The Nidhi Kapoor Story by Saurabh Garg Read Free Book Online Page B

Nishant when he was around. Nishant was known for his frequent mood swings, short temper and ill-mannered behavior. He had been often unnecessarily harsh and rude to them in the past. After he was sent away to Moksha, things became peaceful and amicable and they were not sure if they wanted Nishant to bring their lives to a sad juncture again.
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    At around nine in the night, Nishant Kapoor finally came back to Ronak, almost seven years after he had left it. By the time he arrived, Naveen Verma had left for his home. Payal and Nidhi had retired to their respective bedrooms.
    When Nishant saw that there wasn’t any gathering, any grand celebration to welcome him back to Ronak, he was disappointed. He consoled himself at the sight of Shankar carrying his bags and Malti towing his wheelchair. Since he did not know of the reason for his sudden move back to Ronak, he bombarded Malti and Shankar with questions. Both of them however remained noncommittal. They did fill him in about the murder of the pets. To their surprise, Nishant merely laughed out loud. He did not ask them about the safety of Nidhi or Payal.
    Even though seven years seemed like a long time to him, very little had changed at Ronak. The giant solid gate at the entrance, immaculately manicured lawns, swimming pool filled with pristine water, paintings in the hall, trophies on the wall, pictures on the mantelpiece, décor of the rooms, everything was still the same. Everything was still the way it was when he had left. Everything had a distinct neatness and orderliness that was a characteristic to him and his clan.
    Nishant Kapoor was overwhelmed. Ronak was his most important possession, probably more important than even Preeti or Payal. But he could not share his emotions with anyone. There was no point. They would just ignore his words as melancholic rants of a madman. He knew he was not mad but someone was determined to prove that he was; the same someone who had tried to kill him; the same someone who had proved to the world that he was insane. Now that he was back at Ronak, Nishant wanted to plot his return. He had to. There was no other way. Nishant Kapoor was a survivor and he would not go down without a fight.
    While Nishant was propped up on the bed and wasscribbling his thoughts in his small notebook, a shadow flickered across the window that opened to the lawn. The shadow stared keenly at Nishant.
    Nishant felt a cold stare digging into his back. He wanted to look up to the window but could not gather the courage to do so. It was well past midnight and no one was expected to be up and about at this hour, especially with the beefed up security at Ronak after the incident with the pets. But if someone was indeed looking at him, was he there to hurt him? What could Nishant do about it? He couldn’t confront anyone for he had limited mobility. Yelling would be of no use, nobody heeded to him anyway. Maybe all this was figment of his imagination.
    He stopped writing and was fighting this war of words with himself. It took some time but his curious brain won the battle against the rational brain and he decided to investigate. He slowly folded the notepad and clasped his hands around it. He wanted to catch the unknown gawker by surprise and thus, without making any exaggerated gestures he turned at the window with a jerk.
    Much to his astonishment, there was no one at the window. Even the Ashoka trees lining the walls of the house weren’t moving. He was sure that someone was indeed looking at him. It was a struggle to climb onto the wheelchair but with much effort and noise, he managed to do so. He rolled his wheelchair hastily to the window and tried to peep out of it. He grabbed the steel frame lining the window and strained hard against it. He tried to look around but all he saw was the stillness of night. When he finally realized that there was no one, he was more angrythan relieved.
    In his previous avatar, he would have gulped generous pegs of