Third Person's POV

Sitting on the bed in Vikrant's room with her back leaning against the headboard, Nandini repeatedly switches on and off the lamp on the bedside table, staring ahead at the alternating contrast of light and darkness as she recalls her father's bitter words.

Her heart clenches painfully in her chest when she recalls him calling her his son's murderer.

She closes her eyes and lets the tears fall as she recounts the events leading up to that fateful night of her brother's death.

"I just met Rishabh. He and his parents were leaving, and I didn't get to talk with him much, but he told me you two have become good friends," Vivek told Nandini after entering her room and sitting beside her on the bed. "It's nice that you have started coming out of your shell and started to make some friends. Good for you."

He frowned when she continued looking down to the floor and didn't respond to what he said.

Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he gently shook her, trying to get her attention. "Did you hear what I said, Nandini?"

When she glanced up at him, he gasped, seeing her red-rimmed eyes and puffy face.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw a mark on her cheek. It looked as if someone had slapped her.

"What happened? Why are you crying? And what is that mark on your face? Did Maa and Papa—" Before he could complete that question, Nandini shook her head and stood up from the bed. She then walked to the corner of the room.

"It's nothing, Vivek. And Maa and Papa didn't do anything," she said, hoping he would drop the matter.

But he walked to her and made her turn to him. "Maa and Papa only used to be indifferent toward you before I went to the States. Have they also started raising their hand on you in my absence? Because if they have, I will—" He was saying when she interrupted him again.

"It's not Maa and Papa. They have never raised their hands on me. Just leave it, please." She felt hurt as well as angry for having to lie and hide things from her brother.

Peering at her, Vivek regarded her thoughtfully. He knew she was lying about something. That there was something she was not telling him about.

When he suddenly took her hand and placed it on his head, Nandini realized what he was about to do. She tried to remove her hand, but his hold was too strong.

"Swear on me and tell me it's nothing," he said. "Come on, if you want me to leave it, tell me you are not hiding anything from me."

Unable to take it anymore, Nandini burst out in sobs.

Alarmed seeing her cry, Vivek loosened his hold on her, and she slumped to the floor, continuing to sob.

Vivek crouched in front of her and loosely hugged her, trying to calm her down.

"What happened? Please tell me," He asked after her cries reduced.

"Rishabh isn't a good person," Nandini said.

"What do you mean? He is a successful, self-established businessman. I have always considered him a well-mannered and dignified person because of the way he respectfully talks with Maa and Papa. You must be mistaken about him," Vivek told her, frowning because he was unable to understand why she was bad-mouthing Rishabh.

"It's that well-mannered and dignified person who slapped me a while ago, Vivek. He had ordered me to cover up the mark, but you came here before I could do that."

Breaking the hug, Vivek pulled her up from the floor and made her sit on the bed.

Nandini looked at her brother, at the uncertainty etched on his face. She knew it must be hard for him to believe her because Rishabh was the son of their father's childhood friend, who had been part of their family for many years.

She also knew that her parents and her brother thought of Rishabh as a good man.

And why not?

No matter how inappropriately he behaved with her and touched her, he always acted as a perfect gentleman in front of her parents and brother.

Nandini continued looking at Vivek's doubtful face, her heart pounding in her chest.

"You know me, Vivek," she told him. "You know I would never put such a serious allegation on Rishabh if it were not true."

"Tell me everything from the beginning, Nandini. What happened between you two? Were you two fighting about something, and Rishabh lost his cool on you?" He asked, and she felt a twinge of hope because he at least was considering what she told him. At least he was willing to hear what she had to say.

She clamped her hands together, taking deep breaths as she felt her face and whole body going warm. Although slightly relieved that Vivek was willing to hear her out, she also felt nervous, trying to process how to tell her brother what Rishabh had been doing to her.

You need to tell him, Nandini. You can't keep tolerating and suffering through what he is doing to you. Her mind reasoned.

But she still felt skeptical about what she should do. Even if she gathered enough courage to tell Vivek the truth, what would she do if he also didn't believe her? Exactly how her mother had not believed her when she had told her everything a week back.

You didn't have any proof then, but you have the evidence now. You can show it to Vivek and your parents. They will all know the truth then. Her mind quipped.

Nandini jolted out of her thoughts when Vivek called her.

"Please tell me, Nandini. I'm getting worried here."

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him and uttered the most painful truth of her life. "Rishabh has been molesting me since he came to wish me on my twentieth birthday. It's been almost six months now."

Vivek was shocked hearing her. Standing up from the bed, he paced in the room, his demeanor tensed and angry. "You were.... And that Rishabh.... For six months...."

"Please, believe me, Vivek. I had told Maa the entire truth last week, but she refused to believe me. That's why I recorded everything that Rishabh did with me in this room today. I'll show you the video. Please, believe me." Nandini's eyes filled with tears as she pleaded with her brother to believe her.

"I would have believed you even if you had no proof. You are my sister, and I know you would never lie about a matter like this," Vivek told her, reaching out and holding her hand reassuringly. "I'm so sorry you had to go through it, and I was not here to save you. I'm so sorry that I could not protect you."

"You are not angry with me?" She asked, feeling overwhelmed due to his support.

"Why would I be angry with you? I'm angry with myself for not being here to protect you when you needed it the most. I'm sorry, Nandini."

Standing up from the bed, she walked to him and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Don't apologize. You were not in India, and I also didn't tell you what was happening. So, how could you protect me from something you had no idea about?" she said, her voice teary.

"But why didn't you tell me? If you had called me, I would have come here without delay. Why did you keep tolerating that pig's assault and never said anything to me? Why?" Vivek wanted to know.

"Because Rishabh told me he had many contacts in the States, and if I ever tried to say anything to you or Maa and Papa, he would harm you, and I would never be able to see you again," Nandini replied with tears streaming down her face. "He was getting fearless and bolder over the months, Vivek. The first few times, he touched me when I was fully clothed. Then, slowly, over the next two months, he forced me to touch him. And for the last four months, he forced me to get na-nak-naked in front of him and touched me everywhere. He, too, got naked and made me touch him." She paused, feeling a shudder pass through her as she recalled those humiliating, torturous moments.

"Last week, he told me he would do more—that he would g-gg-go all the w-way with me. I got so scared after that. I didn't want that to happen. I could not let him do that to me," she continued. "After you returned home two weeks back, I thought it would be safe to tell about him because you were here with us. That's why I first told Maa everything. I believed she would stop Rishabh. But she did nothing of that sort. Instead, she shouted at me because she thought I was making up lies to draw her attention toward me. She even told me I was such a shallow person that I didn't hesitate to put Rishabh's reputation in line just for my selfish motive of getting her care and affection."

Slumping on the bed, Nandini closed her eyes, covering her face as she sobbed, recalling her mother's harsh words.

Vivek sat beside her and gently uncovered her face, shaking his head at him, silently telling her not to cry.

"I was so taken aback and even shattered after what Maa said to me that day. I knew she never loved me and cared for me, but I thought she would at least believe me when I shared my life's most painful and humiliating experience with her," she told her brother. "But she didn't, and it made me realize that I needed to collect evidence for everyone to believe me."

She takes a deep breath, drawing strength from Vivek's quiet support. "Today, before coming to our house, when Rishabh texted me to be ready for what he wanted to do with me, I set up a camera in my room to record him," she says, pointing to the corner of the room where she had hidden the camera.

"Once he was here, he tried to come close to me. He was very forceful, but I kept pushing him and stopping him. I even threatened to shout and call everyone here if he didn't leave me. That's when he slapped me and told me no one would believe me because his parents, as well as my parents, had more trust in his words than mine." Her voice trembled, and she felt a pinch in her heart, realizing yet again how true his words were. Even if she had shouted then and everyone had gathered in her room, they would have believed him over her.

"Before leaving, he slapped me again and told me to be ready next time," she continued. "He even threatened to harm you, Maa, and Papa if I didn't comply with his demand the next time."

Looking at her brother with tear-filled eyes, Nandini reached out to hold his hand. "I had been tolerating his dirty touches on my body for the last six months, Vivek, because I didn't want any harm to befall you. But I can't keep doing this anymore. I feel so dirty whenever he lays his hands on me. I feel like scrubbing off every part of my skin whenever he touches me and makes me touch him." She shivered, the repulsing feeling that Rishabh's touch brought coursing through her. "And when he said he would do more, I was terrified. I could not let him ra—" She stopped, unable to utter that word.

Vivek was shell-shocked to say anything or even calm Nandini down when she started crying after recounting the horrible experience she had gone through.

Suddenly standing up from where he was seated, he took the vase from the table in front of him and threw it across the room. He then took the glass jar from the table and threw it, too, shattering it into pieces. He could not stop himself. He was filled with so much rage that he felt like burning the whole world.

Seeing Nandini still crying, he kneeled before her and took her hands in his. "I promise you. Rishabh won't be able to come near you or even look at you after today, let alone touch you or do anything else with you. Starting now, I'll protect you and will keep protecting you until my last breath."

Hearing Vivek, Nandini gave him a teary smile, relieved at having her brother's trust and protection.

Nandini takes her hand off the lamp's switch, letting the darkness surround the room as she takes shaky breaths to lessen the overwhelming grief and guilt rising within her.

Vivek's promise echoes in her mind.

The promise that he kept.

The promise that pushed him to his death.