FLASHBACK: Emily organized a birthday party for her mom. She also planned for a special surprise. But that surprise turned to an horrifying nightmare.
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The police station arrived. We were said to come inside. It felt like entering hell..

Two constables grabbed my father's hand which was in handcuffs and pushed him in a jail. My mom sat on a chair and my granny hugged me and George tightly. I could feel her crying.

"So Mrs Smith, please sit.. tell us everything that happened.."said the inspector while gesturing mum to the seat.

"Inspector, this man here..is my husband. We are married for twenty years..
1 year ago, I took his phone to call one of my friends for some urgent reason.. Because my phone was dead. When I opened his phone, I saw a notification and it was 'the parents of the child we kidnapped had agreed to give the ransom'. I was shocked...could not believe my own eyes... But i understood that my husband is a kidnapper. I was horrified...who who wouldn't be?...i calmed myself and took screenshots and sent to my number...and deleted the screenshot from his phone...

When David arrived , I interrogated him about the text.. I told him that I found out his little secret... He ignored me and snatched my phone.. He started torturing me.. He didn't let me go to rehearsals for my dance programs. He started spoiling my work. He would shout at me for no reasonsm.and even beat me...

And at last he left me and my family without even giving me a divorce " cried mom.

Mum then informed everything that happened in the birthday party. The police officer told me to come and interrogated me about my dad and where i found him.

I told him every single details...

I was horrified by knowing my dad was a dangerous criminal. I didn't want to see him ever again in my life.

I can't digest the fact i'm the the daughter of this disgusting man.

After few hours..the police left us to our home..
We reached home safely. All the neighbors were staring at us like owls...
That night my grandparents and my aunt stayed with us. They didn't want us to be alone.

Ma hugged me and George and said "don't be guilty. You didn't know anything about this..you should be proud...unknowingly you handed over a criminal to the police.. He is now in the right place..he deserved...he will rot in that jail throughout his life"

Tears were rolling down from my eyes... What a horrible daughter.. I am... Destroyed my mother's special day..
" Ma.. I ruined your...birthday... What a horrible daughter I'm" i cried..

"No you didn't ! You guys gave me the best gift in my entire life. Your dad is in the jail... He destroyed the lives of numerous people... He is getting what he deserves.

And it's all because of you guys. It was you who found him. You might feel sad right now... But later you will realise that you two saved so many lives and families. Your father and his gang would kill the children if their parents couldn't afford the amount of money they asked for in ransom. You both made my birthday so special. I didn't ask for any expensive things... I only wanted the end of an evil... And you two did that... I love you guys so much! " said mom and kissed us.

I was so happy. That night we had a slumber party . My aunt made some yummy chicken pakodas and my granny made some refreshing drinks and my hilarious grandpa tried to mimic Charlie Chaplin. We all had a family time. We watched a movie while I sketched my grandparents.
" Wow,Amazing, Outstanding,Beautiful!This sketch is so beautiful. Mind-blowing! My pintu is such a amazing artist " Exclaimed grandpa with a bright smile. Only he was the one who can call me Pintu..only he.

It was such a beautiful night. The next week we had to go to the court and dad got the punishment he deserved. My parents had their divorce finally. And my mum became a 'Roy' once again.

I glanced at my dad, the constables were dragging him to the police van. He looked at me with a furious face. He looked like, he would eat me...if he could.

Weeks past, months passed and an year passed. My aunt started to stay with us as her husband died and she wanted to study MBA. Mia gave birth to three adorable kittens. They were so cute. I named them Fuli, Teni and Kooki .

George was studying in grade 1 and I was in grade 9. I was really famous in our class for my art works. Everyone wanted to become my friend. I did make them my friends but still my best friend was and always will be Anna. She is the funniest and the nicest person in the planet. She was my partner in crime and will be.

One fine morning, in my class our art teacher arrived and made an announcement.

" kids , in our school there will be a sit and draw inter-school compition and this competition is arranged by the well known art supplies company 'Shed'. So come on everyone and enroll your names for the competition." The teacher called me told me personally " Emily write your name . If you participate, there is a good chance of the winning of our school. You are our gem".

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

Hey everyone! It's Sayantika. First of all I want to thank all of you for 100 reads and I am really sorry for being late to update ✍
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Characters introduced in this chapter :

Emily's cat Mia's kittens :