Will Die In Love

Chapter 72

“ I RAPED HER.” 

The room was so quiet it felt like time itself had stopped. Adi’s voice broke the silence again, trembling and choking.

“ I... I was just six years old,” he began, his eyes staring at some invisible point in the air. 

“Outside my school one day, I found a pretty little kitten. So small, so innocent… like a tiny snowball. I loved her so much... too much.” He gulped, his hands clenching tightly, “I’d feed her every day. But when I tried to hold it… it would just run away. One week passed... two weeks... but still, it wouldn’t come near me.” His voice grew weaker as he spoke,

“ One day… out of anger, I slapped her away refusing to feed. And then I came home and cried to Mom hard… so, so hard. I didn't eat that night. The next morning when I woke up... the kitten was beside my bed.” 

He looked toward his mother now, his eyes glossy with tears. “I was so happy, Mom…  I was so… so happy that you brought it for me. I hugged her, loved her, tried to take care of her”. His voice cracked. “But for some reason, she didn’t survive long.”

He paused, his shoulders trembling. His gaze never left his mother as tears slipped down his face. “Mamma… you could have told me, na? That the baby needed her mamma too! That it was okay if she didn’t love me back! It would’ve probably sur… survived longer.” He let out a shaky breath, the weight of the memory was suffocating him.

His gaze then shifted to his father. “And Dad…” He let out a bitter chuckle that sounded more like a broken sigh. “Do you remember when I didn’t top my class in the 7th standard? One of our worker’s sons did. I was friends with him till that day. But I… I couldn’t take it. How could someone else beat me? Me? Me!” His voice rose slightly before dropping back into a shaky whisper. “I was so angry. I came home and broke everything… created such havoc. And you, Dad... you hugged me. You said you’d take care of it.” He gulped hard, his lips trembling. “And you did. I don’t know what exactly you did… but the next day, I couldn’t find him at school. He was just… gone. Probably you sent him to some other school. You took care of the finances. And then I was the topper again. And I was happy.”

A lifeless, hollow laugh escaped his mouth as he shook his head. “Dad… you could have told me that it’s okay if I don’t come first once. That it’s okay if someone works harder than me and gets what they deserve. You could have told me… na?” He looked at his father, his voice breaking completely. “You could have told me that it’s fine to NOT get everything I want!”

The silence that followed was unbearable. Adi’s breathing was uneven now, his chest rising and falling as if the weight of his words was engulfing him. He stared down at the floor for a moment before lifting his head, tears streaming down his face.

“I, Aditya Raj Malhotra,” he said in a shaky, mocking tone, “the youngest son of Industrialist Raj Malhotra__ Excellent in studies, admired by friends for my so-called charisma, popular with girls for my oh-so-handsome looks.” He bit his lip, trying to steady his voice. “I had everything… everything. A loving family, money, friends… girls. I thought I could never be denied anything. I thought the world was mine to take.”

He stopped, closing his eyes for a long moment, as if bracing himself. When he opened them again, he looked straight ahead, his voice barely above a whisper.

“But nobody told me I couldn’t have everything... until I met… HER.” 

He paused for a second. 

Adi's voice shook,  trembling as he spoke. “She was the first person in my life who dared to say no to me.   'NO'—that word— was so foreign to me. I couldn’t understand how anyone could say no to me. I thought… I thought she was playing hard to get. So, I took it as a challenge to get her __out of my ego, my arrogance.”