Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-69: The Endless Path of Greed.

Once a criminal, always a criminal. Every person has a routine, parts of that routine turn into habits and some habits turn into addiction. People tend to get addicted to the wrong habits. As long as a person does something for the first time, there will always be a chance of it turning into an addiction. An addiction of any sort is dangerous. The first time Kuhu put sleeping pills in Abhir's cup thinking it was Mishit's, she regretted it dearly and apologised wholeheartedly, but doing the same again only made this a habit to her and over the years, this struggle for power turned into an obsession. She was high on the glory of being the only daughter-in-law of the Rajvansh family. Nothing could steal her thunder until Ketki found out her secret. Ketki was a threat to everything she built in this house, which is why she never tried to stop Ms. Meenakshi from dealing with her her own way.

Kuhu can't say that she didn't despise Ketki's existence, but she didn't wish death upon her either. When Rishab came to her asking to let him talk to Ketki, Kuhu scolded him for using violence on Ketki, but when he insisted on apologising and making it up to her, Kuhu told him that Ketki was not at home as she went to the temple, thus cannot meet him. She asked him to wait until she got home if he wanted to talk to her so badly, but Rishab had other plans. No sooner did she go back into the house, than he disappeared. It didn't occur to her at the time that he could do such harm, but Kuhu didn't mean for this to happen. But is it? Kuhu no longer knows if what she did was intentional or merely a slip of the tongue. She was so down the path of greed that she couldn't see the light anymore. For the past few years, whenever she looked into the mirror she could no longer recognise the woman that stood before her. The woman in the mirror seemed to have a blank stare, looking like a mannequin. It was as if her existence was meaningless.

Was there a part of her that intentionally let Rishab find Ketki so that she could finally be freed from the burden of her truth? Kuhu wondered. It no longer mattered because everything was done and over and just like every day in her life, she had no time to dwell on the past, she could only walk forward, even if she was walking towards the burning flames of hell. This sinful path is one where can neither turn around nor reach a destination and Kuhu is long past the point of exhaustion.

So, trying not to dwell on what happened, Kuhu starts her morning with a hot cup of coffee, which tastes more bitter than other days. She read the newspaper, though she could not remember the contents. She got ready for another busy day as the daughter-in-law of the Rajvansh family, only if it went that way.

As the afternoon approached, the atmosphere in the house changed. Maya was nowhere to be seen and her mother-in-law, Meenakshi, didn't come down for lunch. Aditya is cooped in his room which became the new ordinary since Ketki's death. Parul had done her part in the kitchen and went out to get some necessities for Meenakshi. It was when Kuhu decided to go upstairs to call Meenakshi for lunch when Maya walked into the house. By some miracle, Ranav walked in right behind her. What was Ranav doing here?

As Kuhu's gaze meets Maya's cold eyes, she feels tense under Maya's stare. Maya storms towards her with a death stare that could drill a hole into her head. Kuhu takes a step back, almost on instinct as fear takes over. Maya barely stops an inch away from Kuhu as her hand comes down on Kuhu. Kuhu could not even comprehend what happened, her cheek stinging with pain as she looked at her daughter staring back at her with blank rage. Ranav who witnessed this looks just as confused as Kuhu. He runs to grab Maya. Maya's body shook with uncontrollable anger as she tried pushing him away, but the latter held onto her tight almost like he was trying to comfort her. With one hand tightly around her and the other gently caressing her over her forehead, he takes a step back taking Maya along with him and away from Kuhu.

Ranav has no clue what just transpired, but he knows that Maya is out of order. He was here for Amish to discuss the amenities being provided to the hospital through them. The man he came to meet emerges from the side room, probably his office, and freezes when he looks at the sight of them.

"WHY?!" Maya asks loudly, drawing in the others as they emerge from their rooms. Amish immediately walks over to Maya to try and make Ranav let go of Maya, but Maya wiggles so furiously that he understands not to interrupt them.

"Shhhhh!" Ranav murmurs calmly into her ear. "Breathe." Maya closes her eyes, shutting down the sight of a baffled Kuhu as she focuses on his voice. Ranav's tight hold on her makes her feel protected, somehow, like she is cocooned in a shell, cut off from the rest of the world. So, instead of trying to get away, she focuses on that sense of relief as she regains her composure. Each breath becomes easier as she falls in tune with his heartbeat behind her. She slowly reopens her eyes to find the same people looking back at her in shock, but Ms. Kuhu seemed rather hurt and angry in contrast to her earlier shock. Maya slowly wiggles out of Ranav's grip and he lets go, understanding she recovered her composure. She slowly walks towards Kuhu and Kuhu takes a step back with each step of Maya until she is pressed against the pillar. Kuhu seemed scared, but Maya couldn't care less. Maya didn't want any kind of relationship with the woman standing before her, to the point that she didn't even want to acknowledge her existence, but that was no longer possible with the way she had now forced Maya to see her. In the 7 months she had been here, she couldn't even count on her fingers the number of times she interacted with Kuhu, yet here she is with more reasons to hate her than she did a year ago.

"Why?" Maya asked softly, almost defeated by the truth now. "Give me one reason." She says, almost begging. No one in the room is aware of what's going on and what Maya means, but they are about to. Maya grabs Kuhu closer with her hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her worry-filled eyes. These were the same eyes that looked at Maya pleadingly for the past 7 months, seeking even the slightest bit of affection that she could offer, but these eyes belonged to a murderer, not the mother she thought was trying everything to get close to her daughter. It was not a lack of effort but a lack of intent. "Why did you tell Rishab about Bua's location? Give me one reason." Kuhu's eyes widen in realization, finally getting what made Maya strike her with such contempt, as Amish gasps in shock. Everything goes silent for a moment, which is only broken by the sound of a bottle tumbling and rolling down the stairs as all their eyes turn towards the sound. Aditya stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes deep and frown drawing his face to look like he had aged since Maya last saw him.

"What?" The question is spoken so slowly that Maya thought she had imagined it for a second. Amish quickly moves towards Aditya, sprinting up the stairs and pulling Aditya with him into a room. Maya would've followed if it were not for the strong emotions still swirling in her as her question remained unanswered.

"I asked you a question," Maya says, her tone seeping into Kuhu like ice. Kuhu's body shakes at the look she is receiving from Maya. Her skin burns where Maya held her and she wishes she could disappear from this situation. "It doesn't make sense for you to do this. Not when you have achieved what you've always wanted. You are the only daughter-in-law of this prestigious family. You walked over people's blood to get here, but you have no reason to hurt Ketki. What did she do to you? Why would you do it?"

"I... I-" Kuhu couldn't find her voice as Maya's haunting eyes gripped her vision, making her own turn dark at the edges. "I didn't mean it." She speaks finally. Maya's frown only deepens with her answer and Kuhu feels an urge to explain. She doesn't want Maya to look at her that way again. "I was careless, I agree, but I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't think he would go after her. I didn't want him to hurt Ketki. He said he was sorry and would like to apologise to her, and I told him it was not possible. He pleaded with me and I told him that no matter how much he might want to meet her, she was not at home. He didn't believe me and thought I was lying so I said she was really not at home as she went to attend a Pooja at the temple." Kuhu doesn't even realize until she feels her cheeks wet that she is on the verge of a breakdown. Maya's piercing cold gaze doesn't budge despite the broken look on Kuhu's face. There was no mercy in Maya's expression and Kuhu felt like she couldn't breathe under that scrutinising stare. The path of obsession or excessive desire is one that is endless and has fewer choices left to turn around, Kuhu has come so far, giving up many such limited chances of turning around. Was there really no way back anymore?

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Hey Readers,

Finally getting the hang of it. Vote if you enjoyed the chapter and comment your thoughts. See you in the next chapter.

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