Flashback
"Sheetal!" Arnav roared.
Sheetal came running out of the bathroom with just a short robe on.
"What is wrong my love?" she asked.
Arnav scoffed "Love? I am anything but that"
Sheetal frowned "What is the matter Arnav. Speak clearly"
He threw the file at her. It landed on her feet "This is the matter" he growled "What is the meaning of this"
She paled "A-Arnav, I-I can explain"
"Do so then" he said through gritted teeth.
Sheetal bit her lip, trying to think of a good excuse. She glared at the file and then looked up at Arnav "T-this isn't m-my file. It belongs to a friend"
"Oh really?" Arnav replied sarcastically "You have a friend with the same exact married name as yours?"
Sheetal hesitated "S-She didn't want her p-parents to find out s-so she just u-used my na-"
"Just shut up!" he yelled "How dare you accuse me of having a mistress without proof when you've been having an affair this whole time behind my back with the evidence in your damn womb!"
Tears sprang to Sheetal's eyes "A-Arnav you h-have to lis-"
"I don't have to listen to anything you have to say" he seethed "Your infidelity speaks for itself. No wonder you wanted to sleep with me so bad. You wanted me to take in that child as my own!"
"No Arnav!" Sheetal cried "I t-thought you didn't want me because I didn't have e-experience s-so I-I" she stammered.
"So you decided to get some practice" he sneered.
She fell to her knees "I just wanted you to love me" she sobbed.
"Cheating on me seems like an odd way to prove that" he scowled "I can't do this anymore"
Her heart nearly stopped "W-What do you m-mean?" she stuttered.
"I'm giving you a divorce"
Flashback Ends
"Back then divorce was a very rare occurrence" Arnav explained "It was highly looked down upon, especially on the women. Being a divorcee back then was worse than your husband cheating on you. At least you still had his name attached to yours. With the divorce, the only thing the women received was shame and so they became outcasted"
"That's horrible" Khushi whispered.
Arnav nodded "I never wished harm on any women. In fact I always felt bad for the ones who got divorced but when I found out that my own wife had betrayed me I couldn't give a damn"
Flashback
Sheetal fell at Arnav's feet "Arnav please!" she cried "I did this for you. I love you!"
He shook her off "I don't care" he growled "Go back to the man you've been cheating on me with. The one that's the father to your gift of infidelity"
"I'll do anything Arnav!" she begged "Please don't give me such a horrific punishment. I'll do anything you want me to do. I'll become your maid. I'll clean, cook, or do anything else you want. I won't even question you if you begin to have a mistress or multiple of them as long as you grant me the blessing of letting me remain your wife"
He waved her off "You lost the right the second you invited another man to your bed"
"Arnav plea-"
"It's over!" he shouted "I want nothing to do with the likes of you"
"I love y-"
He raised his hand "Don't" he warned "I don't want to hear any of your bullsh*t anymore"
"But Arnav" Sheetal pleaded on her knees.
"You'll be hearing from my lawyer tomorrow" he said firmly.
He turned around to leave when he heard glass breaking. Frowning, he turned around. He gasped. Sheetal had broken a vase but that wasn't the shocking part. She had taken the biggest shard and stabbed herself with it.
"Sheetal!" Arnav raced to her side. He pulled the piece of glass out "What were you thinking Sheetal!" he yelled.
Sheetal struggled to breath for air. Her hand went to her bleeding wound. She looked at him "At least I get to die as your wife"
He scowled "You're pregnant damn it. You should have at least thought about your child"
She shook her head "It's not yours. How would I raise it knowing it was the reason I lost you"
Arnav looked away "I'm calling the doctor. Just hold on"
"I-I can't" she gasped.
She was losing blood fast. No doubt she only had a few moments to spare.
Arnav swallowed "I didn't want you to die"
Before she could try utter something, the door slammed open. Her mother stormed in. Arnav looked at her confused. What was she doing here?
Arpita rushed to her daughter "Sheetal!" she cried "What happened to you"
Sheetal didn't have much more time. She was breathing heavily. Her blood was spreading everywhere.
Sheetal, with whatever energy she had, tried to say something. When she realized she didn't have the time, she pointed at Arnav with her left hand and placed her right hand on where her heart was.
Arnav looked away, understanding her message. She was telling him she loved him...
And then she took her last breath.
Flashback Ends
Khushi covered her mouth "That's terrible!"
Arnav nodded "I may have not loved her but I never wanted her dead"
"What happened after?" Khushi asked.
He closed his eyes "I got cursed"
Flashback
"Sheetal!" Arpita screamed in her misery "You can't leave me!"
Sheetal, however, didn't respond. Her eyes were closed and her skin was already beginning to lose colour.
Arpita sobbed against the top of her deceased daughter's head. She had done everything she could for her offspring. When her husband had left them for another woman, Arpita had made sure he paid for every tear he made her daughter shed. That was why nobody ever heard from him ever again.
She looked at the open file near her daughter and scanned over the paper with teary eyes.
Pregnant
Sheetal had been carrying a living being inside her. She would have been a mother. Placing her hand on Sheetal's wound on her stomach, Arpita closed her eyes to see the future if her daughter hadn't committed suicide.
In it she saw Arnav abandoning her. Another man often came to see Sheetal but she warned him to stop coming. After many unsuccessful tries, he stopped. Arpita saw her daughter giving birth to a baby boy. She named him Arsh. Sheetal faced a lot of criticism and harsh remarks for being a single mother and divorced. It came to the point she became shunned by society. She tried to meet with Arnav many times but he always insulted her and then slammed the door on her face. A year after having Arsh, Sheetal committed suicide by jumping off a bridge.
Arpita snapped open her eyes. A tear slid down. Either way her daughter would have met her end by her own hands.
Her eyes crept up to her son-in-law, who was standing in the corner with a guilty look on his face. Anger burst through her. She demanded vengeance for her daughter's life.
She pointed a bony finger at him "You! It's your fault!" she screeched
Arnav didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. In a way it kind of was his fault but he had never known she would take such a drastic measure.
Arpita grabbed the shard that had killed Sheetal and slit her wrists.
Arnav gasped "What are you doing!" he screamed.
Arpita glared at him through her pain. She looked at her wounds and knew she had little time.
"Sheetal had always loved you" she spoke calmly "Which is why I had convinced your mother to bring forth the proposal. Now I realize what a mistake that was" she gritted her teeth and then began speaking aggressively "You never loved her despite her unconditional love for you. Now it's your turn to try find the unconditional love that can save you from my curse" the windows flew open and heavy wind blew in. Arpita's black cat suddenly jumped in through it and sat next to her dying mistress. Arpita, however, continued unfazed "You will live the life of a cat like this during daylight" she gestured to her black cat "and be human at night. You will suffer from a timeline worth of your half's life. Only if you find unconditional love that will sacrifice herself into the sea of truth will you be free from my curse"
With those last few words, she closed her eyes and took her last breath next to Sheetal.
Flashback Ends
"What happened then?" Khushi asked, biting her nails. she had so many questions but she knew she should wait til the end.
Arnav sighed "Then their bodies were discovered in my room"
Flashback
After all that ruckus, Ipshita and Anjali entered Arnav's room. Ipshita gasped. Anjali rubbed her eyes not believing the sight in front of her. Ipshita screamed and ran to her best friend and daughter-in-law.
"What happened!" Anjali screamed.
Arnav looked at the dead bodies and shook his head "I don't know how to explain"
"Did you kill them?" Anjali accused.
He quickly shook his head "No! I didn't"
"I'm calling the police" Anjali said, reaching for the home phone.
Flashback Ends
"The police came and did their investigation" Arnav continued "Back then there wasn't much technology like there is today. They mostly made assumptions"
"So what was their assumption" Khushi asked.
Arnav clenched his jaw "That I was guilty. Their bodies were found in my room. Sheetal's blood was on my hands and clothes"
Khushi gasped "Were you in jail?"
Arnav nodded "Back then they were pretty sexist so because I was a male, I was imprisoned for only four years"
"Did your family at least support you?"
He scoffed "Anjali blamed me. She didn't believe me. She thought I murdered them both and hated me for killing her best friend and her mother. My mother on the other hand came to visit me once and then sent a letter through the guard that she didn't want anyone knowing she had stepped in that place so she wasn't going to be visiting anymore"
"That's terrible" Khushi said softly "You must have been so alone"
Arnav sighed "I wasn't all alone. I had become friends with this man named Akash who I had camped with during the time I served in the military. He knew I didn't murder them and would often come visit me. Lavanya was his cousin who was a nurse at the war. I had become good friends with her too so he would often come with her" he closed his eyes "And Rohit...he came to visit me just the once..."
Flashback
"Get up you b*stard"
Arnav woke up from his stiff nap on the concrete bed. He groggily looked around and found his best friend on the other side of the bars.
"Rohit!" Arnav greeted, getting up quickly and making his way over to him "What took you so long to visit me?"
Rohit glared at him "How could you? I knew you would get mad but I never knew you would kill Sheetal over our affair!"
Arnav took a step back shocked "Are you telling me you were the one she was having an affair with? You of all people"
"I loved her" Rohit defended "And somewhere along the way she did too"
Arnav laughed "She played you. She never loved you. Did you know she was pregnant with your child and had asked for a potion to get rid of it the very day I came back?"
Rohit clenched his fists "No...she wouldn't have. I knew she was pregnant from the newspaper article about their murder but she wouldn't kill our child"
"Well she would have" Arnav said "She didn't give a rats ass to you or your baby"
"You filthy b*stard" Rohit grabbed Arnav's collar through the bars "You're just trying to fill my head with doubts. I know she loved me and I don't need you to confirm it"
Arnav pushed him away "I would have never become friends with someone so delusional. I can't believe I had a backstabber as my best friend"
"And I can't believe I had a murderer as my best friend"
"Get out of my sight!" Arnav yelled.
"Gladly!" Rohit agreed "After all who would want to stay in this misery. Oh wait. You would since you very well earned it" he goaded.
Arnav threw his arms out through the spaces between the bars to grab Rohit but Rohit stepped back. He turned around and began walking away down the empty hall, laughing.
Flashback Ends
"He's such a terrible man!" Khushi exclaimed.
Arnav nodded "I, myself, can't believe I had been friends with him for so long"
"So wait, what about the curse"
"The effects of the curse began showing very soon after I had been released. During the day I would become a cat for a few minutes and then human soon after. I could never control it. Soon the amount of time I remained as a cat grew longer and longer to the point that I could never change back before sundown"
"So what did you do?" Khushi asked.
"I told both Lavanya and Akash my situation. I had grown to trust them the most. Lavanya admitted to me that she had been dating a witch for a few years so maybe he could help"
"Was he the man who came during my rescue?"
Arnav nodded "His name is NK. He, however, couldn't help"
Flashback
"I'm sorry Arnav. There's nothing I can do" NK said, his eyes sad for the man in front of him "In fact according to the words Arpita recited, it means you only have the lifespan of a cat which is about 15 years. You don't have much time"
Arnav fell to his knees and burst into tears "Please" he sobbed "Anything. Just give me anything to help me be free"
Lavanya cast her worried gaze from Arnav to NK "NK there must be some way that he can break the curse"
NK grabbed his notepad from the table where he had written down the exact words Arpita had used before her death "There is technically a way" he said "But it's not going to be easy"
Arnav nodded eagerly "Please tell me"
NK nodded "With any curse to be effective there must be a solution provided. What witches typically do is curse a human with the solution having to do with something magical so the chances of them breaking the curse is low" he gestured to the words on the notebook "Arpita's solution is that you have to find someone who will love you so much that they'd be willing to lose their life for you. That person would have to go to the sea of truth" he gestured to a map hanging on the wall and pointed out the exact location "Arpita's solution is that the person who would fall in love with you would have to go to the cliff, say that they love you, and then jump into the sea" he put down the notepad "Now the only downside is that if the person is lying or their feelings aren't all the way there, the sea will recognize it and hence when they jump, the sea will swallow the person, killing them"
Arnav widened his eyes "W-What if they do love me?"
"If their feelings are true and there is no hesitation, the sea will evaluate the person and let the person float on the surface, letting them live. If that happens, your curse will die and this cat business will be over with" NK explained.
Flashback Ends
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