Sashi Gupta had accomplished brilliant progress in the past few months of therapy, having regained the fundamental use of his arms and hands. With his family's efforts and his physiologist's persistence, he was finally able to hold and point to objects in his surroundings. Khushi bitiya had been especially proud and ecstatic for her father, contributing to his efforts by massaging his limbs to circulate blood and facilitate improvement.
Therefore, when he had felt the small piece of paper resting beside his pillow that morning, with minor difficulty, he had been able to lift it towards his face and read his daughter's cleanly penned goodbye. Once. Twice. Six times. Again and again and again till the words finally sank in. He had memorized, word for word, her short explanation behind the contracted marriage, her soundless sacrifice and Arnav's horrific misunderstanding, feeling the most uncontrollable fury and unfathomable grief.
Fury at a man who failed to recognize the purity of his wife and grief for a father who failed to upkeep his daughter's pride.
His eyes fell on the clock beside him, and he realized that his Khushi would be riding far away from Delhi by now. She would hide in a place where she would never be found again, as if a second Gupta daughter had never existed and roamed the gallis of Laxmi Nagar. His daughter loved too deeply to hurt the ones she held close to her heart, even if it doomed her to taking the ultimate sacrifice of isolating herself forever. Even if it meant undergoing the sacrifice of marrying a monster who sought to ruin her. A tearful, broken Sashi flinched when he felt the bed shifting beneath him, Garima stirring in her broken slumber. He hastily hid the note beneath his pillow.
Garima Gupta was a wonderful and loving mother, but had always been biasedly devoted towards Payal's wellbeing... the demure, reticent, and gentler daughter of the two. And Sashi's blind fondness for his lively, paagli and enthusiastic child had often troubled her, hesitating that Khushi was being spoiled and ruining the family's pristine reputation.
Shashi Gupta loved his wife. And his wife loved their younger daughter. Truly, she did. But he knew at that moment, that if the letter were to be shared with Garima or Madhumati, it would be ripped and burnt... the written secret scorched to ashes in attempt to salvage Payal's wedding from misfortune. The crippled man vowed that he would not let the injustice transpire. He would salvage his daughter's dignity. Rise as her father.
And confront Arnav Singh Raizada.
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They said love did miracles.
And Sashi Gupta, rising up from his wheelchair... taking slow but steady steps towards a completely outraged Arnav Singh Raizada was enough to prove that love was indeed nothing short of miraculous.
Shashi prided himself for being a compassionate father. A loving, fair and sensible father. And to powerlessly listen to the slurs and gibes rolling off the tongue of a man who demolished his daughter's life had lifted him onto his unsteady, unfeeling feet.
And a lost voice instantly returned. A lost voice for his lost child. A lost voice for her injustice.
A voice to show that son of a bitch his rightful place.
He ignored his wife's hysteria and his sister's screams. He ignored his daughter's astonished gasps. His focus strained solely on placing one foot ahead of the other as he limped towards the tall, scowling man standing within his living room.
He thought of his daughter's tears. His daughter's endless cries. How the smile and laughter that were once the epitome of her identity, had been stolen so cruelly and unfairly. How she withered away to nothing. How the man responsible, who had the audacity to insult his child within his very presence, looked offended by the insult Sashi had muttered.
Aged, worn and pathetic hands found their place against her abuser's broad chest and with all the force frail, old Sashi Gupta could muster... he pushed the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada onto their polished, wooden floor.
The thud of a falling man resounded and broke the heavy silence.
Madhumati gasped as her niece's ex-husband collapsed and shrieked as her brother kicked the man thoroughly with his bare feet, indifferent to Arnav's appalled screams and cries of pain. Sashi Gupta was a peaceful and serene man, but as the damage within his daughter's soulless eyes clouded his memory, only one, singular purpose controlled his actions: to cause Arnav Singh Raizada as much pain and anguish as humanly possible.
To revenge her.
As the old, unsteady father aimed his foot towards the cowering man's face, he lost his balance and tumbled in a heap onto the cold floor. Yet he continued to rain feeble punches against the younger, stronger body, stealthily ignoring the astonished women's screaming pleas to stop. His arms cramped in pain and his chest knotted in discomfort, yet he continued to beat his withered fists against Arnav... unwilling to stop the torture.
"You b*stard!", he struggled to bite out with his incessant blows. "I won't spare you, Arnav! You'll pay for every tear she ever spent on a b*stard like you. You'll pay! ".
Sashi slipped his free, trembling hand back into his sweater pocket and pulled out Khushi's crumpled letter, his murderous eyes daring Arnav to read about his heinous misdeeds and sins. Yet it fell noiselessly from his grip onto the floor, as a terrified Garima and a tentative Payal dragged the bellowing man back to his wheelchair.
Madhumati helped a speechless and astonished Arnav back to the balls of his feet, but Sashi Gupta was nowhere near done. He maniacally struggled against the women's strong hold to claw his nails into the deceivingly handsome face... to ruin the fiend just as he had ruined his innocent, loving and beautiful daughter.
But alas, the unbearable weakness and ache began to win the battle against his feeble body... and the blackness veiled his vision.
The last thing Sashi saw before succumbing to unconsciousness was Arnav Singh Raizada silently picking up and straightening out a crumpled piece of lined paper.
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