IshVeer Chronicles

Chapter 3: The Second Chance?

Sometimes, some wounds never healed. They placed themselves within you like incense of an infuriated fire, burning you without an escape. For Ranveer, the wounds, the betrayals were not new. Nor was the blazing fire of agony which intensified every time the memories did their brutal round. As a child he was proud of his honesty, and while growing up he was happy about his loyalty. His Mota Babuji trusted him the most; more than anyone in his own family. To carry out the important tasks, when he could trust no one else, Ranveer was trusted with them. Blindly. Without entertaining any vanity in his favor, Ranveer knew that he loved the affection showered on him.

And then there was Ishani. Ishani. His mind framed her beautiful face, her gleaming eyes, her smile, her cheeks that turned red every time she blushed. She had been his best friend, his only friend, standing by his side when everything fell apart. She didn't love him, but the tiniest hint of affection in her eyes was the reason he could spend his entire lifetime struggling the cruelest miseries, without uttering a word. His mind travelled back to the moment he'd first seen her, still bright and fresh in his memories, never getting old, and halted when he met her the last time.
One month had passed since he left home for an endless journey. After all that had happened before he left, Ranveer did not wish to go back again. There was nothing left anyway. She was married right after he left.
He himself was supposed to get married. The preparations were on full swing until he declared that he couldn't marry. He told Ritika that she deserved someone much better than him to spend her lifetime with. Someone who would look after her and her child. Even if he tried, he'd be able to give her fake assurances, blank promises only.

His parents had snubbed his decision, calling him a coward and a Romeo who still ran after someone who never valued him. They wanted him to get married and settle down in a life full of happiness.

Happiness?

Did he even remember the meaning of word ever since Ishani had left? She was synonymous to happiness for him, her sole presence being the reason he lived. Once she was gone, he had struggled to find meaning of his own existence.

"You want to know why I never said I love you? Because I really never loved you!"

Her words never stopped haunting him. Everything was perfect before he had left for the meeting before Sharman's Sangeet ceremony, both the families celebrating the day without much grudge. Apart from that, he and Ishani were going to announce to their families that they were together and sought no divorce no matter what their families suggested. Even if she never said it, Ranveer knew Ishani loved him. There was no doubt in that, and even today it didn't hurt to think about that particular day full of unanswered questions and pains. Why would Ishani say all that to him when she'd loved him all along as well?
But how could she cross her limits with the words she said to him again and again, insulting him at every occasion, thrashing his self respect all the time?

Was he never worth her love?

He had been mean to her after he was shot, unable to make out anything of her sudden care and affection, laced with a love he knew she never did. But she had won over his hatred and made him realize what he meant to her and vice-versa. He had confessed his feelings to her soon after, pouring every part of him in his words, to tell her that he was sorry, that he still loved her, and that nothing could ever change his feelings for her.

Not even she.

While confessing his love, he had handed her over a pistol, but with a firm hope that she would never hurt him again. But she did. She pulled the trigger and killed him, uncaring if he died that day. He looked into her eyes and pleaded not to kill him, but she remained unmoving. Her words were like the bullets leaving a gun, annihilating him effortlessly that ruined every part of his soul, causing him an irrecoverable damage. She confessed to have never loved him and then of killing Chirag. He tried to find a simple hint that she might be doing all this under pressure of the things he had been unaware of. But his misunderstanding came to an end when she signed the divorce papers. What compulsion could lead her to destroy their lives like that? Unless... she loved Chirag and wanted to spend the rest of her life in his memories.
Something he himself was doing right now.