The chapter contains content that may be triggering or sensitive to some individuals. Reader discretion is advised.

Following a tense moment of silence, Netra hastily snatched the box back from his grasp. In her rush to escape, she failed to notice a stone on the road, causing her to trip and stumble to the ground.

Witnessing her brutal fall, Shashank walked up to her. He offered her his hand to help her get up but he was turned down right away. Taking a step backward, he crossed his hands over his chest while watching her struggling to get up. He patiently waited for her to stand up on her own as she wished. 

In the flurry of events, a small note nestled beneath the box caught his attention that he seemed to have missed earlier. He bent to be able to read what was written on it while Netra was dusting herself off.

Today, it’s the doll. Tomorrow, it will be you. 

The haunting warning left his mind racing with the unsettling possibilities those cryptic words presented. 

“Mi parat vichartoy… tula koni traas det aahe?” 

Her eyes trailed his, lingering on that note that had captured his attention. Her expression gave away that even she had missed it. Despite everything, her demeanor remained guarded, her silence a fortress against his probing inquiries. 

“I’ve caused you enough trouble. I don’t want to cause more,” she murmured, lifting the box from the ground. “I can handle my matters, Shashank Sir.” 

Her statement brought back the forgotten bitter memories. It had been over two months to the day when she had come to beg for his forgiveness, accepting her wrongdoings. 

While the past two months had been beautiful for him and Apurva, he wasn’t blind to the fact that Netra still wasn’t in a great space mentally.  A part of him did admire her courage to own up to her mistakes and her persistence in staying away from him in the days that followed. 

His initial hesitation had faded with time as Netra had stayed true to her resolve to keep their interactions strictly professional. Nevertheless, a pang of guilt gnawed at him whenever he glimpsed her sitting alone during their lunch breaks.

His train of thought screeched to a halt at the sound of her footsteps. Despite being wary of getting involved especially when she had made it clear that she didn’t want his help, leaving her alone felt inhuman to him. Especially after everything that he had just witnessed. 

He couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility that weighed heavily on his shoulders, a nagging sense of duty compelling him to reach out even when every instinct told him to act indifferent. 

“Thaamb!” 

Netra stopped in her tracks. She turned around to see what was the matter with him. 

“Ekti jaau nako. Mi sodto tula!” 

He observed her initial instinct to deny after he made the offer to drop her home but one glance at the box in her hand was enough for silence to envelope her.

Taking her lowered gaze as a yes, he approached his bike only to find its engine unresponsive. After a series of failed attempts to start his bike, he retrieved the key with a sigh, resigning himself to the fact that it would need a mechanic. 

“It’s okay. I can go back by myself! I wanted to take a walk anyway.” 

He heard her making the decision after silently watching the situation.

“But if you want to walk with me till you find an auto, I don’t mind,” she offered in a low voice. 

Just say that you’re scared. He quietly nodded without resisting. Perhaps, it wasn’t easy for her to directly ask for his help after everything that went wrong between them. 

“Regardless of what happened between us, you can still come to me if you need help. I am not going to let you down,” Shashank said, breaking the silence after they began walking in the direction of her home. “Except for Apurva’s accident… I hold nothing against you.”

“I know I shouldn’t have done that,” Netra said, her steps slower than usual, “I guess, love can really make you do the things that you would never otherwise consider in your sane state of mind.”

He stopped and turned to her. “Do you want me to hold that box for you?” Ever since they had begun walking, her eyes had never left that box. The terror in them was too evident to miss. He also looked at it as an opportunity to get her to speak about it. 

“I am fine, thank you,” she politely declined and resumed walking. 

“Shashank Sir,” Netra called as they stood in front of her house. There were multiple times when he could get himself an auto but he had accompanied her to her place. “Thank you!”

“Had there been anyone else in your place, I would have done the same.” The inexplicable need to make sure not to give her any wrong hints was too strong to resist. Even when he knew that it wasn’t probably the right time to say it!

“You didn’t need to say that. I know I am not special to you.” She smiled weakly. 

Did he hurt her? He looked away, vigorously rubbing his forehead. He spent a minute contemplating if to let his guard down as he stared at her distressed figure. Knowing she stayed alone in Nashik and had nobody to confide in, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to her in a matter that seemed frighteningly serious.  

“I mean it when I say that you can tell me if something or someone is bothering you.” 

Though generally inclined to mind his own affairs, he knew exactly in what circumstances he needed to step up to help. He had a sister. If she were to fall victim to someone’s harassment someday, he would want people around her to protect her if she failed to protect herself. 

His emphasis on someone made her look up, confirming his suspicion. 

“Do you mind coming inside? I don’t want to talk about it here,” she said, casting a wary glance at the people from the neighborhood staring at them.

He looked at his watch. It was already late but abandoning her at that moment wasn’t an option. 

“Did you say this was twenty days ago?” Apurva couldn’t resist interrupting. 

The memory of that night was vivid in her mind. He had called her around 11 p.m. and ended the call earlier than usual. She had assumed it to be because he was tired and did not overthink it. Little did she know, there was a lot on his mind that night. 

Knowing that he had broken his promise, he could only give her a guilty nod. 

“And you didn’t tell me? I would like to believe that you have an explanation. Continue!” 

Pick up, will you? 

How many times have I told you not to get close to those men at your workplace? 

Didn’t you claim to like me? What changed? Didn’t you say you’ve never met someone as caring as me? What have I done for my care to become synonymous with control? 

Let’s meet. Tonight. My place. Haven’t we waited for this for so long? Don’t you miss me, Netra? 

I can’t live without you. 

Shashank looked up from her phone that Netra had handed him after reading a series of messages from someone named Chirag that she hadn’t replied to.

“What does this mean?” he asked, giving the phone back to her. 

“Can’t you figure out?” She kept the phone on the table before pulling a chair for herself. “You wanted to know who is bothering me. He is the one.” 

“Behind that doll?” 

She sighed with a nod. “I met Chirag online last month on an app that I’ve been anonymously writing on. Poetry became my only escape for what I couldn’t express. From falling for you to having to walk away from you… who could I really be honest with about my feelings? Who did I even have? Chirag’s comments on my poems made me feel what I had always longed to feel… understood. In my desperation to move on from you, I grew closer to him. Who knew he would leave me more miserable than you did?”

Even though this chapter does not have any triggering content, I’ve put the warning because there would be some stuff in the upcoming chapters. I would personally suggest stop reading the story at this point if you are under 18. A big no if you are under 16.

To avoid confusion, I’ll keep the flashback in dark olive and the present in black.

As always, do leave your comments if you have any to make. <3