Advay settled in the chair at the far end of his study. He escaped to the tranquility of his room before dawn, to gather his thoughts. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the backrest as the weight of the events over the past few days came crashing upon him.
He couldn’t understand or control the conflicting emotions he experienced over the past two weeks. The constant battle between heart and mind took a toll on him. And the more time he spent with Chandini, the more he saw a different person altogether. Either his mind was playing tricks or Chandini was.
Her bonding with his family members, especially Adi, couldn’t be faked, can it? How can a person be so kind and generous in doling out affection towards unknown people, yet give away her own child for adoption without any hesitation? It still puzzled him and disgusted him all at once. Her being a cruel and insensitive mother cemented his belief regarding her motive years ago. She was his friend and yet gave away his secret location to the mob! She played with people’s emotions and he had the strong urge to protect his family from that.
His heart questioned if he was wrong in his assumption but his mind warned him of falling into a yet another trap set by her. After all, she was determined not to leave until her sisters were settled, right? What better way than to earn everyone’s sympathy, love and affection and make him the bad guy? That way when she left, she would get a good chunk of alimony, get her sisters settled and get her family pride restored. And he will end up the loser in the game that he started and she would go scott free for all her evil deeds. All part of her elaborate plan, eh? The Dev in him denied this vehemently but Advay couldn’t dismiss the notion.
There was one thing that didn’t fit right though. The stampede. He had this nagging feeling that it was a front used to attack his wife. He employed a private Investigator to look into the matter. What he couldn’t understand was his necessity to prove it. Was it to protect her from imaginary enemies or was it to convince himself that she wasn’t behind this? That somehow this was her master plan that went awry?
But what he saw gave a different picture. The trauma that Chandini went through felt real. Her whole demeanor spoke of it. Her trembling body and her terrified orbs were witness to the ordeal she went through. But at the same time he couldn’t dismiss the fact that this was all an act to grab his attention and make her seem the victim.
Either way, he should take sadistic pleasure seeing her in pain, shouldn’t he ?!! She was his Number One enemy, but somehow seeing her suffer day in and day out made him uneasy. What’s worse, he felt this strange need to comfort her and sooth her worries away.
Their shared space over the last few days brought some sort of harmony. There was an unknown understanding between them. He called a temporary truce to figure things out, he reasoned. But the fact remained that he couldn’t stop himself from spending time in close proximity of his wife. He would use the excuse to adjust her pillow to come into physical contact with her and observe her at close quarters. There were a couple of occasions where he felt an emotional connect with her. He dismissed it immediately and convinced himself that it was nothing but mere physical attraction.
He released a frustrated sigh as once again his thoughts were scattered all over the place and his observations remained inconclusive. It would be, until he came across sufficient evidence to prove his theory.
His telephone buzzed and he leaned over to grab it. His Maasi’s name flashed on the screen and he wondered why she was calling him at this time of the day.
‘Advay, you brilliant boy!!!! What a plan you have devised! I’m so proud of you!’ his maasi exclaimed as soon as he answered.
He frowned a little before asking what she meant by it.
She seemed very much excited to convey her assumptions in words. ‘ I thought you softened towards Chandini after the stampede. But I was wrong. I know now that you are using this excuse to get close to her. Make her believe that you have actually fallen for her. And then humiliate and dump her when the time is right, so that she leaves on her own. What a superb plan!! This way Maa doesn’t suspect a thing and will only despise Chandini at the end of it. One stone, two birds. Wonderful job, Advay! God bless you!’
He was shocked to hear his Maasi’s view of things. His tongue was glued and though he wanted to refute her claims, he couldn’t.
He realized that he was living in a fantasy world for the past two weeks. His Maasi stuck to their agenda wherein he didn’t. And this was a much needed wake up call.
And just like that an improvisation to his maasi’s plan started to take shape in his mind.
The Dev in him urged not to implement it until he had solid proof that Chandini was behind the attack herself. But Advay was ruthless and didn’t need proof of her innocence now. All he needed was proof of her misdeeds back then and he had plenty. And he wanted her punished badly for it. The stampede only stalled the process of retribution.
He recollected her scheming ways and her ability to act innocent later on to misguide people. After all, didn’t she stage her own kidnapping a year and half ago? And feigned PTSD in order to escape public eye since she was pregnant with her lover’s child. Yes, a master at deception!
And that brought him back to reality with a thud and put an end to his introspection from earlier on. He surged forward with his maasi’s plan with renewed vigor.
‘Thank you , Maasi! I’m planning to correct the media first by announcing Chandini as my wife. And then throw a party to introduce her to everyone in our circles. Earn her trust and dump her brutally. And when I take the final step she will come to know that I’m Dev. The impact will be immense and the revenge much sweeter. Let me put it in motion now, maasi. Lots of work to do.’ He said, a malicious smile gracing his lips.
‘I’m so sorry for misunderstanding you, beta. I was furious that you lost track of our plan. I couldn’t digest seeing you all lovey-dovey with her. Hence planned a trip to the US to escape it. But you have outdone yourself. So proud of you! See ya!’ so saying, she disconnected the call.
Advay looked at the blank screen for a long time. His heart gave him a warning that what he was about to do was erroneous in many different ways. But he ignored it deliberately and called his Private Investigator to stop the his work right away. He wired him a generous sum for his time and got up to make his way towards his bedroom.
How could he love her and want to destroy her at the same time? he wondered. He convinced himself that love and hatred were two sides of the same coin and that right now he needed to put a leash on love to achieve the goal that hatred had set out for him.
What he didn’t realize was that he was about to tarnish a beautiful relationship beyond repair in his quest for revenge. And the biggest price he would pay was losing the woman who loved him. That was the punishment he would have to endure for the blunder he was about to commit.
TBC..
P.S.
Hello to all you lovely souls out there! Hope you are all keeping well! I would like to apologize for this huge delay in posting an update. Was caught up in my familial and professional responsibilities and couldn't find the time and inspiration to continue writing this fiction. I'm Thankful to you all for being very patient.
I don't think I've done justice to this chapter. Hope what I tried to convey was understood. Will try my best to pen the next chapter in a better way. Kindly excuse.
Thank you all for your continued support and understanding. Will try and update soon. Until then...tata
