Zara hardly sensed the icy metal handcuffs encircling her wrists. Her thoughts were cloudy, and she kept going over the previous few hours repeatedly in an attempt to make sense of them. Cold, empty, and severely lighted by a solitary bulb swinging above her head, the sterile interrogation room appeared to reflect her life.
Across from her, sitting tall and intrusive, was Detective Roy. His sharp gaze pierced hers, looking for holes in her tale. Between them were pictures of the crime scene: a kitchen knife covered in crimson, blood puddles beneath a dead body, and the icy, motionless face of her husband, Arjun, who had tormented her for years.
“Tell me again, Zara. What happened last night?” Roy’s voice was steady but impatient.
“I told you everything,” she said, her voice trembling. “I came home late from work. He was already dead when I found him. I didn’t kill him.”
“And yet, your fingerprints are all over the knife,” Roy pressed, leaning forward. “You had motive. You admitted to the abuse. Why not just confess? Everyone would understand.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Zara closed her eyes. I did despise him. I really wanted to break up with him, but I was unable to do it. I would have been discovered by him. However, I promise that I didn’t kill him.
Roy leaned back, his expression skeptical. “So you expect me to believe someone else broke in, killed him, and left no trace?”
Zara’s lips trembled, and she shook her head. She didn’t have an answer. She didn’t even know what to believe herself.
Zara sat in the holding cell for hours, gazing at the fading concrete walls. Like ghosts in the silence, she was haunted by every mark on her body, every broken promise, and every terrifying moment Arjun had caused her. She has no one on whom to rely or call.
Except Rohan.
Her brother-in-law had always been gentle with her, smiling when Arjun raised his hand or yelled commands. Though she never told him, he was the only one who had ever inquired about her well-being.
Her heart jumped with a glimmer of hope as she watched him enter the station. Panicked and pallid, he hurried to her cage. “Zara,” he said in a tremulous murmur. “Are you alright? Did they cause you any harm? She shook her head, briefly comforted by his presence. “I didn’t do it, Rohan. You must trust me.
“I do,” he said quickly, gripping the bars. “I know you didn’t.”
His certainty stunned her. “How?”
Rohan hesitated, glancing over his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. “Because I did it.”
Zara froze, her breath caught in her throat. “What?”
With a mixture of desperation and shame in his eyes, Rohan admitted, “I couldn’t watch him hurt you anymore.” “You didn’t believe I noticed the bruising on your arm until last night. It was too much for me to handle. I visited the residence. I didn’t intend to do it; I simply wanted to frighten him, but I lost control when he began yelling that you would never leave him.
Zara’s hands clutched the bars, her knuckles white. “Rohan, no. Why would you do this?”
“Because I love you, Zara!” he blurted out, his voice cracking. “I’ve loved you since the day we met. I couldn’t stand by and let him destroy you anymore.”
Zara felt as though the earth was tilting beneath her. Rohan’s deeds, devotion, and confession were all too much. As she attempted to comprehend what he had said, her thoughts raced. They were interrupted before she could reply by the sound of footsteps approaching. Detective Roy showed up, his piercing eyes darting between them.
“Mr. Rohan, is there anything you would like to share?” Despite his pale visage, Rohan straightened his shoulders.
“You want me,” he stated forcefully.
“I murdered Arjun. Zara was not involved in it.
When Roy signaled for his officers to handcuff Rohan, Zara’s heart fell. Despite her want to shout, stop him, and dispute, she remained silent. Rohan gazed back to her as they escorted him away, his eyes full of silent resolve.
“This is my decision,” he replied quietly. “Zara, you deserve to be free.” Zara was left in a limbo of incredulity and heartache when the nightmare abruptly came to an end.
At what price had Rohan set her free? Later that evening, when she left the station, she got a strange feeling—hope—as she gazed up at the wide, black sky.
She was free, but the price of her freedom would haunt her forever.