Lost but Not Forgotten

PART 40

As Rohit stormed out, the air in the room hung heavy with silence. Everyone stood frozen, processing the outpouring of his pain. Shreyas, still grappling with the revelation, couldn't hold back his question.

"Then why didn't he come to us?" Shreyas asked, confusion etched in his voice. "Even though we didn't trust him back then, we would have been there for Bhabhi and Sammy."

Ritika, who had been quietly following Rohit, suddenly stopped in her tracks. She turned around, her eyes blazing with fury. "He did try to reach out," she said, her voice shaking with both anger and pain. "But what he heard... what you all said... made him leave without even asking for help."

The room went still, everyone now looking at Ritika, stunned by her words. Sakshi stepped forward cautiously, her voice soft yet filled with concern. "What do you mean, Ritika?" she asked. "What did we say?"

Ritika took a deep breath, gathering the strength to reveal the painful truth. "After the death note," she began, her voice trembling, "I begged Rohit to ask for help—from all of you. He didn't want to at first. He didn't want to burden anyone, but he finally agreed because... because he believed that even if you didn't trust him, you'd at least help us, for Sammy's and my sake."

Her eyes swept across the room, lingering on each of their faces—Virat, Mahi, Jassi, Shreyas, Harry, Rahul, Rishabh, Ishan, and Shubman—before continuing. "We came to the stadium that day, thinking you'd have our backs. Rohit walked towards the dressing room, ready to swallow his pride and ask for your help."

She paused, her voice catching in her throat. "But before he could even step inside, he overheard you all talking... and what he heard broke him."

Virat, guilt-ridden, took a hesitant step forward, his face pale. "What... what did he hear, Ritika?"

Ritika's eyes filled with tears, but they weren't just tears of sadness—they were tears of betrayal. "He heard you," she said, looking directly at Virat. "You, Virat, saying you didn't think he was innocent. You said you couldn't believe that Rohit—your so-called best friend—would be capable of such a thing. That you didn't know if you could ever trust him again."

Virat's face fell, his lips parting in shock, as though the weight of his own words had hit him all over again.

Ritika then turned her gaze to Jassi, her voice heavy with emotion. "Jassi, you said you'd stick with the team's decision because you didn't want to get involved in something so murky.'"

Jasprit's eyes widened, guilt clouding his face as the reality of his words hit him. He hadn't realized just how deep his indifference had cut.

"And Mahi Bhai," Ritika's voice wavered, but there was no mistaking the pain in her words. "You said that maybe it was time for the team to move forward. That Rohit might not be as valuable as he once was, given everything happening. You thought it was time to look to the future, to newer leadership."

Mahi's stoic face cracked just a little, regret flashing in his eyes, but he remained silent.

Ritika's voice then hardened as she turned to the others, unable to hold back her anger anymore. "Harry, you said you didn't know if Rohit was capable of bouncing back from this scandal. Rahul, you said you weren't sure if he deserved a second chance. And Shreyas... you said you didn't even want to be associated with someone like him."

Shreyas paled as the harsh reality of his words settled on him, shame written across his face.

"And Rishabh, Ishan, Shubman..." Ritika continued, her voice filled with raw emotion. "You joked about how this was probably the end of Rohit's career. How 'The Hitman' might have finally hit a dead end."

All three of them stood rooted to the spot, unable to meet Ritika's gaze as the weight of their careless words came crashing down on them.

Ritika's tears spilled over now, her voice cracking as she finished. "He heard all of you. Every single one of you. And that's when he realized... he had no one. No one in this country to call his own."

She wiped at her tears angrily, her voice shaking. "So we left. We left because Rohit couldn't bear to ask for help from people who had already decided he wasn't worth it."

The room was dead silent as her words sunk in, the gravity of their betrayal hitting each of them like a sledgehammer. They had abandoned him. Not just as teammates, but as friends, as family.

Virat, unable to contain his guilt any longer, took a shaky breath, his voice barely above a whisper. "Ritika... we didn't know. We didn't realize—"

"You didn't realize?" Ritika snapped, her anger bubbling over. "You didn't realize that your words had consequences? That your doubt, your mistrust, your jokes... could break a man like Rohit? You didn't realize what it would do to him?"

No one could respond. The guilt was too overwhelming, too suffocating. All of them, standing there, knowing they were the reason Rohit had been pushed to the edge.

Ritika shook her head, her voice softening as fresh tears filled her eyes. "He trusted you," she whispered. "He trusted all of you. And you broke him."

With that, she turned and walked out, following the path Rohit had taken, leaving behind a room filled with broken souls who knew they could never undo the damage they had done.

*************

In a dimly lit room, the flickering light of a candle cast eerie shadows on the walls. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and the only sound was the crackling of burning paper.

A figure stood hunched over a small fire, holding a photograph. It was a picture of Rohit Sharma, his familiar smile captured in a moment of joy, but now the edges of the photo curled in the heat, slowly turning to ash.

The figure's hands trembled, not from fear, but from anger—pure, unrelenting anger. As the flames consumed Rohit's image, the person muttered under their breath, voice low and menacing.

"If not him," the figure hissed, their eyes dark and filled with malice, "then I will destroy the people important to him."

The photograph was reduced to nothing more than smoldering ashes, but the rage in the figure's voice lingered, a promise of vengeance yet to come.

*****

GUYS PLZ TRY GIVING ME ANSWERS FOR THE QUESTIONED I ASKED IN THE PREVIOUS PART!!