"For all these years… even while being alive… you and Grandpa kept deceiving me… deceiving our entire family!"
Om looked at his injured father with trembling eyes and a heavy voice.
"You left your own son alone to die and kept wandering the world. That day too, you disappeared without saying anything… and even today, you wanted to leave again without a word… as if you didn't even recognize your own son."
His voice cracked.
"Dad… what an incredible actor you are."
Vipul looked at Om quietly and smiled faintly.
"I'm not alive, son… I'm dead."
A silence spread between them before he continued.
"When I opened my eyes after dying, I found myself standing in the heavenly court before Lord Indra. He told me that my life on Earth was over… and that I had earned heaven."
Vipul's eyes slowly lowered.
"But all I could think about was my son… alone at home. And I had seen your mother die too."
Pain filled his voice.
"So I begged them… even if only as a soul… to let me stay near my son."
He paused for a moment.
"Even for the gods, that wasn't easy. But in the end, Lord Indra gave me an offer. If I worked for them as a divine messenger, I would be allowed to return to Earth for limited periods of time."
"And I was given another task…"
"To protect a child… a child from an ancient prophecy."
Vipul smiled weakly.
"I thought at least this way… I'd get to see you one more time."
"But the gods warned me… I could watch you from afar, but meeting you directly without permission was impossible."
Om stayed silent as Vipul continued softly,
"That's why I could only see you from a distance, son… I could never come near you."
His voice became emotional.
"Om… my child… I don't expect forgiveness from you."
"But when I finally found out that you were the child from the prophecy… I was shaken."
"The gods told me that once I met you, I would have to use my divine powers. And the moment I used those powers through this weak body…"
He looked down at his fading hands.
"…my body would slowly begin disappearing into the air."
"The more I used those divine powers… the faster I would vanish."
A sad smile appeared on his face.
"And look… I'm already disappearing."
After saying that, Vipul simply kept smiling at his son.
Om stood there completely silent.
Then Vipul looked at him lovingly and said,
"Om… I never wanted you to think that I abandoned you."
"I know I made many mistakes. I know you have countless complaints against me and your mother."
He took a deep breath.
"But son… no one controls the line of fate."
"Tell me honestly… do you really think your mother and father would willingly leave you alone like that?"
His eyes filled with tears.
"My child… I never wanted you to see me dying… or disappearing like this."
"Even as a soul… I could never bear watching my son cry."
Vipul's words slowly melted the anger Om had buried inside himself for years.
Every night, Om would look toward the sky and complain silently to his parents.
"Dad… why did you leave me?"
"Mom… didn't you think I needed you?"
"Didn't you see me suffering from up there?"
"At least for me… you could've come back…"
"When I needed you the most… neither of you were there beside me."
For years, those feelings had rotted inside his heart.
But today…
Standing before his father…
All the hatred…
All the anger…
All the pain…
…began melting away.
Looking at his father's suffering state, Om finally spoke in a trembling voice,
"I've cried enough today…"
His eyes turned red.
"I don't want to cry anymore… Dad."
Vipul slowly leaned against the wall and sat properly, tears resting in his eyes.
Then he quietly asked,
"Do you hate us?"
Hearing that, Om looked down at the ground and clenched his fist tightly.
"Yeah…"
He paused.
"Sometimes."
Those words pierced Vipul deeply.
He lowered his head sadly.
"I'm guilty toward you… and toward your mother too."
His voice shook.
"Please forgive me… if possible… please forgive me, Om."
Seeing the holes forming through his father's fading body hurt Om deeply, but he still spoke seriously,
"You're always in my mind."
"I think about you all the time."
His breathing became heavier.
"After you left… there was a time I even went to kill myself."
"After coming back from school… after sitting alone every evening…"
"When I saw families together…"
"When I saw fathers and sons laughing and playing together…"
His voice cracked again.
"I hated you during those moments."
"I hated you because you left me alone."
"Because when I needed you the most… you weren't there."
Tears rolled down his face.
"In school… in college… people beat me up. They called me an orphan. Every single day they tortured me…"
"And every single time… I hated you for leaving me."
Hearing those words, Vipul felt crushed from inside.
For the first time, he truly felt like he had failed as a father.
That in his son's eyes…
He had become the villain.
But before guilt could consume him completely, Om spoke again.
"But…"
Vipul slowly looked up.
"It never took long for that hatred to disappear."
Om wiped his tears.
"I admit I was angry at both of you…"
"But I missed you too."
"A lot."
"Whenever I thought about you… my pain disappeared."
"Your memories are the reason I grew up with good values."
"Your memories kept me alive."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"And happy too."
"I remembered you every single day."
"I missed you every single day."
He looked toward the sky.
"I don't know if you ever heard me from heaven or not… but every night before sleeping… I talk to you and Mom."
Vipul froze.
Hearing Om's mature thoughts and seeing the way he had survived everything without losing himself filled Vipul with pride and shock at the same time.
Despite all the suffering…
His son had still chosen love over darkness.
Vipul's eyes overflowed as he whispered emotionally,
"Om… my child…"
Then suddenly Om looked straight at his father and asked seriously,
"And you…?"
His voice softened.
"Did you miss me too?"
After asking that, Om waited with hopeful eyes like a little child waiting for warmth after years of loneliness.
Vipul didn't make him wait even a second.
"Yes."
A smile appeared on his face immediately.
"Every single moment."
"There wasn't a single second when I didn't think about you."
"Every moment I worried about you."
"Every moment I missed you."
He laughed softly through tears.
"Even with all the comforts and happiness of heaven… the only thing that truly gave me peace were the memories I had with you and your mother."
"Om… you don't know this…"
"But even seeing you from far away used to bring the biggest smile to my face."
"You are the reason behind all my happiness."
His voice trembled emotionally.
"Only you, my son."
The moment Vipul finished speaking, he slowly tried to stand using the wall for support—
—but suddenly Om rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
"Please… please, Dad…"
His voice shattered completely.
"Please hug me…"
"I'm starving for peace…"
"Please don't leave me again…"
"Please stay with me…"
Then, while crying against his chest, Om asked softly,
"Are the gods calling you back…?"
Seeing his son crying in his arms filled Vipul with happiness and pain together.
He hugged Om tightly and replied,
"No… they gave me a chance to see you."
"And I'm happy I chose to come."
"That was the best decision I ever made."
Then with a peaceful smile, Vipul gently held Om's face and said,
"Just look at you…"
"My tiny, cute little Om has grown into such a handsome and powerful young man."
Pride filled his eyes.
"And the responsibility that even gods themselves couldn't fulfill…"
"…rests on my son's shoulders today."
"Om… I'm proud of you."
Om simply kept hugging his father and crying silently.
Slowly, Vipul's entire body began glowing with a soft blue light.
Tiny cracks of light spread across him.
His time was ending.
Still smiling, Vipul spoke his final words,
"There's so much I still want to tell you…"
"If I could, I would stay here forever talking to you."
"I wish I could spend a little more time with you…"
"But I think it's time for me to go back now."
He gently touched Om's head.
"Take care of yourself, son."
"And never stop believing in yourself."
"We're always with you."
A final tear rolled down his cheek.
"I love you so much… my son."
And with that—
Vipul's body slowly broke apart into glowing blue particles.
Then he disappeared completely…
Returning back to heaven.
Om could still feel his father's presence around him.
He watched helplessly as the last traces of his father vanished into the sky.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes.
But the very next second—
Om clenched his fists tightly.
He stopped his tears.
Then he looked toward the sky with burning rage and screamed at the top of his lungs—
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
His voice echoed across the heavens.
"Rakshas… Bhakshak… whoever you are…"
"I know you're listening to me!"
His eyes burned with fury.
"Remember this…"
"Everything that happened today…"
"Everyone you took away from me…"
"I will take revenge for all of it."
His aura exploded violently around him.
"I, Om Ahuja…"
"…am coming to destroy you."
A deadly silence followed.
Then Om's final words shook the sky itself—
"WAIT FOR ME."