“Guess who I met today?” Rohan exclaimed, clenching his glass of whiskey with excitement filled in his eyes.
“Who?” Shelley asked curiously, watching how Rohan swirled the alcohol in his glass.
“Try to guess,” Rohan replied with a satisfying smirk, ensuring his words were audible to anyone in the vicinity but not louder than that.
“Enough of this,” Shelley said, getting a bit annoyed.
“Alright girl alright,” Rohan relented, getting closer. “It was the cloistered billionaire, Akash Verma.”
“Really?. .Why was he out of his secluded mansion?”
Rohan relaxed a little, savoring the mood. “He was attending the charity gala, the one his wife always insists to go to.”
Akash Verma was a celebrity, a star of the business world in India. He was in the news over empire creation as well as generosity. Being a successful businessman, he had conquered ten multinational companies; each was profitable and has an annual turnover of 5000 crores. His life ran between a series of meetings, dinners, and all sorts of philanthropic engagements. And his birthdays would never end without donating atleast ‘100 crores’ to ashrams around the locality.
Today, Akash is entangled in the trap of alcoholism, a secret monster that he brought forth with each gulp of costly whisky. Three of his most trusted friends, Rohan, Shelley and Karan were not only his business associates but his friends with whom he discussed every idea and weakness he had.
The trio had known each other for a long time and were actually college buddies. Having risen through the ranks and sharing their beginnings as employees of an organized firm, they had now matured into business partners managing Akash’s ultra-modern business enterprises. Their dynamic was clear: Akash was focused in money and emotions of his businesses while they were involved in the practical aspects of making them happen. Because of this mutual relationship, all of them had attained immense riches.
But then when they were enjoying the ambience of a dimly lit bar and the intense smells of cigars and whiskey that night, they weren’t thinking of success. This had planned a merciless one for some months now. Their intervention with Akash became necessary as this was their chance to put their plan into action by using his gradual alcoholic addiction as a key to their plan.
“Then, what’s new?” Karan asked in a low tone, blended with whispers in the background.
Rohan’s smile turned icy. “The doctor is following our plan and all that concerns him is going well. ”
Over the years, Neeraja, Akash’s wife, had seen her husband slowly and steadily destroy himself. The fun-loving, flamorous, passionate man that she had been married to had now turned into a shadow drinking his own self. However, she had tried her best to get him out of that state, but he was still fully consumed by it, the fog of alcoholism.
To relieve herself off the pressure, she talked to Akash’s friends about the problem. ‘Help him, please’, she cried wailing and weeping profusely. He needs help, he is struggling.‘
Rohan, Karan and Shelley, their eyes twinkling with mischievous look saw it as the best opportunity that had come their way. They guided Neeraja to Ranjan – a doctor with a shady background, a rival in the business world, a man who could be easily aroused against Akash – namely, their target.
As per their plan, the trio met Ranjan and had assured him to give almost forty percent of Akash’s business empire for the heinous act. Other things being equal, given the doctor’s insatiable greed for which he promptly agreed.
‘Akash is at risk of alcohol poisoning.’ said Ranjan to his wife in a serious mood despite the inability of the three friends standing next to him to hide their emotions. ‘He needs to be treated at a rehab center immediately.’
After all the happenings, Akash was shifted to an extravagant rehabilitation center in the city of Mumbai. The friends have had the same business deal with the head doctor at the rehab center Shiny, whose greed was not far from that of Ranjan.
Shiny was used by them as a part of their strategy, and she fed him injection with benzodiazepine drugs, concocting with alcohol for hallucination, paranoia, and dementia. She secretly laced Akash’s food with alcohol, guaranteeing that he was perpetually drunk, or more accurately repeatedly delirious, a cruel act that devastates his brain slowly.
(Present) Shelley’s gaze sharpened. ‘And how about the password of his business account?’
Rohan nodded. ‘We are nearly there,’ His delusions are beginning to escalate. Let it get worsened. And then we are all set to crack it with the help of head doctor.”
They all laughed wickedly at the vulgarity of it all. Of course, Akash would have never thought that his own friends are out there to hunt his wealth and dignity and render him helpless at the cost of trust.
The following morning, Neeraja arrived to visit her beloved. “Hi Akash,” Neeraja said softly, her voice barely audible in the darkness of the room.
The man turned around and his face reflected the hurt and fear upon seeing her feeling for him. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” spewed the man with the knife by his side.
His eyes widened slightly and he blinked, before recognition filled them and he recognized Neeraja saying, “It’s me Neeraja, your wife.” She sighed tensely, nervously stepping forward.
Akash’s voice shouted in agitation as he nearly leapt towards her; the knife shining in the dark dimly. His paranoia got the best of him thinking that she was out to get him.
And Neeraja’s world shattered with a single strike on her neck and her scream halted as she lied down dead in a pool of blood.
A few seconds later, the door flew open and the Chief Doctor Shiny rushed with a frightened look on her face. “Oh no… Akash, it’s your wife,” she exclaimed holding a paper tissue. She was taken aback by this cruel act that resulted out of drugs and alcohol.
Akash looked at the knife, and crying, threw it away and began to shake with deep guilty feelings. This was the ordeal Akash had been suffering through the whole time. The deadly combination of alcohol and drugs now became a threat to his family while his friends were jumping in the cot of joyous moments.
In the meantime, the sad news of Neeraja’s death reached Anushka, who is her twin sister. Anushka had come in the town totally unannounced. In comparison to Neeraja who was quite popular, she was the more timid of the two and always seemed to be in her sister’s shadow. Therefore, Anushka remained invisible, unknown, and unloved in so many cases and by so many people in the world. But, its time for Anushka to come forward and for her it was not easy as Neeraja left no stone unturned for her preparation. She noticed moments of transformations in Akash like talking to himself and the evil look he possessed. Anushka also noticed his three friends sitting beside him. Their concern, however, looked very staged as if it required something – the greed.
Of course, Anushka had her doubts, so she decided to collect relevant testaments. She began the process by stalking them, spying on them and accumulating the pieces to the murder of her sister and Akash’s deterioration. It was not long before she found an email evidence fair enough to accuse Akash’s friends and hospital records from the head doctor regarding a heinous crime. Her heart was pounding when it dawned on her about the entire mess his friends had created to betray him that let his empire and dignity down to nothing.
The next day, Anushka went to the rehab center with her eyes filled with anxiety. She had to rescue Akash from this web of betrayal, not just for herself but for the lives he had touched with his charity. She was forced to stop her sister’s killer and protect the precious bond the two of them had.
When, claiming to be Neeraja’s twin, the receptionist of the rehab center eventually blinked slightly. “Oh, Miss Verma,” she said somewhat with a tone of sympathy. “Well, your husband is doing well and he is far better than before for his state.”
Anushka’s eyes narrowed. “What state?”
The careless saying of the word made the receptionist stammer with the answer. “Well, you know the, the withdrawal symptoms.”
Anushka, with a doubtful nod, signed the visitors’ register before being led to the private room where Akash had been placed. When she reached the room, she saw him pacing and his eyes darting about. He did not recognize her at first and then there was a fleeting moment of recognition on his face.
“Neeraja?” he grunted.
“No Akash,” she replied, holding his hand. “It’s Anushka.”
Then, he held her hand tight for a second or two – in belated acknowledgment that he comprehended the point being made. Yet soon his eyes rolled back in his head and he began mumbling something about shadows and whispers in the wall.
Anushka was dumbstruck since she understood the degree of deception that his friends were putting in. They had not only drugged him, but they had also manipulated him into doing what they actually wanted.
For the following days, Anushka was dedicated to figuring everything out in this entangled web of treachery. She made friends with the nurses, only for the information about Akash’s treatment and paid them cash secretly. She, indeed, tried to analyze the head doctor’s movements and anticipate every step of her’s in hope to find a weakness of some kind.
On the other hand, Rohan, Karan and Shelley were tracking on Akash’s worsening state, their glances filled with hypocrisies, vigilance, observing him all through the day and night. They relished on his condition becoming more erratic, and were preparing to make up further mess to grab his empire completely. For that matter, they had made up inappropriate hoaxes, which affected Akash’s coworkers, feeding them false stories about Akash’s insanity. Shortly, they were ready to perform transactions of the funds raised for the charity case, for which the head doctor had provided the password.
As their destructive plans grew more concrete, through cunning hard work, Anushka came across a missing report that contains information about the benzodiazepine concoct given to Akash. Her stomach churned as she read through the list of severe side effects: delusions, paranoia, and even compulsive amnesia. Everything was described in a clinical, unemotional approach.
Perceiving the callousness of the situation, Anushka quickly wrote a check for a lump sum of money, which shocked the head doctor, Shiny. It was ten times more than what his friends had offered her before. “This is for Akash’s health,” she said, with her tone conveying it firmly. “And for your silence too.”
Receiving the check, her look of greed quickly transformed to fear when she comprehends the gravity of the situation. ‘‘What would you want me to do?’’
“Let him be given the proper withdrawal medications,” Anushka commanded. “And I expect to see him every day.”
Shiny nodded, her hands shaking as she wrote a new prescription.
In the proceeding weeks, Anushka watched Akash improving gradually. The drugs have washed off from him and his true self had begun to emerge. Now, he is a person who is desperate to find out the truth behind the mess of his life. The man who was hidden behind the thoughts of delusions and paranoia seemed lucid, intense and obsessed with knowing the faces of greed.
One evening, as they rested in the rehab center’s garden surrounded by the bushes and the trees, with the sun setting casting their shadows, Anushka took a deep breath. “Akash,” she began, her eyes welled up with tears as she could hardly speak louder. “Before you go any further, there is one thing, which I have to tell you.”
He looked directly into her eyes, indicating that he was willing to listen.
Narating the details of the conspiracy to the dent, Akash squeezed the arms of the chair he sat onto and clenched his fist. When she completed, he stood up and said nothing for few minutes, while the very light seemed to burn in his glance – hatred that was furious and fierce.
After a pause, he spoke out in a low growling manner: ‘They will pay, for the suffering they caused me and for everything they grabbed from us.”
Anushka nodded too, getting more angry than him. Together, they would fight for Neeraja’s death and ensure that they protect the legacy left behind by Verma’s empire. As the sun sets out of the sky, she realized that the war had just began.
Days turned into weeks and slowly Akash started to gain his strength back. The fog that the benzodiazepines have created cleared and the sharp mind that once created an empire seemed to reveal. Gradually, he regained his consciousness and the pain of treachery his friends made was coming back as well. That carefully planned master plan to push him off the wall to insanity, to dismantle all that he built in life fueled an unstoppable anger into him.
Meanwhile, Rohan, Shelley and Karan grew increasingly uncomfortable. The progress of Akash in the recovery was not as planned. It also became quite difficult as the doctor began to change from being cooperative to oddly unapproachable; the doctor started limiting their access to Akash. They did not expect Anushka to be this smart and they believed that the sorrow of a mother would prevent her from finding out the truth. However, she surprised them all and became far smarter than what they thought could ever be.
The routines of getting drunk at the pub regulars were taken aback by the cacophony of crashing glass one night. Akash walked straight into the door and scowled at them with atmost anger in his eyes. ‘What nonsense is this?’, he shouted. “Do you think that you can play with peoples’ lives like that?”. A deep sound of anger filled the room as he spoke.
The three of them looked at each other, and their faces turned pale. They had not seen him like this, focused and clear, in a long time, Rather they have seen him blabber and hallucinate after being on drugs or something like that as the son of an industrialist when he used to manage such a vast business. Realising the heat of the situation, the bartender took a step backward.
“If you go any further, I will make sure you regret going through a lot that has never crossed your paths,” Akash said, his tone cold and harsh. “Yet not by forfeiting your lives as for now. That would be much too easy.”
After all that happened, the trio felt the pangs of realisation that escalated his anger to a level they have never witnessed before. They had played a dangerous game and were now rendered to be mere players of his bouquet of revenge.
“My property shall be returned to me,” he said firmly fixing his eyes on them. “My businesses, my wealth, and my dignity,” he said and turned to the crowd, “And you will see as I build it all back even more bigger.”
With that, Akash left the bar, leaving them tremble on his anger. It all started from a flame of greed that left behind fires that could not be stopped anymore. This man that they had believed they could control had somehow escaped and was now turning on them.
As the night fell, the weight of the crime commited had conquered their minds. Every second of the moment felt like hell to them. They had under-estimated Akash Verma and now they had no other way but to feel the intensity of the backlash.
