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Sameer stood up in jerk as he listened to Shrikha's panicked voice. Where has Naina gone? He shuddered thinking about the deathly possibilities that could have happened. Fearful thoughts looped around in his mind until there was no room for anything else. Seeing him dazed, Kabir could make out that something really serious had happened. He took the phone from Sameer's hand and asked Shrikha to speak. Sameer rushed downstairs running his fingers in his hair trying to calm himself, he had to find her as soon as possible. He just wanted her to be safe and sound. Kabir followed him, getting tense as he knew what could be the consequences if things went wrong.

"Sameer, I checked for her everywhere. Sh-She is not there." Shrikha spoke, stuttering badly as she clutched her head, being tense. Kabir placed his hand on her shoulder, mumbling things to calm her down. Sameer walked into his room and pressed a button in his phone turning the dark walls of his room into screens flashing some images. He took his phone from Kabir and dialed a number.

"Sameer Maheshwari called me, I thought you would never call me after that incident." A man spoke as he picked up Sameer's phone.

"Shut up bastard! Tell me who did you send to kidnap my wife?" Sameer questioned, raging in anger.

"What are you talking about? Naina has been kidnapped? I haven't sent anyone and why would I ever do things like that to Naina." The man screamed.

"Don't pretend, tell me the truth," Sameer said.

"I haven't sent anyone to kidnap Naina. After all, she is-" The man replied before he could speak anything further Sameer cut the call and threw his phone away in frustration. Shrikha flinched listening to the curses that Sameer bellowed and shifted towards Kabir in fear. Sameer called his men and ordered them to search for Naina within an hour else he would kill them almost viciously.

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Half an hour before

Naina glanced at the clock for the hundredth time. It was not even two yet. The rest of the room is quiet except for curtains swaying due to wind that whistled through them and the occasional swivel of a chair. She cleaned her room and even studied for some time but every second seemed to be an hour for her. Placing her books on the table, she stood up and walked out to get a drink of water, again. She was bored of staying in such a huge mansion with a handful number of people. She checked in Shrikha's room but frowned as she did not find her there. Naina quickly realized that she may be with Kabir and smiled a bit genuinely happy for them. Sameer had gone somewhere without informing her which had become sort of a common thing for her nowadays.

She was bored and tired of seeing the walls of this mansion and guards who stood there with expressionless faces. She sighed and walked towards a window, letting the cool breeze hit her face. She only wished she could go out and enjoy walking on the veranda present in front of the huge mansion. Thinking of something, she quickly rushed into the room and took her sling bag, and wore a yellow full-sleeved crop top matching it with blue ripped jeans. Taking some cash from the bundle of money Sameer had given her to use if she needs, she walked out of the mansion. She was about to leave when a guard stopped her.

"Sorry, ma'am we can't let you go out." He said politely. He was too tall and had a blank expression on his face.

"Why?" Naina questioned making a cute face.

"Because Sir has ordered us to not let you go out or let anybody in the mansion without his command." He replied to her with his head bowed in respect. Naina stood there not understanding what to speak. If he tells Sameer and he does not let her roam around then? She wanted to
go outside, it was weeks since she then she had gone out maybe not more than ten times. It felt caged to stay like that, more of like a house arrest.

"I have informed him and even he agreed to it. I will be back in an hour. Can I leave now?" Naina lied badly wanting to go out of this mansion. The guard stared at her for some moments and then nodded his head unlocking the gate with a key. Naina mumbled a thank you and walked out of the mansion with a serene smile plastered on her face.

She always loved the winds and adored nature. The cool winds roused to wakefulness and had a refreshing effect. The soft breezes were finer than silk and smoother than water allowing the warmth to gently enter her skin feels so at ease with the world. She walked aimlessly with a never-ending smile on her face. She needed this for a long time, needed time for herself in between all the mishaps happening in her life. She noticed that there were no mansions in the area and she had come too far from her place. She palmed her head for being so careless but then did not want to spoil the moment.

She sat on a bench present, closing her eyes to let the happiness soak right into herself. She wanted the feeling to still be treasured. She smiled as she opened her eyes, seeing a cafe.

"When I'm hungry, I can't think of anything but food."She mumbled to herself and giggled at her weirdness. She walked into the cafe and ordered a cappuccino for herself and took a seat. she was busy looking outside the glass door sipping her coffee, not realizing that Sameer was getting tensed due to her sudden absence.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" A man who had worn a blue suit holding a tray of sandwiches and a drink asked politely to Naina pointing at a chair that was placed in front of her. Naina looked at him and then around the cafe, finding it full and no place left to sit. She nodded her head in the way of yes with a sweet smile and averted her gaze back to look at the scenery.

"Your name, beautiful?" The man spoke as he had just been watching her for a long time.

"Naina," She replied.

"I am Ayaan Malhotra. You look really pretty, I haven't seen any woman more beautiful than you. Do you have a boyfriend?" He complimented.

"I am married," Naina spoke, making his smile fade a bit.

"Oh...great then." He mumbled wiping his mouth with a tissue. Naina paid for her cappuccino and left the cafe. Ayaan followed her.

"Listen Naina, I will drop you at your house," Ayaan called her. Naina looked at him confused, after all, he was a stranger, and taking a lift from him was not safe. But, she knew it was too late and was getting dark making her tense.

"No, it's okay I can..." Her words turned into like a whisper as she thought she did not even know the way of returning home.

"Do you need help, beautiful?" Ayaan asked her with a smile on his face.

"I lost my way," Naina replied being embarrassed.

"No issues, just tell me the direction from where you came from. Hope we find your house." Ayaan said at which Naina nodded her head. She got in his car as he drove telling about himself and his business glancing at her, feeling attracted towards her beauty. She felt a bit awkward by his continuous gaze.

"My mansion!" Naina squealed, making Ayaan stop his car. He stared at Naina and then at the mansion in horror.

"Ayaan. Are you okay?" Naina asked him before he spoke.

"Do you stay with Sameer Maheshwari?"

"Yes, he's my husband. Any problem?" She replied. There was pin-drop silence for a few minutes. Naina gulped seeing the tension being created, she noticed his knuckles gripped on the steering wheel turning into pale white. Her mind alerted her to run but before she could do anything, he swiftly took a U-turn which made her jerk aside. If she had not worn the seat belt she would have surely flown out of the car. He started driving from where they had come at the highest speed he could drive.

"Where are you taking me?" Naina panicked but he did not reply while the charming smile which he had a few minutes before, tightened into an evil smirk making her fear. She cursed herself for coming out of the mansion alone, she cursed herself for taking help from this man who seemed to be insane. Her mind felt numb, not understanding what to do at the moment. She wanted to contact Sameer, Kabir, or Shrikha.

"Where are you taking me?" Naina asked him again but this time her voice broke while fresh tears flowed from her eyes. Her brain had shut down. She was clammy and there was the glisten of cold sweat. He stopped at an isolated place and got down the car, walking towards her he dragged her out. Naina tried to wriggle off his grip but her efforts went in vain. He dragged her into a hut-like structure that was dark.

"Where the hell are you taking me! Mr. Maheshwari will sue you if he gets to know that you are behaving this way with me!" She screamed, but he laughed at her comment.

"Listen to me, beautiful..." He spoke.

"Shut up! Don't call me that." She snapped, making him feel insulted. He gripped her by shoulders and pinned her to the wall. He leaned towards her,

"I'm in love with you," Ayaan whispered in her ear and kissed her earlobe slightly. The color drained from her face, as her mind reeled with flashes of her past. She stood rigid, rooted to the spot, frozen,
clammy, cold sweat, shaking, stammering, unable to speak, wide-eyed, hands clenched, heart-pounding, too scared to comprehend, incapacitated with fear

"Have you lost your senses? I am a married woman. Why have you brought me here? Just leave me, you have no fucking rights to touch me this way." Naina said, pushing him away.

"But I love you and do not trust Sameer Maheshwari. He's no good for you! I'm right for you. He kills people, he killed my dad!" Ayaan exclaimed, holding her wounded hand tightly making her wince.

"I.. please.. let me go. I am married to Mr. Maheshwari, I can't be yours and do not even wish to be yours because I just belong to my husband." Naina cried, now terrified.

"You are just mine, he is not worthy of you. He is a criminal!" Ayaan screamed but at the very next moment, Naina slapped him. Enable to accept being rejected, even Ayaan slapped her and pinned her hands on the wall leaning towards her, eyeing her lips. Naina tried pushing him away as tears coursed down from her eyes. All of a sudden, the noise of a gunshot echoed in the air.

Naina opened her eyes in jerk to only find Ayaan had been shot in his leg. He had collapsed on the floor with a pool of blood flowing from his wound. She looked at her husband's men coming into the hut. One of them had shot him and directed others to pick his body.

"Ma'am please get in the car, Sir is waiting for you in the mansion." A guard spoke, Naina nodded her head in a way of okay staring at Ayaan who was wincing in pain.

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Naina stepped down from the car still trembling from the happenings. Shrikha rushed towards her and pulled her into her embrace asking her questions. Naina answered them in her dull voice. "Why did you go out alone? If you wanted you could have told me." Kabir spoke, palming her face at which Naina mumbled an apology.

"Forget all this, it's okay. Shrikha you come along with me." Kabir said, gesturing to her to come into the mansion, giving the couples privacy. Naina looked at Sameer who was standing with his hands crossed. He ordered the guard something and walked towards Naina. She trembled in fear, not knowing how he was going to react to her carelessness. He held his hand making sure his grip is not that tight and took her to the mansion. Naina noticed that the guard to whom she had lied was not present there.

Naina stood in the room with her head hung down, fidgeting with her fingers as Sameer had not even spoken a word to her. She was scared seeing the walls which had few images of people put up. Sameer, noticing it, pressed the button to switch it off.

"Just business-related things," Sameer spoke at which she nodded her head.

"Why did you leave the mansion without informing anyone? I had warned you not to go out of the mansion alone. Do you know how dangerous it is? What if I had not found you? What if somebody would have kidnapped you? What the fuck! Why are you crying?" Sameer scolded her while she stood there sobbing.

"Because you are shouting at me," Naina said, wiping her tears carelessly.

"Toh kya tarif karu apki?" Sameer questioned.

"Ab ro bhi na, usmai bhi pabandi hai kya?" She mumbled pouting her lips sadly. Sameer sighed in irritation, was she this cute or pretending to be?

"Mr. Maheshwari, I met Ayaan Malhotra in a cafe," Naina spoke, holding his palm.

"I know that Khaza, then he gave you a lift. You did come near the gate of the mansion but when Ayaan realized that you are my wife. He confessed his love to you but you rejected. Not being able to accept rejection, he started forcing you." Sameer spoke making her look at him with widened eyes. Sameer approached her, his eyes held a worried emotion as he caressed Naina's face. She flinched as his thumb ran over her cheekbone, which was still tender from the hit she had received earlier.

"I had seen every move of yours," Sameer said. Naina stared at him for a few seconds and then punched his chest huffing in anger.

"Still you did not come to rescue me? You knew where I was, with whom I was and you chose to watch these scenarios instead of helping me." She spoke.

"Listen to me Naina, I want you to experience this. I knew you would not listen to me, I had warned you still you chose to go out alone. This is the reason why I had stopped you from going out. What happened today was not even a part of the worst things that could happen. You could have told me that you wish to go out, I would have surely taken you somewhere. I understand that living in the same place for a long period may feel suffocating but that's for your security." Sameer spoke, cupping her face. Naina nodded her head in a way of understanding and looked down thinking about the events that had taken place. Sameer leaned towards her and pressed his lips against her earlobe, then on her cheeks which had a red patch due to the slap.

"Trust me Khaza, that bastard will surely pay for hurting you." He said raging in anger, while Naina simply slipped in his embrace. She just needed him to erase all these things from her mind.

"Mr. Maheshwari," Naina called him, at which he hummed in response.

"I had lied to one of your guards, I noticed that he was not there when I came back. Where is he then?" Naina questioned him.

"In the basement," Sameer spoke in his stern tone. "Basement?" Naina faltered, clutching his hand tight. The basement was a prohibited area of the mansion, the only thought of the guard being taken to the basement just because of her fault shuddered her.

"Please don't punish him, it was my fault. I lied to him, he did stop me. He did his part of duty, please don't punish him." Naina spoke on the verge of crying, she did not know her lie would harm him to this extent.

" He let you go out of the mansion. He risked your life. If you can manipulate then anybody could. What matters to me is your security." Sameer spoke sternly.

"But I tricked him, lied to him by taking your name. He is not at fault." Naina spoke feeling guilty.

"Just stop talking about it! Or do you want to be punished?" Sameer spoke glaring at her at which she nodded her head in the way of yes hesitantly.

"It's my fault and I am the one who must be punished," Naina replied. Sameer stared at her for a few moments and then nodded his head a bit. He tapped a button on his phone and then averted his gaze to see Naina who was waiting to speak.

"Can I ask you something?" Naina questioned, making him roll his eyes.

"Speak."

"How did you get to know where I was?" Naina asked him with a confused face. He walked towards her and touched the nuptial chain which she had wound around her neck showing her something making her gasp in shock.

"I had put this chip in this pendent on the night when we consummated, trust me Khaza I have never used this chip as a medium for seeing irrelevant things. It's just for your safety, even when I used this chip to get to know about your location and where you were I asked Kabir and Shrikha to leave. I respect your privacy but you being my wife, you are my responsibility." Sameer spoke, making her understand, she was still seeing the till-now unnoticed chip attached to the pendant of her nuptial chain.

"Get ready for your punishment Khaza," Sameer said huskily as he whispered against her ears, sending shivers down her spine.

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