Disclaimer: All the names of places, people and properties are made up. Any similarity to real world is purely coincidental.

~~~~~

After returning to the apartment, all soaked, frustrated, hurt and broken, Priyasha met with a few unexpected visitors. She never expected the members of the Women's Committee would be sitting there in their living room, waiting for her. She exchanged a quick glance with Jai, who was serving them tea and snacks, and realized he also didn't know anything about their unexpected visit.

At first, she thought they came to meet Abhiraj. But when one of the ladies approached her before she could even excuse herself from there, she realized they had, in fact, come for her. The lady introduced herself as the chairperson of the committee and invited Priyasha to their upcoming meeting on celebrating Rathayatra festival.

Of all events, she was actually thrilled for the first time in a while for being invited in an ordinary yet extraordinary event. Every woman in the neighborhood were a member of the women's committee. So, she also needed to be a part of it. Although, she was surprised at first, she gladly accepted their invitation and the ladies left soon after the quick interaction.

She waited for Abhiraj till 11 pm, then went back to her room after having her dinner.

Next few days after that were actually normal compared to what had been going on in her life lately. She mostly remained busy, doing everyday chores but mostly ignoring Abhiraj, both at work and home. At home, she stayed locked in her room except for the time she wasn't either cooking or eating. Apart from stealing a few brief glances at each other, they mostly stayed at a distance.

Priyasha, too much withdrawn into herself, found it difficult to cope with the current situation, and Abhiraj considerately, spared her the privacy she needed the most during those times, which she was glad he did. There were naturally so many unanswered and unexplained secrets apparently both of them were afraid to find out.

Things that were actually pressing her nerves were the emotions of those who had become the victim of collateral damage. She had called Vrinda to inquire after her health and unwillingly asked her whether her grandchild and daughter-in-law were okay. She unpredictably answered, they hadn't yet moved in and till now she was actually living all by herself. She even asked her to visit her which she reluctantly turned down with a made-up excuse. She didn't know what would happen to the old lady when she'd learn the truth.

At Police station most predictably things turned out on their favor. Inspector Bose informed, one of the robbers had surrendered with a few of the stolen items. It was quite unexpected, Bose admitted. The culprit even confessed that due to their mutual dispute, he took the abrupt and extremely absurd decision. However, Priyasha knew, it wasn't at all true.

Sonya was given back her gold chain. However, their phones were still missing. Abhiraj didn't participate in any of the conversation or proceedings at the police station. It took a great effort from her to convince Sonya to take back their complaint. She didn't know how to explain it to her about what actually happened.

The moment Priyasha discovered the incident altogether was made up, she was determined to take back their lodged complaint. She knew exactly how the criminals were treated in lock up, and she'd never take pleasure in someone misery for something they were forced to do. She even promised herself to make sure the actual criminal got punished. If not by the law, then by something else. Of course, Abhiraj disregarded her decision at first. But when she persisted, he simply left the room leaving her alone with Sonya to convince her about the idea. Sonya eventually agreed.

When leaving the rotten place, she dared it a little and asked to see the men who were still in the lockup. It was the most horrible sight she had ever seen happening to someone else rather than her. The current condition of one of the culprits, specifically the driver, was horrible. Bruises and cuts were all over his face, his clothes were torn at several pieces. His beaten, swollen eyes were almost closed.

He was lying on the floor in a fetal position, often wincing from pain. The other person was standing at the other side. His eyes observing his cell-mate's condition every now and then. His eyes were almost red from all the suppressed emotions and concerns which he couldn't disclose. She watched them from a distance and a sudden burst of raw hatred washed over her for the person responsible for all these unwanted, unnecessary mishaps. And that wasn't Vishwa.

It was Abhiraj.

Being involved in a conspiracy was one thing. But let harm happen to someone for self-interest could never be accepted.

The whole situation made Priyasha eager to know the reasons behind Abhiraj's personal interest in this Permabell dispute. What was the reason that he wasn't even fazed to take any reckless decision at all?

But, in any case, she could never forgive him for the things that already took place.

Here to mention, Abhiraj had sent Jai somewhere and Priyasha realized how quickly she had grown attached to that boy. She missed his presence. Every time she wanted to talk to someone, her mind would straight go to Jai. But she ignored that feeling and tried to find out all the controversies related to Permabell online. She found almost two pages long search results right on the first go.

Some articles caught her eyes immediately, and she dug into it with great interest.

The Owner/Director of Permabell Group of Industries, Mr. Debdutta Roy, had been in the news for he was accused of defrauding an allegedly disgruntled business partner, Mr. SatyaMohan Das in a money-making scam. The amount of fraud was approximately Rs. 27 Crore which took place a few years back. He defrauded the whole scam in the name of the then popular non-banking financial institution, HereMoney Finance and Investment Company Limited. His partner wasn't aware of the whole scene as he was then in Lebanon with his family. Although, because of the lack of evidences, the case was adjourned for an indefinite period of time.

Priyasha found another article from a few months back. It stated, after all these years of ups and downs, Permabell was now about to close all its business branches due to the death of their third partner, Mr. Satyaki Hazra. According to the police statement, Mr. Hazra's death wasn't natural, and it was all pre-planned as to give his death the false impression of an accident. He died in a car crash and the truck driver whose truck it was smashed with, although pleaded guilty, police weren't satisfied with his guilty statement, and they were still investigating the case.

19th July

Priyasha closed the lid of her laptop and stretched absentmindedly. Her mind dwelled on the possibilities of Abhiraj's involvement with all these corporate affairs relating Permabell when her phone buzzed.

It was an unknown number, but as the truecaller app was running in the background, it flashed the name, Amit Mitra.

She answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, ma'am. This is Amit from Mitra Property Dealer. You contacted us a few days back to rent a residential property near Newtown Overbridge. Are you still looking for a place?"

"Oh." She had indeed called Mitra's organization as it was one of the best in Kolkata, working for near about three decades. When she had contacted them a week ago, they promised her to find a nice place she could rent. In their advertisement, they claimed to be the best in understanding the client's needs and providing them with the best solution.

However, she had been simultaneously debating with her inner turmoil from past few days. Was there really any chance for her to escape the mess she got tangled into? But also, she couldn't just leave it to her destiny this time. She had to deal with it anyhow. After all, she was a big woman now. "Yes. Have you found one?"

"Well, yes ma'am. It's only twenty minutes away from your office location. But I must tell, it's a hostel for working women, so we cannot really tell if you're going to get your hands on a separate room or have to manage with a single bed and one/two roommates. Only if you're lucky enough, we promise you to give the best room available there."

"Er... okay."

"However, ma'am, if you don't like the arrangements, we'll still find you another one and for that we'll need some more time. About another week."

"Okay, yeah. So, am I supposed to see the condition of the hostel room then visit your office, or should I go to your office first?"

"No need to come here. We'll send one of our agents who will take you to the location. And if you do not like it then just dismiss him then and there, no need to come to our office. Only that you'll have to pay the consultation charges beforehand. You can do that online."

"Alright. Where will I meet him then?"

"We'll text you the details in a few minutes."

"Sure. Thank you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

She ended the call, climbed off the bed to get ready. It was around 6 p.m.

She picked a pair of lemon-yellow leggings and matched it with a white and yellow polka dotted kurta. With her purse and phone, she left her room and straight away crashed into Abhiraj.

"Sorry," both said in unison and looked into each other's eyes. There. There he got the same look that make her heart go like a rabid caged animal in seconds every single time. And she hated him for that.

Her heart pounded as she averted her gaze and walked away from him. However, he followed her into the living room.

"Where are you going?"

"Not your business."

He waited for a while as she put on her shoes before saying, "You can't go out alone."

She looked up and glared at him. His demeanor had just turned more alarming. She decided it'd be an apparent tough but a most excellent facade if she did not just show off her actual reaction. "Excuse me?"

He gritted his teeth scowling as his well-built chiseled jaws moved. "Not safe."

She stood up, her brows furrowed, the feeling of fear gradually turning to anger. Standing face to face with him, she crossed her arms and reasoned, "Mr. Kidnapper, you have no right, okay? If I want, I'll go straight to the police, lodge a complaint against you and you'll end up in jail for whatever you've done to me and everyone else. Although not physically, but the emotional hurt you've given me is beyond repairable. So, stay away from me or any of my affairs."

Abhiraj looked at her with a shock first, then his facial expression changed, fuming to dark and outraged. He gritted his teeth. "Don't put it like that. I never meant to harm you."

"Oh? So, you meant to harm your fellow friends?"

He kept quiet but scowled even more aggressively.

They kept glaring at each other. Perhaps both of them were gathering courage to confront each other. Letting the demand of the circumstances sink in, she averted her eyes. Her throat ached as her voice wavered when she said, "You know what Abhiraj, you're a selfish man. Pathetic and even barbaric. You don't even have a freaking feeling for anyone. Only selfish desires for selfish interests. You're only concerned for your conceit and arrogance."

"Priyasha, stop blaming me."

"Show me only one reason that'd stop me."

He closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm in a blink of an eye, ensuring she didn't get time to step away. "I'm sorry, okay? For whatever I did, I'm sorry. But will you just listen to me before reaching to any goddamn conclusion?"

She tried to wiggle free from his grasp. But failing miserably, she glanced up, searched his eyes, and stopped fighting him. Because what she saw there was scaring her again. For a quick second, she almost forgave him. Almost.

Forgiving someone clears up the grudge you have against them. It is not for them. You forgive someone for yourself. When you forgive someone, all the hatred inside your heart ends with it and in its place, gratitude takes over.

When you hate someone, it is not their problem. They don't get angry with themselves. You get angry with them. So, the wrong impact is on you. They do not suffer. You do.

What's more important is, despite forgiving them, you must never forget what they did. Keeping in mind what wrong they did you, makes you more cautious. So, the next time, you won't make the same mistake again.

"Don't you think we need to talk?" He plead-asked. His voice and facial expressions mostly unmatched. They were so close that she even got to breathe in his peppermint breath. He had been chewing on a gum most probably.

Biting on her lower lip, she pondered on the situation and the urge finally overtook her. It'd at least provide an explanation about the mysterious connection among Permabell, Abhiraj and Vishwa.

She focused on him. His demeanor was definitely intimidating. Also she wasn't sure she had the right state of composure to hear in all that he had to say without any unrest. Nonetheless, she preferred to deal with his assertive temperament rather than with his more dominating, forceful one. But there was always this threat lingering at the back of her mind, of Abhiraj handing her over to Vishwa and break her again.

As she was almost out of any choices at the moment, she finally gave in to the sensitivity of present time and decided to hear what he had to say. She had no idea what he was going to say to overwhelm her furthermore.

A moment later, she slowly nodded murmuring a yes.

He released his hold on her then stepped back. The look on his face was earnest. "Then please cancel the meeting now," he said pointing at her phone.

She stared down at her phone then back up at him, while working on the decision that might answer many of those unanswered questions. A warning rushed into her mind. But before she could act on it, the doorbell constricted her from taking action on anything.

Both of them glanced up at each other, then he went past her to open the door. Priyasha tilted her head to see the person standing at the door, secretly hoping it to be Jai.

However, her eyes fixed on a very beautiful, slim and elegant looking woman with a wide smile plastered on her face. Priyasha noticed after seeing her, Abhiraj stiffened. He was evidently taken aback by the woman's presence. When she leaned on to him embracing him, he did nothing to reciprocate.

The woman exclaimed in glee, "Roy! I missed you so much."

Priyasha watched them feeling nothing inside at the beginning until the woman pulled back and kissed on his lips. She felt an uncommon, unexplainable pang in her chest. It left her almost sad yet yearning, and which she figured, would prove very dangerous in the future.