“She went to art school with him. She was a very best friend of his since he was seventeen. They had a great rapport, and were very fond of each other. Her brother took off to the city to become rich, and he came back to us with a wonderful life-changing offer. Her brother was in contact with the biggest business magnets in the city, and he wanted them to feed his greedy mouth. He wanted his sister and my son to work together and make the duplicates of the masterpieces, so that they could be black-marketed at a high price. More perfection, more money.
“My son refused. She tried to convince him, but he was stubborn. He valued his ethics more than anything, as an artist. They tried to pull each other towards them. And when they failed, they had to part ways. She did not start until she got a good practice of mimicking. And that took her several months. He did not leave his trials of stopping her, in the meantime. He had always admired her, and he was sad more than angry, when she chose otherwise. The offer had intrigued her, and she found excitement in it. He found only danger and dishonesty, and nothing else.
“As days passed by, she started missing him. She wanted him back; because she knew she was in love with him. I could make that out too. One fine morning, she came to him and confessed that she could not take their being apart any longer. She promised to leave whatever she was about to do and she wanted him back like how he was before. He was truly happy, and he received her wholeheartedly. She suggested him to make her portrait as a good luck for their new start. He happily agreed to start off with it the next morning.
“That night, he suddenly sat up with perspiration! He had dreamt. He had dreamt of himself, making a portrait of her. I still remember his words. He said it was a sunny morning, and they were sitting on the cliff, her face posing for the portrait. He said there was nature, there was the waterfall, and there were sounds of the birds chirping. There was her beautiful face and there was his paintbrush, dancing on the cardboard in harmony with the colors. And suddenly, she slipped off the cliff! She screamed. She called out for him, but it was too late. She had fallen far enough to slip away forever. She was falling, stretching her hands for help. He stood there helplessly, watching her fading away……. This was his dream!
“It was the most disturbing dream of his life, and it still is. The night was unforgettable. I still can see his eyes, with fear, with helplessness. He had lost himself for a moment. It took him much more than quite a while to come out of it. It became one of the many sleepless nights for him.
“He told about his dream to her, the next morning. She laughed lightly, and told him to let go. She continued insisting him to make her portrait. He finally said yes to it and he painted her that day. This is it! This is the one. He was overjoyed about its beauty, and that made him come out of his dream.
“That evening was the last evening we saw her alive!! She drove with her brother to the city that evening, to make a deal!! She had lied about leaving the dirty business! Her brother stayed there when she drove back alone in the night. She met with an accident on her way back. It seems the deal was done, and she was paid in advance with hard cash. The cash was in a bag, with her. The accident threw her into the river, and she died of drowning. The bag of cash went with her, down into the waters!
“Just a few months after this, people who brokered this business caught hold of my son’s back. He was attacked once, and was threatened for life, for the duplicate she had agreed upon. They knew he was an artist, and they knew he was good. They needed the duplicates, and they wanted him to do it. They said he would be paid accordingly. They said it was the last time they would ever ask for it. One last time!!
“I told him to do it. He is innocent. My son is innocent. He is, he is!!”
