Don't blame me. You were right. It's a losing game. And you started right at the wrong end the moment you stepped foot in India, the moment you got engaged to that bastard and married him thinking that it was your happily ever after. My sweet, Mayra. How come you forgot me? Where I exist how can happiness ever greet your little family?"
Oh no. No way! Not that look in his eyes again. Not that mysterious obsession taking over again! I can't handle this!
"Oh so, this was all it was about, huh? Some shitty idea of, if I can't have you no one can?" I asked, disgusted by him.
He shrugged carelessly. "Think whatever you want. Just don't do the mistake of underestimating me. And don't even think about telling anyone anything. I won't tolerate any unnecessary hindrance."
"I did not agree to anything." I said aloud, and he raised his eyebrows, daring me to continue.
"We will see about that when the time comes, won't we?" He smirked fully, knowing how much damage he just caused me and was about to leave towards his car before I stopped him.
"You know, you should have just done it." I looked down at the sand.
We were at the sea but today it was unusually empty. Even the heavens knew how bad of an omen it was today.
He turned around and gave me a confused look. "Done what?"
I met his gaze and stared deeply. "Raped me. You had the opportunity. If you were so obsessed with me, you could have just used me and gotten over with whatever that was holding you back to me."
To give it a thought if that was the case things would have been a lot easier to deal with.
He stood frozen for a minute before walking towards me. His cold palm touched my warm cheeks as he caressed the area under my ear with the help of his thumb. It was taking my all to not slap his hand away. But I awaited his response. I have been for so many years now.
"If I wanted a whore to fuck, I would have bought myself one. It wasn't just your body I wanted, Mayra. And you know it." He whispered. And then gripped my chin tightly, raking his eyes over my every feature. Probably memorizing for the last time.
I hope it's the last time.
"Plus, why would I make things easier for you? You could have pressed charges on me and sent me to jail. And of course, your family would have supported you. The risk was not worth it." He added with a devilish smirk, backing away from me.
"You truly are a monster." I bite the inside of my cheeks at the fact that he was such a cunning mastermind.
"On the contrary, maybe I am not that monstrous you think I am, love. But feel free to make me your villain, if that's what keeps you sane." He chuckled, entering his car and rushed towards the highway, leaving me behind in the dust.
With a mocking chuckle that he left behind, my ears ached due to the noise that was not ready to leave my head. His words reminded me why I was suffering so much. His every single gesture made me realize how helplessly deep I was fallen into the black hole that he seeped into my already dysfunctional life.
How was I going to tackle him? Should I tell Vivaan? No, I can't take the risk. He will be worried because of me. But anyway what I will do will make him a hundred times tense too.
No no. Shrishti's future is at stake. One wrong step will wreck everything. Gosh!
I cried, slumping down on the ground.
What the fuck will I do now?
I kept sobbing for minutes until I got a message from Vivaan asking for my whereabouts. I wiped away my tears hastily and got up.
Yeah, it's a losing game. But I haven't lost yet, have I?
___________________________________
Ok that was too much to absorb.
But what do you think Mayra will do?
A mother's love can be strength but it can also turn into weakness for some.
Btw. What do you think about Shubham? Lemme know.
Until next time....