"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in."

— Haruki Murakami

ɤɤɤɤɤɤɤɤ

It was a little easy to guess what's going on in Mishti's mind but the actual scene is too terrifying to believe, at least for Abir. Because Nishant seems nearly unbothered when they reach Yash Singhaniya's mansion in Rajkot.

"Are you sure she'd do that?'

"Well, I can only guess. That's her tried strategy which never failed." Nishant smirks, "Back in Canada we did this many times."

"I can't believe this! You two are next to criminals."

"It's your job to save us before we get arrested. Now don't make a sound."

Abir doesn't. He has nearly lost all his words just by listening to Nishant's narration of his and Mishti's adventures that basically included bullying, partying, sneaking out of the house, punishing people for God-knows-why etc. Never in his life he imagined doing such a thing but here he is. Only the Lord knows what else is awaiting.

Climbing over the wall and knocking down the security guards, now he's standing, no almost hanging from the terrace of the Singhaniya Mansion. Abir finally catches his breath after they successfully step inside the house. But this was just the beginning.

"You're not doing that Mishti. No."

They can hear the sobs of a woman and a man's pleading voice and it doesn't take them a second to understand what's happening.

"Hey, that's Dad. Is Mish already here? Of course she is. Fuck."

"I just hope we're not late."

Abir and Nishant manage to reach the hall only to nearly get a heart attack. There she is - the wounded lioness - Mishti Agarwal holding a gun pointing at Yash Singhaniya whereas his wife is on the floor.

"And you said she might use just some poison again? What's this?" Abir questions Nishant who is totally dumbfounded by the sight in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing Mishti?" Abir screams in terror startling both Mishti and Yash.

"Have you lost your senses? What are you going to do? You're not a murderer, for God's sake put that gun down. What are you doing?" Abir runs toward her.

"Don't come near me Abir. Stay out of this. I know how to handle this bastard."

"Do you even know what you are doing? Mishti --"

"Mom!" Nishant runs towards the woman lying on the floor.

"STOP. RIGHT. THERE." The harshness in her voice makes Abir freeze.

"What do you think I'm doing here? Can't you see what this man has turned me into? This isn't me, I know I'm bad but not so much to take someone's life away. But don't you dare interfere in this Abir. Stay away."

"Exactly Mishti. And this is not the way to do it. Put that gun down, we've other ways to confront or punish. Mishti please, you might hurt someone."

"SHUT UP. Not someone, I'll hurt this man, this man who destroyed everything I ever had, he destroyed my mom, he killed her. He destroyed me. He has lived enough."

Mishti is in a rage and Abir doesn't know what to do. He expected to witness some horrible scene but this is beyond his nightmares. By now Abir clearly knows nothing can stop Mishti but he needs to do something, he can't let her become a criminal.

In fact he doesn't even know why he's wasting time talking and thinking until he hears the gunshot. Fuck!

"Arghhh.." Yash cries in pain and falls on the floor, Abir runs towards him, the bullet seems to be stuck in his right arm. Abir releases a breath he didn't even know he's been holding. A furious Mishti catches Yash by his collar as Abir turns to her with pleading eyes to just stop all this.

But there's nothing that can stop Mishti Rajshree Agarwal today. She might be trembling but not weak.

"I'm not going to kill you right away, you made my mom suffer so you're not allowed to have an easy death. But yeah, before that I need my answers and also my justice."

"You killed my wife, you'll rot in hell."

"Shut up, will you? She's not dead, just unconscious. She's got a weak heart, doesn't she? Wouldn't have been able to see her dear husband in such a condition and probably would've felt disgusted and got a heart attack after learning about your actions. So she's better asleep. Thank me for she's only unconscious, you fucking killed my mom. Don't expect any more mercy, dear father."

This Mishti in front of him is totally different from the Mishti Abir knows. He is unable to find any resemblance of the soft but strong Mishti he used to know; this is someone too fierce, too brave and too hurt who seems to know no boundaries when the biggest antagonist of her life is lying helplessly on the ground. There's a smirk on her face that screams her win, but her eyes reflect her pain. But there's something else too in those red eyes that he can't read when she looks up at Abir - what is it? Fear? Why?

"You'll pay for this Mishti. You will." Yash whines.

"Maybe I will, but you won't be there to see it and that's comfortable." Mishti tightens her grip on his collar, "And for your kind information, now you're to make a statement on all your misdeeds and that includes how you murdered Rajshree Agarwal. Here we go, you've five minutes. Begin from the beginning."

"And what makes you think that I'll do that?"

"Because you've no choices left. We already have the statement from your investors and from Mr. Vishambhar Maheshwari about your black businesses, most of your deals are already tracked down and apparently you've nothing left because you've signed a statement declaring Nishant Singhaniya as your legal heir and you've already transferred all your property in his name." Mishti's voice is calm; Yash glares at her and then at Nishant in shock and confusion.

"And the worst thing that will happen to you is the letter of my dead mother. I'm sorry to announce that you're doomed and yes, this will make you do that because I don't want you to live in peace anymore."

"This can't be true."

"Sorry but not sorry Dad, you should not have forgotten that your disowned son is a world-class hacker." Nishant smirks, "And being a part of your business, even if it was for a short period, helps a lot. So thank you, for everything you did to me. I'll take care of your business very well."

"Wait, when did I sign any papers?"

"C'mon, it's not a tough job to make you sign documents. And Nishant Singhaniya never reveals his ways. But one clue for you, haven't you watched any movies?"

"When did you start licking this petty girl's shoes, you filthy backstabber."

"Oh please Dad, you literally threw me out of your heaven. I had to find my way. And well, I'm just helping her out. Abir Rajvansh here is the mastermind."

Now this is the time for Mishti to be stunned. Abir Rajvansh what?

"But whatever, this Mishti right here suddenly changed all the plans. We were supposed to dig deeper and trap you from every angle and then do some shits but she headed out to kill you, without even informing anyone. Thanks to Abir he guessed what Mish is up to and managed stuff. And here we are, still we won the game. So yeah, congrats to Mishti, all thanks to Abir, you have no choice, either you die or you confess."

"Huh, you all are kids. She can't kill me, can she? You need to have a dark heart to kill someone, it takes a lot of courage to pull that trigger and none of you are that bad."

"Right, and thank Heavens we won't even kill you. We'll simply put you behind the bars and rest will follow." Finally Abir speaks up.

"Do you think it's that easy?"

"It's not, but unfortunately you've no way out. The letter is a dying confession and more than enough to change your fate. So good luck with your new life." Abir turns to Mishti, "I've called the cops already. So this is the end game for you."

"No, no, you can't do that. This can't be happening. Mishti, Mishti, my dear daughter, you can't do that, can you? You're my daughter. My own daughter. You can't do this to your father." Shock and fear is written all over Yash's face. Abir looks at Mishti who is wearing a blank expression face now.

"Glad you remember that. Only if you realised this much earlier, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But you're too late, I guess, it's time to go." Mishti raises the gun.

"NO STOP." Abir and Nishant scream simultaneously. "No Mishti, don't. Cops will take care of this. Don't, please." Abir immediately tries to pull the gun out of her hands until the sound of gunshots along with the siren of the police van pauses the scene for a while.

~~~

As I open my eyes I find myself in a white room, I look around to find some machines and my head hurts. As my blurry vision clears I realise this is a hospital room.

Wait! Hospital?

"Hey Mish, how are you?" I hear Nishant's concerned voice.

"How am I supposed to be?" I can see a nurse. And Vishambhar Maheshwari! What is he doing here?

"Basically you blacked out suddenly so you're here and Yash Maheshwari was arrested because he, uhm, he shot Abir."

"He what?"

"Mishti, don't stress out okay? Doctors said you need to rest and completely relax. So yeah, Abir is fine. And yes, there are other charges on Dad so this will last a long time. Abir had already filed a case against him so cops were anyway investigating. He will be jailed here and as far as I remember Abir made sure that he got punished under the laws of the state of Canada. That's it."

Nishant finishes and I don't even know what to say. It's too much information for me. Not for once I realised it's Abir helping me all along. Of course he was! There's no way Nishant can gather information from such VIP investors and businessmen. Now that I think of it suddenly a tinge of guilt hits me.

"How's Abir?"

"He'll be fine."

"He will be, but right now how is he?"

Nishat smiles, "He is fine. Thankfully the bullet is out, it was stuck near his heart but thank the Gods, he's safe. He's been kept under observation for 24 hours after the surgery so he can regain consciousness anytime soon. Then you can go and check yourself how he is."

"Yeah alright." I nod. It's high time, I really need to see him after all-- Wait! 24 hours?

"How long has it been?"

"A little longer than a day."

"Oh. And what's wrong with me?"

"I told you."

I can hear the sudden coldness in Nishant's voice. Why the hell is he acting rude?

"You need to rest Mishti, I'll check on Abir. Also you need to talk" Nishant says looking at Vishambar Maheshwari, "With more than just one person. But don't take any stress."

He leaves the room along with the nurse. Now it's only me and Baba here. I guess, I'm really going to talk now.

"Mishti Beta, how are you doing?"

Glad he starts the conversation because I've absolutely no idea on how to talk, especially Abir not being here makes it worse. Oh that reminds me of --

"How's Abir really? I mean, is there anything I should know about his health? Is he really fine?"

He looks startled at my words, of course he doesn't expect me to abruptly end his I-wanna-talk-to-you-about-how-I-am-sorry conversation but it's not my fault that Abir is not here with me to hold my sanity and honestly, I know I can't have this conversation without having Abir by my side.

I need him more than I ever realised and the guilt hits me again. It's all my fault that he's lying on a hospital bed today and all those machines are surrounding him with their annoying sounds. I can't even imagine how much pain he had to go through. I just hope he's really fine, like really fine.

I just hope he forgives me.

"Mishti, he's alright and it's not your fault." I look up as Baba speaks. Is there any chance that he can hear my thoughts? In fact, does it even matter when I know that it's totally my fault. Had this not been me he wouldn't have even come to that place, there wouldn't have been any fights or gunshots and everything would have been normal.

Me and my stupid revenge made him go through the pain.

"Mishti, are you listening to me?" Here it goes. Again an interruption. Can't he just see that I don't want to talk?

"I'm sorry Mr. Maheshwari, but can you please leave me alone for some time. I'd really appreciate that." I say, without looking at him. I see him nodding with the corner of my eyes and he silently leaves the room. I know I must've hurt him but I just can't help it. I really need this moment to reflect on things and he is the last person I'd like to talk to right now. It sucks to not have a friend.

The nurse enters again and does some tests.

"You're getting discharged today. But are you on your own?" She asks.

I don't say anything. Do I really have anyone who actually cares for me? The one who does is lying on a bed because of me and those who seem to care for me are people I don't want in my life. Do I even want anyone in my life?

"Yes she has, I'm her brother." I hear someone entering the room. Who the hell is my brother now? I shut my eyes in annoyance.

"How are you, Mishti ma'am?

I can't help but grin.

"Kunal! What are you doing here?" I turn to look at him. Of course, who else can be my little brother?

"Well, that's something I should ask you. Abir sir is lying there unconscious and you're here, I understand what happened but it's time you get up and visit him at least. Last time I checked, you're strong enough to not keep lying on a hospital bed." Kunal smiles.

Suddenly a strong feeling overwhelms me, I can't exactly pinpoint if it's gratitude or guilt but I do feel overwhelmed. The moment I thought I've no one, out of nowhere Kunal appeared. I just don't know whether I should thank him for this kindness or I should feel more guilty for my actions. I can't smile anymore.

"Kunal, I- I'm sorry --"

"Let's get out of this hospital first. The atmosphere makes me sick, you know." Kunal cuts me off.

"Um, yeah. Alright."

"I really don't know how to see Abir."

"Why? You just have to go and see him, I mean through your eyes of course." Kunal chuckles.

"Shut up, I didn't mean that."

"I know." He laughs this time earning a slight punch from me. It's been so long I'm smiling so much and it feels good. I knew I missed being happy but I had no idea how deeply I missed laughing and not caring for anything for once. Now we're sitting in a cafe nearby and not for once Kunal has mentioned anything about the past few months. I know he won't mention it until I want to talk about it. It amazes me how we fell into places just like old times.

Old times!

It's crazy how people you've known for only a short period of time can become so important whereas bonds of years cannot reach your heart. It's been so long I talked to Kunal but not for once it feels awkward. But Abir - I don't even know what to say to him when we finally meet. Should I apologize first or should I explain my actions? And now that I know he's been supporting me all along, do I even have anything to explain? He knows everything, in fact he has always known and understood everything better than I do.

Honestly it annoys me sometimes. How can he care for me so much when I hurt him all the time? I've done nothing to deserve him. As much as it makes me feel happy that someone like Abir loves me, it hurts to know that I've nothing to offer to him. Everything about me is a mess and I'm uncertain about everything. I've a heart that I don't understand and my brain doesn't help at all.

"We should leave now." Kunal speaks.

"Oh yes. Where are we going?"

"I'll drop you at your place."

"I thought we're heading to the hospital?"

"No ma'am, you need rest and I think there are things you need to figure out yourself. You need your time, don't you?"

I only nod at him. Only I know how grateful I am right now.

"Will you mind sharing your new address? Because I've no idea where you live now." Kunal bites his lips awkwardly, "Abir sir told me to never look for your address because you might not like me or him to show up and you know --"

"It's okay, I'll put it in the GPS of your car."

"Yes, you can't run away anymore, can you?" Kunal mumbles but I hear it.

I just smile because I honestly don't have anything to say. It's really time I sort out myself, I really can't run away anymore nor do I want to.