Cure To My Aching Soul

37.Barbarity

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Silence,the most dreadful yet powerful tool.Questions started interrupting the dead silence that had occupied my brain.I wasn't confident enough to seek answers to the questions which would probably hurt Shivaay.

"I had no idea Anika.I wasn't ignorant,there were no signs.He wooed my sister with his pretentious tactics.She was so happy to have found a man who was caring,gentle and benevolent in nature.Saanvi and I had fell for his facade.A monster who was inhumane and an utter disgrace on humanity,had seeped his claws within our burrow and we didn't catch a whiff of his monstrous personality."

"How did you meet him?"I asked,cursing the moment they met.

"It was initially the days when my company was just a startup.There was a conference where a bunch of investors would invest on a startup foundation which showed efficiency during it's formative years.His father was one among the board of investors.My startup showed the proficiency to land up a deal and his father was one of the main investors.That's where I met him.A moment that I loathe and detest.I wish I never attended it.How can I not blame myself when I was the one who introduced his monstrous presence in my sisters life."

"Shivaay,we are a product of our past but it's up to us if we still want to be prisoners of it.It was beyond your power to have known him or prevented his presence.You can't foresee the future,it wasn't in your hands to prevent it."I placed my arms around him,providing him the comfort he needed.

"This moment resonates within me like a second heart,Anika.Every time I close my eyes,a series of 'what if' explodes my conscience.My sister might have been alive and well,if I was bit more aware perhaps bit more responsible.There was still time,I could have prevented it.I never maintained any contact with him after the conference as it was his father who was my investor but after a few years,his father died.That brute took over his father's position.I should have known"

"There was no way for you to know-"he didn't let me finish.

"There was,only if I had looked closer.There were speculations that he was the one who had killed his father but I dismissed them as mere rumors.The doctors stated the reason for death as an heart attack and the thought of a son killing his father was unimaginable for someone like me.But I forgot that the world does consist of devils and the thought of having your parent dead isn't far from imaginable for some cruel savages."

I flinched at the thought of it.How often do we not dismiss a notion just because it's not something we can ever think of.We forget that the world is still a place where barbarians like Rehaan exist.

"He was a perfect performer,deceitful as they come.Initially he came across as someone who was just misunderstood and I thought rumors were  spread due to jealousy as they are very common in our line of work.We worked together on a deal and that was the time when I completely fell into his pit without even realising it.I invited him over for Riddhi's marriage anniversary party.That's where he met both of my sisters.I thought he would be a good match for Saanvi and I was the one who introduced them.I was nothing more than a puppet and I never realised that he held the strings."

A series of events that lead to something outrageous and no matter how much he insists,it wasn't in his power to have known it before hand.I looked over at Shivaay and all I could see was his rage,wrath in his eyes,his guilt and the ultimate loss of a person he loved beyond boundaries.I could feel all his emotions as they mirrored mine.Now I knew why it was difficult for him to open-up to me.He was reliving every moment as he recollected.I wasn't sure if I had done the right thing by persuading him to tell his past.

"I did run a background check and there wasn't any criminal record or situations where he might have misbehaved.That was my mistake as I forgot there is nothing in this world that can't be hidden or erased.Meanwhile that bastard had my sister by her strings.I should have known,there is  more to a person than what he decides to show to the world.I got blindsided and my ignorance cost me a life,a life I would have traded even if it meant my death.I would die if it meant that my Saanvi could live again."

I knew that no amount of consoling would heal his wounds.All he needed was for someone to listen and understand the loss he faced and the injustice that was done to his sister.An injustice that no woman has to ever go through.

I enclosed my arms firmly around him.He leaned in closer as his tears flowed down on his cheeks without a pause.Grief of losing someone you love is infinite and no amount of time can completely heal the wounds.Time will probably help you move but with a limp.But to walk as before is only a question that can't be answered.It was his soul that was weeping and my soul could feel his grief.

"How did it happen?"I finally asked.

"After one month since they met.Saanvi had planned a sleepover with her friends.Sleepover was like a ritual to them and that night Saanvi was supposed to spend it in her friend's place.I had an inkling that night and therefore I dropped her myself to her friends house though she knew how to drive.After four hours of dropping her I received a call from her friend.That single call changed everything.Apparently,Rehaan had picked  Saanvi from her friends house in the name of showing her a place that he was building for them to stay,once they got married.Saanvi's friends found nothing suspicious as Rehaan was Saanvi's boyfriend by then.After a few hours when they called Saanvi to know when she was returning,Saanvi didn't pick her phone and neither did Rehaan.That's when her friends decided to call me."

"The inkling that I had,only grew with time.I went to Rehaan's home but it was locked.I called  Riddhi and informed her about everything.By then  me,Riddhi and Randheer were searching every place possible and had already filed a complaint in the police about Saanvi missing.It was after four more hours when I got a call from Saanvi's cell.It was an old man who had found my sister in a naked state,inside a construction site.He was appointed by the site owner to keep an eye on the building as they had stopped the construction due to financial issues.I often wondered what if the old man had come by a few hours earlier,would he have been able to save my sister,I will never know."

"Saanvi went with Rehaan and his friends, in his car only because she trusted Rehaan.She trusted my ability to judge a person's character.She was confident that her brother would always keep her safe and Rehaan was someone I trusted.Trust is fragile and I doubt if I can trust myself anymore."He said.

The horror of that night sent shivers down my spine.What was it like for Shivaay and Riddhi to find out their sister had been molested and what must have it been for Saanvi,I couldn't think.My eyes grew damp and the mere thought of it made me frightful for just being born as a woman in a world where barbarians like Rehaan exist.

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