Adultery No One Dies a Saint (Completed)

[krish_999]

Chapter 59
Atul

A sense of loss had grappled Atul since the moment he walked out of Ridhima's suite. He had told the cab driver to take him to his home address, but he wasn't sure about facing Anvita at the moment. His only intent was to sit in solitude for a couple of hours. And he chose to ignore the phone buzz.

But it was his destiny that he had to open it.

His phone buzzed again, at the arrival of another important email, after ten minutes. Atul slowly pulled out his mobile phone and looked at it as if it belonged to someone else.

The email was an automatically generated notification from the file hosting service 'Dropbox' and its subject read "Dropbox was granted access to your Google account".

Though he had signed up for it long ago, he had never put it to use. And he thought there was a security breach.

But he didn't care about it at the moment. He didn't possess enough strength to be bothered about an online breach into cloud storage when his action had breached the core of his life with stupidity.

Ignoring the warning he casually swiped over the screen and he saw yet another notification. "We noticed a new sign in to your Dropbox".

It must be Anvita.

He thought as if to assure himself, and then wondered why she would sign in to Dropbox using his Google account. Out of slight curiosity, he opened the Dropbox and there was a folder named "New". Inside it was a file - in MP4 format. More than the curiosity to know its content, its huge size gathered his attention. Close to 2GB, it had almost used up all the free space provided by Dropbox.

It could either be a full-length film, or a surprising video.

For once, Atul thought he knew what it was.

It is a surprise gift from a loving wife to her wonderful husband on the eve of their wedding anniversary. It could be their moments, photos or even the wedding moments all put together to make an amazing movie.

Atul's eyes got blurred and he wiped it clear quickly. It was a pity that he didn't deserve her love, he felt.

He took his time to compose himself and then he opened it. He saw a preview image. It was a bed, his bed, and it quickly brought a contemptuous smile onto his lips before he touched the load button.

He saw the bed for a moment and then Anvita's face filled the shaky screen. She was placing the phone on the shelf. She took a few seconds to place it correctly.

When she was satisfied she moved away and Atul saw where she was. It was their bedroom. The bed was neatly arranged, and Atul knew what it was; at least he thought so.

He could instantly think about many of their lovely evenings where they had cuddled in their bed and eventually made love. He could think of how proud he must have been while living those moments. He could think of how he would love to possess those moments again.

But they were gone. He had proved himself unworthy of them. Unworthy of her love.

He couldn't think of a single reason to forgive himself.

With his eyes on the screen, he melted inside with shame. 

The audio was not clear. It was noisy because of a fancy dancing toy on the shelf and its sound dominated the audio.

When did she make this?

Anvita stood a moment near the bed and turned to her left.

“George…”

Atul heard her voice despite the sound of the toy. And it puzzled him. He thought he didn't hear it correctly.

But he had to believe when he saw George walking in after a few seconds. And Atul's heart nearly stopped as George put his arms around Anvita and pulled her closer. George's both hands were intact, and Atul realised in a second how old the video could be.

What's happening? What the fuck is he doing? And why is she standing like a statue?

Atul could see George saying something to her but he couldn't hear it. And then they kissed. George was the one kissing her and she was merely allowing him.

Atul couldn't believe reality. For once he thought he was dreaming. He thought he must have lost his mind because of the mental pressure he had been bearing for a day, and it was possible he could've lost control of his mind and perhaps this could be merely an outcome of that.

But there was no way to believe it wasn't the reality. The email was real. The notification was real. The video is real. And what he was watching was also real.

Atul's heart was pounding hard in a moment.

George was kissing her like a greedy man and as he went on swallowing her lips his hands were worming around her. Atul saw his right hand moving to her breasts and fondling her roughly.

Why isn't she shaking him off her? Why isn't she pushing him away?

George stopped kissing and told her something, looking into her eyes. Atul increased the volume but he couldn't hear any words.

George was turning her around. In the next few seconds, Atul watched his hands moving around her to grope her ass and breasts, and then him bending forward slightly to kiss behind Anvita's neck. It wasn't a thing to sit and watch. Atul swiped over the screen to fast forward the video. His heart nearly stopped as the scene loaded and started to play.

Anvita was bent forward on the bed and George was pounding hard into her!

"Fuck! Stop the car."

Atul yelled at the cab driver.

The driver turned his head.

"What?"

"I said stop the car."

"No, sir. I can't stop here."

The car was in the middle of busy traffic. Atul didn't know what to do.

"I need to get down. I need to get down here."

"What happened, sir? Do you want to go anywhere else?"

The driver looked at him through the mirror. Atul stared at him.

"Take me to a bar. Anywhere that's not crowded."

The driver nodded.

"Okay, sir."

Atul needed to sit down. His head was aching. His throat was dry. His hands were shaking. He had to go to a bar.

He turned his eyes back to the phone. George was completely nude behind Anvita and

Atul could see his back muscles moving as he kept fucking her.

Atul swiped the video forward again. George was still standing there, slightly bending over her, trying to reach under her to grab her breasts.

Her face was buried in the bed with her hair tousled around, and with his incessant ramming, her body too went down. He cared for nothing and pounded hard into her until he got tired. He held on for a few seconds and Atul knew he was unloading his sperm into her.

He was done, and he fell over Anvita, pressing her further on the bed. It seemed as if he was exhausted. When he got up, he pulled out of her and quickly removed his condom. Atul didn't feel a thing.

The bastard was using a rubber. Hell, so what?

Anvita was trying to get up. She adjusted her clothes and sat up. She was looking around, looking for something lost.

Is she looking for her panty?

George turned to her and squeezed on her shoulder.

The bastard isn't done!

He was talking to her and Anvita allowed him to push her down back on the bed. And he quickly settled between her split legs.

Atul ground his teeth and stopped the video.

George was going to eat her pussy. Atul couldn't bear even the thought, let alone the sight.

Why am I watching this? Why am I made to watch this? Whose nightmare is this?

Atul had lost his mind. He lost track of place and time. He lost track of his existence. Everything was a blur.

It wasn't anyone's nightmare but his life. It was real.

Atul threw himself into a sofa at the loneliest corner in the bar. He thought his life as a man and a husband would go on only until the moment he finished watching the video once. Either he would die heartbroken, or he would kill himself. There was no way he could live with it.

A couple of drinks without a drop of water had passed through his throat. When he thought he could do it, he played the video again. For the second time, he lived the sight of his lovely wife reducing herself into a piece of meat for the pleasure of this monster who had until then posed as a friend. He watched him take pleasure in pounding her hard first and then subjecting her to the filthy pleasure of having an orgasm by worshipping her married pussy with his tongue. And then, he, like a devil who had some point to prove to her husband, turned her onto fours again. While plunging into her George paused only once and that was to take a phone call.

Atul wished he could get a headphone so that he could increase the volume and listen to the sound whenever he saw George talking. When Atul saw him attending the phone call, he increased the volume to the maximum. The music playing at the bar made it impossible to hear anything.

Atul placed the phone on his ear and he heard George's voice.

“It’s your dear hubby, see?” George was saying. "Wanna talk to him, dear?"

A bolt of lightning passed through Atul's heart.

Dear! He calls her dear!

Atul looked at the screen and he saw George sitting on the bed. Atul's eyes stayed on Anvita.

“...please keep silence. Let me talk to your hubby.” George said and attended the call.

“I am so sorry, Atul. I am the most horrible host you’ll ever have, I concede.”

Another jolt hit Atul with a dose of reality as he recollected the day. He remembered how George had invited him to have lunch with them and then had vanished for two hours. When Atul phoned him, George had assured him like a perfect host. Atul heard his words again.

“I am almost halfway with the task. It’s the only chance I have. It’s an opportunity I’ve been seeking for so long. Don’t be bored, please feel yourself home.”

He was assuring to me! What a fool I've been!

Atul shook his head in disbelief.

He remembered how he had kissed Leona in the absence of George that day. He was regretful for his 'sin' when George returned, having no clue about the reality.

Atul could've taken Leona to bed and fucked her if he wanted.

For once Atul felt he was a saint.

A saint. A saint, a foolish one!

After ending the phone call, George turned to Anvita again and resumed his act. Atul watched him groan as he unloaded again, into a condom.

Later he would pull her up and kiss her, and her only response was a meek surrender.

It wasn't the woman Atul loved. It wasn't the woman he knew and cherished.

It was a woman who seemed to have a liking to be treated like a piece of dirt. For once Atul felt it would have been less painful if she had let George have sex with her as she did with him.

Why, Anvita? Why?

George had walked out. Anvita stood up and came closer to the camera. Atul's eyes were stuck at her face. She was tired. And her face was straight.

Atul felt his eyes blurred again and he couldn't keep it open.

He sat back and closed his eyes. He wanted to weep. But he couldn't do that either. He didn't deserve to cry. He didn't deserve to mourn his wife's betrayal. Because he had betrayed her too.

He didn't deserve to revenge his friend's treachery. Because he had been equally unfaithful to a friend. He had slept with his sister-in-law whose husband had considered him a friend.

Atul remembered a time when he had asked Neeti to stop seeing Rajat. He had asked her to stop cheating on Mohit. Because he thought of himself a person who would never cheat. He thought he had enough love for Anvita that would keep him safe. But it now turned out love alone cannot stop one from anything.

Atul ordered more drinks. With each one he played the video over and over again, living the pain over and over again. He thought he would stop after watching it one more time but he couldn't stop him going back to it after each time.

As he watched the horrendous sight of his loved one's face pushed into the softness of his marital bed, in his mind he rephrased every comment he had received for owning that woman.

"You make a great couple."

"I wish I was married to a woman like her."

"I wish I had a wife like yours."

"Perfect couple."

"Born for each other."

"Atul and Anvita. Wow!"

And Atul found out one thing at the end of numerous viewings. Anvita hadn't sent him the video as an anniversary gift. She only wanted to keep it safe. Perhaps she might have thought she was uploading it into her own Dropbox account but as the fate would have preferred it happened to be Atul's. Whatever for it was, it was in Atul's fate. He was hit with reality.

The woman he loved most in the world had allowed another man to have pleasure with her body. She had cheated on him months ago. And she hadn't dropped even a slight hint she could do this.

He remembered what Ankita had once told her.

“You know I miss good sex… You know a woman can't live like this forever.”

It was long ago. Long before he took her to bed and showed her what good sex meant. But he had no idea his wife was living the same fate; seeking the 'good sex' from someone else.

There had been several instances in the past when Atul had felt suspicious about Anvita. But every time she had managed to convince him that there was nothing wrong. His mind had developed a thought too peaceful to be ever threatened by such doubts.

There she is; my wife; my Anvi. She can't do ‘such things’, I knew it.

And yet, at the moment Atul couldn't even find a hint about how many times or how often Anvita had slept with George.

“I am very happy, Atul. There is nothing you need to worry. I love you.”

Atul still remembered how Anvita had comforted him during the earlier nights of marriage. Her soothing voice had been the last thing he used to hear. And now it seems so fake. So gone.

She wasn't very happy. There was a need to worry.

She wasn't happy because what she wanted was a monster, not a lover. Like Leona had once claimed, some women prefer the animals.

Atul's heart was breaking apart. He felt he lost because he had been the good guy. He felt he wouldn't have felt so bad if she had made love to a man who showed more affection. More love. A man who could justify her needs.

Why, Anvita? Why did you do this? Why didn't you tell me you weren't what I saw in you?

For you, what have I not done?

Atul had just asked Ridhima to abort her pregnancy. He had asked a mother to kill her unborn child. He had forced her to end the life of an innocent child. He had become an executioner. By denying a mother's right to give birth to her child he had done the gravest sin a man could ever do, and he had done it only for one purpose: to save his life with Anvita. He loved her more than anything else in the world. He was ready to take any punishment to undo a mistake he had committed to her.

And what she had done to him?

Atul knew his mourning would never end. If there was one thing that would give him the strength to endure that pain throughout his life, it was Anvita's love. And it was now proven fake.

Didn't I love her? Didn't I give her everything? Why my Anvi had to bear this pain?

Atul's heart went blank and remorse began to fill it. The pain was crucifying and Atul knew from now it would never elude him. He was going to live the life of a man imprisoned by remorse.

No one was there to forgive him. No one was there to solace him. No one was there to soothe him. He remembered Ridhima's sobbing face and it broke his heart into tiny pieces.

She had sworn to him she would never see him again. She had promised him she wouldn't welcome any man in her life. She would leave the country. She would quit her elite job. Her home. Her family. Everything.

In return, she needed only one thing. A nod.

And he couldn't do that.

Just because he didn't want to take any risk. He didn't want to lose the courage to look into the eyes of his lady. He loved her more than anything.

But it was now proven so overrated because he had lost it despite investing everything into it.

How can love be so corrupt?

Atul had lost track of thoughts. His phone rang, awakening him and bringing him back to the present.

It was Anvita.

Atul stared at the mobile phone screen and he sat like a statue until the call ended. He didn't want to talk to her. He didn't want to see her.

Except for one last time.

A perfect meeting. Face to face.

And that should be the last meeting he would do with anyone in this world.

Atul sat back and laughed at himself.

Perfect!

He had thought his life was perfect.

Was it?

He thought he loved his wife and she loved him back.

Really?

Suddenly he felt he had been blind. He was not seeing it. He had fucked two women. One was his wife's dear sister. And the other, well, he had knocked up her. And to make himself believe he loved his wife, he had ordered her to kill her unborn child.

And his wife? She had invited her husband's friend into her bed. She had let him relish her body in an unthinkable way. Atul was proud of owning the most beautiful girl he had ever met, and had treated her with utmost care and affection; only to learn now what she had been seeking was exactly the opposite.

How else could she justify her choice to have this man invade her body with this torturous act? He wasn't making love to her. He was punishing her.

And Atul thought it was for his sins she was getting punished.

They were not an ideal couple. Never.

Atul couldn't think of going home. He didn't want to see her. He didn't want to show her his pathetic face.

His life was a shattered one. It was gone.

It’s gone, truly. It’s gone.

Anvita called him again, after ten minutes, but he chose to ignore it. Perhaps she might have understood her blunder, Atul thought.

It's now time to meet her.

He decided and headed home soon.

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As the cab was pulled into the compound Atul was welcomed by a crowd outside the apartment complex. The crowd included a couple of security officer vehicles, media vans, ambulance and men who had gathered around in small groups. His head spun for a second as a thought crossed his mind.

Anvita?

He felt all the liquor in his stomach turning into gas and he stormed out of the cab.

"What happened? What's going on here?"

He yelled at the men.

Most of them were his neighbours. He knew everyone. Yet for a moment he could not recognise anyone. All the faces were gloomy.

"Hey, Atul! You didn't know? Our Rajat is gone, man!"

Somebody told him.

"What!"

Atul felt a heavy feeling in the stomach. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe anything.

However, eventually, he came to know the facts.

His neighbour was no more. He was found dead in his apartment a couple of hours ago when his brother-in-law came looking for him. 

"But how?"

Nobody knew a thing about what happened. For his family, Rajat was out of reach since Saturday noon. He hadn't answered any call from his wife since Saturday morning. What would have happened was a complete mystery.

Atul had forgotten about his problem for a few minutes. security officer had cordoned off the area. As Atul approached the cops, they took his details and escorted him to his apartment. Two officers were in a discussion outside Rajat's apartment. The door was open and Atul could see forensic experts inspecting the hall, probably trying to recover evidence.

One of the officers turned to Atul. His eyes were scanning Atul thoroughly and suddenly Atul was aware of his look. Even though he didn't feel drunk because all the booze he had consumed that evening had already evaporated, he could still smell it from himself.

Atul quickly turned to his door and pressed the doorbell.

As the door opened he saw her face. Tensed.

He walked in and she closed the door immediately.

"What happened? Why are you so tensed?"

Atul asked.

Perhaps he was drunk, he had the gut to think lightly about it- because he couldn't make out she was stressed for having to face Atul or for the death of their neighbour.

"Atul..."

Anvita began to speak and the doorbell rang. Atul answered the door. Two officers were standing there.

One was in uniform. He spoke first.

"You're Atul?"

"Yes."

"We want to talk to you."

"Of course, but I've just arrived after a long trip. Can I have a few minutes to be fresh?"

"Your wife told us already you were gone to Mumbai."

The man behind the officer in uniform was studying Atul and his eyes intimidated Atul. 

"Yeah," Atul glanced at Anvita briefly before he went on. "Yeah, I wasn't here since yesterday, noon. I've just arrived."

"You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Yeah, slightly. Any issue?"

"When did you come to know about Mr Rajat's murder?"

"Murder? What!!"

Atul was shocked. He struggled to put on a straight face.

"You don't know it?"

The officer pressed. Atul was already getting irritated.

"I've just arrived. My wife had phoned me but I couldn't answer the call. I had no idea about his death, and...how...I can't believe. But how?"

"It was a murder, Mr Atul."

The officer who was silently watching Atul so far took a step forward. His voice was hard. With a heavily built body and a thick moustache, he towered over the man in uniform and seemed the one in charge of the whole security officer thing.

"Your friend was killed with a fatal blow behind his head. One, perfect, well-intended blow; that's what happened."

Atul was speechless. He felt he was being questioned because he was being suspected.

"Your wife told us you weren't here."

Atul wanted to tell them the truth. But Anvita was right next to him. He was not going to let her know that he was with a woman for a whole day and night. He was not going to tell her why he was there.

Not before I confront her. He was determined.

"Yeah, I was gone to Mumbai."

He said.

"Do you have the boarding pass?"

"Mmm...no," Atul stammered. He knew it was just a matter of time his lies were undone. Still, he persisted. "But I can show you the itinerary. I have the tickets."

He pulled out his mobile phone and showed him the flight ticket from New Delhi to Mumbai. The officer checked it and nodded.

"Wonderful. I'd say very clever."

Atul was dismayed.

"Anything wrong?"

"Nothing wrong from our side, Mr Atul. Because we have your cell location for the last 30 hours. It's a hotel near the airport. We've verified with them; your name isn't there. So it's either a fake ID or a partner in crime. Your air ticket trick would look good for you. But it won't sell here, Mr Atul. If you understand what I'm saying, then you must have understood why I'm telling you this."

Suddenly Atul was hit with reality. He was being charged with the murder.

"No!" His voice rose but was shaky. "I mean...I can explain this."

"Did you board that flight yesterday?"

"No. But I can explain..."

The officer turned to the other, ignoring Atul.

"Arrest him!"

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