Wicked fate, p.19
Wicked fate, page 19
The picture falls from her hand, onto the floor, joining the rest of them while her back hits the closet’s door. She shivers and shakes her head, unable to come to terms with the truth. She can’t comprehend that the sister she’s been spending time with is a murder. One capable of killing her own child in cold blood, and then running away as a coward. Tears gather in her eyes and she glares at me, then grounds out, “My sister is not a murderer.”
The conviction in her voice maddens me, and a rage takes over my body, making me shout, “She. Killed. My. Aryan. And then she ran away like a coward.” Crossing the distance between us, I slap my hand above her head. “It doesn’t make it any less true just because you don’t want to ruin her perfect image. Otherwise, you’re just as guilty.”
She flinches and shakes her head defiantly. “She can’t hide anymore. Is she living with you?”
She stays quiet and only cries harder. It pisses me off. “Fucking answer me.”
“What are you going to do to her?”
The words come easily. “I’m going to make her pay for her crimes.” Leaning down, I growl, “In blood.”
She slaps me hard on the face, and it does nothing to simmer down my rage. It makes me lose all the guilt I began to feel for bullying Maira, because she doesn’t deserve mercy either. Ria must have told her the truth if she’s feeling so hurt, and yet she keeps defending her, despite knowing her worst sins.
“Where is she, Maira?” I ask one last time.
“She’s dead.”
CHAPTER 26
MAIRA
The rage leaves his body, and his shoulders drop and his hand slips from above me as he absorbs my words, breathing them in. My tears blur my vision, but I don’t miss the pain in the depths of his full orbs, because despite how much he hates Ria now, there was once a time when he loved her. And that’s something that never fully goes away. It saddens me that he blames her for his son’s death.
“She hanged herself. I was the one who found her.”
As I say it out loud, the memories haunt me and flash me back to the night I discovered her hanging lifelessly. It’s a sight I can never forget. It chills me, and the hatred for myself that I buried deep comes rushing back, because I could have saved her, had I not been too late. It’s a regret and pain I live with each day, just like Arav has been for the past year.
Arav’s head hangs low as he stares hard at the ground like he wishes for it to swallow him up, but what sends chills down my spine is the bottomless pit in his dark eyes as he looks up at me and says with no emotion, “She deserved to die.”
No remorse. No shame as he speaks these words, and I’m stunned that hatred can run this deep. Even his earlier words still me. It has to be a misunderstanding, because Ria could never be a killer, much less of her own son. She never spoke of her life before she met us, and now I’m realizing why. She was always paranoid, and it all makes sense now. She was scared of Arav. Does this mean she did drown her son? Tears gather in my eyes.
“Get the hell out of room.”
“Arav,” I step towards him and pray he gives me a chance to explain instead of pushing me away. “Please just listen to me. You don’t know the full story,” I beg.
“Stop defending her. You know nothing, and now you’re just fucking useless,” he growls harshly.
“You’re just saying that to hurt me.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Always so fucking naïve. I told you it wasn’t fate that we met, princess. Can’t you see it?” I stare, clueless, and he continues. “I found a photo of the two of you together, which led me here.” He prowls closer, and I take one step back. “I only got close to you because I knew you would lead me to her, so I pushed you, toyed with you—which was fun—and so was fucking you. You were just a means to an end.”
I swallow the tears and the scream I want to let out, because the more he speaks, the more the puzzle pieces click into place. I feel betrayed and so fucking foolish that I didn’t see this coming. Why didn’t I listen to my gut? His words cut deep. My heart is torn, like he ripped it out of my chest. That’s how I feel. Broken and shattered. Bleeding all over the floor.
He got what he wanted all along.
“I told you I would break you, Maira.”
As soon as he’s closer, he wipes one of my tears and brings it to his mouth and tastes it. “Such sweet tears, and you’re wasting them on the wrong man.”
For the first time, I truly see him for the man he is. The worst kind who would go to any lengths for the false truths he believes in. Someone who is so lost in his own grief that he becomes his own worst enemy. I always thought he was just broken after losing his son, but maybe I was wrong. I have no one to blame but myself for not realizing his intentions after the clues were right in front me. For fuck’s sake, even Sasha warned me last night, but I gave into my feelings for him. I made the worst mistake. Falling in love with my enemy.
“You don’t see it now, but you will have one more regret in your pathetic life,” I say as I push myself away from him.
With that, I walk out and each steps brings me closer to despair and hopelessness. But I promise myself one thing. My fate will never become like his.
The moment I’m inside my room, I lock the door and will myself not to cry and fall apart. People pay for the sins of their fathers, and I’m paying for the sins of my dead sister. Even though he can’t see, I don’t want to give him the satisfaction that he broke me and that I’ll probably never trust anyone ever again. There’s nothing left for me here except regrets. I was running away from my past, only for it to cross my path once again.
Before I leave, I’m need to meet Sasha and say goodbye, so I pick up my phone and call her right away. She picks up on the first ring, and her worried voice comes through the speaker. “Please tell me you’re okay, Maira.”
“You were right. He was using me all along, and like a fool, I didn’t see it.”
“Babe, you’re not stupid for trusting him. He doesn’t deserve you,” she says consolingly. “Don’t blame yourself. His soul is filled with so much hurt and loss that he’s making mistakes he can’t come back from.”
“His fiancée was my half-sister, Sasha. And he blames her for his son’s death.”
She goes silent for a minute from the shock and curses. “Fuck.”
Stupid tears fall from my eyes as I laugh tragically. “Exactly. Hating each other is written in our fate. He warned me how this was going to end.”
“I’m so sorry, Maira.”
Taking a deep breath, I say, “I’m going back home. Just wanted to let you know.”
“I wish you didn’t have to, but I understand. Don’t lose touch with me otherwise, I’ll have to hunt you down,” she jokes.
“You’re always welcome to come stay with me, babe. Thank you for being such a good friend. You’re the only good memory I have left of here.”
“Same here.” Her voice hitches with emotion.
I hang up the phone and start packing my bags.
Since I didn’t bring much of my stuff here, it only takes me a few hours to pack all my belongings. And even though its light, I still feel heavy and burdened emotionally. It’s like I’m being crushed with no way to get back up. Life keeps throwing me into a spin the moment I start to breathe easily again, the moment I start to feel a bit of happiness. What did I do to deserve this?
I look around the empty space, it used to look so stunning with the view, and now I barely feel anything. The sky doesn’t give me hope, the snow doesn’t feel as pretty, and as my eyes close, Arav’s smirking face flashes behind them.
I’ve been proven right once again that life can instantly change in seconds.
My mind and body are still in shock as I robotically stand up, walk to the desk and leave a note for Arav. I don’t know if he’ll see it or not, but it’s my final words to him. As I write it, I don’t find any closure, just indifference. He’s robbed me of my emotions.
Switching off the lights, I walk out into the hallway. His door is closed and no sound comes from inside. He might as well not be here. My feet carry me forward and down the flight of stairs and then out the front door, where a cab that I booked earlier is already waiting for me.
The driver carries my luggage to put it into the trunk of his car. Suddenly, I sense a shift in the wind, and my instincts scream to turn around one last time. And like I have no control over my body, I twist around and look upstairs to the window on my right, only for my gaze to clash with Arav’s, who stares at me with blankness on his hardened and handsome face.
One lonely tear falls, and this time, it’s me who breaks our stare and leaves the cabin with my heart at his feet.
CHAPTER 27
MAIRA
Six months later
People chatter and murmur around me in hushed tones while a few stare at me, and others are too busy surfing on their phones. Anxiety claws my insides, and I take deep breaths to calm my racing heart and rub my sweaty palms on my jeans to curb the nervousness as everyone waits to hear me speak. Life has a way of pushing you into circumstances that you never see coming. Or running into people who turn you into a whole other person. My mom once said that you find your calling only once, and that decides the direction of your life. It’s always scary but will be worth it in the end. I finally found mine the day I visited the orphanage. And the aftermath.
Learning the truth opened my eyes and made me realize that I won’t let the bad times win. Instead, I’ll make something beautiful out of them. Like a rose blossoming despite the thorns. So I decided to call Meera at the orphanage to ask her to let me volunteer for them and make a difference, no matter how small. And in time, that led me here, standing in front of a crowd to try to educate them and help organizations such as ours. I’ve already travelled solo, so now it’s time I overcome another one of my fears: public speaking. Which I have never done in my life.
My parents were shocked when I cut my trip short, and for once, they didn’t hound me with questions because they could sense something major had happened. For the first few weeks, I walked around like a zombie or spent my whole day inside my room. To this day, I can’t say his name without the urge to bawl my eyes out and stay holed up on my bed. It made my parents feel helpless that I was trapped inside my own cage. I wouldn’t even talk to them. My father was already wary of me and didn’t know how to be around me.
Then one day, they both sat down and wouldn’t leave until I talked, and the more they insisted, the more I could feel their love for me, and it broke me down into tears.
“Sweetie, why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? Please talk to us,” says my mom worriedly while holding my hand.
“I fell in love with someone I shouldn’t have,” I whisper brokenly.
“Honey, it’s okay. Shh…” She comes closer and pulls me into her arms and rubs my back in soothing circles. The tears come harder, because it’s been ages since my mom has hugged me like this, and even though she’s still hurting herself, she puts me first. And so does my father, to whom my last words were that I never wanted to see him again. Yet I feel safe with him sitting close by, even though he’s quiet. His presence alone is more than enough for me.
“You’ll fall in love again, kiddo. You’re so young,” my mom says.
“He is Ria’s fiancé.” I say those words out loud for the first time in weeks. “He blames her for his son’s death, Ma. He was just using me all along to find her.”
“Did he harm you?” My father finally speaks, and there’s rage in his voice that I haven’t heard before. My head hangs low. “Answer me. What’s his name?”
“It doesn’t matter, Dad. It was my mistake to trust him.”
“Did he hurt you physically?” he asks again.
“No. he didn’t.” He broke my heart and soul into pieces. I don’t tell him that he had a private investigator looking into us and that he managed to find a picture of me with Ria. It will only make matters worse.
My mom shifts to the side as my dad moves closer and takes my hand in his, wiping my tears away like he used to when I was a kid. All the anger I felt for him this past year ebbs away, and I lean into him so he can take care of me. “I’m sorry for blaming you, Dad.”
“It’s all right, beta. I made a mistake in hiding Ria. She didn’t deserve me to abandon her. Had it not been for her mother, I would have kept her with me. I regret not fighting for her harder and helping her enough when she needed me.”
“I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
“Don’t blame yourself, sweetheart. Even when there are signs, you sometimes can’t save them. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t try. I saw how you took care of her and became her strength despite the circumstances. I thought she was getting better, but you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be,” says my dad with regret in his voice.
“Tell us everything, Maira,” coaxes my mom.
It all pours out of me—minus the intimate stuff. My parents listen as I tell how he would stay close to me, get me to talk about our family to gain my trust, and how he would be sweet and feed me half-truths. More importantly, the way he was so blind to the truth that he blamed the first person he could think of and wouldn’t be reasoned with, because then, he’d have to grieve his son, whom he failed in protecting. The more I talk, the more I see him in new light. He was lost and abandoned by the two most important people in his life.
Still, I can’t forgive him for the things he did to me, the games he played and the way he toyed with my heart. It stings that he didn’t even try to find me.
His words were just that… words.
He claimed I was his, and yet I didn’t even matter to him.
He let me go.
When I’m done, there are tears in my mom’s eyes while my dad fumes beside me. It only reminds me of the similarity between him and Arav. If my dad is upset by the thought of someone hurting, I can only imagine how Arav felt, believing his son was murdered.
My mom slides closer and hugs me. “You are brave, my love. It’s nobody’s loss but his for losing you. Sometimes, the demon’s hold is so strong that you can’t see the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I love you so much, Maira. I know it will be hard, but you need to focus on moving on, and we are going to be right here with you every step of the way.”
It took months, but I’m finally able to look towards the future, and I have been able to do it by focusing my energy into doing something that gives me hope and a sense of accomplishment. The more I thought about Arav and Ria and how their life took such a saddening turn, it made me realize that I never want any other parent’s story to end this way. Having a child with special needs is not a curse but a blessing. It just means you need to love them more and not let the odds decide their fate. I began working with NGOs that provided a home to kids with different syndromes, and who are abandoned by parents who become overwhelmed or scared of the responsibility.
In the beginning few weeks, I only did desk work that only required me to talk to people who visited the orphanages or parents looking to adopt and filling out paperwork. I also handled different social handles to raise awareness and help these NGOs raise funds. Still, there was a yearning inside me to take a risks and not let my fears win, so I began going to different fundraising events where I had to interact with others, and it helped me gain confidence day by day.
Today, I organized a fundraising event with the help of my parents at my house, and I’m proud of how tonight turned out. Some are friends of my parents, while others are those whom I invited through my network. It gives me pleasure that so many took initiative in helping this cause and making a difference in those children’s lives.
Taking a deep breath, I demand everyone’s attention. “Good evening everyone.” Everyone settles down. “I want to thank you all for coming here tonight and helping me raise funds for these children. This cause is very personal to me, as someone who meant a lot to me lost their child in a tragic way, and I saw how it affected them emotionally. It saddens me that there are a lot out there, just like my friend, who need our help.”
My eyes fall on my parents at the center in the front, watching me proudly while I speak. The support in their eyes gives me courage to keep going. “Most of the parents give up or abort their child because of the expenses alone or because of the pressure of their families. Some parents find out too late and don’t have the luxury to give them the best care, and that’s where I want to help, by raising awareness that these kids need love and strength the most. They are special and should be treated that way.”
I try to look into the eyes of as many people as possible, and suddenly, my breath stills when I see a man standing in the shadows, his stance familiar. But when I look back again, there’s no one there. It must be a figment of my imagination. “So, it is my sincere request if all of you help me by donating as much as you can and spreading the word so we can help raise these kids and even be able to find them homes with loving and caring families.”
