A few weeks later....

It has been a few weeks since the bitter incident and later on the next day Kavya visited our house with Sager to apologise on behalf of her aunt and her actions.

Despite the past, we just took the usefulness of this situation to celebrate our reunion and all four of us cooked dinner together and spent quality time.

On that day, after a long time, I laughed and giggled without any ounce of uncomfortable or stress.

Days were passing like the wind but I couldn't shake the feeling off that there was a storm brewing behind the shadows and something looming around us in the darkness.

Or it might be my hallucinations...

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*

Today's going to be one of the important days in Karthik's life. Because Karthik and his college friend Raghu were planning to start their own chartered accountant business, for a long time also they were preparing and planning things, step by step since they didn't want any mistakes to occur.

I could see, there was a silent progress with patience and intelligence....

To start this business they need, the right qualifications and a practising certificate, followed by developing a comprehensive business plan, securing startup capital, choosing a legal structure, obtaining necessary licenses and a tax ID, creating a marketing strategy to attract clients, and setting up their office and technology.

 They also need to foster strong business skills beyond accounting, like leadership, networking, and strategic planning. 

Even some of his trustworthy friends from different fields were helping them to build their dream by tackling difficulties.
So, last week their loan got approved from the bank and today they're going to sign the lease document of a building they've chosen to start up their business.

It was located in the middle of the business hub of the city and the building was worth the money according to Karthik's words. There was a competition for the ownership but Karthik and his friend secured it through their intelligence and continuous persuasion.

Today afternoon they had an appointment with the lawyer and the owner of the building and he said he would call me once everything was done. Even Ryan had accompanied him since he wanted to be with his best friend to show his support.

I hope everything will work out for him because his friend and Karthik were working hard long time for this only...

To make his day more memorable even I have an important thing to share with him but I wanted to make it confirmed before breaking the little surprise to him....

" Kayal..." I heard someone calling my name and when I turned, it was Abishek.

" Hi Abishek... What are you doing here?"

" Since your best friend's birthday is tomorrow, I am planning a surprise for her. That's why I came supermarket to buy some things for that. So what are you doing here standing on the road?"

" I came to buy some groceries. And booked an Uber so now waiting for it...."

" Oh.. If you don't mind I can drop you off since your house is on my way." He said hesitantly.

" No it's OK...I will go by Uber.  Already you have a lot to do"

" Never mind. I thought...we are OK... But it seems you're not comfortable with me yet. " he sounded disappointed.

" No. Nothing like that.... I already forgot those things... I just don't want to disturb you unnecessarily. "

" OK then.. I will believe you if you agree to drop you off at home "

I was wondering how to avoid him because Karthik wouldn't be happy if he found out about this...but helplessly I agreed with Abishek since I didn't want to encourage his thought.

Getting inside the car I thought to ask how he knew my current address but left it to the latter.

To break the awkwardness inside the car, I just asked about his wedding plan but he just ignored the topic saying ' nothing to talk about that '

What happened to his marriage proposal... He seemed happy and was planning bigger things for his marriage....

" Here have some water.... you're looking tired..." he stretched out the water bottle.

"Thank you" I gave him a small smile.

*
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Karthik's POV....

Today was an important day for me and everything went very well on a good note...

On the way to my home, I brought my wife's favourite cookie-dough ice cream and some flowers to surprise her with the good news.  But when I rang the calling bell there was no response from the other side.

When I called her, her phone was switched off... And I literally could hear the thump of my heartbeat amid the silence of the corridor. For half an hour I was trying her number but all the time my expectation turned into dreadful disappointment.

She wouldn't go anywhere without informing me. Then where did she go?

An unknown nagging feeling twisted my gut and I called Kayal's friend Abi to know if she had any idea about my wife's whereabouts... But unfortunately, she had no idea and she even started to panic understanding the seriousness of my query.

Cutting the call I reached back to my car with the idea of checking her around the supermarket where she had planned to go today afternoon.

When I was still on the road,  my phone rang displaying an unknown caller ID.
Without any delay, I answered it " Hello?"

But there's no response...

"Hello, who's this...?" I asked with frustration...Fuck the person.

"Karthik, it's me, Abishek...Abi's brother... " the other person sounded with a tensed voice. " Kayal...she's....I don't know what happened to her.."

All my senses got alert hearing Kayal's name and I stopped the car near the pavement...

" Abishek...what happened...Where's Kayal? And what the hell did you do to my wife? "

" Karthik please hear me first before getting angry... She came with me to my house to help me with some birthday preparations for Abi...But suddenly she fainted and now there's no response from her...I called the doctor and he's on his way...

I'm sending the address of my house can you please come here as soon as possible....? " Disconnecting the line I restarted the engine to the address which he sent...I am going to beat him to a pulp for involving my wife in unnecessary things.

Reaching to the address I rushed towards the main door and it was already open. Without a second thought, I got inside the house and my eyes roamed around the place to find the familiar face of my life lying on the sofa like a fragile flower.

She looked exhausted and her face was pale. Seeing her in front of me brought me the peace that I found her and also the anxiety thinking what happened to her suddenly?

My legs moved towards her trail to feel her presence but before I could take the next step my body touched the floor with a hard thud when the back of my head was hit by a force...

" Welcome Mr Karthik... " That was the only thing I heard before my vision blurred and my brain blacked out with the final image of my Kayal lying on the sofa....

Unconsciously...

                                ~~~~~

Hi dr readers....Hope you all are doing well..
Sorry for the long break but I hope you all can understand my situation... Gradually I'm getting back to normal life also the journey of our  Kayal & Karthik is also almost getting to the end point.

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Love You and Take Care ☘️❤️