***

Note:

Underaged readers are advised to avoid reading the sections marked within the separators ‘##########’.

The author does not condone any form of violence or abuse.

Precautionary Trigger warning:

The section marked within the separators ‘##########’ contains slightly graphic scenes on violence and assault. Readers are advised to read the marked content at their own discretion.

***

Shivaay and Rudra hugged Omkara before they called it a night. “I miss these group hugs!” Rudra said in a sad tone, and Omkara smiled sensing his emotional tone. Shivaay pulled away, but Rudra still clung to Omkara, who chuckled and took him in a bear hug. For Om, Rudy was still that little baby boy wrapped in a fluffy blue blanket in the cradle, even if he was bulkier than himself now. Shivaay ran his hand over Rudra’s hair, and then looked at Om. With a solemn look, he said, “Come home more often, Om. Bade Papa also rarely visits, knowing that it is his presence that stops you from coming home! Daadi is also old and frail. She keeps saying these emotional dialogues to us…”

At that, Rudra pulled away enough to look at Om’s face, while still hugging him, saying, “Haan, she keeps saying these 1970’s film dialogues like, ‘meri aakhri khwahish hai ke meri chitha ko mere teeno pothe hi agni denge’, and, ‘Meri aankhein bandh hone se pehle mujhe Shivaay-Annika ka bachcha dekhna hai, aur Om ki Dulhan dekhni hai’” As Rudra paused for a moment, Omkara looked at Shivaay with a cocked eyebrow, and Shivaay shook his head at the emotional pressure put on him and Annika to have a baby, just because Daadi wanted a great-grandchild.

Rudra suddenly quipped, “Daadi is so biased, I realized! She has a wish-list for Shivaay Bhaiyya and Annika Bhabhi; she even has expectations from O. She just didn’t have any wishes from me!” Omkara grinned, and with a mocking tone, he said, “Haan, Daadi ko tujhse koi ummeed hi nahi hai!” to which Shivaay added, “Because you’re hopeless!” Both Shivaay and Omkara high-five’d each other. But looking at Rudra making a sad face, they both coddled and hugged him.

“See you soon, O,” Rudra said, refusing to part from him. Omkara was used to this; whenever it was time to part for Omkara to go back to his apartment, Rudra always did this. “Only if you let go of me now, will I be able to visit the Oberoi Mansion again, right?” he said. Shivaay smiled, while Rudra tried to unsuccessfully wipe his tear away. Omkara sighed at that. No doubt, Om missed his entire family, but there was no way he was going back on his words. He still wanted Daadi to take a decision, to permit a divorce between his parents so his mother could be free, or to banish Tej permanently from the premises of the Oberoi Mansion. Until then, he had promised himself he wouldn’t shift back to the place he once called home. If a vanvaas, technically not to a forest though, was what it took to push Daadi to make a decision, then so be it. He would gladly do so.

“Chalo, Bye!” Shivaay and Rudra said, as they wished Omkara a good night, and sat inside the car. Before moving, Shivaay rolled the windows down and said to him, “Ride safely, and slowly. And drop a message once you’ve reached home, alright?” Omkara nodded at his strict command. Then, Omkara waved out as the car moved out of the restaurant premises. Omkara, standing near the bushes in the dark, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it with the lighter and took a deep puff from it. Then, turning around, he looked at the two of them seated inside the restaurant, and exhaled, forming a cloud of smoke in front of his eyes.

Ajinkya was saying something with a smile, but Gauri looked slightly disinterested, in addition to being slightly upset. Omkara shook his head; it served her right to be upset in Ajinkya’s company. But Omkara being Omkara, couldn’t bring himself to be happy about it. He simply felt sorry for her. The girl had no clue about the man she blindly trusted. “Rudra was right; Gauri ka dimaag sach mein ghaas charne gaya hai” he muttered. Taking one more puff, he tossed the cigarette away when inside his head he heard Gauri’s voice saying in her signature style, ‘Smoking is injurious to health, Oberoi! Kab akal ayega tujhe?’ With one last glance at her, he sat on his bike and then left from the premises.

Gauri and Ajinkya had almost finished dinner. The food, the ambiance, everything about the restaurant was simply great. However, Gauri would have enjoyed it better if it weren’t for that little awkward incident between the Oberois and Ajinkya. She smiled at Ajinkya, who was complimenting one of the managers for the excellent service. Gauri stood up when she saw the two men shaking hands and wrapping up the conversation when she felt as if the entire earth around her spun. She quickly held on to the edge of the table, her hand barely knocking against something she didn’t see, causing one of the spoons to fall to the floor and clatter, drawing Ajinkya’s focus and the attention of the manager. The two of them quickly rushed to her, and the manager asked in a worried tone, “Are you alright, miss?”

Ajinkya held her by her waist, pulling her closer to him so she was leaning against him, saying, “Gauri, love, are you fine?”, almost ecstatic that the pill was starting to show its effects. He had been anticipating this over the entire dinner. Gauri nodded, and, slightly uncomfortable with standing so close to Ajinkya, she struggled to stand up straight. She felt as if her feet had lost control and was swaying. “I’ll call a doctor,” the manager said, but Ajinkya beat him to it, saying, “I guess she’s just tired and is feeling weak.” Looking at Gauri and cupping her face, he said, looking at her dilated pupils, “Thodi aaram karogi toh theek ho jaogi.” The manager was about to insist when Ajinkya said, “Thank you so much for everything. But I guess, we’ll take your leave now.”

The manager nodded, slightly worried. If it was the food that caused her to feel uneasy, then he sure was in big trouble. He couldn’t afford to get this restaurant shut down within the first week of its business. Trying to brush the matter under the carpet, he asked the staff to clear the table, and with a smile, welcomed another couple to the table to have a seat.

Ajinkya smiled inwardly after he settled Gauri in the passenger seat. Deliberately, he inched closer to her under the pretext of buckling her seat belt. Even if Gauri was dizzy, she could sense Ajinkya was too close for her comfort. “I’ll do it,” she said turning her face away from him and fumbled with the seat belt. Much to his disappointment, she succeeded in buckling herself. He smiled softly at her, tucking her hair away from her face, behind her ears. “I need to go home, Ajinkya” she said, closing her eyes, leaning against the headrest of the seat. He nodded and went to the other side to settle in the driver’s seat. “You’re going to be fine, baby,” he said looking at her, as he started the car, roaring the engine to life.

Halfway through, Gauri started feeling nauseous. “I don’t feel so good,” she said, placing her hand on her chest, swallowing hard. She was profusely sweating even if the air conditioner of the car was on full blast. Gauri opened her eyes to look at Ajinkya, who barely looked worried at her condition. “Why do I feel so sick!” she exclaimed, taking deep breaths. “Must have been the prawns we ordered!” he mumbled, glancing at her, and then looking at the road. “But you’re fine!” she counter-argued. He too should have felt uneasy if something was wrong with the food, right? He said nothing. The uneasiness in her chest was at its peak; something was terribly wrong. Little did she know it was just the beginning.

Gauri closed the eyes and held the seat belt with both her hands. She felt as if someone had placed a huge boulder on her head. Her entire face was throbbing, her skin was burning up. She blinked twice when she realized that her vision was also getting blurry. “You… you gave me something, didn’t you?” she blurted out all of a sudden. His lack of concern, while she felt she was almost dying, sowed that doubt in her mind.

Ajinkya said nothing but only looked at her. Gauri, even if everything around her was spinning, could see that he looked at her intently, as if waiting for something worse to happen. She noticed her dress was hiked up a bit and Ajinkya had his hand on her bare thigh. “Ajinkya, don’t!” she hissed and pushed his hand away. He looked at her with a dangerous glint, and then, without a warning, took a diversion from the main road. “Where are we going?” she asked. He refused to answer. Gauri, still reeling from the effects of whatever he had given her, looked around to find only darkness. It seemed as if they had entered a jungle-kind area.

Alarmed, Gauri pulled her phone and almost opened her contact list, when she felt the phone being snatched away. Ajinkya pulled the phone from her hands. That is when she unbuckled her seat belt, attempting to open the door to jump out of it. Gauri was too numb to think straight, and whatever he’d given her, had caused her judgment to be clouded. She fidgeted with the door to open it, only to realize that Ajinkya had pressed the child lock button. There was no way she could open the door. Looking at him, she gulped hard as she saw him grinning at her. With no option, Gauri, with all her might, pushed Ajinkya’s hands which were on the steering. The car steered off the muddy path and collided against a tree, causing his head to be banged against the steering wheel. Unfortunately, that caused even Gauri’s head to ram against the dashboard since she had taken off the seat belt, and slowly, darkness filled her sight.

***

Omkara was riding back to his flat and was on the way when he felt his phone ringing. Parking the bike at the side, he picked out his phone and saw that it was Shivaay calling him. “Don’t tell me Rudy is crying in the car!” Omkara joked. “Om,” Shivaay said in a no-nonsense tone, and Omkara’s spine involuntarily straightened up. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“I had someone look into the details of Ajinkya Agnihotri,” he said. Omkara was about to reprimand him for it, asking him to stay out of it because Gauri wouldn’t believe him too, when he heard him say, “You were wrong about Ajinkya Agnihotri.”

Omkara frowned, “What?” he wondered how his gut feeling was so wrong about the man, when he heard Shivaay further speak up in a low growl saying, “He’s much more dangerous than what you assumed to be. Gauri is in danger, Om. We need to get to her, and fast!”

Omkara hadn’t even waited for the call to disconnect. He simply turned the bike around and zoomed back to the restaurant. Sharma needed help, he could feel that in his veins. He only prayed that she was still there at the restaurant. And this time, she had to listen to him as he told her about that leech, come what may!

***

A while later, Gauri groaned. Her head hurt as she tried to shift. The car was still against the trunk of the tree. She tried to fish for her phone after she switched on the light inside the car. Much to her horror, Ajinkya was missing. Gauri had barely reacted at that when she felt a pair of arms grab hold of her through the open window.

She looked around to see Ajinkya trying to hold her like he was possessed. Her knee-length midnight-blue dress tore till her mid-thigh as he dragged her out of the vehicle. She wriggled in his hold, but he was stronger. Gauri kept fighting though, too scared to even slow down fighting. There was only one prayer in her mind – to not let her fall weak in front of Ajinkya, so she could escape him. Everything else could be dealt with later. “Stop it!” she hissed and bit into his arm as hard as possible. He yelped and let go, and Gauri took the chance to scream for help as she ran away from him in the opposite direction of which the car had broken down, towards the main road.

Gauri could see the street lamps glowing at a distance, indicating she was close to the main road. Her feet ached, as she ran in her block heels, but she didn’t dare to slow down. She could hear Ajnikya’s loud breaths behind her, and she knew he was gaining on her. She was about to scream again, when Ajinkya caught hold of her again, pulling her closer.

##########  <begins>

“Gauri, Gauri!” he chanted her name as if he was manically possessed. “I just – I just want us to have a good time!” he said, trying to hold her in his arms from behind, with his hand covering her mouth. Gauri stamped his foot hard, and he yelped. But this time, he caught hold of her hair, not allowing her to escape. “I fucking told you, I just want us to have a good time!” he screamed at her in an angry tone. Gauri froze when she saw a sharp piece of glass in his hand, as he threatened to slice it into her skin. She immediately silenced herself in fear. “Good girl!” he said, inhaling her hair, a mix of her sweat and fear, enticing him like never before. “Now,” he said holding her hands, “turn around and don’t make a sound!”

Gauri sobbed silently as she turned around to face him. He had a handsome smile on his face, but it was only under this moonlight she could see the devil hiding beneath that smile. “Let me go, please, Ajinkya, I won’t even tell anyone, I promise!” she pleaded. Right now, even if he demanded to kiss his feet, she would do that. There was no sense in rebelling when he literally held a glass shard in his hand that could slice into her any time. Ajinkya asked her to kneel on the floor, and reluctantly, she did, all the while in tears.

########## <ends>

***

“No Sir,” The restaurant manager said to a frantic Omkara, “Madam left with Sir, almost half an hour back!” Omkara cussed, not bothered about a few heads that turned his way at his rude language. Shivaay called him up on his phone, and he answered, “She’s not here, Shivaay! He took her from here half an hour back!” He heard Shivaay deliver a string of epithets, and he knew they too felt the same anger. “I’ll call Arvind Uncle and ask if she reached!” Omkara said and disconnected the call.

***

Gauri wept bitterly on her knees as her entire life flashed before her eyes. How blissful had she been! This evening when she was leaving the restaurant, she hadn’t imagined that in a couple of minutes, something this terrible would happen to her. She recalled her moments with her Maa and Papa. If Ajinkya killed her tonight, how would they find her body? Her parents would be dead on the inside when they would see her corpse. Her thoughts shifted to Oberoi. He had warned her; he had tried his best. But she was so foolish to turn a deaf ear to his words, and a blind eye to his care for her. She had pushed him away so far, that now he refused to look at her. If she were to die tonight, would he come to her funeral?

***

“No beta, she isn’t home yet. I’ve been trying her number as well, but it seems unreachable.” Omkara tried to keep his tone as normal as possible. If Arvind Sharma were to detect the worry in his tone, he would be worried sick too. Omkara nodded as he continued, “However if she reaches, should I ask her to give you a call?” he asked. “Yes, yes please!” Omkara said urgently, and then shut his eyes. Arvina frowned, asking, “Is everything okay? Gauri is fine, right?” Omkara hated to lie, but he didn’t want to worry the older man. “Yes, Uncle, everything is fine. I’ll talk to you soon!” he said, to which he replied, “Kabhi ghar aana beta. Bahut time se tumse baat nahi hui” Omkara nodded and disconnected the call.

“Gauri, where are you?” he murmured, worried like never before. He could feel it in his heart; she was in some kind of trouble. He tried her number to no avail. Just when he was about to leave, the manager said in a hushed tone, “Miss Gauri did look a little ill when she left from here”

Omkara whipped around and frowned. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” The manager helplessly shrugged, looking around. Omkara pulled him aside, and said in a stern tone, “Tell me more about it.”

***

Gauri’s chain of thoughts was broken when she heard Ajinkya say something. She looked at him, too stunned to move. All rational thinking had come to a halt when she saw him clutch that glass shard harder in his hand. “All I wanted was for us to spend some time together, baby!” he said with a scowl on his face, “But you had to go ahead and make things difficult!” The last two cells of Gauri’s brain seem to be working still, and so she said, “You could have just told me that, Ajju?”

Ajinkya looked at her. She had stopped weeping, and was now looking at him in confusion. “What?” he whispered, unable to believe what she just said. She dared to rise from her knees. Ajinkya brought the glass shard forward as if threatening her not to make any sudden movement. Gauri held her arms up in surrender but kept her gaze shifting between his eyes and the hand that held the glass. “All you had to do, Ajju, was to tell me you wanted to spend some time with me!” she said, smartly distracting him.

Ajinkya looked at her in confusion, saying, “You mean, I didn’t have to slip that pill in your drink?” Gauri felt her heart racing as he inched forward to her. Given his body language, he looked like he’d loosened his hold on the glass. But it would be foolish on her part if she were to bolt away. She had to catch him off guard and then make her escape. Till where, God alone knew…

Gauri nodded, looking at him, saying, “You just had to tell me that. You scared me when I felt like I was dying!” He instantly threw the glass away and held her in his arms. Gauri tried not to struggle much, even if she felt super uncomfortable in his arms. With the way he behaved, she knew that he would enjoy seeing her struggle against him. “You weren’t dying, silly girl! Those were just the side effects of the pill. I thought you needed something to loosen up. I didn’t know you were as eager as I was. The little minx was just playing hard to get, I see…” he said with a grin.

***

“Shivaay” Omkara said over the phone as he was leaving the restaurant, “Gauri was dizzy and looked sick when she left from here. That asshole refused to call a doctor when the manager offered to.”

“That bastard must have spiked her food or drink!” Shivaay replied. Meanwhile, Omkara heard Rudra in the background, “I’ve asked my friend, who’s a hacker, to trace Gauri’s phone location. He said he can do it and will get back to me in a while” Both Omkara and Shivaay were thankful for the first time that Rudy was friends with a hacker. “Ask him to hurry, though,” Om said, worried.

***

Gauri bit her lip to prevent the sob escape from her throat when he dipped his head against the skin of her neck. She deliberately ran her hand over his chest, as if seducing him. Despite her absolute lack of experience with a man, she was successful in making him groan. Then, when she felt him slack against her body, she gave him one great shove and jumped out of his hold.

########## <begins>

“You bitch!” Ajinkya roared, having realized she had played him. Under a mere minute, he caught up with her. She wriggled in his hold and scratched his face with her sharp nails. When he caught hold of her arm and twisted it painfully, Gauri screamed, but not before spitting on his face. “You bloody-” he slapped her face. Gauri winced when she felt the skin of her lip slice open.

Holding her hands behind her back, Ajinkya said in anger, “You think you can play me, eh?” Gauri looked at him, slightly dizzy from the slap, and noticed he was unbuckling his belt. “Let me go, please! I beg you” she said in a painful groan, as she felt the metallic tang of her blood in her mouth. Her lip was now bleeding. “Should have thought of that before you scratched me and spit on my face!” he said angrily. Holding her face with his hand, while gripping her hands with his other, he said to her, “What did you say earlier? That I just had to ask, right? Look, I’m asking you now. I want to fuck you. C’mon, huh, say yes?” Gauri groaned as he squished her face in his hand, as he shook her furiously, “Say yes, Gauri! I said, say yes! You know how much I hate forcing my word on you!”

Gauri closed her eyes, still struggling to wriggle despite her exhaustion. “That Oberoi!” he said, making her look at him. “He challenged me that I should not exert my control over you! He asked me to stay in my limits! Ha! Where is he now? Fucker thinks he can teach me my limits? Where is he? He’s not come to save you? Your best- friend?” Gauri, still struggling to break free, said with a crack in her voice, “You’re doing this with me to sate your ego about what Omkara said?” she asked. He pulled her closer and angrily whispered, “Don’t take his name. You should take just my name. You’re mine, only mine!”

Gauri wriggled more, trying to break free. “Why did you have to go to speak to those three brothers today? If you hadn’t gone, they wouldn’t have insulted me! They were literally laughing at my face today! They smirked when you spoke back to me! You had the nerve to humiliate me by back answering me? You’re my future wife! You should be respecting me! Instead, you mock me, talk back to me, and they laugh at me? How dare you!” His hold on her hand turned harder, almost twisting her wrist.

Gauri screamed in pain and looked at him in fear. When she’d first met him at her house, when he’d come over with a marriage proposal, she hadn’t in her wildest dreams imagined she would be standing in front of him, pleading for her life. “Please, Ajinkya, let me go!” she cried, and he pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t cry, my love!” he said in a sudden sympathetic tone. “I’ll let you go, but you have to tell me you love me, okay?” he asked. Gauri looked at him, through her bitter tears, wondering what a maniac this man was. “You love me, right? Tell me. I’ll let you go!” he said, wiping her tears away.  Gauri nodded, hoping not to anger him, and then run away the moment he loosened his hold on her. She had to take this chance, and fast!

“I… I love y… you” she hiccupped, cowering in fear, bringing a bright smile to his lips. “I love you too!” he said, pressing her lips against hers, even if she had pursed her lips tightly to not allow him to kiss her. He pulled away and looked at the cut on her lip. Caressing that as soft as ever, he said to her in a sorrowful tone, “I am so sorry, my love!” he wiped the blood that had trickled down her chin with the edge of his sleeve.

“I told you I love you. Please, let me go,” Gauri was still hiccupping from crying when he shushed her like one would shush a baby, asking her not to cry.

“One more thing, and I’ll let you go, I promise!” She looked at him, defeated and in tears. “Do you not trust me?” he asked her, getting angry suddenly. She nodded a bit too quickly, not wanting to anger him further. “Say it. Say it you trust me!” he demanded. “I trust you, Ajinkya. I trust you!” she said hurriedly. “Good girl,” he said, and his hand made its way to her back. Inching close to her, he said, “I promise to let you go, only if you let me fuck you, babe!”

Gauri’s eyes widened in horror. “N… No!” she said, cowering in fear. “No, please, don’t!” she tried to kick him between his legs while wriggling, but he pushed her against the trunk of a huge tree. “C’mon, say yes, Gauri! You’ll enjoy it, trust me!” he said with a merciless grin. Wedging his knee between her thighs, Ajinkya tried to get a hold of the zipper of her dress. When he couldn’t, owing to her constant struggling, he angrily ripped her sleeve off, making Gauri almost roar in anguish.

Fumbling with the zipper of his pants, Ajinkya hurriedly tried to pull his pants down, when he felt as if he was pulled away from her. He had been turned around with such force, that before he could realize anything, he saw a fist coming at his face.

########## <ends>

Omkara stood there like a raging untamed beast, in front of him, as he blinked hard. His long locks flying, unbound by the usual hair-ties he wore, his eyes blood-shot in pure rage; to Ajinkya, it looked as if the God of wrath had dramatically stepped onto the earth to stand in front of him. “How dare you! You, sick bastard!” he roared when he saw the man’s undone pants and kicked him hard in his crotch. Ajinkya yelped, crouching in pain, and Omkara took the chance to knee him at his nose, knocking off a tooth or two. Ajinkya groaned as blood trickled down his nose and mouth. Then, with a final blow, he held him by his collar and slammed his head against the trunk of the tree, right next to where Gauri was now sitting, curled up. Ajinkya Agnihotri fell to the ground, unconscious, as he bled profusely.

Omkara then turned his gaze to see Gauri, sitting on the ground, curled into a ball. “Gauri!” he whispered cautiously, kneeling in front of her, but she shivered fearfully, looking away, bitterly sobbing. Omkara took his own jacket off and put it around her. His hand brushed her shoulder as he covered her with it, and something seemed to tick off within her. She wailed in anguish and fear, pushing Omkara’s hands away, muttering something incoherent, asking him in a plea to let her go.

“Gauri, it’s me!” he said, his eyes turning misty, knowing she was in shock, but she refused to listen. He tried to hold her wrists but she kept pushing his hand away, inching away in fear. “Sharma, main hoon! Tera Oberoi!” he almost shouted at her to bring her out of that trance-like state. At that, she froze and looked at him. She saw his eyes looking into hers, and then curiously moved her gaze over his face. It was him. Oberoi had come for her! “It’s me. It’s okay, it’s okay!” he said in a broken whisper, cautious enough to avoid touching her lest she gets scared again, but holding his arms open, all the while asking her to calm down.

Gauri broke down into bitter sobs, not before scrambling close to him and wrapping herself in his embrace. Pressing her cheek against his chest, she almost howled in pain, as she said, “He tried to… he almost…” Omkara knew she couldn’t finish her sentence. He pulled her into a tight embrace, shushing and consoling her that she was now perfectly fine and that, thankfully, nothing extreme had happened. Bitterly she sobbed, as he hugged her wordlessly. She was safe now. All said and done, he was just relieved she was safe. That was all that mattered; nothing else.