Chapter 5: Loss and Promises

In the end, I scraped together the money for the surgery, but I still couldn’t save my wife. On her deathbed, she held my hand and said, “Rohan, don’t blame yourself. Amit is a vicious, heartless man—he’s not worth your kindness, not even your hatred. Take care of the children, stay far away from Amit. Don’t make things harder for yourself, don’t wear yourself out.”

The hospital smelled of Dettol and stale flowers. My wife’s hand was so thin, her wedding ring almost slipping off. Her bangles, once noisy and bright, now hung loose and silent on her wrist. She made me promise, her eyes wet but steady. "Tumhe mere liye nahi, bachchon ke liye jeena hai, Rohan. Jo dard hai, usko apne dil mein bandh ke rakhna, lekin Amit ke paas kabhi mat jana." I nodded, but inside, a storm was raging—of grief, anger, and helplessness.

I lay by her side and wept bitterly. I had just come to terms with my parents’ deaths, and now I had to send off the woman I loved. When the sun rose, I had lost another family member.

That night, after the nurses had left, I lay next to her, holding her cold hand, listening to the sounds of ambulance sirens outside and the distant cries of another family down the hall. The world felt unbearably heavy, but I let myself cry, muffling my sobs into the hospital pillow so the children wouldn’t hear.

Amit, acting like a man but living like a dog, opened his own logistics company, while I sold off everything I owned and was still left with mountains of debt. I knew I couldn’t act recklessly—I still had a son, a daughter, and an elderly mother-in-law to care for. But deep down, I made up my mind: Sooner or later, I would settle the score with Amit.

I sold my gold chain, the last piece of jewellery from my wedding day, and even mortgaged the house. Still, the calls from recovery agents kept coming, and relatives stopped picking up the phone. I learned to live quietly, working odd jobs, never forgetting the promise I made to my wife—but in my heart, I knew Amit’s betrayal would not go unpunished.