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1. BEFORE AJAY
Long before Ajay entered her life, Rita had already learned how love ends.
She was nineteen when she married her first husband.
No one talks about him now.
No photos remain.
Even his name feels erased.
He was charming. Gentle. Faithful—until he wasn’t.
Rita discovered his betrayal not through whispers, but through proof. A letter. A meeting place. A promise made to another woman.
That night, Rita followed him.
And that was the night she first heard the forest breathe.
2. THE OLD WOMAN
It was raining when Rita lost her way near the same forest—the one that would later take Ajay.
An old woman sat under a banyan tree, untouched by rain.
“You are hurt,” the woman said, before Rita spoke.
“How do you know?” Rita asked.
“Because betrayal leaves a smell,” the woman replied. “And the forest feeds on it.”
That night, Rita learned something forbidden:
Some places do not judge right or wrong.
They only balance pain.
If a heart is broken during a sacred bond—marriage, journey, promise—the forest listens.
And it answers.
3. THE FIRST SACRIFICE
Rita never confronted her husband.
Instead, she asked him to take a drive with her—just one night journey.
They never returned together.
Villagers said he vanished.
Police called it abandonment.
Rita cried convincingly.
Too convincingly.
That was when Rita understood:
She did not summon the forest.
She survived it.
And survival teaches patterns.
4. MEETING AJAY
Ajay was different.
Kind. Honest. Safe.
Rita married him not out of passion—but control.
She watched him carefully.
Listened closely.
And when Tina entered the picture, Rita felt something awaken—not rage, not jealousy—
Recognition.
She had seen this story before.
She knew exactly how it would end.
5. THE GLASS
The glass did not slip.
Rita broke it.
Blood dripping onto the floor was not an accident.
It was an offering.
A silent signal.
The forest does not hear words.
It hears intent.
6. TINA WAS NEVER THE TARGET
Rita never hated Tina.
Tina was predictable.
Emotional. Honest. Weak in love.
Ajay was the one who made the choice.
The forest punishes choice, not temptation.
Tina was merely the door.
Ajay walked through it willingly.
7. THE RITUAL YOU NEVER SAW
While Ajay drank the water in the hotel room—
Rita stood outside the bus.
Barefoot.
Whispering.
The driver never looked at her.
He never needed to.
He had stopped there many times before.
Always for the same reason.
8. THE REPLACEMENT
Rita didn’t want Ajay dead.
Death is loud.
Death asks questions.
She wanted quiet obedience.
The thing that returned with her was not Ajay.
But it loved her faithfully.
It never lied.
Never desired another.
Never betrayed.
Perfect.
9. RITA’S RULE
Rita does not seek revenge.
She waits.
She observes.
And if love breaks its promise—
She lets the forest decide the cost.
10. FINAL SCENE – THE MIRROR
Rita stands before the mirror again.
Behind her are many reflections.
Different men. Different times.
All smiling.
All silent.
All loyal.
Rita adjusts her bindi.
And whispers:
“I only asked for love.”
FINAL TRUTH
Rita is not possessed.
Not cursed.
Not evil.
She is experienced.
And the forest does not follow her.
It remembers her.
ENDING QUESTION
How many marriages survive betrayal?
And how many survive Rita?
