Destroying Myself (Myself #3)

25. The Truth I Denied

[N I S H A ' S    P O V] 

"What?" I whispered in a scared tone. "What do you mean? Is he okay?"

Worry settled in my veins, knots appeared at the bottom of my stomach and everything seemed too apart from each other.

She shook her head to my questions, tears settled at the edge of her eyes.

I scolded my heartbeat to control itself, but it didn't. I knew something was wrong with him, always knew something was wrong with him and damn, where was he?

"I should've told you before," She rasped. "Why was I so stupid? How could I not see it and let my jealousy overtake everything?"

"Rupika, what happened?" I asked hurriedly. "Where is Rahul?"

Wiping the tear from her cheek, she started speaking the truth. The truth which Rahul was supposed to tell me but hid it from me, the girl he claimed to love the most in the entire world.

"Rahul is in Delhi only. Bad parts of Delhi. He never left the city. I should've told you when Kabir called me asking about him and I lied. I thought Rahul would be happy and realize I really loved him."

That wasn't unknown to me, or any of us, but Rahul had made it clear he couldn't reciprocate her feelings and she was too special for him to let it get ruin with a relationship he couldn't work on.

"Tell me about him, please," I said desperately.

Licking her lower lip, she continued, "His dad was involved in bad things." I raised my eyebrows. "I know it's very hard to believe but it was true. That's why his mother worked, to support their house and Rahul's education. You know what it did in his house. His father thought of starting a business but for that, he took a loan from a man. He lost all the money in the share market, but he was lured to join the gang to pay off the debt. Soon, he got into it too much and murdered someone." I gasped. "His father was guilty of murder, and he went further into the web of that gang. But before he could pay it or the police get hold of them, he died in a fire accident along with Rahul's mother."

Processing all of it, I shook my head in bewilderment. Nothing was making sense. How it related to Rahul?

"The man got hold of him two years ago. Threatened him to pay off the debt, but Rahul ignored it, thinking he was joking but then something happened. They came for him. He thought maybe paying them would help, but it didn't. They wanted him to be the part of their gang. Be a murderer, a rapist and do smuggling. He knew even if he paid them, they wouldn't leave him alone. So, like a fool he is, he thought of joining them."

"Why?" I curled my hands.

She leaned her head down. "You."

"What?" My heartbeat raced and stopped at the same time.

Too much information in past few minutes was messing with my head. I needed to be away from her, from everything that conjured inside my head. It was delusional. For five months, I stayed away from his memory, made myself stronger and built a wall around myself to forget he even existed in the first place. Each inch of my attention went back to my family and career. Each inch of my heart parted away from his memories.

I couldn't have all of it back.

"I don't know much but he met you in a bar six months ago. They saw you there and threatened Rahul if he didn't join them, they'll abduct you."

"You're lying." Stepping back, I waved my hands in front of me to dodge her words. "It's not a movie. Just go to your room and rest."

"Nisha," Running, she caught my hand. "Why are you avoiding it?"