Chapter 12: Rage and Guilt

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Last time: "Let the pain stop now," he whispered to himself. "Please, let the pain stop."

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February 10th, 2023, 9:50 am, Jain Counselling Centre, Jodhpur

The room was so silent that even the sound of a pin dropping would have echoed throughout the space. The weight of Kabir's words hung heavily in the air as each person in the room processed what he had just revealed. Shobha watched their reactions intently, her eyes darting from person to person. Sandeep's forehead was creased with deep lines, indicating the intensity of his concentration as he worked tirelessly to find a solution. Shobha couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him, particularly noticing his adorable look of determination as he tackled a particularly complex problem.

Meanwhile, Kabir and Banni were staring at each other, their eyes locked in silent communication, their hands still tightly entwined. Kabir seemed to be experiencing a sense of exhaustion mixed with relief as if a heavy emotional burden had been lifted off his shoulders. On the other hand, Banni had a look on her face akin to someone who had just been struck, her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly agape as she processed the bombshell that had just been dropped on her. Shobha wondered if it was time to address the elephant in the room and ask Banni how she was feeling, but she decided to let the moment pass for now. Instead, she returned to Sandeep and Kabir, eager to see their next steps.

Finally, Sandeep took a deep breath and broke the silence. "Thank you for sharing this with us Kabir. I am sure this is difficult to relive. So this period was the entire duration of Tulika's pregnancy?"

Shobha noticed Kabir shuddered again when Tulika was mentioned. The reaction was brief before he composed himself and replied, "Yes, the first memory was the day after the pregnancy report came, and the last was from the day Atharva was born."

"I see..." Sandeep replied as he shared a glance with Shobha that contained relief and sadness both. Shobha could clearly see Sandeep's thoughts from behind his brown eyes. She remembered his words from their first discussion about this case when they discussed his debut album.

"If he was channelising his emotions through this album, then I am dreading to discover what he went through during this time."

Now they knew what had happened during that time, what Yuvaan had gone through. And it definitely was as devastating as the song had suggested. While they were glad that this mystery was now solved, they were both sad at the thought that Yuvaan had to face one more trauma after all he had gone through in childhood.

Sandeep looked at Kabir with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. "Did you know about these memories before today?" he asked.

Kabir shook his head. "No, Dr Sandeep. I never dug into Yuvaan's memories from when he was in control, so I only had surface knowledge of that period. I had assumed that Yuvan and Banni's separation was a mutual decision."

Banni inaudibly mumbled, "I thought so too."

Shobha noticed the look of shock on Banni's face and spoke up. "Banni, are you okay?"

Banni was startled by Shobha's question but took a moment to compose herself before replying, "Yes, I'm fine. Let's continue."

"So what happened after you saw the memories Kabir?" Sandeep asked him.

"I was initially overwhelmed..." Kabir began.

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