Chapter 6: The Last Chapter of Their First Life.
(A Tragedy So Powerful, Even Death Took a Step Back)
🌧️ A Dark Night Begins
The skies over Mumbai cracked open with thunder.
It was the kind of storm that felt like the world was mourning something before it happened.
Inside the Patil house, silence reigned.
But under that silence, a volcano was bubbling.
Jealousy. Rage. Fear.
👿 The Devil Plots
In the master bedroom, Nisha sat by the window, fingers trembling.
Her phone screen showed the news article again:
"Nation's Topper: Khushi Patil Becomes Youth Icon"
"Khushi Patil… Khushi Patil…" she whispered, chewing her nail.
She threw her phone across the room.
"EVERYONE is talking about her! What about ME?! What about MY plans?!"
Neha entered, holding a towel.
"Lower your voice—"
"She RUINED everything, Mummy!"
Neha sighed. "You'll marry that boy and move on. Let her rot in her scholarship."
Nisha's eyes flashed.
"No, Mummy. She doesn't get to move on."
🗡️ The Trap Is Set
That night, Nisha knocked on the storeroom door.
"Tai," she said sweetly. "There's a courier for you downstairs. Some university papers."
Khushi looked up from her notebook, confused.
Ron tugged her sleeve. "Don't go. Something feels wrong."
Khushi smiled. "It's okay, Ronu. Maybe it's the hostel info."
She walked down the stairs, heart hopeful.
She didn't know it would be her last.
🩸 The Basement Betrayal
The moment she stepped into the basement corridor…
The lights went out.
Hands pushed her.
She fell.
A sharp pain on the back of her head.
"Wha… what is…?"
Nisha stepped into the light.
Wearing gloves.
Smiling.
"You should've stayed in the shadows, Tai."
Khushi blinked, bleeding, disoriented.
"Nisha… what are you doing?"
"Taking back my life."
She raised a hammer.
Khushi screamed — but it was drowned in thunder.
💔 Ron's Fall
Upstairs, Ron waited.
Then, he heard the scream.
He ran.
Fell down the steps.
"NISHA DIDI, STOP!"
Nisha turned, eyes bloodshot.
"You're just like her. Always in the way!"
She shoved him.
He hit the wall.
Slid down.
Motionless.
🕯️ Two Candles Go Out
Neha rushed in a few minutes later.
"What have you DONE?!"
Nisha was crying now. "I didn't mean to… I… I just wanted her to stop!"
"Help me clean it up!" Neha ordered. "We'll tell everyone they ran away!"
🕊️ The Souls Depart
In that dark basement, Khushi's hand found Ron's.
She was still breathing, barely.
"R-Ron… you okay…?"
He didn't respond.
Khushi smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry, Aai… I failed to protect him…"
A final breath.
A silent goodbye.
And then…
nothing.
🌌 But Destiny Was Not Done
Far beyond the storm and blood and lies…
Something stirred.
A power older than time.
A divine voice whispered across the stars:
"Their story is not over."
"They were wronged."
"They will rise again."
🌙 A New Birth
two years later…
A girl in Pune opened her eyes on her fifteenth birthday with a start.
Her heartbeat raced.
"I… I had a dream… of a house… of a brother… of pain… and a basement."
Her name was Khushi JHOSI!!!
But this life, she would remember.
Across the city, a six-year-old boy stared at the moon and whispered, "Tai?"
END OF CHAPTER 6