Vaibhav Patel and Reshmi Bakshi studied mass communication and journalism together in the same college. But Reshmi hardly knew Vaibhav had eyes on her, while she was deeply in love with someone else.

One evening while returning home, Vaibhav had blocked her path, and blabbered of his unending love for her. She didn't budge.

After trillion tries when Vaibhav remained unsuccessful in ooing Reshmi, he made a hideous plan to demean her before a huge crowd.

In their bachelors' finals, the university curriculum included a trial presentation of interesting news strips, covered by students, after research and groundwork. The presentations would be made by the students themselves on a particular date, in a huge auditorium, where pupils from every college under the university would gather.

Just before the presentations began, Vaibhav Patel somehow replaced Reshmi's pen drive with a similar one containing something else.

Reshmi's presentation was almost in the beginning, she being a batch topper. Just as she began, after few slides of introduction and bibliography--mostly same for all, the screen suddenly, horrifyingly began displaying intimate pictures of Reshmi and her lover, a boy from the same batch.
Thunderstruck, Reshmi couldn't even stop the slideshow.

The entire hall with thousands of students began buzzing. Professors, externals, staffs, everyone stayed stupefied for the timebeing.
Such crap had never happened in their history!! 

Unable to control the drastically sickening situation, Reshmi began shouting frantically, closing her ears with her palms, on the stage.
Until some staffs hovered over and pulled the plug off the projector.
Reshmi lost senses.

After this, deleterious things went on happening. Reshmi couldn't come out of the trauma, had stupor and convulsions.
Her career, father's reputation, her relationship, neighbors'-students'- relatives' reactions, everything banged inside her head making her numb and unresponsive. Reshmi was struck by severe degrees of clinical depression.

University failed her in the finals. Not because of the sick presentation, everyone knew someone did that to demean her purposefully. But  because of her carelessness to not check before presenting publicly on a projector, as to what she was going to project.

Yash, her boyfriend slammed her for ruining him too, quite justifiably.

In all, Reshmi lost everything at a go.

However, a motherless Reshmi found solace in the arms of her father and brother, who magically stood beside her through everything.
But a depression struck Reshmi withdrew herself completely, her life turning almost meaningless at a go.

Yet, having been proposed by so many men in her twenty four years of life, thirteen within her batch itself, Reshmi failed to understand, who was the one who ruined her life. She wasn't in the condition to as well, owing to her worsening mental health.

Here, Vaibhav Patel, too contented to have ruined the woman who had dared to say a no to him, fleed to Arizona after acquiring his bachelor degrees.

Reshmi had to be admitted to a rehab, her condition deteriorated. A bright student when struck by such emotional distress, took years to cope. She even attempted suicide.
All she did was to curse herself, for getting carelessly physical with someone, so early in life.
And this almost took the biggest toll on her health.

A year passed. Two years passed.
Reshmi was slowly improving, yet withdrawn, in house arrest. She had cleared her bachelors, from home. Her studies stopped there. Unfortunately. A brilliant student remained just a graduate.

One night, a message popped up from an unknown number,
" I ruined you. And yet, you know not who I am. You'll never do, as well. "

Reshmi turned mad again. She asked her brother, Kabir to trace this international number, anyhow!! 

In vain.
The international number, was to some Brithisher's name, in Arizona.

Kabir wanted to even go to Arizona to find out what the matter was, but Reshmi stopped him. She wanted to forget everything. She was just too tired now.
Once she healed, she had decided she would start working with NGOs. She would erase these... only as bad phases of her life. And help others in having better lives.

She was trying to.

Here, Abheek Patel summoned Vaibhav to India.

Telling, that if he didn't come, he would show something so devastating to Mohan Patel, that Vaibhav should forget having even one forth the share of his property.

Vaibhav on the other hand, was desperately waiting for the share, because he was doing nothing but having fun in Arizona, living in with a British, and leading a high maintenance life with the money he had taken for studies.

Abheek and Vaibhav were in quite good terms.
But Abheek had a friend too. A school friend completely opposite to what he was. Kabir.

Kabir trusted Abheek, hardly informed about the 'qualities' he possessed. And in distress, Kabir had blurted everything about his sister, including the ghost message from Arizona.

Calculating everything, Abheek knew it was Vaibhav.

He informed Vaibhav. Because he knew, Mohan Patel was too morale a person. If somehow he found this out, Vaibhav would be in huge trouble, along with Abheek for suppressing an almost crime.

----

" I just guessed the part between Abheek and Vaibhav. Calculating things myself, after knowing of Kabir - Abheek's friendship, and Vaibhav's last mention of Reshmi.... " , Subhadra Hegde completed her coffee.

Ravi was staring, dumbly at her.

---

Something happened between Abheek and Vaibhav that night that led to a tussle between them. Whatever it was, it concerned Vaibhav's hideous crime of ruining a woman's life.

Four years later, eavesdropping into her father's conversations with Sandhya along with a young couple at his study, Reshmi, like being thunderstruck realised that she had finally found out who ruined her life six years back.

Vaibhav -- his proposal -- her denial -- Abheek, his cousin and Kabir's friend -- Arizona.....
Everything ignited her.

She only wanted one thing.
Vaibhav's death.

----

" How did you both convince Mohan Patel to reopen the case? "

" Easy enough.
Life had turned too convenient suddenly.
Maanav Hegde was too clever actually. He surprised me with a groundwork he had kept ready since the day he knew of Vaibhav's presence in the murder spot.

Maanav showed Mohan, the picture. Ram Dinkar's picture.

He said, he had hidden it till date only because Vaibhav was Subhadra's own sibling.

The bylane in Secunderabad was the shortcut from the main road to a Yoga academy... he went on Sundays to.

On his way, he had befriended Ram, being a lover of dogs himself. He got the photo in his phone.

Rest, do I have to detail everything? "

Subhadra lay back on the sofa.

Ravi stared at the floor.

" Thus, you got the entire property to your name. Right? "

Subhadra nodded.
" Mother went to rehab after a quadriplegia.

Mohan Patel wrote the entire property to our name, for ultimately bringing justice to his son's untimely demise. "

Ravi philosophically scratched his beard.

" Don't you think, however worst a human Vaibhav Patel was, and however morally right you people were, you shouldn't have done what you did? "

Subhadra Hegde heaved a sigh.

" I do.

My father died.
My mother reached almost death.
My brother landed in jail.

And then.... I got to realise just a few years later,

I shouldn't have done any of these, under the instructions of Maanav Hegde. "

Ravi surprisingly stared at her.

" Where is he now? "

" In hell. "

' Karma is a bitch. '

---

Simple informative chapter.