This is the second chapter of the spree. The last part was posted a few hours ago. 

I'll try to post a few more this week. The next one will probably come tomorrow.

Hit the star button on each part so I can see you're getting caught up, and then I'll also write faster. 💜

Please comment too... your comments motivate me!

--

"I don't trust our society," Batuk said sadly, "I don't trust them a single bit. In their stupid point of view, you're a married woman, who's pregnant with another man's baby. And your husband left you for another lady because of your infidelity. They'll hurt you... they will!"

"Batuk -"

Suddenly, Batuk's eyes lit up and he squeezed her hand, a grin appearing on his face. "Idea!"

"What is it?" Bondita asked, looking at him curiously.

"I'll just marry you!"

"BATUK!" Bondita screamed. 

--

Batuk couldn't help but smile when Bondita screamed his name, and he asked, "Aren't you touched?" 

"Touched?" Bondita gasped, glaring at him. "Why would I be touched?"

"Because I'm willing to marry you!" Batuk said, rolling his eyes, "Imagine all the heartbroken girls out there!"

Bondita just reached forward and smacked his shoulder. "You're willing to marry me?" she furrowed her eyebrows, "Batuk ke bacche!"

"My nephew will be my kid, if I marry you!"

"Batuk!" Bondita yelled again, slapping his shoulder once more. 

Batuk just laughed and asked, "What is wrong with it? Don't I look like Big D? What's lacking in me? You should be happy!" 

Bondita looked at him, shaking her head, still glaring. 

"There are SO many things wrong with it Batuk, that I don't even know where to start." 

"Start with one thing!" 

"Forget about me for a moment. You have a girlfriend!" Bondita hissed. 

Batuk rolled his eyes and said, "I choose you over Surabhi!" 

"Batuk!" Bondita wanted to smack her forehead now. 

"It's why Tupur and I weren't compatible," Batuk told Bondita, "Remember? Because she couldn't handle how I would choose you over her."

Bondita took a deep breath and said, "Batuk, do you want to ruin my friendship with Surabhi?"

Batuk rolled his eyes again and said, "If Surabhi loves me she should understand that I have to protect you!"

Bondita just stared at him, not even knowing what to say to that!

"You're not serious, are you?" Bondita then said. 

Batuk started laughing, "Well no, not right now." 

Bondita shook her head slowly, not finding it funny. 

Batuk's face turned serious now, and he said, "But Boudi, even if I'm joking now... if push comes to shove, I'd do anything for you and my nephew. Anything. Even if it means I have to confront the world, even if it means I have to go against society, and even if it means I have to go against my Big D."

Bondita looked at him, her gaze softening. 

He really was the brother of her husband.

Batuk's gaze turned darker, "And Boudi, even if that means I have to go against you."

Bondita just stared at him silently this time before she sighed. 

"Get some rest," was all she said. 

"You first," Batuk said. 

"I will in a little while," Bondita informed, and stood up, heading towards the door of her room, indicating that he should leave.

"Boudiii why are you kicking me out?" Batuk whined. 

"I'm not Batuk, I just want to be alone for a little while -" 

"The idle mind is the devil's playground," Batuk said to her, furrowing his brows, "Big D taught me that, even though I hate him right now."

"My mind's not idle -" 

"But you'll be thinking about Big D, which is useless. Boudi, he's probably already asleep, and doesn't think about you for two seconds! If he did, he wouldn't leave you here while he enjoys with his wife!"

Bondita's heart ached when Batuk said it like that. 

"Boudi, I don't want to hurt you, but the truth is the truth. Big D and that criminal Saudamini are sharing a bedroom. And as much as I hate to say it, she is very pretty, and Big D is a man. You should forget about him. He's not worth it Boudi -"

"Batuk stop talking," Bondita said, eyes tearing up. 

"The faster you face it, the better," Batuk said darkly, "He's only going to hurt you Boudi. He's only going to break your heart into tinier pieces the more you drag this on. You have to let him go. You have to..." 

Batuk took a deep breath and gently held Bondita's shoulders with his hands, looking into her wet eyes. "The faster you accept that he's fucking another woman, the easier it's going to be for you." 

Bondita's heart didn't just break. It shattered. 

"Accept it Boudi," Batuk said, his voice sounding soft now. "Accept it and move on."

"Don't... don't say such things..." Bondita said, her voice cracking. "He... he has... a r - reason... he - he w - will... have a r - reason..."

Batuk shook his head, eyebrows furrowing with concern. "He has no reason. No reason Boudi. You... you worship him, so you're hoping for the best. There is no hope. And no excuse for him to leave you in this state, for his ex-lover."

"Batuk you don't know... our bond, our relationship," Bondita whispered, feeling like she was drowning. "You don't know..."

"I know," Batuk said, "I witnessed. I witnessed your whole journey." 

He reached to Bondita's cheeks and wiped her tears away, as he continued, "But Boudi, your faith was in a man... And that man stepped all over it, throwing you out, for another woman. Boudi, the one who should be cursed in society is him, not you. Yet you're the one who's going to face it... and I know you'll say you don't care, but I care. I care Boudi." 

He took a deep breath and whispered, "I care about you. I bloody do. And I can't tolerate anyone say anything to you..." 

Bondita sniffled, tears pouring down her cheeks. 

"If anyone says you cheated on Big D, I'll give it back and say no, Big D cheated on you. If anyone says you're carrying another man's child in your womb, I'll give it back and say no, Big D impregnated you but couldn't be a father. If anyone says you're wrong, I'll give it back and say the man who made you false promises was wrong." 

"Please don't..." Bondita whispered, "Don't Batuk."

"I will Boudi. And even if I have to be the villain, as people think I am, I will be. Because I can't see you hurt," Batuk told her firmly, "I can't see your husband dumping you like this. I can't even bear the thought of him fucking another woman behind your back, and leave you here pregnant. That's the lowest of lows."

Tears rolled down her cheeks rapidly now, and Batuk wiped each of them away. 

"I know you care about me Batuk, but your way is wrong... I'm telling you now," Bondita sobbed, "Whatever Pati Babu did, is between me and him. If I have to say something, I'll say it. And... what he does with Saudamini... I don't know. I don't know if he's ph - physical with her. I don't know anything... but I do... I do trust him Batuk. And even if I'm hurt... even if I'm crushed, 'til the end I'll hold on to that string of faith, even if it's dark and it's harder for me to find." 

"Don't Boudi, he's not worth it," Batuk warned her. 

Bondita shook her head, as her shoulders trembled. 

He was worth it. He was worth every bit of her soul... and she knew that. Deep down she knew that. 

She loved Anirudh Roy Choudhary, unconditionally. 

Batuk just wrapped his arms around Bondita and hugged her, as Bondita cried against his shoulder. 

"Batuk, h - how do I get past this tunnel of darkness?" Bondita sobbed. "When I don't know what will happen? I d - don't know if I'll see him again. I don't know if I'll hear his loving w - words again. I don't know if I'll feel his touch again. I don't know if... if I'll get to be with him again. I don't know Batuk... I don't know. Everything's so dark." 

"I'm here Boudi, I'm here for you." 

She just hugged him and sobbed. 

Even if she felt alone, Batuk was a loyal companion on her journey, and right now, she didn't know what she'd do without him.

--

The next day, instead of going to school, Bondita went to see the police at the jailhouse with Vikram and Batuk. 

The three of them approached the young male clerk with a thick black moustache at the front and Batuk directly asked, "What happened to Saudamini Bhoumik in here?" 

The clerk found the records and said, "She was released some time ago. Let me cross-check the records for the exact date. Nobody has asked for these records or come here asking for Saudamini before." 

"We're aware, but she lost her memory. How?" Batuk questioned. 

The clerk looked at the written record of the incident and explained, "I know what happened - I worked here all along, but even as I read these records, it isn't suitable for me to say."

"Why?" Bondita asked. 

"Well, in jail, she was never treated well because of her crimes. The people inside the jail shunned her and the officers didn't treat her right either. She faced a lot of hardship." 

"She deserved it!" Batuk piped up. 

"Shh Batuk, let him finish," Vikram said. 

The clerk continued, "All those years, Saudamini was also rude towards everyone. She stayed in her corner, but she gave it back well. When people picked fights with her, she would fight them back... to the point that we would threaten to increase her sentence. There were fistfights with the other female inmates and a lot of hospital visits. Many times she broke an arm or some fingers because of her fights." 

Bondita gulped, and she asked, "But Saudamini picked the fights?"

"Well, they were in retaliation," the clerk explained. "At least that's what's written here." 

"Then was one of those fights which made her lose her memory?" Vikram asked. 

The clerk took a deep breath and shook her head, "Something happened, something very bad."

"What could be worse," Batuk huffed. 

"One of the male officers... he..." the clerk said, "It's inappropriate for me to say in front of madame." 

Bondita furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Just say it, she's like a guy," Batuk said, rolling his eyes. 

The clerk whispered, "She did some indecent acts with the British male officer."

Batuk gasped loudly, "IN JAIL? SHE HAS GUTS!" 

Bondita bluntly asked, "Well, she had sex?" 

The clerk's eyebrows raised so high with shock when Bondita boldly asked. 

"What? Your parents had sex, that's why you're here," Bondita said impatiently. "Nothing taboo about it!"

The clerk started to cough, his throat dry. 

"So this is why everyone talks about you..." he murmured. 

"Everyone talks about me?" Bondita questioned. 

"Nothing," the clerk said, shaking his head.

"Well, continue the story," Vikram said quickly. "What happened after that?"

The clerk continued, "Saudamini went into a depressed state after that. She would scream at everyone saying she got used." 

Bondita's heart dropped. "Did she get raped?"

"Rape?" the clerk asked, as if it were a foreign concept. 

"Against her will?" Vikram clarified. 

"So she says," the clerk said. 

Bondita's heart sunk. She suddenly felt very bad for her. 

Batuk nervously said, "Well... t - that doesn't mean she's innocent!"

"What happened after?" Bondita asked. 

"About a month and a half later, she became pregnant," the clerk explained. "Then she tried to hurt herself..."

"Hurt herself?" Bondita asked, her heart uneasy. 

"She claimed she didn't want the baby, that she didn't even have the will to live anymore, and now she is suffering from the actions of the officer."

Bondita's eyes teared up, not expecting her to have gone through all of this. 

"One day she tried to pick a fight while pregnant, with another one of the female inmates, hoping she would miscarry the baby... but she ended up bloodied and in the hospital, yet nothing happened to the baby. She then cried that no matter how hard she tried, the devil's spawn wouldn't leave her body." 

"Then what happened?" Bondita asked, eyes watering. 

"She completely lost it. The mental pressure must have triggered her. So in the hospital, she tried to grab an operating knife from the doctor and held it against the doctor, begging him to give her an abortion."

"Why didn't he?" Batuk asked. 

Bondita's heart sank, as she remembered when her Pati Babu took her to the abortion clinic when she was pregnant. She also remembered the time she nearly had a black market abortion herself out of fear.

"They would have said no, unless there's a severe risk," Bondita said. 

"Precisely," the clerk agreed. "They still said no and overpowered her... So Saudamini went crazier and tried to run away from the hospital. She said she didn't care if she died, but she was going to get rid of the devil's spawn no matter what it took. There was a police officer on duty, but he had fallen asleep at that moment, so she managed to run out. When the officer was woken by the doctor, and he ran out..." 

"What?" Batuk asked, eyes widening, very interested to find out what happened next in this story. 

"Saudamini Bhoumik had thrown herself in front of a speeding car," the clerk said. 

Bondita's heart was beating so fast, that it hurt.

"She lost the baby," the clerk explained, "Just as she wished... but she also lost her memory. Some of us, who sympathized with her, believed it was a blessing for her, because she didn't remember the crime committed against her. But some officers were still harsh. Thankfully, it was nearly the end of her sentence, so she didn't have to hear much. She was quickly taken out of there... the days she spent there after her memory loss, she was much quieter and kept to herself. She didn't even remember her crimes."

"Wow," Vikram said, glancing at Bondita, "I never would have thought she would have gone through so much. I feel so bad for her." 

Bondita nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"Do you know... who did that to her?" Bondita asked, feeling furious at that officer. 

"Well, that's confidential -" 

"It's confidential?" Bondita yelled, and the clerk gulped. "Is it confidential, when she was made a mockery of? Her pregnancy was not going to be confidential... yet the one who did this to her was confidential? Why? Is it because he's an officer, because he's British, or because he's a MAN? And only a woman suffers in this backwards society?"

Batuk warned the clerk, "Don't get on her bad side, she can blow you up!"

Just then an attorney was passing by, and Batuk yelled, "Hey, you - you're Big D - I mean, my Dada's barrister friend right?"

The attorney nodded, and approached them. 

"I have a question for you," Batuk said. 

"Ask him outside please," the clerk said, trying to get rid of the trio now.

"Let's go Boudi," Batuk said quickly, "We'll find out about who that man is later."

He reached for her hand and helped a fuming Bondita up. They followed the attorney outside. 

"We want to know if we can throw that Saudamini Bhoumik back in jail," Batuk said bluntly. "You know about her case, right?"

Bondita took a deep breath, her eyes still wet after hearing the story. 

"You know... of my situation right now?" she asked softly to the attorney.

"Bondita Roy Choudhary," the attorney said, nodding at her. "I am aware of the situation."

"It's Bondita... Das now," Bondita said painfully. 

"Bondita," Vikram gasped, "Why are you saying -" 

"She's right," Batuk huffed to Vikram. "She shouldn't be a Roy Choudhary just because of my idiot brother!" 

The attorney ignored all that and said, "What would you like to know? About whether Saudamini Bhoumik can go back to jail?"

He looked at Bondita square in the eyes.

"It's over Mrs. Bondita Das," the male attorney said to the young lady clad in a Banarasi saree and thick sindoor filled in the parting of her hair. "There is no case here anymore."

Bondita held back her breath, her hand landing on her belly -- it was slightly bulging out. At her young and tender age, she had entered her second trimester of pregnancy, and the growth was getting exponentially more rapid with time.

The stress was growing exponentially too.

"She was also treated horribly in jail," Bondita said, "She was... taken advantage of physically, touched without her consent by an officer, and..." Her voice cracked, "The person who did that to her deserves to be punished."

Batuk said, "But Boudi, remember she was a murderer herself? The time she spent in jail was too short for her own crime."

Bondita looked back at the attorney. Tears filled her eyes and she whispered, "Is there anything... anything you can do?"

"The sentence has been served. There is really nothing left," the attorney in his fourties said with a firm shake of his head. "About the officer who hurt her... there can possibly be a case there, but it's still difficult. You know the law never sides with a woman."

"It's wrong. It should be on her side for this," Bondita said firmly. 

"I'm sorry Mrs. Das. If she files a case, only then we can look into it." 

Bondita took a deep breath and looked at her Pati Babu's attorney friend. She couldn't help but ask...

"And... and... B - Birristira... Barrister Babu?" Bondita croaked. "H - how is he?"

The man looked at her for a moment, as she watched him with desperate eyes. 

"In the same condition you left him in."

The condition that she left him in.

Her eyes stung as she whispered, "I didn't... I didn't leave him..."

He left me.

He left me.

He left me.

It echoed in the empty recesses of her mind.

M - My Birristira B - Babu left me. Bondita cried as the words continued to echo in her mind, her hand gently caressing her pregnant belly.

He left... me... and our b - baby too?

It was like she had finally been hit with the truth. 

Did he really leave her? 

--

"So all of this happened to Saudamini," Vikram said, as they were walking home later that day. "Is this why your Pati Babu is being so nice to her?" 

"The clerk said that nobody inquired about her case. It was the first time her files were checked out," Bondita said, "It can't be why. Pati Babu probably doesn't know... otherwise, the whole of Tulsipur would be upside down right now."

"Why are you two thinking so hard about it?" Batuk questioned, "There's no truth to it, other than the fact that Big D met his long lost lover and she has no memory, therefore she is not a criminal anymore! She's the hot ex-girlfriend he knew, and he just wanted to be with her! That's it!"

Bondita's heart sank.

"Batuk, don't say it like that," Vikram hissed. "Because I don't believe that Bondita's Pati Babu would do this without a very strong reason."

"You two and your ridiculous faith in Big D." 

"What happened to Saudamini is bad. It's very bad," Bondita said. 

"It is bad," Batuk agreed, "But come on Boudi, if she didn't commit murder, this wouldn't have happened to her. It's kind of like karma, isn't it?"

"Who are we to decide what someone deserves Batuk?" Bondita asked. 

"Let's go and confront Saudamini," Batuk decided, ignoring her. 

"Absolutely not!" Bondita gasped, "Not after hearing all this!" 

"Yes, we have to do it carefully," Vikram said. 

"Let's go home," Bondita said, slowly heading back to the farmhouse with the two of them. "I'm very tired." 

She hadn't gotten any sleep last night...

--

After making sure Bondita slept, Vikram went to see Manika, and Batuk stormed to the Roy Choudhary haveli. 

Although he had been joking with Bondita yesterday, the joke gave him a plan... a solid plan. 

He went inside the haveli, and straight into the study without even knocking. 

Anirudh had been working on a case, and his head shot up as soon as Batuk entered. 

"Batuk?" Anirudh asked, shocked. 

"I came here to tell you that I want to get married," Batuk said pointedly, with a dark expression on his face. 

Anirudh's brows furrowed, "It's not your age Batuk. How many times have I told you to focus on your studies." 

Batuk snorted. He was back in form as usual. 

"Yeah yeah, studies!" Batuk scoffed, in a mocking tone. "Well, I don't care what you have to say anymore. You're no role model for me now!"

"Batuk, are you here to fight with me?" Anirudh asked him, his voice dangerously calm. 

"No, I'm here to thank you," Batuk said sarcastically. "Thank you, because if you hadn't left Boudi, I wouldn't have discovered my life's purpose." 

Anirudh furrowed his brows even more - so much now that his brows joined together. 

Batuk grinned, "Thanks to you, I realized who I should be with. Thanks to you, the one who was right in front of me, my best friend, the one who I love more than anything... that's who I will marry." 

Anirudh's mouth started to fall open. 

"I will marry Boudi!" he announced, and then he shook his head, "Oh, I should call her Bondita, shouldn't I? Because she's no longer your wife. So I'll take care of her now... freely, without you! Thank you Big D. Thank you so much for letting her go, because then I'd never be able to have her."

Batuk wasn't done here though, he added on, "I'll think about inviting you to the wedding! It'll be an intimate wedding, very small... maybe you won't even know about it! It may happen tonight, or tomorrow night, or any night that we feel like it! I'll just take her one night and marry her! Who needs a big dramatic wedding when our hearts are ready?" 

When Batuk noticed the expression on Anirudh's face, he smirked. 

This was what he wanted. 

--

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

What did you think about Saudamini's backstory? 

Batuk's confrontation to Anirudh? 

Anything else that stood out to you?

Are you excited for the next part? 

What will happen now? 

Remember to press star and post your comments. The faster it happens, the more I'll get the urge to write. ⭐

Because your enjoyment is my enjoyment. Once I see interest, I'll get excited and be unstoppable for you (this is a hack to get your writer to write suuuuper fast).

Love you all! 💓