Shattered Benevolence: The Rise of Darkness

Chapter 7: The Price of Broken Souls

Armaan paused at the doorway, as if contemplating something deeper within himself. Slowly, he turned back toward Vidya and Rohit, his once cold and vengeful expression now tinged with a flicker of pain. His smirk faded, replaced by a raw, wounded look that neither of them had seen in the last 3 months. He took a few steps back into the room, his eyes narrowing with both hurt and bitterness.

"I spent my entire life," Armaan began, his voice quieter, but carrying the weight of years of anguish, "giving both of you so much love. I always put you—Rohit, you, Mrs. Vidya—above everyone else. Above even my own mother, Shivani. I thought if I loved you enough, if I made enough sacrifices, I would earn your respect, your acceptance."

His voice cracked slightly, but he quickly steadied himself, not allowing the weakness to show. The emotions bubbling beneath the surface were undeniable. "But in return... all you did was kill my spirit. You crushed every ounce of kindness, of hope, that was inside me. Do you have any idea what it feels like to lose the very thing that makes you human? Because of you, I became this... this thing standing in front of you."

Rohit's eyes filled with tears once again, his guilt now more unbearable than ever. His lips trembled as he asked in a broken whisper, "What was my baby's fault? What was Ruhi's fault? Why did they have to suffer?"

Armaan's gaze darkened, the flicker of vulnerability vanishing as pure hatred flooded his expression once more. He leaned closer, his face inches from Rohit's, his voice venomous. "Ruhi? She was one of the main reasons Abhira was hurt. She was always trying to break Abhira, just like you and Vidya. You think just because she repented, her sins are washed away? No, Rohit. People don't just get to walk away from their past like that."

Vidya, who had remained silent through the confrontation, felt her chest tighten with fear as Armaan's gaze shifted toward her. The hatred radiating from him made her feel suffocated.

"And as for your baby," Armaan continued, his tone colder than ice, "the baby's fault was simple—it was yours and Ruhi's child. After all, wasn't it better that the baby didn't come into this world? At least it was spared from growing up with parents who could never truly love anyone, parents who only know how to destroy."

His words cut through them like a blade, sharp and unrelenting. Rohit fell to his knees, sobbing, unable to cope with the weight of the truth. Vidya, too, felt her legs weaken, but she remained standing, tears silently streaming down her face. Armaan's words were merciless, but she couldn't deny the truth in them. Every single action they had taken had pushed him closer to this point.

Armaan stood tall, looking down at them with a mixture of disgust and satisfaction. He had waited for this moment—the moment where they would finally feel the pain that had haunted him for years.

"This is your karma," he said with finality, his voice like a death sentence. "Not just yours, but Ruhi's too. Every sin you committed, every time you crushed me under your feet, it's all coming back to you. I'm just the instrument of fate."

With that, Armaan turned away, the weight of his words hanging in the air like a dark cloud. He walked out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hall, leaving behind an emptiness that neither Vidya nor Rohit could escape.

As the door clicked shut behind him, Vidya collapsed into a chair, trembling with the realization of what they had created. Armaan had once been a kind, gentle soul, full of love and hope. But their cruelty, their selfishness, had taken that away from him. They had broken him, shattered the very core of who he was.

For the first time in three months, Vidya truly saw the monster that Armaan had become—not because it was who he was, but because they had made him that way. Her stubbornness, her hatred, her desire to tear him down, had all backfired. The child she had cursed, the one she had dismissed and ridiculed, was now the man who stood over her, a symbol of the damage she had done.

"Oh, how I wish..." Vidya whispered, her voice thick with regret. "How I wish I could turn back time, fix everything. How did we let this happen? How did I... how did I destroy him like this?"

But time was unforgiving. No matter how much Vidya wished to go back, no matter how much Rohit wished for a second chance, they knew they could never undo the damage they had caused. The weight of their guilt was a burden they would carry for the rest of their lives. They had killed someone's spirit, and now, they were paying the price.

Vidya wiped away her tears, but the hollow ache in her chest remained. She had destroyed Armaan, and now, he was determined to destroy them. She realized now, too late, that her stubbornness had cost her more than she could ever repay. It had destroyed not only a man but an entire family—and there was no escaping the consequences of that.

Rohit looked up, his eyes filled with despair. "We turned him into a monster," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "We turned him into this. And now, there's no going back."

Vidya nodded weakly, her heart sinking further into the abyss. They would have to live with the knowledge that they had created the very thing they feared—a monster out for blood, one who wouldn't stop until they were utterly destroyed.

And as they sat there, drowning in their guilt and fear, they knew one thing for certain: Armaan's vengeance was far from over.