Secrets And Lies [Completed]

53. last love

Song of the chapter is
Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

-53-
-Saina Bahl-
-Present-

__________

Mittal Mansion
12 December 2030
7:30 am

As the car stopped in front of the big black gates of Mittal Mansion, I inhaled sharply.

The winter air in Delmore had the capacity to make my hands from the cold. I rubbed them together as I paid the driver and got out of the cab.

Standing tall in front of me was the Mittal Mansion, a place where I had spent countless days, fantasizing about a life I never got to live in reality.

The hints of rust over the fences and the overgrown vines that covered half the gate were a stark indication of its ruins. The place which had once been one of the most happening places for parties in Delmore was now a mere rundown bungalow.

When we were little, Avinash had always told me how much he hated going back home. Because for Kartik, him and I, home was merely a tall architecture. It was a place that we were foreign to. For other kids, their homes were the places they could safely hide in and find comfort after a long day. For us, home was just four walls.

Avinash's parents were always on business trips, travelling all across the world to expand their company to it's zenith, which often left Avinash all alone in this big house.

We used to spend our days in middle school, having sleepovers at Kartik and Alishka's place which often opened a lot of doors to our secrets. While Alishka never felt the need to empathize with any of us, the rest of us weren't as indifferent to each other's pain.

Kartik, Avinash and I had always had that bond, the one where you could share things you wouldn't exactly share with anyone else.

But even that faded away, when Alishka got together with Avinash and left me heartbroken. Despite being his best friend, Kartik couldn't really do much to help my situation either, the reason being Alishka's manipulation.

And then as we grew into our older selves, I think we somewhere lost those innocent souls that once existed within us.

We became people we swore we would never be like.

Our parents.

Jealousy, manipulation, greed, anger, selfishness ——— that was all that was left of us.

In a weird way, Alishka's death had managed to bring that side of us back, the people we once were. But it was too late then. We were already awful people and no amount of apologies could undo the damage we had caused each other.