Rishi Singh, a successful CEO in his late 20s, sat in his luxurious living room. His two sisters, Esha and Meera, sat opposite him, awaiting his attention.
"Rishi bhaiya, I got 95% in my exams," Esha said, beaming with pride. Rishi's face lit up with a warm smile. "That's amazing, Esha! I'm so proud of you. Here, let me give you something."
He handed her an expensive-looking necklace. "Congratulations, sis." Meera, who had been quietly observing the exchange, spoke up. "Bhaiya, I got 80% in my exams."
Rishi's expression turned cold. "That's not good enough, Meera. You need to work harder." Esha tried to intervene. "bhaiya, that's still a good score..." But Rishi cut her off. "No, Esha, Meera needs to learn to excel. I won't tolerate mediocrity."
Meera looked down, her eyes welling up with tears. "I'll try harder, bhaiya." After saying that she went to her room. She locked the door from inside. Meera had a small statue of Lord Krishna which she kept on her study table. She went and sat there and said while crying, "Hey Krishna! Why is bhaiya being like this to me? He always is good towards Esha, talks to her softly praises her, and rewards her and with me, he's just the opposite.. What did I do wrong that he is treating me like this?"
After some time Esha knocked on the door of Meera's room and said, "Meera, it's me, Esha. Can I come in?" Soon Meera wiped tears from her cheeks and said, "Yeah! Come in." Esha came in and saw Meera, who was sitting on her bed. She looked so sad. Esha sat near her and said, "Meera, are you alright?". "Yes I'm fine Esha", said Meera.
"You know what Meera, I'm sure that one day he will understand what he is doing and be nice to you!", Said Esha with concern. Meera was really sad and she said, "But still Esha, just like you I'm also his sister, so why he is being biased." After hearing that, Esha said, "You know right, he is the CEO of a firm, and over that, he has to take care of us. So maybe because of all these responsibilities he is feeling low and behaved like that!"
Then Meera looked at Esha and immediately replied, "No Esha! It's not that. Because what happened today was not the first time. It has been happening since when I was in school. For him, it's always you, because you are brave, mature, responsible, and all. You are a brilliant student, the topper. And about me, I'm just the opposite of yours. And you know he never even talked to me softly, never looked at me with love." Then Esha cups her face and says," Meera, one say everything will change. Bhaiya will realize his mistake and be good to you. And now let's sleep because it's too late, if bhaiya sees us awake then he will kill us." Then both the sisters slept.
The next, morning, Rishi took a leave from his office today. He went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and saw a plate which was broken into small pieces, in the trash bin. That plate was from an expensive crockery set, which was around Rs 90,000. By seeing that plate in that condition he got too angry. Even in his firm, his subordinates also become sacred when he is angry, as he looks hella scary. No one can stop Rishi when he is angry. Even Rishi can't stop himself from doing things out of anger.
Soon Rishi rushed to his room, took a leather belt from his wardrobe, and marched towards Meera's room. On the other hand, Meera was sleeping without knowing what was happening to her. And then Rishi entered the room and came near Meera who was sleeping. He folded the belt and hit her hard with that. It was all sudden and Meera screamed out of pain, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh"
Meera started crying and said, "Why did you hit me with that?" Rishi spoke angrily, "You don't know why?? Then this will help you to remember!" then he hit her again with that. "Ahhhhhhh!" Meera screamed in pain. "Bhaiyaaaaa!!!! pleaseeeeeee!! Stoooooopppp!! I didn't do anythingggggggg pleaseeeee stoppppp... It's hurtingggggg badlyyy" Ignoring her pleas and cries, Rishi spoke, "STOP LYING!!.. YOU ARE SUCH AN UNGREATFUL BRAT. A USELESS FELLOW... HOW DARE YOU BREAK THAT EXPENSIVE PLATE?"
"I didn't break any plate bhaiyaaaaa... Ahhhhh ahhhhhh bhaiyaaaa nooooo stoppppp.. I didn't break anythingggggg!" Meera cried, but Rishi didn't even mind that and continued abusing her with that belt. After some time he stopped for a while and said," You aren't good at anything. Just a pain in everyone's ass. Always creating troubles for others. Not good at studies, not in sports or anything. Just useless." then he again started beating her with his belt.
Rishi's words were making deep cuts in Meera's heart. She was already getting hurt physically by her brother and over that she is getting hurt mentally due to Rishi's words. By hearing the screams, and cries of Meera and the yelling voice of Rishi, Esha came there. When she reached there, the view shocked her. Her brother, Rishi, is physically abusing her sister Meera... Seeing that Esha tried to stop Rishi and said, "Bhaiya!!!! Stop!!! What are you doing?!!! Are you out of your mind??"
"Stay out of it Esha! She deserves it!", yells Rishi. "Stooppp it Bhaiyaa!! Are you going to kill her?" Esha said. Rishi still didn't stop and said, " This brat broke the expensive plate." "I didn't dooooo ittttt stooppppp bhaiyaaaaaa... Ahhghhhhhhhh", Meera screams out of pain. On the other hand, Esha tried her level best to stop Rishi, but it was of no use. He didn't stop beating Meera. At last, Esha shouted, "MEERA DIDN'T BROKE THAT PLATE I DID"
After hearing that, Rishi stopped beating Meera and said, "Esha, it's not funny. Don't take this blame upon you." Then Esha said to him firmly," I'm serious. I did it. Yesterday by midnight, I felt hungry and I took that plate to have food and it fell from my hand to the floor. And I threw that broken plate into the trash bin." Soon Rishi threw that belt on the floor and left the room. He didn't even look at Meera before leaving the room.
Meera hugs her knees and cries hard. Her whole body was hurting a lot after all the physical abuse from her brother for no reason. By seeing Meera in that condition, Esha felt so bad, she started tearing up seeing her sister's situation. Then Eesha spoke, "Meera...", but Meera cut her off," Why?? Why me?? Why he is doing this to me? What did I do to him? My whole body hurts. I don't want to live anymore.."
Esha hugs her while crying, "No Meera, please don't say that... I'm here with you. "
Meera says while crying, "Esha, can u please leave me alone? I want some space." Esha hesitated but she agreed and left her alone.
Esha then directly went to Rishi. What she saw there made her angry. Rishi was preparing breakfast like nothing happened. Soon Esha went near him and said, "What are you doing?" Rishi ignored her and continued doing his work. Then Esha spoke again," I asked you something." Rishi still ignores her.
"Fine. Ignore me. Give me the silent treatment, as I have broken that expensive plate. But you beat that poor girl for no reason. At least apologize to her" says Esha angrily but still Rishi ignores her. Then she continued," I'll give you time till today afternoon. You have to apologize to her or else I will never forgive you and never talk to you. Rishi firmly looks at her and says, "Don't make me angry. Just go to your room"
"What I said was serious," Esha said and went to her room. Then the whole day the house was silent. No one talked to anyone. By 1 pm, afternoon, Esha checked Meera who was still in the same condition. She stays in Meera's room for some time even if no one spoke anything. After some time, Esha went downstairs, she ignored Rishi, took food for Meera and herself, and went to Meera's room.
"Meera, here, I bought food for us. Let's eat," said Esha. Meera didn't reply so Esha placed the plate on a nearby table and touched her. As soon as Esha touched Meera, she hissed a bitter out of pain. "uh! Sorry sorry!!" said Esha. Meera carefully sat on the bed and said, "It's fine Esha!". "Come let's eat," said Esha. Meera is still hurt due to the way her brother treats her, she is mentally hurt, and depressed, so she denies her offer by saying she is not hungry. But Esha forces Meera to eat and she eats the food. After eating food, she made Meera to take rest.
After making Meera sleep, Esha went to Rishi who was working on her laptop in his room. Rishi saw Esha and asked, "What do you want, Esha?" Esha angrily looked at Rishi and said, "How can you be so cruel? She is also our sister and how can u treat her like this?" For a second, Rishi closed his eyes and opened it. Then he said, "Can you please stop it and leave me alone?"
"No! I won't! I won't go without telling you some truth which you don't know. Do you remember, the last time you got a high fever at midnight? Do you remember who took care of you? Meera did. Meera took care of you the whole night. She didn't sleep the whole night instead she spent the night by taking care of you. And how you are treating her? One day, you came home late at night from your office and you were hungry. When you went to the kitchen you found food to eat. Do you know who prepared it? Meera did. She prepared food just for you that day so that her brother won't sleep without eating anything. " Said Esha. Upon hearing that Rishi was shocked and said, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying what you should know about and which you don't know. Do you know what she says? She says that 'even if Rishi bhaiya hates me, and treats me badly that doesn't mean I should also behave like that towards him. I can't do that. I love him. He is my brother.' Bhaiya... The way you are treating her is really bad... You should not do that. You should apologize to her. She deserves an apology from you. " said Esha. Then after hearing that Rishi replied, " I did all this because she can do well in her academics. By rewarding you, praising you and all, I felt that she might start studying. She can't bring up poor grades anyway."
"Poor grades? Seriously??? How this 80-85% is a poor mark?? She always has the second-highest marks in class. And also these marks won't define a person. And every child has their capabilities, we can't force them to get marks according to our expectations. Not every child is capable of getting 94 or 99% marks!" said Esha in a firm voice to Rishi. By listening to all these, Rishi stays silent, he thinks about all these. After saying all these to Rishi, Esha leaves the room leaving him alone.
Rishi sat alone in his room, his mind racing with thoughts of Meera and how he had treated her.
"Why was I so cruel to her?" he thought. "Why did I show such partiality?"
Just then, he heard Esha's voice outside. He went to see what was happening.
Esha was standing outside Meera's room, calling out to her, "Meera, open the door! Meera, please! It's me, Esha"
Rishi approached her, "What's wrong, Esha?" he asked.
"Meera's not responding," Esha replied, worried etched on her face. "And the door is locked from inside." Rishi's heart sank. He knew something was wrong.
"Meera, open the door!" he called out, his voice laced with concern. But there was no response. Rishi didn't hesitate. He broke the door open.
As they entered, they were met with a shocking sight. Meera, lying on the bed, surrounded by blood.
"MEERAAAAAA!" Esha screamed, rushing to her side. Rishi's heart sank with a sharp pain. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think.
"Meera, no! Oh God, what have I done?" he cried, holding Meera's lifeless body in his arms. Esha's screams filled the air as Rishi rocked back and forth, tears streaming down his face.
"Why didn't I see? Why didn't I stop?" he whispered, his voice cracking with grief.
Esha looked at him, her eyes filled with anger and sadness.
"You should have thought of that before, Rishi," she said, her voice cold. "You should have thought of that before it was too late. She left us, because of YOU!! YOU KILLED HER!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. I HATE YOU.. YOU ARE A MONSTER. YOU KILLED YOUR SISTER." Esha cries hard. " I will never forgive you Rishi bhaiya. Never.. From now on... You are dead for me! I'm ashamed to call you bhaiya"
Rishi's heart ached and said, "No!! No, please, Esha! Don't say that. I know what I did was wrong but please don't say that to me."
Still, Esha coldly said, "Don't you even dare to come near me. I have decided one thing, after Meera's funeral, I will go in my way and you will go in your way. I don't want to live with you anymore. I don't want to live with a Murderer who killed my Sister! And right now, you have to leave this room. I won't let you come closer to Meera and I will also tell Mom and Dad not to let you attend Meera's funeral."
"Esha, Esha don't do that Esha! I'm sorry I'm sorry please.. Esha.." Said Rishi while crying. Esha's words were hurting him very badly. Then Esha kicked him out of Meera's room. Rishi was crying out of that room asking for forgiveness and to let him come in. But Esha didn't mind him.
"Oh God!! Why?? Why did I do that to her?? Why?? I failed you, Meera... I'm sorry... I was a bad brother!! I failed as a brother..." said Rishi while crying and after some time he screamed, "MEERAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" on the other hand, Esha was listening to everything from inside while crying.
As the day of Meera's funeral arrived, Rishi stood outside the house, his eyes cast down in shame. He knew he didn't deserve to be there, but he wanted to pay his respects to his sister.
But as he tried to enter the house, his parents, relatives, and even Esha stood in his way, their faces filled with anger and grief.
"You don't deserve to be here," his mother spoke angrily and also with sadness. "You're the reason she's gone." "Get out," his father growled. "You're not welcome here." "Dad, Dad please let me see Meera for the last time. Please let me attend her funeral.", said Rishi. Esha's eyes flashed with anger. "You killed her, Rishi. You are the reason, she cut her wrist. So even if mom and dad allow you to see her, I won't allow it."
The relatives murmured in agreement, their faces twisted in disgust. Rishi tried to speak, but no words came out. He knew he had no defense. With a collective shove, they pushed him out of the house. He stumbled backward, landing hard on the ground. As he struggled to get up, he saw the funeral procession moving away from the house, Meera's body being carried to the cremation ground.
Rishi tried to follow, but the family and relatives blocked his path. "Stay away," Esha warned. "You're not allowed to attend the funeral." Rishi fell to his knees, defeated. He watched as the procession disappeared into the distance, feeling like he'd lost everything. He remained there, alone and broken, as the reality of his actions sank in. He had lost his sister, his family, and his humanity.
In the days that followed, Esha's anger and hatred towards Rishi grew. She couldn't bear to look at him, couldn't stand the thought of his presence. She started to push him away, refusing his attempts to comfort her. Even his Mom and Dad also pushed him away.
Rishi, consumed by guilt and grief, tried to make amends. Now, only Esha is there as his sister, so he pleads for forgiveness, but Esha's heart is too broken. She couldn't forgive him, not yet, maybe never.
As time passed, Rishi became a shadow of his former self. He lost his CEO position at his firm, his friends, and his family. He was left alone with his thoughts, haunted by the memories of Meera's smile, her laughter, and her tears.
Esha, on the other hand, found solace in her memories of Meera. She started a charity in her sister's name, helping victims of domestic abuse and mental health issues. She became a voice for those who couldn't speak, a small hope in the darkness.
Years went by, but the pain never faded. Esha and Rishi lived separate lives, both trapped in their hells. Rishi's regret and guilt never diminished, while Esha's anger slowly turned into a deep sadness.
One day, Esha received a package with no return address. Inside, she found a letter from Rishi, pouring out his heart, begging for forgiveness, and apologizing for his mistakes. Esha read the letter, her tears falling onto the pages.
She didn't respond, but she kept the letter, a reminder of the sister she lost and the brother she could never forgive.
~The end~
