The next chapter is published on Scrollstack.
[A little announcement: This story is going to end in just two or three chapters. So after the end, I will make the chapters FREE for ONE DAY. Stay tuned.]
Adiraj was setting his plan to trap Ekantika and bring her in his bed. Avantika was also with him. As they were discussing the plan a man come inside the room in urgent. Adiraj looked at the man for once and then to Avantika.
"You can go now and execute the plan. I want her by the night in my room." He said.
Avantika suspect something but she had no choice but to listen to him so she left after looking at the man.
After Avantika left,
"What happened, why are you here? I told you to stay with my father." Adiraj asked him.
"Sarkar....wo...wo...." He was stuttering in fear and sweating so much.
"What are you saying....say it clearly."
"Sarkar....wo your father.....is no more." The man said.
Adiraj at first thought he heard it wrong so he asked again.
"what did you say, who is no more?"
"Sar....Sarkar....your fath...."
A strong slap stopped him in his words.
"What are you talking about, do you know who is he? He is my father. How dare you talk about him like this."
"Sarkar....I am saying the truth.......his body is in the living room and...."
"And..."
"And it seems someone murdered him."
Adiraj was shocked hearing him.
Adiraj's mind raced as the words echoed in the dimly lit room. The plan he had meticulously crafted, one focused solely on seducing Ekantika, was suddenly overshadowed by a grim reality—a reality that rippled through the air like a chilling gust.
"You're lying!" he snapped, his voice trembling with anger and disbelief. He stepped closer to the man who still stood there, awash in sweat and fear. "My father? No... it can't be. You must be mistaken. He was fine just hours ago..."
Adiraj felt as though the weight of the world had fallen upon him as he knelt by Charan's body, hidden beneath the stark white cloth. Chaos swirled around him, villagers exchanging hushed whispers, glances darting his way. He forced himself to maintain a neutral expression, his insides churning with the turmoil of emotions he couldn't allow to surface.
"Look at him," one villager remarked, shaking his head. "He lived a good life, but such a tragic end."
"Why is Sarkar so sad, it's not like Charan was so close to him." One of the villagers said.
"Perhaps he was, didn't you see how Sarkar had helped him to change his life and he became rich."
"But what is the relation between them?"
"......"
The villagers started talking and Adiraj realized he had no right to cry in his own father's demise.
As he tried to steady himself, a small voice broke the heavy silence. Adishesh, his younger brother, approached cautiously, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Bhai... bhai... who is this?" he asked, pointing toward the motionless figure.
Adiraj clenched his fists, his throat constricting. "This is my fa... I mean father's friend. Father had told me to take good care of him. But I failed," he whispered, the weight of his misstep boiling within him like a tempest.
Confusion clouded Adishesh's face, transforming his innocent inquiry into something deeper, more troubling. "Bhai... baba kahan hai?"
"He was dead before you came into this mansion," Adiraj replied.
Adiraj helped in Charan's last rites. After returning in his room he ordered a maid to call Avantika as he wanted some distraction.
When Avantika came inside Adiraj was already ready in his bed.
"Come here, I am too tired to think or do anything today. You will take charge." He said.
Avantika was more than happy. She knew Adiraj needed some distraction from what is happening and she can gladly help him to distract.
Adiraj was alone in his dimly lit room, the air thick with tension as he contemplated the chilling events of the previous night.
After summoning his men to investigate the mystery shrouding his father's death, a sense of urgency thrummed through Adiraj's veins. He paced the floor, replaying every moment leading up to the tragedy, digging deeper into the labyrinth of his memories for clues.
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door.
"Sarkar," came the voice from behind it, steady and subservient.
"Enter."
The man stepped into the room, his demeanor respectful but overshadowed by a fear .
"Any news?" Adiraj inquired, his gaze piercing.
The man hesitated, eyes flickering nervously as he answered, "Sarkar, one of the maids had seen someone going inside your... I mean your father's room yesternight. He came out after some time with a trunk in his hand. I think... I think inside the trunk..."
"Stop," Adiraj cut him off, his voice low and edged with bitterness. "I know. He was inside the trunk, dead."
A silence settled over the room, heavy and suffocating, and the man swallowed hard. "But Sarkar, she couldn't see who it was."
Adiraj's face hardened into an expression devoid of warmth, a mask that concealed the turmoil raging inside him. In the world he inhabited, emotions were a luxury; vengeance, however, was a right. "Kill her."
The command slipped from his lips as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The man did not flinch at the brutality of the order — such commands were routine in their realm.
"Ji Sarkar," the man replied, leaving without a second glance, the darkness of the mansion closing in behind him.
Once alone,Adiraj collapsed into the empty chair, the weight of despair settling upon him like a shroud.
At first Avantika's entrance in both Adishesh and Ekantika's life, then Adishesh attracted towards Avantika and then Avantika's demand for truth and now death of his father.
Suddenly something struck in his mind like lightening, and he shivered at the thought of it.
"No...No this can't happen." He muttered before he ran out of his room.
Adiraj reached near a room in the basement only to be shocked by the scene in front of him. The door was closed but the lock was broken.
He already realized what had happened.
Still he wanted to check for the last time. As he went inside the room, he noticed the chair was empty. It was the same chair where he had placed Sreedharan for almost twenty years. He had never let him stand or lie down. Just kept him sitting on the exact place.
"Noooooo.....it's not true. My hard work can't go in vain." He screamed in the top of his voice.
"But who can it be, Adishesh is not in the state of thinking all these, Ekantika didn't know about these so......Avantika?" He said to himself.
..................
Avantika stood in front of her mirror, adjusting the delicate silver necklace. Tonight was the night she had imagined for weeks—a night of passion, adventure, and the promise of something transcendental. She envisioned herself wrapped in the subtle warmth of his embrace, floating on clouds in the heaven they often whispered about.
Adishesh had promised her to take to heaven.
As she added the final touch of ruby lipstick, she couldn't contain a smile, daydreaming about the magic of it all. "I should be prepared for him. I want to please him as much as he wants," she murmured to herself, all worries set aside.
But the atmosphere shifted abruptly when the door swung open with a violent crash. Startled, Avantika turned, her heart racing as dread flooded her veins. It wasn't Adishesh. It was Adiraj, his presence filling the room like a dark thundercloud. His eyes glowed with an unsettling rage, and a cruel grin stretched across his face, revealing the sword clutched tightly in his hand.
"What are you doing, huh?" Adiraj snarled, stepping forward, his voice low and threatening, spilling chaos into the tranquil moment she had crafted for herself.
Avantika's breath caught in her throat; her body felt heavy as if the very air pressed down on her, suffocating her voice. She could only watch in horror as he encroached, a devil's shadow determined to snuff out her light.
"Oh, I forgot. You are attracted to that impotent man, right?" Adiraj taunted, cruel amusement dancing in his eyes. "But so sad, you don't know the truth. He may look strong, but he is a baby. He can't satisfy you. It was only me...who can satisfy you."
Adiraj's words cut deeper than any blade as he pinned her against the wall, asserting his dominance with terrifying ease. Beads of sweat formed on her brow not from the heat of his presence but from sheer fear.
"Why are you silent now?" he continued, his voice thunderous, echoing off the walls. "Tell me, what did you do? You dared to betray me?"
She struggled to find her words, her mind racing. The truth, tangled with the web of her feelings for Adishesh, threatened to set her free—yet she feared what would follow. "I...I...was just..." she stammered, trembling under his gaze, but the words faded as Adiraj raised his sword, its blade glinting ominously in the dim light.
"You witch, you should die," he hissed, reveling in her horror. "But before that, tell me where is my father?"
The question struck her like a bolt. "I...I don't know..." she gasped, the words tumbling out in desperation. "They took him... in the village..."
But that was all her mind could process before he struck. In one swift arc, he separated her head from her body, the finality of it slicing through the air like a thunderclap. Blood cascaded in a crimson waterfall, painting the once-innocent walls with a horror she could never have imagined.
Adiraj stepped back, his face devoid of any remorse, a twisted satisfaction curling his lips as he gazed at the lifeless form of the woman he believed betrayed him. Without a second glance at the remnants of what had been Avantika, he strode out of the mansion—his mind fixated on one singular goal.
He was going to kill Sreedharan, and finish this once and for all.
...................................................................................................................
