Episode 137 Why?

Rony opened the door of Leo’s room and soft old music reached his ears, found Leo massaging his temple sitting in his recliner. “What happened, dad?” He asked as he looked at his sweaty face.

“Nothing, just a headache. Don’t worry, I have taken the medicine. I’ll be fine.” He said, and Rony massaged his head.

“What are you still up so late?” Leo asked. “It was a tiring day!”

“Just wanted to spend some time with you,” Rony said, and Leo smiled.

“The evening was amazing. Chris looked so happy.” He said, and Rony hummed in response while he was conflicted inwardly about breaking the news about Vera as he was now aware of Leo’s brain tumour.

***

Mishka opened the door of the study room with a loud thud and looked at Luke, who was sitting on his recliner, holding a glass of wine in his hand. He briefly looked at Mishka and smiled. “Please come in. Did you tell everything to Chris?” He asked in his drowsy state and without giving a single thought, Mishka emptied a jug full of water on him.

Luke slowly sobered. He quickly stood up and wiped his face with his hands. “What the f….” He screeched but stopped as his vision cleared and he stared at Mishka.

“What did you do this time?” Mishka asked, her jaws clenched.

“What did I do before?” Luke asked.

“What did you say to mom?” Mishka asked in a high pitch and Luke stiffened at the mention of Vera.

“That’s between me and my wife,” He spat furiously.

“That’s ex-wife, Mr Luke Knight,” Mishka replied in the same tone as Luke used before.

“Still it doesn’t concern you. Now you can show yourself out.” Luke attempts to end the topic, but Mishka shook her head in no.

“Not so easy to escape this time, Mr Knight! I am not someone whose question you will easily dodge. Today, you have to give me all the answers.” Mishka said, her pitch getting high with each sentence.

“Who do you think you are to ask these questions…..” Before he could complete it, Mishka interrupted him.

“Mishka Knight, Christian’s wife!!! If you still remember, you have a son!” Mishka said, her face turned red because of anger.

Luke’s veins popped out, and he groaned in frustration. “Just go from here before I lose my mind and say something wrong to you. Just go, please!!” He screeched, but Mishka stood there and didn’t move an inch.

“Mr Knight, I.WANT.ANSWERS!” Mishka stressed each word, but Luke only glared at her.

“I don’t have any fucking answer,” He shouted.

“What were you talking to mom in the garden? I saw you both together and I am so stupid that I let you spend time with her, despite knowing that you always caused her harm.” She glared at him. “What did you do this time that left her in this state?”

“I didn’t do…. wait, what!!” He paused for a moment. “What do you mean by this state?” He asked, taking a deep breath.

“What happened to Vera?” He asked again, impatiently. But when Mishka didn’t answer, he rushed towards the door, but she held his wrist.

***

Christian practically ran upstairs, skipping two stairs at a time. As he was nearing the study room, he could hear a faint commotion from inside. He furrowed his eyebrows and strode forward.

“Why did you hurt her?” Mishka asked, and Luke’s jaw clenched as he looked at her hand on his wrist.

“Remove your hand!” He said, his voice hoarse. “I am not answerable to you.” He jerked his hand away and swiftly tried to walk out, but Mishka’s next question halted his steps.

“Are you answerable to Christian?” She asked, but Luke didn’t attempt to look back at her and stood like a rock. Mishka came in front of him again, “Today, you will tell me everything or else I will tell Christian that you forced his mother to commit suicide,” She shouted loudly and Christian stopped in his track.

“For fuck’s sake, give me a break. I didn’t force Vera to commit suicide…” Luke shouted in an equally high pitch.

“But your actions did!!” Mishka countered. “Mom’s suicide letter is still resting in my cupboard where she clearly stated the traumas she suffered because of you, Jennifer, and this Knight family. She had nowhere to go, that’s why she detached herself from Christian so that he doesn’t have to compromise this luxurious life. Leaving him was not her choice. It was a compromise for his better future, and she committed suicide because she was emotionally drained and you left her with no choice.” Mishka stated, and Christian’s facial features hardened and he felt as if his heart had stopped beating.

Luke looked at her without uttering a single word, and this enraged Mishka. “You are still quiet. Fine, now you will answer Chris!” She said and turned to leave.

“Seventeen years back….” Luke started, but Christian left without hearing his reasons while Mishka turned to look at him.

***

He walked inside the walk-in closet and started throwing all Mishka’s stuff on the floor searching for the letter but he didn’t find it anywhere, his body was shaking with anger as he threw everything out and his eyes finally landed on the old blood-stained folded letter on the empty shelf.

His heart was thumping against his chest, and he couldn’t muster up the courage to pick it from the shelf. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself, but his anxiety only increased. He picked the letter with his shivering hands, and the red stains on the old folded letter were giving him the feeling of bloodstains and he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

“I can’t do this!” Christian muttered to himself and tried to keep the letter back, but couldn’t do it. “Fuck.” He slowly opened the letter, and it slipped from his hand. He covered his face with his palm and tried to calm him, but Mishka’s suicide word was ringing in his mind.

He sat on the floor with his back against the wall, and finally mustered up all the courage, he picked up the letter again and opened it.

Dear Mom & Dad,

If you are reading this letter, I am certain I am no more in this world, but before leaving, I’d like to thank you for bringing an orphan like me to your home and loving me like your own daughter. I know the word thank you is just not enough for all the things that you have done for me, but I have nothing more to offer.

The day I married Luke, I loved him from all my heart, but as you know, I have always been unlucky. I couldn’t make Luke fall for me, but trust me, I really tried hard to win his heart but failed. I have no complaints about Luke. He should marry the person he always loved and lead a beautiful life.

But it really hurts…. I tried to ignore Luke and Jennifer’s lovey-dovey acts, but it left wounds inside me. Day by day, it was getting hard to breathe encountering their romance, but I still tried to remain unaffected.

The thought of leaving Chris was breaking me from inside. I killed my motherly love for him. I behaved like a horrible stepmother to him because I wanted him to hate me and accept Jennifer as his mother, and today he called her mother. I thought I will be fine with time, but my tears are just not stopping while writing this letter.

I want to take Chris away with me, but I know I cannot give him the life he deserves as the heir of Knights, and I don’t want to snatch his entire family from him, just because of his parents. My baby is innocent. He loves his family, and it’s unfair to him to live like an orphan like I lived all my life.

I wanted to do so many things with him. I wanted to see him growing up and turning into a good-looking guy. I wanted to take him to Disney land. I wanted to see him wearing a graduation cap. I wanted to see him getting married. But sadly, my story has not a happy ending.

Christian’s vision blurred, and he quickly wiped his tears to read further.

I still love Luke, but I don’t trust him with my innocent child. If he can forget his wedding vows, his wife, then I am sure he can forget his son, too. That’s why I am giving Christian’s responsibility to both of you. I don’t have to say this, but still, please take good care of him for me. It’s my last wish.

Please don’t let Chris ever know what happened to me. I don’t want him to hate his father because Luke is his role model. Let him hate me as much as he wants. That’s the only way he will be able to live his life happily.

Last, I want no one to be blamed for my suicide. It was my decision, and no one forced me.

Mom, Dad, I love you. If I get a chance to be born again, I would like to be your daughter.

I love my Chris, but please don’t let him know.

Yours Forever,

Vera

Christian howled in agony as he traced his fingers on the last line of the letter. All those years he spent hating and disrespecting her came back as flashing pictures in the back of his mind. The look of happiness in her eyes on his wedding day and how he disregarded her as if she didn’t matter to him. How he called Jennifer, mother, who destroyed his mother’s life. He was recalling his every insulting action that must have caused pain to his mother.

He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes for a few minutes and then stood back on his feet, taking support of the wooden table, and as soon as his eyes landed on the mirror in front of him. He felt extreme hatred for himself and slammed his fist in the mirror repeatedly until his knuckles started bleeding.

***

“I never intend to harm Vera emotionally or physically but one thing led to another and before I could put a stop to anything, everything changed in a blink of an eye,” Luke confessed in a choked voice while Mishka leaned at the door frame, her lips pursed in a thin line.

She slowly walked in his direction and put her hand on his shoulder, wordlessly, when they heard a shrilling scream that almost scared them.

“LUKE KNIGHT” Christian entered the living area, screaming his name. He was shouting so loudly in a raucous voice that even Rony and Leo came out in fear.

“Chris, what happened?” Leo asked. He saw Christian’s violent demeanour, his eyes spitting fire, and he destroyed everything his hand got onto. The servant feared his actions and stood still in their place.

“What is wrong with you?” Leo asked, striding in his direction, but his next action stilled him in his place as Christian threw a vase on the glass door and it shattered into millions of small pieces.

“CHRISTIAN!! Are you out of your mind?” Leo shouted at him, but it appeared like Christian was in his own trance. He wasn’t looking at him and kept destroying things in the living room.

“LUKE KNIGHT, come out now!!!” Christian screamed his name again, his veins popping out, and he punched his already bleeding knuckles in the pillar. Finally, Luke appeared on the stairs with knitted eyebrows and Mishka followed him, looking at Christian, wide-eyed.

“What did you do now?” Leo asked Luke in a high pitch and Luke looked at him.

“Why would I do anything?” He said, but soon the shrilling voice stopped him in the middle.

“You did nothing? Really?? You forced my mom to commit suicide!” Christian shouted and Luke’s eyes travelled back to him while Mishka covered her mouth. Leo, Rony, Riya, and the servants were shocked.

Christian showed the suicide letter to all of them, “This man tortured my mom so much that committing suicide seemed easier to her!” Blood was dripping down on the floor from his knuckles and Mishka walked forward in his direction. “Stay back, don’t come any closer. I might hurt you.” He screeched loudly and Mishka stopped in her track.

Christian averted his gaze from her, but Mishka saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes before his brown orbs darkened. “Why? If you were so much in love with Jennifer, then why you didn’t let me and my mother go away peacefully? Why did you separate me from mom?”

“WHY! WHY!?! WHY!?!?” he shouted like a manic and slammed his fist into the pillar again.

“Chris!” Mishka was shocked to see him like this. Luke tried to get close to him, but he flinched away.

“Answer me,” Christian said in his deep, domineering voice.

Luke took a deep breath. “I was not in love with Jennifer,” He said and Christian, Rony, and Leo stared at him with a puzzled expression.