KarEena the Beginning of a Saga

101.

HM's world spun as she faced the shocking reality that came out of that envelope..

It was a bunch of photographs scattered all over the table.
Her eyes scanned over them one by one. The weight of the revelations contained within those pictures threatened to crush her existence, the truth they held had a heavy burden she was not sure she was ready to bear.

As HM picked up a photograph to take a closer look, she hoped against hope that it was all a mistake, an illusion that would vanish if she examined it closely enough.

But the image remained stubbornly real. It was a snapshot taken in a bustling market area, where KS rode her bike with a hearty smile, engrossed in conversation with ST sitting behind her.

Tears welled up in HM's eyes, blurring her vision. Both the professional and personal betrayal seemed to sear itself into her soul, leaving behind scars that would never heal.

Desperately, she grabbed another photograph. This one showed KS and ST sharing and enjoying a kulfi together, their eyes lit with mutual joy amid a cheerful crowd in the market. HM's heart shattered. Her throat went dry as she tried to process the scene. The ease and affection between the two women struck her like a physical blow.

With trembling hands, she reached for yet another photograph. This one was even more damning. It captured KS and ST in dangerously close proximity in a deserted place, their intimacy unmistakable. HM's heartache began to morph into a seething anger. How could KS, the woman she loved and trusted with her life, betray her with a criminal?

She steeled herself and picked up the next photograph, hoping against all odds for some innocent explanation. But the image that met her eyes was the naked truth she dreaded. There was KS holding ST in a tight embrace, her hand shamelessly groping Shivani's buttocks while the other slipped under the folds of ST's saree, fingers trailing near the pelvic region. The intimacy was undeniable, the betrayal complete.

Fury surged through HM, hotter and more consuming than any she had ever felt. Her vision blurred, not from tears this time, but from the red haze of anger that clouded her mind. Her breathing grew ragged, each inhale a struggle against the rage threatening to overwhelm her. She felt her pulse pounding in her temples, each beat a painful reminder of KS's infidelity.

Her hands, once trembling with sorrow, now shook with fury. She could barely contain the impulse to tear the photograph to shreds, to obliterate the damning evidence of betrayal. Her mind raced, each thought sharper and more bitter than the last. How could KS do this? How could she fall into the arms of a criminal.

HM picked up the final photograph, the one that crushed her bones to dust and clenched her heart and crushed it with monstrous nails. It showed KS and ST locked in a kiss, a scene that brought HM face to face with an undeniable reality. The truth stared back at her, brutal and unyielding:

Her lover was having an illicit affair with the very woman HM had sworn to capture and bring to justice.