ishita lied on the bed lifelessly, the white walls of her room only as pale as her. she hugged herself, burying her head onto her cushion, she lied on her right side, it was unclear who she was hiding from, as she was alone at home. her chest felt piercing through a throbbing pain, the agony was too painful for even the tears to come out. a vain attempt to close her eyes, only lead to her mother's face flash in front of her eyes. she opened her eyes in a blink, but she couldn't let go of what she saw, it all still remained in front of her eyes.
ishita, was back at her old home in the chawl, a house not even big enough to be a studio appartment, her mother was sitting by the stove, robotically making chapattis, as ishita was quietly making her notes on a notebook resting on her lap, while the textbook lay in front of her. savita looked over to her, gently with concern, as she placed the heated chapattis on the plate, next to the cooked moong dal.
"aaj jab main kaam karne gayi unke ghar, toh dushyant ka kamra band karke rakha hua tha unhone....bhaiya ne kaha ki woh unke liye mar chuka hai..." informed savita, in her usual tone, not even looking up to ishita, who was immediately alerted at dushyant's name.
"didi boli woh ghar chodke chala gaya....shayad kabhi na aayein....phone bhi nahi uthata hai....jaise ab uss parivaar ka hissa hi nahi hai..." stated savita, keeping the plate in front of ishita, as she sat right in front of her gaze.
"ishu, maine kabhi tujhe bahaut naazon se nahi paala hai...kaafi sakht rahi hoon tere saath bachpan mein, kyunki mujhe iss baat se nahi lena dena tha ki tujh mein woh ladkiyon waale sharam aur nakhre hoon, par iss baat se tha ki toh hamesha mazboot rahe andar se, tu kuch galat na sahe, aur kabhi kisise na darre...aaj joh mujhe pata chala tumhare baarein mein, main naraaz nahi hoon tumse, na hi mujhe dukh pahauncha hai tumse....tu aaj bhi, mera heera hai..." expressed savita in a firm tone what seemed to be the words from the bottom of her heart. ishita felt this relieving comfort, just the soothing she needed.
"beta, tumne galti nahi ki, pyaar galat kabhi ho bhi kaise sakta hai....par beta, yeh himmat zindagi mein hamesha rakhna, ki jab pyaar izzat cheen le, tu usse chod dena...chahe kitna bhi akela lage, main hoongi na..." assured savita, lovingly brushing her hand across ishita's head, as she hugged her mother tightly, closing her moist eyes, letting the embrace be her home.
ishita clenched tightly to the pillow, with only the feeling left with her, not her mother.
she recounted her mother's words, when a question striked her, why doesn't she have the courage to leave dushyant now?
A knock came on the door, as she now lied on her back, to see who it was.
her glance fell on dushyant, she saw this unusual sadness on his face, she was just used to seeing the guilt now. she sat up, as he took little steps, only to sit on the foot of the bed. he wasn't facing her, just looking down, she could only see his right side facing her.
he took a deep breath, as he covered his face, before uttering his next words in a whisper, she just knew beforehand, she had to hold her breath for this.
"woh bacha humara tha...." revealed dushyant, his voice low and heavy, as ishita froze in shock.
dushyant was sitting on the opposite end of the sofa, neelu was sitting on. he looked around, it was after all the house he grew up in, it left him bittersweet.
"kya baat hai...badi jaldi maa yaad aa gayi..." remarked neelu, the resentment and callousness in her tone was very apparent, but dushyant remained unfazed. he passed a paper on the coffee table, as neelu looked over to it, her face told the entire story of her guilt.
"mere aur ishita ke alaawa bas purvi aur kavin ko pata tha ki main aur ishita apna fertility test karwane jaa rahe the...maine joh semen sample diya tha usse collect karne ka notice clinic se ek hafte baad hi aa gaya tha, warna woh usse destroy kardete....aur yahan aapke signature hain, as someone who picked it up for me..." stated dushyant, as neelu remained unaffected.
"tum the uss waqt, maujud jab kavin ne namtej ko maara tha....in fact, tumne toh kavin ka saath diya tha usse maarne mein, well, you were the one right after kavin they all would come after, especially harman, namtej ki beti. she agreed to help me take out kavin and his child from purvi's life, but she wanted your life too...i thought ki shayad woh ishita ko nuksaan pahaunchne tak pe maan jayein..par nahi, she was consumed by revenge, so i thought ki i would convince ishita and purvi to come after you both, and trade to get ishita shot in front of you after revealing that the child she aborted, was yours...in front of you, she wanted ki tum dono andar se marroo isse pehle woh tumhe maare....aur main usse maarne waali thi, ki woh tumhe maarti usse pehle...aur maine wahi kiya...my priority was to save you and purvi, tumhare papa ko kuch ho jaata woh bhi chalta.." revealed neelu, blunt in her tone, leaving dushyant shocked at how cold his mother could be.
"par ishita ki kya galti thi?" questioned dushyant, just startled.
"nothing...she just made an easy victim...her mother, though, was an unwanted one..." replied neelu reflexively, her eyes unmoved, as dushyant was completely disillusioned, he and ishita never had to fight the world, it was his own family.
ishita felt a drop of tear finally, rolling down her eye, as she found dushyant rubbing his moist eyes.
"dushyant, kya yeh sab khatam hone ke liye humein se kisiko hi marna padega?" questioned ishita, as dushyant looked at her helplessly, facing the conundrum himself.
***
author's note: hey guys, so sorry, i disappeared for a long time, but i was dealing with something very unnerving in my personal life during the past month and found myself unable to write. with my emotional state right now, i felt more comfortable updating this story first, but i promise regular updates for both stories now, and in fact finishing one of them by june and starting a new one, for further updates, so stay tuned.
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THE LIGHT WE NEVER SAW 2
Fanfiction8 months later, as kavin and purvi celebrate their expected newborn, this happiness is completely snatched away from them, as purvi has a miscarriage from a rape she never even knew of. things only get worse for ishita and dushyant, as ishita has co...
