The Shadow of Retribution: A tale of vengeance and the price of justice.

Chapter 11

The Past
13th September 2022
Kathmandu, Nepal.

Thirty days. An entire month without him. His smile, his kisses, his embrace—all gone. Thirty days of eating alone, sleeping without his presence, breathing without him. Thirty letters I've written to him. I miss him more than anything.

Memories and flashbacks of our high school courtship, his proposal, and everything else flood my mind. I consider myself his widow, even though we were married only in our hearts in 2014. We were both seventeen, turning eighteen soon. He was born on June 1st, 1996, and I on October 2nd, 1996. I miss him and all he did for me. I'll never forget the day we first met outside school.

On May 27th, 2013, I met him outside school for the first time. He later told me he had liked me from the moment he first saw me. He once shared, "I knew you were the one the moment I saw you, so I ended my relationship. People might judge me for it, but my heart always knew it was you, from the very beginning. I was destined to meet you, love you, and keep you happy for the rest of your life." That day, he had teamed up with my friend, whom I affectionately called Shee—his sister—to plan our meeting. After admitting his feelings to her, he, Shee, and his friend devised a plan to get us talking.

Shee had asked me to accompany her to the City Center to shop for clothes for our upcoming fresher’s event. She was a year junior and often stuck close to me. I agreed, though I hadn’t even planned on attending the event, but as it turned out, going was necessary, so I’d need to shop as well. When we arrived, I was surprised to see that D and his friend were already there, waiting for us. I smiled at both of them, feeling a little awkward since I had already started to like D.

We sat on the lawn, smoking together for a bit. Then, Shee and the other guy pulled me aside, letting me know that D’s birthday was coming up in just four days, on June 1st. They were planning a surprise for him, and since they didn’t want to leave him alone, they asked me to keep him company for what they said would be about 30 minutes.

After a while, he asked me how I was finding school, and we ended up chatting for a bit. Nearly two hours later, Shee and her friend still hadn’t returned, so we went inside to look for them—only to realize they had already left. It was their plan all along to leave us alone and get us talking. I smiled, maybe even blushed.

We hung out for a while, and I likely acted a bit childish, spotting a dress and shoes that matched perfectly. But I was disappointed, as I didn’t have enough to buy them. That was typical of me: I’d often spend too much, then come up short when it really mattered—a classic case of an impulsive spender.

After some time, we headed out, and he gave me a ride home on his bike. I felt elated; just seeing his silhouette, and sitting behind him as his pillion, was something I’d never even imagined.

The next day, I got a surprise. I went to school, and Shee came running up to me with two bags, saying they were a gift. When I got home and opened them, I found the same dress and shoes I had wanted, along with a chocolate. There was also a letter that read, “Would you like to go on an official date with me?” signed by Jared.

In that moment, I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world.