Kartik was about to go when he saw Naira had held his hand in sleep. He slowly removed his hand. He knew by the time she woke up she would panic not finding him around. His eyes fell on her baby bump. He slowly started caressing it. And at that moment his baby kicked feeling her father. He saw Naira wince in sleep. He caressed her forehead slowly patting her head to comfort her and make her sleep. He went closer to her baby bump and started talking to his baby in a low voice.

Kartik- Mera baby. Papa aap ke bhai ko dhundne ja rahe hai. Jab tak mai na laut ke aau aap apna khayal rakhna. Mumma ko jyada pareshan nahi karna. Papa jaldi se aane ki poori koshish karenge. Tab tak aap apne mumma ki strength banna. Papa loves you so much my bachcha. 

He kissed her baby bump. The baby kicked as if understanding Papa’s conversation. He kissed Naira’s forehead and covered her properly with a blanket and arranged pillows around her. He then wrote a letter and kept it on the side table. Slowly he came out of the room and headed downstairs making sure no one saw him going. He came out of the house. He had booked a cab as he knew while taking out car someone might see him and he did not want to take that risk. After a good one and a half hour journey, he reached the place he was asked to. He saw the detective waiting for him.

Kartik- Batao kya pata chala tumhe?

Person- Sir aapne yeh jo photo mujhe bheji thi Kairav-Vansh ki usse dekhne ke baad pata chala ki photo mai hi clue choda hai kidnapper ne.

Kartik- Kya?

Person- Haa Sir yeh dekhiye iss photo mai piche ke side mai yeh jo boxes hai uska godown yahan se ek ghante ki doori par jungle wale raste ke pass hai. Mere sources se yeh pata chala hai ki iss godown ka kuch land issue chal raha hai. Isliye aab isse bandh kar dia hai. Yahan koi aata jata nahi. Aur jaise ki jungle ka rasta kaccha hai wahan kisi ke aane ke chances kam hai. 

Kartik’s blood started boiling after hearing this. Whoever the person was he had messed up with a wrong person. Kartik had vowed that he would find that person by hook or crook and punish him in such a manner that he would know never to mess with Kartik Goenka’s family.

Kartik- Uss insaan ko mai chodunga nahi. Hum abhi chalte hai.

Person- Ek minute Sir rukiye. Hum aise nahi ja sakte. Humai humara look badalna hoga. 

Kartik- Matlab?

The detective explained the plan of action to Kartik.

Kartik- Thik hai

Person- Par Sir yeh risky ho sakta hai

Kartik- Kartik Goenka apne parivaar ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hai kuch bhi.

Person- Thik hai Sir toh subeh hone tak ka wait karna hoga aur uske baad hum apna plan aage implement kar sakte hai.

Kartik was eagerly waiting for the morning sun to appear. But at the same time he thought about Naira. What will happen when she would not find him around? Naira woke up as sun rays fell on her eyes. She saw pillows arranged around her. She knew Kartik would have arranged it while going downstairs. Suddenly a wave of air came through the window. The letter which Kartik had kept fell down and went under a table. Naira slowly woke up and went to freshen up. After half an hour she came out and still saw Kartik wasn’t there.

Naira- Yeh Kartik kahan hai. Itni der niche kya kar raha hai? Kahin Kairav-Vansh ka koi pata toh nahi chal gaya?

She decided to go downstairs. She went near the dining hall and found Samarth Chachu trying to feed Gayu some juice. She remembered Samarth’s behaviour yesterday. She felt bad that Gayu couldn’t even express her emotions openly. She decided to ask Samarth if he had seen Kartik.

Naira- Samarth Chachu aapne Kartik ko kahin dekha? 

Samarth- Nahi Naira hum bas abhi 5 minute pehle yahan aaye hai. Kyun kuch baat hai?

Naira- Nahi subeh se room mai nahi tha toh maine socha kahin aapne dekha hoga toh.

She went to the kitchen thinking he might have gone there to get something for her to eat. But she saw only Swarna and Surekha over there. Swarna saw her.

Swarna- Naira tum yahan kya kar rahi ho kuch chahiye tumhe?

Naira- Nahi Maa subah se Kartik nazar nahi araha toh mujhe laga shayad kitchen mai hoga woh. Woh aya tha kya yahan pe?

Swarna- Nahi Naira. Shayad wo Manish ji ke saath ho? Ek kam karo tum yeh doodh piyo mai Manish ji se puchkar aati hun

Naira- Doodh peene ka man nahi hai Maa

Swarna held her hand and made her sit on the dining table.

Swarna- Naira doodh pilo chalo jaldi. Mai Manish ji se puch kar aati hun.

Naira started sipping milk. Somewhere her heart was giving a negative feeling. Swarna came back along with Manish and Akhilesh. Seeing Manish Naira immediately got up.

Naira- Papa aapne Kartik ko dekha kahin.

Manish- Nahi toh. Mujhe laga ki woh apne kamre mai hai. Aur mai janta hun kal uski bohot bhaga-daudi hui toh mujhe laga shayad rest kar raha hoga.

Naira- Nahi Papa Kartik subah se room mai Nahi hai. Mai jab uthi tab dekha mere aaju-baaju mai pillows arranged they. Mujhe laga Kartik kahin niche hoga. Par woh kahin nahi mil raha (she said with a broken voice)

Manish- Beta tum fikar mat karo yahin kahin hoga. 

Akhilesh- Bhaisahab ek baar Staff se puchte hai kahin unhone Kartik ko bahar jaate toh nahi dekha?

Manish- Haa sahi keh rahe ho.

Manish called all the staff members and asked them if they had seen Kartik going out somewhere in the morning. But everyone denied.  

Akhilesh- Naira tumne phone kia Kartik ko?

Naira- Nahi Chachu mere dimaag se nikal gaya

She tried calling Kartik but the phone was switched-off. 

Dadi- Hey bhagwaan yeh humare ghar ko kiski nazar lagi hai? Pehele Kairav aur Vansh aur aab humara Kittu.

Just the Naksh came. Naira went towards him and hugged him and started crying.

Naira- Bhai Kartik nahi mil raha. 

Naksh- Nahi mil raha matlab? Papa Naira kya keh rahi hai?

Manish- Naksh Kartik pata nahi kahan chala gaya hai. Aur baat yeh hai ki woh hum mai se kisiko bhi bata kar nahi gaya na usko kisine jaate dekha. Uska mobile bhi switched off araha hai.

Naksh- Ho sakta hai woh police station gaya ho yaa Vansh-Kairav ko dhundne.

Akhilesh- Par woh apni car bhi nahi lekar gaya hai. Uski car parking area mai khadi hai.

Naksh- Mujhe lagta hai humai wakt jaya na karke police mai khabar kar deni chahiye yeh baat.

Naira- Bhai

Naksh- Naira tu fikar mat kar Kartik jahan kahin bhi hoga theek hoga. Tu ja room mai jakar thoda rest kar.

Swarna took Naira to her room. Meanwhile Manish informed the police about Kartik missing. Naksh, Akhilesh and Samarth went to look for Kartik. Naira was pacing here and there in the room. She saw their photo frame and caressed his pic.

Naira- (tears rolling from her eyes) Kahan ho tum Kartik? Tumhari Naira ko tumhari jarurat hai. Itni mushkil ghadi mai mujhe akela chod kar kahan chale gaye?

She was turning to go near bed when her hand accidentally hit a vase due to which it fell down and broke. She couldn't bend to pick it up. Hence she called house staff to pick that. The person was almost done cleaning the floor when he saw a letter.

Staff person- Naira madam yeh kagaz aapke kam ka hai?

She took the letter from his hand. The person left the room. She saw it was Kartik’s handwriting. She started reading the letter.

Letter: Naira jab tum iss letter ko padhogi tab mai tumhare pass nahi rahunga. Mai ghar par nahi hun Naira. Kahan ja raha hun? Kyun ja raha hun ye batane ka waqt nahi mere pass. Par itna samajh lo launtunga toh humare Kairav aur Vansh ko saath lekar. Tum meri fikar mat karna aur ghabrao mat mai jahan hun safe hu. Bas tum mujhe promise karo ki jab tak mai nahi lautunga tab tak tum apna pura khyal rakhogi, time se medicines logi, juice peeyogi  aur khana khaogi. Maine humare baby se keh dia hai woh apni mumma ko jyada jor se kick karke pareshan na kare. Meri yaad mai aasu mat bahana. Meri Sherni ke aankhon mai aasun acche nahi lagte. Apna aur baby ka khyal rakhna. 

Tumhara aur sirf tumhara -Kartik.

After reading the letter Naira sat down on the bed in a shock.

To be continued.........
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