ASHLOK FF - AT FIRST SIGHT Last Chapter - Page 9

She remembered the somewhat confused look the Agnihotries gave her when she announced her name as just Astha Kalindi. No family name.

She, Astha, that's it. Just Astha Kalindi, no family name. Kalindi is her family name. She was the only family she ever had. At least to her that was it. She was given a last name. But how can you be known, called upon as such. The same person that took everything away from you. Share the same name with the monster that took away her only family, her mother and her innocence away from her. The same person who brutally killed her mother and took away her dreams. No thank you. I'd rather be nameless than be called upon by the same name.

Twenty years before...

At first she was happy her mother had finally found somebody to lean on to love her the way only a man can love a woman. He was very friendly with her from the on set. He adored Astha. She got along with him better than Kalindi had hoped. Kalindi was extremely happy to see her daughter get a fathers love. But that was not love it was lust like a wolf in sheep skin. Even young, naive Astha felt and understood that her step-fathers affection is not right in any law book. She tried her best to ward him off, but he had all the power. She was terrified he threatened his step daughter that her mother would be killed and no one would be able to even find her body. And he would post pictures of her online, she knew what sort of pictures he meant. Aastha believed every word to be true. It's easy to sit in our cosy protected little world and question her silence throw a million questions why didn't you tell your mother, your teacher a friend. When you look from the outside options are endless. But when your trapped within thinking there's no way out, initially it was the fear that kept her silent , but as she grew older it was more of shame than fear what if no one believes me? what would my own mother think of me? what if my school mates found out? She felt suffocated, alone no place to go or nobody to trust and when you already feel like a albino amongst your peers, who are we to question her choices? I'm not, you shouldn't either. She should've had more faith in her mothers love, I'm sure she did, she put her mothers happiness before here's that was her only mistake. She thought she's doing her mother a favour! She had no idea how wrong she was.

She was the happiest when she got the chance to go away for college and with that the physical abuse stopped but she was so scared mentally she couldn't even bring her self to be hugged by any of her guy friends in the college. When her mother called and told her that they were going to adopt a little girl that she would have a baby sister soon. That was it. She couldn't let it happen to another innocent soul. No way. That's when she decided to finally tell her mother the truth. She knew she would be devastated. For he treated her well. She even loved him. But it was time to put an end to this. State of her mother being called devastated is a grave understatement.

Chapter 5

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