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The punishment

Atharv was very restless. The moment he came back to his mansion, he directly strode to his room and took out the photo album to see Tina’s photograph. He was still wondering how two people could be so similar. After looking at her photo for a long time, he took out his phone and dialed her number. But the phone was still switched off.

During this one year, every day he dialed her number to check whether she came out of the coma or not. After that incident, Tina’s parents left Canada and never contacted him. He didn’t know where they had taken Tina. He tried to track them in various ways but other than failure, he didn't get any satisfactory results. He even didn’t know whether she was alive or not. When he saw Navya at the hotel, for a few seconds, he even thought that she was Tina and testing him by acting as if she didn’t know him. But her nature was too different from Tina that made him confused.

He kept the album in the closet and walked out to the balcony. He took out the cigarette and searched for the lighter in his pocket. Placing the cigarette in his mouth, he lit it up with the aid of the lighter. After inhaling the smoke he held the cigarette butt in between the index and middle finger of his right hand. At that time, he recalled the unpleasant memory of the past again.

Flashback…

Seven days after the accident also Tina didn’t wake up from a coma. There was no improvement in her condition. Atharv didn’t inform about her condition to her parents hoping that she would recover soon but he was wrong. Tina’s mother Shalini Khanna was impatient when she couldn’t reach her daughter. She used to video chat daily with Tina but suddenly when Tina stopped calling her, she sensed something wrong and came to India. But she got the greatest shock of her life to find out that Tina met an accident and she went into a coma. Unable to control her anger Shalini slapped Atharv hard and said “You promised me that you will protect her, then why? If you didn’t take her to India, then this thing had never happened. You are responsible for this.”

End of flashback…

Atharv came back to reality when the cigarette burnt his skin. He hissed immediately, dropping the cigarette butt on the floor. Uneasiness swept over him and he slammed his fists on the railing. Running his hand through his hair, he looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. After thinking something, looking up the sky, he took out his phone and dialed Karan’s number.

“Hello.”

“Did you find out the details I asked?”

“Um… I mean… Mr. Ahuja… You will get a detailed report tomorrow. I have already sent people to investigate.” Karan stuttered and his voice was shaky on the other side of the phone. It seemed that he was nervous.

“I need the information as soon as possible; do you get that?” Atharv’s tone was harsh as he was not satisfied. Actually, he was very impatient. He couldn’t shake off Navya’s image from his mind.

“I-I got it.”

Atharv didn’t want to hear anything, so he disconnected the call before Karan could finish his sentence. He took out another cigarette and was about the lit it up when he heard a knock on the door. Putting back the cigarette inside the packet, he walked to the door and opened it. He saw a servant who came there to call him for dinner.

“OK, I will be there in five minutes.” He closed the door after saying this and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

On the other end, when Navya reached her apartment, her cousin Tanvi Mehta, who was watching Tv sitting on the sofa, smirked mockingly “Now you are coming. Have you gone to a date with a rich customer that you come so late? I thought you will not come back tonight.”

Without paying her attention, Navya removed her shoes and kept on the shoe rack and was about to go inside her room when she heard Tanvi again “Mummy is very angry on you. Go and cook quickly if you don’t want to get beating.”

Navya trembled slightly in fear. She knew her aunt’s nature very well. Her aunt, Pushpa, was a very short-tempered lady and if it was related to Navya then her anger reached at the top of her head within a second. She didn’t miss a chance to scold her and to beat her. Navya was not that late though, still, she got scared by Tanvi’s words and rushed to her room without delay to freshen up. Within 15 minutes, she came out of the room and went to the kitchen to cook.

By then Pushpa came out of her room and scolded “Why did you come so late? Do you want me to starve to death? If you don’t serve the food in one hour then don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you.” She strode to the living room after saying those words.

Navya’s legs were shaking in fear and she was too scared to make a sound. Lowering her head, she started chopping the vegetables. While cooking the vegetables, she kneaded the dough of wheat flour to make chapati (Indian Bread). While backing chapati, she received a call from her brother Nakul. He was studying medical (MBBS) in Chennai and was staying in a hostel. A sweet smile appeared on her face, seeing his number on the screen and immediately answer the call “Hello.”

“Di (Short form of didi meanselder sister) how are you?”

“I am good. Tell me how your study is going on.”

“All good Di. Um… Di, next month I need to pay the tuition fee. So…”

“Don’t worry. I have arranged almost. It will be enough when I get next month’s salary.

Sighing, Nakul said “Sorry Di. I know you are working hard for all these and I…” He sniffed and continued “I promise I will keep you happy always once I become a doctor.”

“Hey, you… Don’t be so emotional and don’t worry about me. I am enjoying doing all these.”

Navya tried to sound cheerful, but only she knew how emotional she was at that time. While talking to Nakul, she almost forgot that she was backing chapati and also forgot to lower the flame. Because of this, the chapati burnt. When the burning smell hit her nostrils then only she regained her senses and hurriedly took out the burnt chapati from the pan.

She exclaimed in a slightly panicked tone “Nakul, I will call you later.”

With that, she disconnected the call, but Pushpa was already standing beside the kitchen, casting a sharp glare at her. She was watching TV with her daughter Tanvi when her nose caught the burning smell of the food. She came running to the kitchen and saw Navya talking on the phone. This made her lost temper and scolded “I thought you are cooking, but here you are busy chatting on the phone and dared to burn food. Just you see how I punish you.”

Startled, Navya shrunk at the corner of the kitchen and tried to apologize “N-No Chachi (Paternal Aunt), I- I am sorry. It will not happen again.”

“How can I trust you that it will not happen in the future again? To remind you I need to punish.” Pushpa grabbed Navya’s wrist the moment she finished speaking and said “You burnt the food, now taste how burning feels like.”

Before Navya could react, Pushpa pressed Navya’s hand down on the hot pan.

“Ah…”

An ear-piercing scream escaped from Navya’s mouth. She tried to pull her hand back but Pushpa pressed her hand down very firmly. After a few seconds, she released her and said “Don’t forget this lesson. If you repeat it again I will burn your right hand too.”

Pushpa left the kitchen after dropping those words. Navya’s whole body was shaking in pain. Holding her left wrist she looked down at her palm, which turned completely red. Tears were dripping down uncontrollably. She suppressed the urge to cry loudly as she was scared that it would anger Pushpa more. Turning on the tap, she placed her palm under the running water. Her hand was shaking continuously.

Just then, she heard Pushpa’s shouting from the living room “Are you not done yet? When are you going to serve the food? Shall I come and burn your face too?”

“N-n—no… I will se- serve it right now.”

Despite unbearable pain, Navya served the food for them and stood beside the dining table lowering her head. When they finished eating and went to their respective rooms then only Navya gasped and plopped down on a chair.

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