The Female Boss (CURRENTLY ON HOLD)

Chapter 17 (Part 2)

Neil's pov

Continued...

"Yes. You didn't know ? I'm not surprised. My family never talks about her. She has become just a memory. After all, she left us all, everyone is angry at her." I sighed, and continued, "No one knows that I pushed her away. At the day of the charity event, I asked her to get a life. Find someone to date, get married and have children with. She took me seriously, ha !", I laughed bitterly, "she did find a guy.. found a guy whom she loved with her life. The guy was bankrupt, and a drunkard. She met him while returning from the event. Her car broke down, and he offered her a ride. Don't know what sorcery he did on her, she fell head over heels in love with him. My family was of course against it, and so was I. After all who would want a person like that to marry his sister ?... A lot of drama ensued after my sister married him secretly. My father came to know about this and was furious. When Pakhi arrived with her husband to seek blessings, my father refused to see her face and asked them to leave. She sobbed and pleaded. She didn't want to leave without our blessings. My father thundered and ordered me to throw both of them out of the house. I can't even tell you how I felt. She was my sister, the person I loved the most, also the one who hurted me the most. I never imagined she would hide such an important decision of her life, about the person she loved. I always believed I would be the first one to know about it. I never wanted to separate her from us, but I had no choice. My father was furious and he wanted me to throw them out. I did as he told me. I had no other choice. He threatened that he would leave the house if she didn't leave. So when she drew near to plead, I pushed her. I pushed them both out of the house. With my damned mouth I told her to leave and never come back. This damned mouth !! This mouth once uttered 'Go find someone to love, to accompany you through life and death'.... and this damned mouth told her to 'never come back'... Everything turned true.... She never came back.." I sighed.

A gentle pat on my shoulder made me realize I was crying. Tears flew down my cheeks as I looked at Miss Bose. Her expressions were such which I never expected from her. She was looking at me with empathy. She wasn't mocking, or sneering, or even angry. Her face was soft, and her voice was even softer when she asked, " Where is she now ?"

I stared into the distance as the horrible memories rushed into my mind, "She's no more... She died that night in a car accident." I heard a soft gasp and felt a slight pressure on my shoulder.
I continued, "Turned out that the guy my sister married was a drunkard and a fraudster. Married my sister to pay off his debts, but when he realized we weren't going to accept hin into our lives, let alone into our property, he became agitated. While they left that day from our house, the guy was drunk and livid. He was upset about the fact that he wouldn't be able to extract money from us, while a lot of collectors were after him for money. Being angry and hopeless, he drive the car straight ibto a dense forest, and rammed it into a tree. The impact was terrible. The car was damaged..and my sis..my sister–" I couldn't finish. My throat closed up, and I choked. The scene flashed in front of me, my sister's pale, blood-soaked face haunted my memories, and I closed my eyes. A soft pat on my back and head, conforted me. Miss Bose sat right next to me and kept on gently patting on my back. I couldn't believe she could be so tender.

"I'm sorry I asked about such a sensitive chapter of your life. I shouldn't have..." She said in a soft voice. I was surprised. I never expected her to be this good to me ever. I wiped my tears and got up,
" It's alright. It feels good to talk about her after so long, my family never does. They mourn her, but never talks about her. Maybe they believe talking about her would make us relive the incident again. To remember her on this day, makes the burden lifted off my shoulders. Thanks for patiently listening to my sad story." I chuckled faintly, with no humor. She didn't.

"Is that why you come here ? To remember your sister through these children?"

"Maybe, or maybe because I understand now how it feels to lose your loved ones. You know five years ago, I would've laughed if you asked me to visit orphanages, because I somehow believed that the orphanages and shelter houses are all scam. They take money from rich people who are equally hungry for fame and popularity, and instead of actually using the money for the benefit of the needy, waste it on their own benefits. Maybe the reason of me believing all these was because I never bothered to find out myself about these shelter houses. But Pakhi was devoted to charity works. She was innocent, I used to think, and that everyone out there was trying to take advantage of her. Don't know about everyone, but these children were not among them. I know it now, because now I see the truth."

I took a deep breath, and continued, "In the hospital, I never got a chance to say goodbye to my dear sister, but I remembered our childhood, the moments we spent together. At that moment I realized why she fought for the children, why she fell in love with a guy who she thought was charitable and kind. No one at her funeral paid her as much respect and love as the children who she loved so dearly. I was convinced that she was right, the whole time. At first, I came here to commemorate her memories, but after the first year, I went abroad and couldn't visit the orphanage. But here I am today, back to the children, back to Pakhi."

I smiled, remembering her, thinking that she would have been so happy to see me, back to her favorite place. I blame myself for Pakhi's death, but I know that she wouldn't have liked to believe that. She loved me, even when I pushed her away, she did. Her last words were "No matter what, I've always loved you, brother." She breathed her last, while we sat next to her hospital bed, crying. Without any other words, without any good byes exchanged, she left.

I woke from my little trance when Miss Bose took my hand in hers, and handed me a glass of water. I looked into her eyes, and accepted the glass. I calmed myself as I gulped down the cool water. For a long time we didn't say anything.

"I used to live here, if you must know", she suddenly said.

"What ?!", Her admission was so sudden, I almost didn't understand her, "you lived here ? In this orphanage?"

"Yes", she sighed and finally looked up at me, "for five years, I stayed in this shelter house".

Author's note - I know, badmouth anything about me, I won't complain, I'm a very very bad at updating, but hey, in my defense, I am doing an internship right now and am very busy right now, so please consider this before you guys bash me... Please 🙏