Nandini

Walking out of Mr. and Mrs. Iyer's house, once I get to the road, I put my hands on my knees, slightly bending and closing my eyes, taking a moment to gather myself.

The pain of the words exchanged inside the house still remains within me, and I know the angst of it will be within me for a long time.

But I can't deny that it felt good to lay everything out in the open.

I could feel Vikrant's presence beside me, and I was grateful to him for just letting me be for these few seconds without saying or asking anything.

Just ten seconds more. I tell myself and take deep breaths to clear my head, all the while counting to ten.

Once done, I stand up straight and look at Vikrant.

"Did you text all the addresses to Samrat? He is with the police right now, yes?" I ask.

He nods at me. "I have sent the locations of all the properties that your paren—" he abruptly stops, looking apologetically at me. "I mean, the one that Mr. and Mrs. Iyer gave us. But what if Rishabh owns other properties that they don't know about?"

"I know, Vikrant. But this is at least better than having nothing at all," I tell him. "Also, I strongly feel that Rishabh is hiding at the last address they gave us. Did you tell Samrat to get to that place with the police first?"

"I did send him that address. Thankfully, the station he is in currently is near that address, so they might reach there faster than us."

"That's good then. Let's go."

Saying that, I walk to his car and climb inside, fastening the seatbelt and waiting for Vikrant to start driving.

He also fastens his seatbelt, but before turning on the ignition, he looks at me. "Are you fine?"

I know he is asking that question because of what happened in the house earlier, and for a moment, I feel myself wanting to give in to the whirlwind of emotions swirling within me.

But I shake it off, wanting to keep those emotions at bay.

"I'm not fine, Vikrant. But this isn't the time to talk or even think about it. We need to save Aastha first."

*****

Vikrant stops his car in front of the house I used to live in before getting married.

This is genius, really.

No one would have thought Rishabh would be hiding inside this house.

Mr. Iyer had sold this house to Naresh Shah via a real estate agent right after they married me off.

So, no one would have even thought of searching for Rishabh here.

Not only would it have taken a long time to establish any connection he had with Naresh, it would also have been perceived improbable that he hid in the house where the girl he abducted just a day back had grown up.

But when Mrs. Iyer told me about one of our neighbors residing in this area calling her up early in the morning to tell her about someone finally moving into our house, it rang an alarm in my head.

Mainly because that neighbor also told her that when she went to speak to the man, he first sounded dismissive, but when she told him that he seemed familiar and also inquired about the girl in his arms, he was suddenly friendly, telling her he would talk with her next time as his wife was exhausted after a long drive.

That was the moment a picture formed in my head of Rishabh carrying an unconscious Aastha inside the house.

I told Vikrant to send the addresses of all the properties that Rishabh owned to Samrat so he could give them to the police and get those places searched along with this house.

After all, it was only my hunch that the man who that neighbor had talked to was Rishabh.

I didn't want to rely on that hunch entirely and not search the other places. That isn't the risk I can afford to take when Aastha's life is on the line.

Climbing down from the car, my heart starts racing as soon as I see an ambulance pulling up in front of the house.

Before I can even start dwelling on the thought of something happening to Aastha, I see Samrat rushing out of the house.

"Nandini," he pants as he reaches closer to me. "Aastha is...inside. Rishabh is...."

"Rishabh is what, Samrat?" Vikrant asks, and I also look at Samrat questioningly, my heart pounding furiously against my chest.

Samrat takes a moment to catch his breath before starting to speak again.

"Rishabh is keeping Aastha hostage. He says he'll let her go only if we give him Nandini and let him walk out of here with her."

"What the hell? How the fuck can he still be in a position to demand anything? Why aren't the police doing anything?" Vikrant asks, his voice angry.

"He is currently in there, pointing the gun at Aastha's forehead," Samrat says, his voice hoarse. "Her condition is already fragile. The way she looks....," he trails off, his voice choking at the end.

My eyes also well up as I look at his distraught face.

I can't even imagine what condition Aastha must be in right now.

Rishabh had whipped her after she told him that I ran out of the room.

And since then, she has been with that monster for more than a day. He must have beaten her more, punished her more for letting me run away.

"I'll go in. I'll tell him to release Aastha and take me," I tell Samrat.

My insides quiver at the prospect of coming face to face again with that man, but I know I need to do this.

I can't let Aastha down after what she did for me.

"No," Vikrant says, holding my hand to stop me as I start walking inside the house. "You'll do no such thing, Nandini. I won't let you do it."

I take his hands off mine, my eyes softening when he pleadingly shakes his head.

"I know you are worried for me," I tell him. "And I won't lie to you. I also feel scared. But I need to do this for Aastha. I can't let anything happen to her. She saved me from Rishabh after he abducted me, and now, it's my turn to save her.

"Besides, you are here, and the officers are here too. For now, all we need to focus on is to get Aastha out of this house and to the ambulance so she can get the medical treatment that she needs right now. Once that happens, we'll figure out how to not let Rishabh run away from here with me. Okay?"

"But, Nandini, what if—"

"Please, Vikrant. I need to do this."

He reluctantly nods. Then, stepping closer to me, he cups my face. "Please, be careful."

Putting my hand over his, I give it a reassuring squeeze.

"Everything will be fine," I say, although I can't figure out whether I said that to reassure him or me.

*****

Once I reached the room where Rishabh was, I felt dread and disgust rising within me.

The guestroom.

I know why he specifically chose the guestroom of this house.

"Your parents have been so generous to me. After finding out that I needed to travel to this city once or twice a month to check the progress of my new company's construction, they told me to come here and stay whenever I could.

"They even said to bring my things and clothes and keep them here in the cupboard. By doing that, I'll be able to come here whenever I can and stay whenever I want. I won't even have to bother to bring a change of clothes or other necessary items because they will already be here," Rishabh told me, and I froze in shock.

Him staying here? In this house?

"Aww, Sweetheart. Look how happy you are knowing about this. So stunned you are in your happiness that you are not even breathing."

As he said that, I reminded myself to take a breath.

My eyes watered as I felt the air forcing my lungs to expand. My heart thudded rapidly in fear within my chest, and I wondered how I would bear everything he would do to me if he started staying in this house.

He already hurts me when he comes to this house for a few hours once or twice every two to three months. But if he started living here, he might sneak into my room at night or force me to come to this guestroom and—

I gulped, feeling the tears pour out of my eyes as I tried to shrug off that horrible thought without completing it.

"I even get the tears of happiness? How sweet," Rishabh said, clutching my hand tightly and pulling me inside the room.

When I struggled to free my hand and push him away, he roughly clutched my hair with one hand and covered my mouth with the other to muffle my painful whimpers.

"You need to behave, Sweetheart. I don't want to hurt you yet, but if you keep provoking me this way, I'll have no choice but to inflict more pain on you. Do you want that?"

I shook my head, looking fearfully at him.

"Will you be a good girl after I leave you?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Ok then," he said, leaving my hair and releasing me from his hold.

He then sat on the edge of the bed behind him while I continued standing in front of him.

The way his leering gaze ran up and down my body, I crossed my arms over my body in an attempt to hide my curves from him.

"Wrong move, Sweetheart." He sighed, shaking his head. "You know I abhor it when you try to hide from me. After all these months, you still do that and anger me. Even when you know what will happen after that."

Understanding what he meant, I pleadingly looked at him.

"Please, no. Please." I sobbed.

"If you don't want to anger me more, you'll have to do it, Nandini," he said sternly.

"Fully strip and bare your body in front of me. You already know that is what you need to do as punishment every time you cross your arms over your clothed body in front of me."

"Rishabh, please. I can't—"

"Do it now," he said, his gaze such that I cowered under it and raised my trembling hands to unbutton my dress.

"Be careful, Nandini," Samrat says, interrupting my recollection.

Nodding at him, I take a deep breath before turning the knob to open the door.

The repulsing sight that greets me as soon as I enter the room makes me so angry that I feel it somewhat replacing the fear I had been feeling about facing Rishabh.

Aastha and Rishabh were on the bed.

Rishabh was lying on the bed with a gun in his hand that was pointed toward Aastha, and semi-conscious Aastha was seated beside him. Not only seated, but she was pressing his legs with her hands.

"Do it properly, Slut. Have you forgotten how I like to be serviced?" Rishabh says, smirking as he looks at me walking inside the room.

"So-sorry, Si-sirr. I am so-sorry," Aastha says, her voice barely audible.

I gulp the sob threatening to escape my lips when I look at her condition.

Her whole face was covered with red and blue bruises. Her lips were swollen with dried blood at the corners of her mouth. The visible skin on her clothed body striped blue and red due to the whippings she must have received from Rishabh.

Fisting my hands, I grit my teeth in anger as I notice how unbothered Rishabh looked.

Vikrant, Samrat, and two police officers are behind me, but it seems like Rishabh doesn't care at all. It's as if he isn't worried about getting arrested and is confident about getting away from here.

"I'm here now. Please, let Aastha go," I say, my voice slightly quivering in fear and body shaking in anger.

A strange mixture of fear and anger has my whole body and mind humming.

"Of course," Rishabh says, sitting on the bed and kicking Aastha's hands off his legs.

"Come here and sit beside me, Sweetheart," he continues. "After you do that, the lady officer behind you can take away this whore. Anyway, I have played with this toy to the fullest. No use of her left for me now. It's time to play with a new toy-slut."

The way he leers at my body while saying that, I feel like crossing my hands over my body.

I'm about to do so but halt midway, knowing what the punishment for that will be.

Rishabh seems to have registered that because his smirk gets wider, his eyes twinkling.

"This is going to be fun," he says as I walk to the bed with the lady officer.

Although I feel disgusted due to his perverted gaze directed at me, I also think I did good by remembering not to cross my hands over my body.

It will make Rishabh think that I'm still afraid of him, which in turn will fuel his cockiness.

Agreed that I'm still scared of him, but there is so much anger, too. Anger at him for killing my brother. Anger at him for molesting me. Anger at him for giving multiple injuries, pain, and humiliation to Aastha.

Also, the realization of not being alone anymore has imbibed more strength within me and has lessened my fear.

Vikrant is here, and the police officers are here too. All I need to do is somehow take the gun from his hand.

After that, Rishabh will get what he deserves.

Sitting on the bed beside Rishabh, I first help the officer to take Aastha with her, tears gathering in my eyes when I hear her hissing in pain, even with small movements and touches.

Once the officer takes Aastha out of the room, Rishabh turns to look at Vikrant, who is at a small distance from the bed with Samrat and another police officer standing beside him.

"It's time to leave your wife with me, Mr. Sisodiya," Rishabh says, and I see Vikrant's jaw twitching in anger.

Before entering this room, I had requested Vikrant to control his anger, and I really hope he will heed that request because Rishabh's gun is now pointed at me.

Any wrong move from any of us, and I'll be dead.

Although I don't think Rishabh will do such stupidity. After all, with Aastha gone, I'm his only ticket out of here.

Still, I know how his temper is and how mad he gets when things don't go his way. That's why it's better not to take any risk because I absolutely don't want to die at the hands of this vile man.

I see Vikrant take a step ahead and immediately shake my head. It was subtle, but I knew he saw it because he stopped.

Rishabh suddenly presses the gun over my forehead, still looking at Vikrant. "You took one step ahead, but no more, Mr. Sisodiya. If you don't want your wife's blood to paint the walls of this room, you, your friend, and the officers will turn away and swiftly walk out of the room, closing the door behind you.

"My new slut and I will be here until the officers arrange a helicopter for me to get us out of this country as soon as possible."

I feel a mixture of disgust and embarrassment swirling within me when I hear him call me his new slut.

Gulping my anger, I look at Vikrant and see him also barely controlling his rage.

I know he wants to storm toward Rishabh, beat him up, and take me away, but because of the situation we are in currently, it will be impossible to do so.

So, with a last long look at me, Vikrant walks out of the room with the others, closing the door behind them.