EASHAN - THE DESTROYER

Part 16

Avika stood frozen on the staircase, her heart pounding. She gripped the railing, her knuckles turning white. The woman’s voice rang in her ears, “He’s lying to you!” The words pierced through the haze of her amnesia, igniting a faint, flickering light in the darkness of her mind.

“Avika,” Eashan called again, his tone softer now, but it carried an edge of control. “Go back to your room. Please.”

She hesitated, her gaze shifting between him and the stranger. The woman’s eyes, filled with desperation, pleaded with her.

“Who is she?” Avika asked, her voice trembling.

“She’s no one,” Eashan replied firmly, his usual calm cracking ever so slightly. “Just someone trying to disrupt our life. Trust me, my love. Go upstairs. Let me take care of this.”

Avika wanted to obey him, to retreat to the safety of her room as she always did. But something about the woman’s expression—raw, desperate, familiar—made her pause.

The woman suddenly broke free from Eashan’s grip and cried out, “Avika, I’m here to help you! You’re not safe with him! He’s keeping you from your family!”

Her words struck a chord deep within Avika, a memory too faint to grasp. Family. What family?

Eashan’s composure shattered. His voice dropped, cold and threatening. “You’ve overstepped your bounds. Leave now, or I’ll make you leave.”

Before the woman could respond, Eashan’s security team stormed in, pulling her away as she screamed Avika’s name. Avika’s legs buckled, and she sank onto the stairs, clutching her head.

Eashan hurried to her side, his expression shifting to one of concern. “Avika, look at me. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”

But it wasn’t. Doubt swirled in her mind, threatening to tear apart the fragile reality she had been clinging to.

Abhimaan and Tanushree

Abhimaan sat in his dimly lit study, a shell of the man he once was. His hands trembled as he held a photo of Avika, her radiant smile frozen in time. He had always been her protector, her anchor. But now, she was gone, and he was powerless to find her.

His broad shoulders, once a symbol of his unyielding strength, slumped forward as he buried his face in his hands. “I failed her,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “I couldn’t keep her safe. My little Avika…”

Tanushree entered the room quietly, her heart aching at the sight of her husband. She approached him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Abhimaan…”

He didn’t look up. “I’ve searched everywhere, Tanu. Every lead, every clue—it’s all been a dead end. She’s gone, and it’s my fault.”

Tanushree knelt beside him, taking his hands in hers. “Listen to me, Abhimaan. You didn’t fail her. You’ve done everything you could—more than anyone else would have. And I know you’ll find her. You’re her brother, her protector. She’s still out there, waiting for you.”

His eyes, dull and lifeless, met hers. “But what if she isn’t? What if I’ve lost her forever?”

Tanushree cupped his face, her voice firm yet gentle. “Don’t say that. Avika is alive, and she’s fighting to come back to us. You have to believe that. You have to stay strong—for her.”

Tears streamed down his face as he clung to her, the weight of his despair momentarily lifting under her unwavering love. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Tanu.”

She smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair from his face. “You’ll never have to find out. We’re in this together, and we’ll bring her home. No matter what.”

Back to Avika

That night, as Avika lay in bed, her mind raced with questions. Who was the woman? What did she mean by “family”? And why did Eashan seem so desperate to silence her?

She glanced at the man sleeping beside her, his arm possessively draped over her waist. His presence was both a comfort and a cage.

For the first time, Avika’s doubts began to outweigh her trust. The shadows in her mind whispered truths she wasn’t ready to face, but she knew one thing: the answers she sought were not in Eashan’s words.

They were in the fragments of her forgotten past, waiting to be uncovered.