Salem removed the ties from her hand and lifted her once they reached their house. He entered the house with her in his arms.

"Back where you belong, wife." Salem said and kept her in bed softly. He tried to caress her cheek but she flinched. It hurt Salem when he saw her reaction. He wanted to make amends, if only she behaved well.

"I haven't done anything and I won't do anything, my love." He said softly and kissed her.

"You know I have never liked you dancing on stage for everyone." He said and she remembered their college days when he threatened her not to dance.
"But....but that guy who proposed to you...how dare that fucker even think about you?" Salem said angrily.

"What...what did you do to him?" She was scared to learn about his actions but she dared to ask him.

"Nothing." Salem said but she didn't trust his words. He was too angry to not do anything. "I didn't do anything. Wajid knows a local gang....they took care of it. Just some broken arms and knees. Bohot shock hai na usse mere biwi ke saamne ghutne tekneka."
(Isn't he very fond of bending a knee for my wife?)

"Let's not talk about him. My wife is back after months. I will finally be able to sleep." Salem pulled a duvet over them and slept with Pari in his hold. His heart felt at peace holding Pari in his arms.

From the next day, Pari received daily calls from her parents and in-laws asking her well being. Surprisingly, Salem let her continue the job but she never saw Sunil, the guy who proposed her, again.

She tried asking Tiger about his whereabouts but Tiger said it's better to not talk about him. Slowly, things fell into place as if Salem never broke her fingers. This time, she continued her job and refused to leave it, even when Salem showed his displeasure.

On some days, Pari behaved normally with Salem but on other days, she was aloof, distant and hurt. She never thought her marriage would turn out to be a nightmare and her husband a monster.

Salem, on the other hand, lived his best life. The only thing that he learnt was to be disciplined. Being disciplined at work made him invincible. While all his contemporaries with whom he started out, lost themselves in girls, drugs and became indisciplined which resulted in losing movies and also fitness. Salem made sure he never missed training and gym days. Yes, he was bit short tempered and had his bad days but he never showed up late or cancelled shoots often. It was rare for him to cancel shoots.

Jenny and Mr. Ahmed had a chat with him about his marital life and the way he treated Pari but Salem just rolled his eyes. For him, marriage was strictly between him and his wife. He never like anyone else interfering. How he treats his wife, is strictly his business.

He was never against women working or curbing their freedom. But Pari was his. Everything related to her will be solely his decision. She was his woman. Everything he does, is for her - the money, the luxury, the properties. The only thing he expects is obedience. And that was the exact thing Pari never was - obedient.

A month after he brought her home again and just when things were going good - she ran away! She had gone to her work as usual but never returned. The driver who went to pick her up informed Wajid and Tiger after an hour that he was waiting for Ma'am and thought Ma'am night be busy as she was sometime during the week but he was scared when he enquired an hour later and they told him that she had left early. They enquired everywhere, she was not her parents home, her in-laws home, Salem's home, Priya's home. She didn't have any friends with whom she was connected. They asked her colleagues but none of them seemed to have any idea.

Her parents and aunt were ashamed and apologetic when they got to know of Pari's disappearance. When Salem asked Priya, she Salem and Wajid even checked the cash and jewellery at home but none of it was taken. If she wanted to survive, she would have surely taken something. She had only left with her phone and office bag which must have minimal cash, not enough to survive.

Wajid activated all the gangs from the city and also informed his police informants to search for Pari. They were trying to track her phone but she had switched it off due to which it was difficult to track her location.

"There is someone who has helped her. Find that motherf*cker." Salem seethed in anger. He was going crazy.

Her last location was her office which meant somebody from her colleagues must know something. Wajid and Tiger personally enquired everyone, especially her team. There was one woman who appeared more scared and anxious than others. Tiger looked at Wajid and they took her to a private room for more questions.

"I hear you have a family....a husband and a 2 year old. Now, imagine what would the 2 year old go through with crippled parents...I would say it's tough to survive in the world." Wajid threatened as the last resort when Pari's colleague didn't open her mouth.

"Stop...stop, please don't do anything." Pari's colleague cried and pleaded to Wajid. "I...I don't know much...she was in contact with..." She spilled the details of what she knew.

Wajid informed Salem, who ordered Wajid to bring Pari home. Pari had found a women's hostel in another city and was planning to stay there. Wajid and his men went to find Pari after finding the hostel's address.

Pari screamed for help when Wajid and gang came to take her. A lady from the hostel dialled police helpline number. Pari's hope shattered when the police let Wajid take her and settled the conversation with the bribe.

That was her first attempt at escaping. As a punishment, Salem kept her in the other room of their house without food, light and little water. Job was out of the question.

"I am not someone you can confine to this room, Salem. You will regret it." Pari screamed at Salem in anger.

"I will show you hell, Salem. Mark my words." Pari threatened him looking in the eye. He held her throat in a tight grip. She was probably the only person who could threaten him and live to tell the tale.

Salem watched her face which was full of anger and agony. "Don't give empty threats, my love. Watch your tone and words when you speak to me." He left her throat with a jerk.

After that day, Pari was vengeful towards everyone - Salem, her family, his family, even Wajid and Tiger. Pari refused to take calls from her mother and even refused to meet her when she and her aunt had come to see Pari.

"If you can't get me a divorce from Salem, I don't want to talk to anyone." She had said on call.

"Divorce? Noone has had a divorce in our family. It's a drastic step. We will talk to Salem, my child. The society is very cruel to women with a divorcee tag." Her parents had said. Pari just cut the call. When they came to meet her, she refused to see their face.

She was looking for something that could cause Salem's downfall. She was waiting for that one chance. Pari was like a simmering poison.

And then one day, she got her opportunity. Page 3 of a newspaper had printed a big article on Salem - "The truth behind The Superstar Salem Ahmed."

Pari smirked as she read the article, the writer sure disliked Salem to have invested and written such a big piece. It was about his temper problem and his alcoholic ways. The article wrote about how Salem's alcoholism is not something the young generation should look upto. And how the society needs a real hero who isn't alcoholic and short tempered. The writer had digged in about his prior to fame life and written about his womaniser ways and girlfriends from college. Pari knew there would be no mention of her as his "wife" as media was instructed to keep it strictly private and had signed a NDA contract as well. Only few paparazzi knew Pari and her face, the rest they were instructed to keep Salem's married life as confidential. However, there was the mention of the infamous leaked image of him kissing an anonymous girl.

Pari checked the writer's name on the article and saw an email id attached to it. She needed to  know more so, she secretly mailed the writer regarding the article.

On the other hand, Salem wasn't bothered by this article even when Natalia was pissed at the negative PR. If the article had come a few years ago, Natalia and Salem would have made sure the journalist lose their job and the publication faces severe action but now, Salem was bigger than this. He knew his fans would defend him. His fans were blind followers of Salem who loved him for various reasons - his looks, his acting, his physique and his generosity and kindness. But Natalia was a different story, she wasn't going to keep quiet.

"I am dealing with her in our way." Natalia declared to which Salem just shook his head, not caring much.

As the mails exchanged, Pari sneakily met with the journalist Richa Tyagi - the woman who wrote that article about Salem. Richa was curious and inquisitive, true to her profession. She always had a different angle to an ordinary story. She had made many big headlines in the past - revealing the extra marital affair of actor Bunty Ahluwalia with dancer Sheena N, the estrangement of marriage of Vidya and Shakeel and so on. She was always on the lookout for the next big story.

She was denied Salem's interview multiple times by Natalia, causing her to lose an appraisal for not bringing a relevant byte related to the star. So, Richa came up with another idea to write an article that is sensational and catchy. While everyone is portraying Salem to be the star and the golden hearted man, Richa thought of going the opposite direction. She believed that an alcoholic like him shouldn't be the hero of the youth and chose to highlight the negative points. It was also different than what other media houses were writing about Salem.

Richa glanced at Pari who was sitting with covered face. Richa wasn't buying Pari's lies and told her to tell her the truth about her identity and her interest in the article.

"Nobody mails me consistently and meets me just because I did an article about an actor! Probably, he doesn't even care. But you do. You want more than you are letting on." Richa said.

Pari sighed. "If I could, I would have told you the truth." Richa looked like a mature lady, Pari hoped that she understands her and doesn't coerce her to reveal much about her.

"Look, there is a good story for you. Blue Eyes is your road to discover that..." Pari muttered. Richa knitted her brows.

"Blue Eyes....the club owned by Salem and his brother?" She asked to confirm. Pari nodded her head. Pari wanted Richa to expose Blue Eyes and the things that goes there. If Blue Eyes gets exposed, everyone would be in deep mess - Salem, Moosa and other influencial people.

"I will trust you on this. But if you are wasting my time...I will not spare you." Richa said.

"You will only thank me." Pari said confidently and left from there.

Salem, your downfall is near! Pari smirked at the thought.

_____

Jan 11, 2025

Do vote and comment 💖

A lot of you all are asking for an update and while I understand the impatience....you can be polite as well. Request you all to be patient and polite 🙏🏻
You can write as much as you like and ask for an update....only politely.
There are multiple things that can stop me from updating - work, health, life... but most importantly - not able to think and write to my satisfaction.

So, kindly don't act entitled as if this is paid.

And to others who wait patiently - I am sorry! I am trying to write better and update :) thank you for your patience and love. Love you guys!!