Tying The Knot With Ex's Brother

SHATTERED TRUST, SILENT TRUTHS

The moment Ragini saw Sush, she broke down into tears. Sush knew how much she loved Sparsh and she was well aware that this separation from him was too much for her to handle, so she engulfed her best friend into her arms and let her cry as much as she wanted. She needed a good cry.

After about thirty minutes of crying and sobbing, Ragini was finally calm. She sat beside Sush and none of them had exchanged even a single word since their meeting. Sush began the conversation, "Do you feel better now?"

Ragini nodded silently. She indeed felt better.

"Sid told me everything. Did Sparsh jiju really not listen to anything you said? Did you talk to him after leaving the house? Did he call you?"

Ragini shook her head. "He doesn't care about me anymore. He thinks I cheated on him. He hates me now. He has already signed the divorce papers. He despises me now."

"What are you gonna do now? Will you also sign the papers? I think you should try talking to him once more. He loves you, I'm sure he will be equally devastated without your presence in his life. I'll take you to talk to him. I'll tell him the truth. We'll make him believe you."

Ragini's soft voice sounded like she had no strength to talk anymore. "It's of no use. For him I'm a woman who sleeps around with everybody. He hates me."

"Don't even dare say such things about yourself. He should have trusted you, listened to you." Sush had tears in her eyes when she saw her friend in such a miserable condition. She decided to spend some more time with Ragini.

Ragini's mother didn't let Sush leave without dinner. So it was quite late when she reached her apartment. She had already informed Sid that she'll be late and also told him to buy himself dinner.

"Have you had your dinner? What did you eat?"

Sid looked up to Sush who was standing before him. Sush realised he had been drinking and the red blush on his cheeks proved it was more than enough for him. "Why did you drink so much?" asked Sush, gently patting her hand over his head.

Sid was silent, but his eyes were talking. He was sad. His watery eyes were the proof that he loved Ragini a lot. He was worried for her. Sush had known him for a long time and she knew what Ragini was for him. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "She'll be fine. You know how strong she is. We'll go through this together. Don't worry, Sid."

Sid hugged her back as he melted into her embrace. "I love her so much, then why does she cry because of me? I don't like to see tears in her eyes, but why do I keep making her cry? What should I do Sush? She's suffering. I just wanna give her a good life. I wanna make her happy again."

He looked up into her eyes and continued, "I didn't do anything wrong, right? I just needed her back."

"What do you mean, Sid?" Sush was now suspicious. She could see things which were not visible. She looked into his eyes and sensed guilt in them.

"Sid, what did you do? Tell me."

Sid began weeping. Tears rolled down his cheeks and soon he burst into tears.

"I love her Sush. I can't live without her. She's the only one I have ever had such feelings for. She's the only one I want."

"What did you do, Sid? What did you tell Sparsh jiju?"

And Sid blurted out the whole truth. His drunk state revealed everything he would have never wanted anyone to know.

The next morning, Sid woke up to find himself alone in the apartment. He called Sush but she didn't receive it. He assumed she had gone to her office. He called Ragini and even she didn't pick it up. His head throbbed like a war drum, each beat echoing through his skull with merciless intensity. It felt as if a thousand hammers struck in unison. He got out of his head and went straight into the kitchen and made himself a cup of strong black coffee. "I need to stop drinking. My head hurts."

"So this is what happened. I told you everything I got to know from Sid last night. I need to leave now, I'm already late for office." Sush picked up her bag from the table where her coffee was left untouched and walked towards the door.

She stopped and turned to face Sparsh. "Ragini didn't cheat on you. She genuinely loves you. She might have hidden things from you but she had only you in her heart. You should have at least given her a chance to prove her love for you. You didn't listen to her at all. You've hurt her, you've been a terrible husband Sparsh."

Sparsh was left distraught at her words. The silence in the room and the loud noises in his head made him lose his mind. Did Sid really stoop so low to win Ragini back? Was it all his fault? Was Ragini as innocent as Sush claimed? His mind had various questions which could only be answered by either Sid or Ragini.

He picked up his phone and dialled a number. "I need to talk to both of them. Can you arrange a meeting?"

He stretched out on the bed, his body sinking into the mattress as he fixed his gaze on the slow, rhythmic spin of the ceiling fan above. The soft hum of its blades filled the silence, each rotation pulling him deeper into thought. As the fan circled lazily, he let his mind drift, thoughts swirling like the air overhead - quiet, endless, and just out of reach.