The goons had called their few more companions and explained to them the whole situation. So a few more  goons came from the godown and went to take the truck back and the unconscious goon from the dhaba. After sometime they returned and helped these two goons put unconscious Kartik and the detective inside the truck along with Vansh and Kairav. They had tied Kartik and the detective’s hands and had put a black cloth on their eyes. They had covered Kairav and Vansh’s mouth with a cloth. After roughly around one hour they reached the place their Boss had asked them to come to. They put unconscious Kartik and the detective in one room and the kids in another. There was a  window with iron rods between these two rooms. After sometime Kartik regained consciousness and found that his hand was tied. He felt a pain on the back of his head.

Kartik- Ahhh hum yahan kaise pohoche? Aur ye kaunsi jagah hai?

Detective- Sir uss gunde ne aapke sir par ek lakde se mara tha jiske karan aap behosh ho gaye. Uske baad humai truck se yahan laya gaya.

Kartik- Tumne rasta dekha tha ki exactly wo humai kahan laye?

Detective- Nahi Sir unhone hamare aankhon par ek kali patti daal di thi and mere toh aankhon mein bhi mitti chali gayi tha jiske wajah se mujhe jalan ho rahi thi. Toh mai kuch nahi dekh paya.

Kartik- Ek minute bachche….Bachche kahan hai? Kairav-Vansh

Detective- Sir bachchon ko un gundon ne bagal wale kamre mai rakha hai. 

He showed Kartik the window. Kartik went towards the window and peeped in the adjacent room. He found that the kids were sleeping probably due to tiredness and fear. He felt helpless looking at the kids suffering so much.

Kartik-Hum aur risk nahi le sakte is waqt bachchon ko ghar pahuchana jaroori hai. Humai kaisai bhi karke humari location police tak pohochani hogi. I am sure wo humai track kar lenge. 

Kartik wanted to take his phone out which he had hidden inside his shoe but his hands were tied. He looked around to see if he could find any sharp object through which he could cut the rope. He found a glass bottle at the corner. Using his leg he broke the bottle. Luckily the goons had locked them and left hence they were not able to hear the sound. He managed to somehow cut the rope and free his hands. Then he immediately helped the detective to free his hands as well. As he was about to take out his phone he heard footsteps approaching  and thus became alert. As the door opened suddenly a ray of light came blinding them for a few seconds. As Kartik adjusted himself to the light he saw a figure which somehow looked familiar to him. The person started taking steps towards Kartik. As he took a few more steps he became visible. Kartik was shocked. Only one word left from his mouth.

Kartik- Adityaa

Kartik was shocked to see Aditya standing merely at a distance of a few feets from him. His hands immediately turned into fists to control his anger. 

Aditya- Kyun salesahab oops ex-salesahab swagat nahi karoge humara. Kyun chaunk gaye na mujhe yahan dekhkar?

Kartik- Ohh toh yeh sab tumhara kia karaya hai. Tu hi hai jo itne dinon se mere family ko pareshan kar raha tha. Aur aab toh tune hadd paar kar di. Mere bachche ki taraf aankh utha kar dekhi hai. Tujhe toh…

Kartik had lost his cool and punched Aditya. His goons immediately came and held Kartik and the detective. Meanwhile Aditya was smiling.

Aditya- Manna padega ex-salesahab abtak tumhara gussa waisa hi hai jaisa pehle hua karta tha. Par apne gusse ko kabu mai rakho kyunki mere haath mai tumhare bachchon ki jaan hai samjhe.

Aditya pointed towards another room where his goons were pointing guns on Kairav-Vansh. 

Kartik-(angry) Adityaaaa….Kyun kar rahe ho yeh? Kya bigada hai mere parivar ne tumhara?

Aditya- Kya bigada hai? Goenkas ne toh mujhe pura barbad hi karke rakh dia tha. Mera business pura barbaad ho chuka tha. Dhire dhire sab thik ho raha tha lekin phir Goenkas  mujhe barbad karne chale they. Par aab tum sabko barbaad mai karunga. Sabka badla loonga.

Kartik- Tum kiss bare mai baat kar rahe ho Aditya? Jo bhi hai saaf saaf kaho.

Aditya- Bansal’s ke saath 500 crore wali deal yaad hai Mr Kartik Goenka. Woh deal jiske liye tum kai mahino se din raat mehnat kar rahe they, Woh deal jisko milne se Goenkas ke upar jo bhi karza hai woh chutkiyon mai chala jayega. Woh deal jisse market mai Goenka’s ka business aur aage badhega. Woh deal jiske liye ek aur insaan bohot mehnat kar raha tha. Woh insaan tumhare samne khada hai.

Kartik- Tum bhi uss deal mai interested they? 

Aditya- Interested tha nahi hun. Yeh deal mujhe woh sab kuch dila sakti hai jo cheez mai kho chuka tha. Aur iss deal ko paane ke liye mai kuch bhi kar sakta hun aur kisi bhi hadd tak ja sakta hun.

Kartik- Tum kitne ghatiya insaan ho wo mujhse behtar aur koi nahi jaan sakta. Ek deal ke liye tum itna gir jaoge yeh maine socha nahi tha.

Aditya- Girna pada mujhe Kartik girna pada. Tumne mujhe majboor kia hai. Sab kuch achcha chal raha tha. Yeh deal bhi meri ho jati agar uss accident mai tum (gave a wicked laugh) lekin nahi tumhari kismat achchi thi aur yeh deal meri haath se nikal gayi. Par ab aur nahi. Goenka’s ne bohoch chin lia jo mujhse chinna chahte they. Aab tumhara bura waqt shuru. 

Kartik- Aditya tumhe kya lag raha hai yeh sab karke tumhe deal mil jayegi. Bohot galat soch hai tumhari.

Aditya- Mere hi ilake mai mere gundo ke samne mujhe samajhdari ki baatein samjhakar khud hi apni bewakoofi ka certificate de rahe ho tum Kartik. Yeh deal mujhe beshak paise deti.Par tumhe tadapa kar mujhe sukoon milega. Jo mere liye sabse badhkar hai. Suna hai phirse baap banne wale ho. Jab Naira ko uske pyare pati aur bachche ke baare mai pata chalega toh uski kya halat hogi. Kahin tumhare bachche ko kuch ho gaya toh….

Kartik- Adityaaaa… Khabardar agar ek aankh utha kar bhi dekha toh meri Naira ke taraf.

Aditya- Laathi toot gayi par akad abhi bhi hai tum mai. Lagta hai tumhari akad nikalni hi hogi.

He signaled his goon who started punching Kartik while two goons had held him as a result he wasn't able to counter attack them. Soon he became semi conscious. Aditya instructed them to stop. They threw Kartik on the side and left the room with Aditya. The detective saw a water bottle and picked it up. He went towards Kartik and sprinkled some water on him and  tried to wake him up. Kartik was a bit conscious.

Detective- Sir aap thik hai?

Kartik- Haa mai thik hun. Woh gunday chale gaye na?

Detective- Haa Sir.

Kartik took out his phone and switched it on. He saw a display picture of Naira holding her belly. A small smile came on his face. He had recently taken that picture.

Flashback starts

Naira was standing in front of the mirror and was checking herself. 

Naira- Baby mumma ne kitna weight put on kar liya hai. Mumma ko koi dress fit nahi arahai hai.

Just then Kartik arrived and saw Naira sitting disappointed with a pile of clothes on bed.

Kartik- Thodi der pehle mai kamre se gaya tha toh sab thik tha yeh achanak kapdon ka toofan kaise agaya?

Naira- Kartik dekho na mujhe koi bhi kapde thik se nahi aate hai. Mai kuch jyada hi moti ho rahi hun lagta hai. Kairav ke time bhi maine itna weight nahi put on kia tha.

Kartik- Toh hone dona aur motu. Isse pata chalta hai  hamara baby achche se grow ho raha hai aur healthy hai.

Naira- Mai complain nahi kar rahi Kartik par mai kya pehnu.

Kartik- Bas itni si baat. Why fear when your saiyaan is here?

Kartik opened his cupboard and took out a box. He gave it to Naira to open it.

Naira- Ismai kya hai?

Kartik-Khud hi kholkar dekh lo.

She opened it and saw a beautiful pink floral maternity dress. Her face immediately brightened looking at it.

Naira- Kartik yeh kab laye tum?

Kartik- Jab kal Kairav-Vansh ke saath mall gaya tha toh bas wahin dekhi maine yeh dress. Mujhe bohot pyari lagi toh socha lelu tumhare liye. Pehenkar aaona isse.

Naira went to try the outfit. After some time she came back looking very cute in that dress.

Naira-Kaisi lag rahi hun mai?

Kartik- Pehle mujhe yeh dresss sirf achchi lagi thi lekin tumhare pehnne ke baad aur bhi beautiful lag rahi hai. Meri pink cotton candy. Chalo ek photo khichta hun tumhari. Smile

He took a snap and kept it as his mobile’s display picture.

Flashback ends.

Detective- Sir signal mil raha hai kya?

Kartik was brought back out of his thoughts hearing the detective. He checked and found there was no signal and the phone’s battery was around 45%. Thus he had to be careful while using the phone. 

Kartik- Signal nahi hai. Mujhe lagta hai abhi humai thoda sa wait karna chahiye. Sahi mauka milte hi mai try karta hun kisi ko contact karne ke liye.

Meanwhile in the Goenka mansion Naira was sitting with tears in her eyes holding Kartik and Kairav’s picture.

Naira- Bohot miss kar rahi hun mai Kartik tumhe aur Kairav ko. Please jaldi ajao.

Kartik felt as if Naira was saying something to him.

Kartik-(in mind) Naira tumse dur hokar bhi tumhare pass hone ka ehsaas ho raha hai. Wada karta hu tumsai mere saaath chahe jo bhi ho tum par aur humare bachche par koi aanch nahi aane dunga. Bas tum himmat rakhna meri Sherni.

Though they were miles apart, their hearts were still one. Even in this tough time they were still each other’s strengths.

To be continued........
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