The six of them were back from their weekend road trip a day ago. All of them took a day off because they were really tired but, they were chilling out together on the terrace.

The doorbell rang and Niharika answered it. She saw the police at their doorstep.

"Is this Abhinay Harsh Vardhan's house ?" One of the police officer asked whom Niharika recognised as the ACP by looking at his badge.

"Yes, Sir. Please come in." She answered ​politely and moved from the door giving them way to come in.

"Who's at the door ?" Abhinay asked entering the living room.

"Are you Abhinay Harsh Vardhan ?" The ACP asked.

"Yes sir. That's me. Is there any problem ?" Abhinay asked.

Are they linked to that night's incidents. I just hope they're not. Abhinay thought.

"Call Kabir Vineet Vardhan." The ACP ordered.

"I'm Kabir." Kabir said entering the living room while the others followed.

"You both are arrested." The ACP said shocking all of them.

"For what ?" Sidharth asked.

"You are ?" The ACP asked.

"Sorry. I'm Sidharth Vardhan. I'm a criminal lawyer." Sidharth introduced himself.

"Well then, let me tell you. Abhinay and Kabir have been arrested for the charges of molestation and attempt to murder." The ACP said.

"What ?" Everyone shouted in shock.

"No way. Kabir can never do this, Sir." Alya said wiping her tears.

"He did. He was involved." The ACP said.

"Do you have an arrest warrant ?" Sidharth asked.

"Yes. Here it is. Before you ask, we've got proofs as well." The ACP said handing over the papers to Sidharth.

Sidharth checked the papers and nodded helplessly at the others.
"Sir, we haven't done anything of that sort. We're being framed." Abhinay said.

"Whatever it is, you'll need to come to the police station with us." The ACP said.

"Sir, in that case, it's me who you have to arrest." Abhinay said. "Kabir didn't do anything."

"What ?" Kabir asked. "Abhinay, do not put yourself in trouble."

"Sir, if you don't mind, can I just talk with him for a moment ?" Abhinay asked and the ACP nodded.

Abhinay pulled Kabir to a corner.

"Abhinay, what's wrong with you ?" Kabir asked.

"Kabir, Alya won't be able to handle herself. She's already broken because of the blame put on you. You can't leave her alone." Abhinay explained pointing at Alya who was crying.

"But you ?" Kabir asked.

"We didn't make a mistake. The truth is on our side. Just listen to me and stay here." Abhinay said before going back.

"Inspector, you can arrest me." Abhinay said.

"But the charge is against both of you." The inspector said.

"Sir, he wasn't there. I'm accepting that I was there, so please." Abhinay said forwarding his hands.

The inspector handcuffed Abhinay.

"Abhinay, I'll come to the police station. Till then, don't tell them anything." Sidharth said and Abhinay nodded.

"Niharika, take care of yourself." He said before being taken away.

Alya fell into the couch.

"What's all this, Kabir ?" She asked between her sobs.

"I'll tell you, Alya. Calm down. Please. I promise, weren't at fault. We'll make it all fine. We didn't tell you because you'll get scared. You'd be very worried." He said wiping her tears.

"I'm going to the police station." Sid said picking up his keys.

"I'm coming along." Prisha said.

Sidharth pointed at Niharika who was standing there without any reaction.

"Niharika." Prisha called out for her.

On getting no response, Prisha shook her.

"Are you fine ?" Sidharth asked her to which Niharika nodded.

"I'll come too." She said in a feeble voice.

"I'll stay here with Alya." Kabir said.

Prisha, Sidharth and Niharika left to the police station.

"Prisha, I'm sure they're being framed." Sidharth said.

"I know. But we can do something only when we know what exactly happened." Prisha replied.

Niharika kept mum thorough out the journey.

They reached the police station soon and saw Abhinay sitting on a bench in the corner. They rushed to him.

"Abhinay, what happened ?" Sidharth asked him.

"That night, there was a girl who was being molested by two guys. Me and Kabir went to save her and then, those guys attacked her. We managed to save her and then two women came to save her telling us that they were her friends and they'd take her to hospital. I don't know what happened after that because we came back." Abhinay explained.

"Why didn't you tell us ?" Prisha asked.

"I thought you'd all get worried about this and, I really don't know why I didn't tell you all about this." Abhinay answered looking at the ground.

"I'll call Varun. He can help us." Sidharth said pulling out his mobile from his pocket.

"Who's Varun ?" Prisha asked.

"He's the DCP of crime branch. He's one of my really close friends." Sidharth said dialling his number.

Niharika sat beside Abhinay and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her.

"Everything will be fine." She said trying to comfort him.

Sidharth walked out of the police station to talk with Varun.

"Abhinay, how do you know that those two women were her friends ?" Prisha asked.

"I don't know. They claimed to be her friends and the girl who was molested was unconscious because her head was bleeding. So, we thought they were her friends."

Sidharth came in and said "Guys, it's Varun who's handling Abhinay's case. He'll be here in ten minutes."

"Abhinay, just tell them what exactly happened. I hope they'll believe you." Prisha said.

"They're cops, Prisha. Even if they believe him, it's proof that they require." Sid said putting his point forward.

"What about the bail ?" Niharika asked looking at Sidharth.

"Attempt to murder is a non bailable offence." Sidharth said.

Abhinay hung his head looking at the ground, his elbows resting on his knees and his palms held together.

"Abhinay." Niharika called out for him softly trying to see his face.

"I didn't know helping a person these days can put you in jail." He said.

Before the conversation continued, everyone in the police station stood up and saluted.

The four of them looked at the door and saw DCP Varun Tej. They stood up as they saw him.

A constable went to Varun and pointed towards the four of them. Varun walked to them.

"Hey Varun." Sid said hugging him.

"Hey Sidharth. I got to know the whole case. I highly doubt if Abhinay did something as such but you know the court needs proof." Varun said.

"Yes. Is there anything that can be done ?" Sidharth asked.

"As of now, nothing. I'll get his statements recorded."

"What are the cases against him ?" Sidharth asked.

"Umm.. Molestation charges, Attempt to murder and Absconding after attempting to murder." Varun said looking into the file.

"Absconding ?" Prisha asked and they all looked at Varun in shock.

"I'm sorry. I'm Prisha Shrivastav, Investigation journalist." She said displaying her identity card.

"Yes. We've been searching for him since Saturday afternoon." Varun replied.

"We were out on a road trip. It was a pre-planned one." Abhinay said.

"Proofs, Abhinay. Even if you say that you're out on a trip, why ? You can prove to the court that it was pre-planned." Varun said.

"We can. We have our hotel bookings that we booked a week before the trip." Niharika said spontaneously bringing out her mobile.

"By the way, I'm Niharika Prakash. Abhinay's fiancée." She introduced herself.

"Well then, we'll do the investigation on our part and you three prepare for the court hearing day after tomorrow." Varun said calling a constable.

"Thanks, Varun." Sidharth said.

"Sid, we're close friends. You needn't thank me. I can do this much for you. Just go and prepare." Varun patted Sid's back and left.

"Niharika, Prisha, we need to leave." Sidharth said.

"Take care, Abhinay." Niharika said.

"We're here for you, Abhinay. Don't worry." Sidharth said and Abhinay's nodded.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad." Abhinay said.

"We'll try to but the chances are that they'll get to know. They have contacts." Sidharth replied. "Don't worry about all that."

The three of them left. 

"Wait. What happened to that girl who was molested ?" Niharika asked getting into the car.

"She's admitted in the hospital, I suppose." Prisha replied.

"Then, she can tell the court Abhinay didn't molest her or try to kill her right."

"You're right, Niharika. I didn't think of that." Sidharth replied.

"Wait a minute. I'll talk to Varun and come back." Sidharth said unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car.
He went into the police station.

"I just hope Abhinay gets out soon." Prisha said looking at Niharika.

"Niharika, you needn't be strong."

"I can't be weak, Prisha." She said closing her eyes and leaning her head over the seat.

Sidharth came back after a few minutes.

He sat inside the car and drove away.

"What happened to that girl ?" Prisha asked looking at him.

"She's in coma. It seems doctors don't know when she'll recover." Sidharth replied concentrating on the road.

"Where are we going now ?" Niharika asked him as he drove away from their house.

"Varun gave me the location of this incident. We're going there to find some clues." Sidharth answered.

"Hasn't the area been seized ?" Prisha asked.

"It is. I've got permission. It's better if we just check out the area." He said.

"We're here." He said pulling the car to the side.

• Hardships often prepare ordinary people for extraordinary situations.•

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Next update : 75+ Votes

Double update ! Yay ! This update was given because the story is now at #8 ! Yay ! Thankie so much !

By the way, chapter was shocking right ! So, here comes the thrill.

And yup ! The quote of the chapter holds a clue for the upcoming chapters. So think !

Best quote : Life is really confusing with magical moments being short at times. BinaishaFernandes

Let me clear one thing. You might feel Alya is overreacting but usually, atleast in my case, when something like this happens, we'd get emotional. Personally, I would. And Alya's character is drawn from me and that's why I know that her emotions are justified.

Also, if you ever feel something isn't right in the story, please point it out. I'll be glad to analyse it.

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