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Riya was driving back home. She had had a very bad day. Her new project manager was giving her lot of troubles. He made her stay late in the night, always criticized her in front of her juniors, never ever appreciated however hard she worked. Engrossed in so many thoughts, she did not see a lady who sprang before her car all of a sudden. She pulled the brakes real fast, but it was too late. The damage was already done. The lady was knocked down; her head was in a pool of blood.

Oh my God! What have I done? What should I do now? Should I call the police? Then what will they do? They will arrest me immediately. Then how will I face Deepak? What ordeal would my parents face? Oh no! I cannot let this happen. I need to leave. That is the only option I have.

Light travels at the fastest speed. But thoughts travel even faster. Riya's mind had thought all this within a second and she took the ultimate decision of leaving the lady to die and drove her car fast to her house.

Deepak had already returned from office. He came with a big broad smile

"Honey, I......"

and stopped mid way. On seeing her face, he knew something was wrong. She was about to fall down. He went and caught hold of her in his arms and asked her lovingly

"What happened dear? You look terrible"

"I...I...."

Riya’s mouth failed her. She tried to speak, but no voice came out. She started crying uncontrollably. He could feel her body tremble. She was cold with fear. Her eyes went pale. She was not her normal self. But there was something else he was worried about. She was a heart patient. If she underwent any more stress, her heart does not have the capacity to withstand it. He could not let anything happen to her. He held her tightly in his arms and placed a wet kiss on her forehead. That seemed to give her enough strength to speak. She started telling what happened.

After listening to her, Deepak did not speak for a very long time. He seemed to be absorbed in deep thoughts. Riya was getting more and more anxious. She found his silence deafening. She blurted out

"Say something please. Do you think I should have called the police?"

"Oh no dear! Definitely not. I was thinking about our next action plan"

"What should we do now? Oh! You should not have married me. You......"

"Oh! Stop it Riya. We both will come out of this. Believe me. I love you and I need you. Do you understand?"

Riya could only nod her head.

"Take some sleeping pills and go to sleep. Also switch off your mobile so that no one disturbs you"

"Oh! How I wish I could do it. But there is an important project going on. And there is a probability that my project manager would call me anytime and if my mobile is switched off, that would raise unnecessary questions.

"No problem! Just remove the battery without switching off your mobile. If some one calls you, they will only hear ‘Not reachable’ message. Is that fine with you?"

"OK. What about you? Will you be able to sleep?"

"No Riya. I have some official work to do. I will take care of it and come back soon. You need not wait for me"

Riya looked deep into his eyes. She knew he was lying. He was not going for any office work. He was going out for her sake. But she did not question him any further. She kissed him on his chest and went to sleep.

She had a good sleep, but it was only for sometime. She heard some noise from the living room. It was some music.

Did I turn on the T.V before going to sleep? She thought for some time? NO. May be Deepak watched it for some time before going out.

Her legs were tired and heavy due to the pills. But she had to turn off the T.V. She walked slowly towards the living room. But NO! The T.V was not turned on.

Oh! It sounds like my......my cell phone.

She ran towards her cell phone. It was ringing her favorite song.

Oh God! How is it possible? Deepak removed the battery right before my eyes.

She was scared. Fear was eating her alive. Her whole body was trembling. She was sweating profusely. She was rooted to the spot and was unable to move even an inch. She could hear her heart pounding so fast. She waited thinking the ringing would stop eventually. But it never stopped. It was as if it will stop only if she attended the call. After what seemed like hours, she went near the cell phone and saw the caller id. It said Unknown number calling. She knew she had to attend the call. But what she did not know was that already her heart had reached the threshold level. It could not bear any more shock. But Riya went on and picked up the call.

She did not say anything. She was only listening. She could hear her own breath, but nothing else.

May be this is a dream? Am I dreaming all this?

She became relieved, but only for an instant when she heard a female voice whisper
'It will come back around'


Deepak returned home only in the morning. He had to make sure all the loop-holes were blocked. He did not want the accident to come out in any newspaper. He knew some one who was a good friend of the local police at the accident spot. Of course, he had to spend some money too. But all was taken care of. No more issues, he thought to himself happily. He could not wait to reach home.

He rang the calling bell. There was no answer. He waited patiently for 2 minutes. Then he again rang the bell. There was still no answer. He knocked the door. His stomach started to churn with a strange feeling. He sensed that there was something wrong. There was no movement inside the house. He became worried. He started shouting her name. Hearing his voice, the neighbors came running. All started knocking the door, some tried to peep inside the window. But it was totally dark inside and nothing could be seen. Finally they broke open the door. The sight Deepak saw totally caught him off the guard.


Riya had been dead for 2 weeks. All the formalities were over. All the relatives had left for good. Only Deepak's childhood friend Sameer was with him.

"So...tell me Deepak what happened?"

"I don't know. I...I should not have left her all alone by herself. It was all my fault. I...."

"Enough Deepak. You can lie to anyone but me. So tell me…how did you kill her?"

"Sameer??"

"Do not give me that innocent look. I know about you very well. I know why you married her. I know you killed her. But I am surprised how you did it without anyone's knowledge and also managed to escape from the police. So...are you going tell me or what?"

"------"

"Oh come on Deepak! Am I not your close buddy? We have shared everything till now. Last year when you married her, I really thought you have changed and married the girl you loved. But then you told me you did that only for her wealth. And exactly after a year, she is dead in your own house. I am really eager to know how you did it. "

"hmm...since you know almost everything. I will tell you. But give me your word that this will remain within us for the rest of our lives"


"Of course, Deepak. What are friends for? But just give me 40% of what you get and it will remain a secret"

"40%?? That is too much. May be…I will give you 10%"

"Hey...do you think you can bargain? Never mind! I will go to the police and tell them my doubts. Let them find out. Shall I?"

"This is blackmail"

“May be…But I am still waiting for an answer...Do you accept?"

Deepak was getting restless with every second. This was totally unexpected. He had planned everything so well, but now he could not allow anything to go wrong. Finally he gave in.

"Like you gave me an option? OK. I accept. "

"Good. So now are you going to tell me how you did it?"

"Well, actually it was not entirely my plan. I was on the look for a good opportunity to execute her without any clues. Then one day she came and told me about this accident. She said she knocked down some lady on the way back from office. I saw that as a good chance. So I gave her sleeping pills which will weaken her already weak heart, removed the battery from her cell phone right before her and set out. Before leaving, I put back the battery in the mobile while my wife was sleeping. I took care of all the formalities related to the accident. Then I called my wife's number from my computer. There is a facility to change my voice while in a call and also to hide the caller id. I used that software and spoke to her like that lady who got killed in the accident. That was all that was needed to end her life"

"Brilliant Deepak! So now everyone thought she already had a heart problem and no one could suspect you."

"Exactly! But since you know about me, you sensed it. Anyways, remember this should always strictly remain between us"

"Sure! And you too do not forget the 40% share. Hey, it is getting late. I will catch you later."



Deepak sat all alone in the living room. He did not know what to do. He did not want to stay there as he had this strange feeling that his wife was watching him all the time. Even now when he was telling his friend about how he killed her, he had this feeling that his wife was listening to all that was being said. He tried to forget it by drinking.

He had drunk too much. Just when he thought of going to sleep, his cell phone rang. He watched it with dismay. He could not believe his own eyes and ears. He was constantly receiving many calls from so many people offering condolences when all that he wanted was an escape from any of the memories that reminded his wife. So as his usual practice, he had removed the battery. Now how could it ring?

He saw the caller id. It said Unknown number calling. A mild shiver ran through his body. May be he put back the battery while he was drinking? He tried hard to remember but in vain. With trembling hands, he answered the call.

He immediately recognized his wife’s voice.

"It will come back around"