Conditions Of Shashank | 18+

Chapter 13

The doorbell rings.

Ujjwal gets up from the chair and opens the door. Ishika, looking exhausted, comes in and notices that Ujjwal's bag is lying on the sofa, and he still hasn’t changed out of his work clothes since returning from the office.

She asks Ujjwal why he hasn’t freshened up after coming home from work.

Ujjwal asks her if he has ever forced her to do anything.

Ishika says no.

He then asks if he has ever been violent with her.

Again, Ishika says no.

She starts to wonder why Ujjwal is asking such strange questions. She is about to ask him-

Ujjwal says, "Then why did you betray me?"

Confused, Ishika asks what he is talking about, insisting that she hasn’t betrayed him.

Ujjwal shows her photos and asks, "Then what is this?"

Exhausted from work, Ishika’s eyes are barely open, but she moves closer to see the photos and takes the phone in her hands. The moment she sees them, her eyes widen in shock.

Ishika is stunned.

She has no idea about these photos. Tears well up in her eyes.

Grabbing Ujjwal’s hand, she says, "These photos aren’t real, and I’ve never made love to any man."

Hearing the pain in her voice, Ujjwal softens his gaze, looks into her eyes, and asks, "Are you telling the truth?"

Ishika pleads with him, "Please, believe me. These photos aren’t real - they’re deepfakes."

Ujjwal begins to believe her.

He asks, "Then who could’ve done this?"

Crying, Ishika wonders if Shashank might be behind it.

When Ujjwal first saw the photos, they looked so realistic that he didn’t even consider Shashank could be involved. But now, the thought crosses his mind.

Ujjwal asks himself how Shashank could stoop so low.

He apologizes to Ishika for doubting her.

Sobbing, Ishika says, "If Shashank releases these photos to my family, relatives, or online, what will happen to me?"

Her throat feels dry, her heart heavy, and her body drained of energy. She can barely stand.

Ujjwal wipes her tears, kisses her on the forehead, and hugs her, saying, "Don’t worry, I’m with you."

Ishika hugs him back tightly, unable to stop her tears. Ujjwal gently rubs her back to comfort her.

Some of Ishika’s hair falls over her face. Ujjwal carefully brushes it back and reassures her, "Don’t worry, I’ll tell everyone that the photos are edited and deepfakes."

He gives her some water to drink.

Both of them freshen up, prepare dinner, and sit down to eat, but they can barely swallow the food.

Later, they head to the bedroom to sleep, but they can’t fall asleep.

Seeing this, Ujjwal turns on the bedside lamp, sits up, and asks her to come closer. He tells her to lie in his lap, and she does.

Ishika rests her head on Ujjwal’s chest.

Ujjwal says, "I thought maybe my love wasn’t enough."

Ishika, still sobbing, cuddles him and says, "Your love has never been lacking."

Her eyes are still wet. She kisses Ujjwal’s chest and cuddles him again.

Looking at Ishika’s tired, red, and tear-filled eyes, Ujjwal can’t bear to see her like this.

He starts to think that if he hadn’t shared that funny incident with Mayank that day, Mayank wouldn’t have laughed. If Mayank hadn’t laughed, Shashank wouldn’t have misunderstood, and none of this would’ve happened. Shashank wouldn’t have gone to such extremes.

Ujjwal realizes that her suffering is because of him.

Seeing her in pain brings tears to his eyes.

With her head resting on his chest, Ujjwal kisses her on the head and gently strokes her hair to help her sleep.

As soon as Ishika stops sobbing, he assumes she has fallen asleep.

This time, he doesn’t stop his tears from flowing. He thinks about how Ishika was already struggling with her OCD and anxiety, and now this immense pain has been added to her burden because of ujjwal.

His heart feels incredibly heavy, and the hands holding Ishika feel weak.

Ujjwal wipes away his tears and hugs Ishika again, reminding himself to stay strong.

He’s still in shock, remembering that the night suit  in the photos was the one he had gifted her. She only wears it at night, and only at home. He wonders how Shashank’s men could’ve seen night suit, as there were very few people in the store when he bought it, and no one seemed to be watching him.

Holding Ishika, Ujjwal eventually falls asleep.

                               ---

(The next morning)

Ujjwal wakes up, hoping it was all just a bad dream, but it wasn’t.

He looks down and sees that Ishika is still asleep, cuddled up against him. He softly kisses her and wake her up.

Ishika wakes up, and Ujjwal tells her to freshen up. She does.

Ishika tells Ujjwal that she doesn’t have the strength to go to the office. She fears that Shashank may have already made the photos viral.

Hearing the pain in her voice and seeing her in such a state, Ujjwal’s heart grows even heavier.

He reassures her, saying, "Okay, just rest. Don’t stress too much."

He then tells her that he’s going to the complaint room to file a complaint.

Ishika pleads with him not to, fearing that more people will find out. She reminds him that nothing was done when they filed a complaint about the car incident.

Ujjwal tells her not to worry and suggests she eat something while he’ll have food later.

Ujjwal goes to file the complaint and also provides the unknown number. The complaint writer looks at the number and becomes visibly worried. Ujjwal notices his reaction.

He asks to Ujjwal why he’s risking making an enemy.

Now, Ujjwal is certain that Shashank is behind it.

Ujjwal tells him that it wasn’t his fault, and that Shashank have misunderstood.

Ujjwal explains that he had called the unknown number the previous night, but no one picked up. Ujjwal asks if he knows Shashank’s office address because he wants to speak with him.

He says he doesn’t have the address.

After filing the complaint, Ujjwal heads back home.

Meanwhile, Ishika has prepared the meal, but since Ujjwal hasn’t eaten, she doesn’t feel like eating either.

She thinks she’ll eat with Ujjwal.

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