by MV Kasi
“I’ll try. We might have to take help from the police along with the investigators.”
Nina began to panic. “No. Don’t reach out to the police yet. Please. Just the PIs. Please, hurry. Also… can you put together a list of reporters who have reached out to us in the last one year with anything to be used a blackmail.”
There was another significant pause before Radha answered.“Okay.”
“Radha… please keep this away from the police investigation. I don’t want… this to be made public.”
“Okay.”
Although Nina had known Radha for ten years and trusted Radha implicitly, Nina knew Radha’s utmost priority was Suraj.
Radha would rather save Suraj from a possible attack or from getting badly hurt than save Gaurav who was criminal in the eyes of the world.
Although, guilt tore at her, it was one of the reasons why Nina didn’t give Suraj, Gaurav’s name. Because Suraj and Radha had no secrets between them, and Suraj would do anything that Radha asked him to.
In fact it was Radha who had insisted that Suraj marry Nina.
CHAPTER 51
Ten years ago…
“Devi! Get up!” Nina screamed.
“She’s gone,” the man stated softly. “There’s no pulse or heartbeat.”
“No! No! She can’t leave me. She knows she’s all I have. She promised we’d be together and would’t leave like Uma did.” Nina was hysterical.
“We have to get out of here,” she heard another voice say. “Someone will come looking for Pranit soon.”
Nina was clinging to her sister’s body, rubbing her soft hair over and over again. “Devi, please. Get up.”
She felt someone grabbing her. She tried to resist when they pulled her away from her sister. The arms while gentle, were also firm.
She was taken out of the hotel to another place.
Nina didn’t know how long she stayed there. She was in too much pain and grief to care.
“Please, let me help you,” the man pleaded. “They will arrest you along with me for the murder. The man we killed is a son of a very influential man. They won’t just throw you in jail, they’ll even get you killed.”
She wanted to say, I don’t care what happens to me, but couldn’t.
We are survivors, Nina. As long as we can, we fight. Because being alive is much better.
Devi’s words resonated inside Nina’s head.
Nina stared at the man blindly. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
He took a deep breath. “I want you to marry me.”
At the man’s insane declaration, some of Nina’s shock faded, and she stared at him. She had seen him on television and in newspapers standing next to his father who was the current chief minister of the state. He was handsome, he was rich, and most of the girls in the state adored him and dreamt about marrying him.
Then what could he possibly want with her? Nina refused to believe it was completely an act of charity to save her from jail.
She knew how real life worked. There would always be a catch.
His hand held hers and squeezed it gently. “Please, marry me. I’ll cover this episode up with a story.”
Nina didn’t want her sister’s murder to be covered up. But since the culprit was already killed, there wasn’t other justice to be done. If she were caught and declared the murderer, then she would spend the rest of her life in jail or like the man said, she would be killed by the culprit’s family.
Being alive is better.
Nina’s survival instincts kicked in. She knew Devi would want her to fight.
“Nina?” the man asked.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”
During the initial months of their marriage, it hadn’t been easy for Nina to adjust to a life of luxury and constant scrutiny, and neither was it easy for Suraj to have her as his wife. Her sadness and her anger at the world were directed against him sometimes. But he was always patient with her. With gentleness and genuine care, he softened some of the ice that had formed around her heart.
Suraj and she might not have an all consuming passionate kind of love, but theirs was love forged through friendship and caring.
Nina had promised to herself that come what may, she would always protect Suraj like he had protected her.
CHAPTER 52
Present…
It took a little over two weeks for the PI that Nina and Radha had hired to put together the information on medical students who had committed suicide by hanging.
The list had nearly a dozen cases. With heart thudding, Nina sat on the bed and opened the files.
She went through the pictures of the victims. Her heart felt heavy looking at the young innocent faces who had decided to give up on life.
She had reached the end of the list, and so far, none of them showed the picture of a pretty girl with a bright smile that Gaurav had in the picture frame in his room.
Nina was frustrated.
“Any luck identifying the pictures of the reporters I sent?” Radha asked.
“No,” Nina answered in frustration.
Nina had gone through an extensive list of pictures of various journalists between the ages of twenty five to forty. So far she hadn’t encountered the intense eyes of her captor.
A few days ago, Nina had met with the police and media to give out statements.
“I was given drugs and blindfolded during the time of my captivity. The last day, I pretended to take the pills even though I didn’t. When my kidnappers left, I was able to escape.”
“Mrs. Bhupati, can you tell us why you were taken?”
“Ransom,” Suraj interjected. “I received an email asking me to shell out money in change of my wife’s return.”
“But the earlier reports said no ransom demand was made.”
When Suraj didn’t answer, another reporter asked. “How much? And did you pay it?”
“That’s confidential,” Radha answered. “If you have further questions, please speak with the Bhupatis’ lawyer. Thank you.”
There were more questions asked all at the same time, but Suraj escorted Nina away from there.
“I’ve started to look at the investigation reports during the time of my kidnap.” The PI was helping her through to see if there were any clues as to where she was taken.
“I know they are not very helpful and they keep going in circles,” Suraj stated.
Nina agreed with him. She had read through some of the reports. There were no good leads whatsoever. Either her kidnap was very well planned or the entire police force and private investigators were incompetent.
Nina took a deep breath. “Just give me some more time to find him.”
“We are making the investigation as discreet as possible, Nina,” Suraj promised.
Nina nodded in misery. She badly needed to trace Gaurav. She also needed to know what he had been investigating that implicated Suraj.
When Suraj and Radha left, Nina returned to the investigation reports.
She saw an address of a link. She brought out her laptop and typed the link.
Her heart skipped a beat
It was the video recorded by Gaurav when he had hacked her hair off and threatened her with a knife. On the video, Gaurav had done a thorough job of acting as an evil kidnapper who wanted to torture and rape his victim.
Nina recalled her feelings at that time. She was both angry and terrified at the same time.
But now, she only remembered Gaurav’s regret as he lovingly ran his fingers through her short locks of hair and kissed it while apologizing to her. And sometimes, he had even arranged wildflowers in her hair when they had lazed on the grass next to the lake after their session of lovemaking.
Three months had passed since her hair had been cut, and it had grown longer since then. It was falling on her shoulders right now.
Sighing and not wanting to drown in self-pity and depression while recalling her time with Gaurav, she closed the laptop and cont
inued reading through the investigative reports.
Much later, Nina realized Suraj hadn’t been joking.
She kept reading report after report where there were several leads which turned out to be dead ends.
When she slept that night, Nina’s sleep was uneasy with dreams of Gaurav and Suraj having a bare -handed fight where each of them were determined to kill each other.
She woke in a panic.
Unable to sleep after the bad dream, she continued to read through the reports. It was almost morning and her brain was too tired by then, but a shock jolted her as her eyes fell on a name.
It was the name of one of the police investigators.
It probably is a coincidence. It’s a common enough name.
Nina’s mind tried to reason even as her gut shouted a warning.
Nina decided to go with her gut feeling.
CHAPTER 53
“Hello ACP, Vikram.”
Nina saw the man’s jaw clench at the formal greeting.
“Mrs. Bhupati,” he greeted back. She hadn’t seen his face when he had caught her in bed with Gaurav. But she knew it was him. Nina recognized the eyes and voice of the man who had come close to killing her twice during her captivity.
Vikram was a police officer in the Criminal Investigation department with an impressive job profile. He was known to have cracked cases in record time. He was also known to have been aggressive and relentless when it comes to dealing with the criminals.
It hadn’t been easy to track down Vikram.
The nagging feeling she had since the time she had woken up in the forest cabin after being kidnapped, became clear after reading through the investigation reports. She had a vague recollection of hearing a police siren when she was drugged and kidnapped. Even the investigation details of her abduction had stated that a police vehicle was patrolling around at the time of the kidnapping.
The vehicle used for her kidnap was a police vehicle.
That information, combined with the coincidence of one of the names of the investigating officers involved in tracking her, pointed to a critical fact.
Vikram was not only one of her abductors, but he was also one of the police officers investigating her kidnap. He had misled and bumbled the entire investigation to search for her.
And he was right to have wanted her dead.
He probably knew that despite the care he and Gaurav had taken to protect their identities, she would still be able to track them down if she were let go.
“Where is your friend?” Nina asked.
Vikram kept quiet and stared at her in a challenge, as though daring her to get him arrested.
“I know it was you, Vikram. I rather you offer me the details yourself.”
Vikram’s jaw tightened. “Or else, what, Mrs. Bhupati?” he asked. “Don’t threaten me. You won’t like the results.”
Nina returned his threatening stare with a hard stare of her own. “I already don’t like the results,” she said. “I don’t intend to reveal yours or Gaurav’s identities as my kidnappers. If I did, I would have done so by now. But, of course, it all depends on whether you’ll tell me what I want.”
He glared at her, and she could see him debating whether or not to reveal any information to her.
She kept her eyes locked to his, refusing to back down or be intimidated by him.
Being an influential politician and businessman’s wife, she had a lot more social power than him in society’s eyes. And even if she wasn’t, she still had the leverage of being a kidnap victim of a police officer.
“All right,” he said grimly after a while. “What exactly do you want to know?”
“I know Gaurav is an investigative journalist. You don’t have to give me his full name. But tell me where he is, and why he’s targeting Suraj.”
“Gaurav is not his real name,” he said. “And he went away on my request as he’s a wanted man because of you. He might never return. And as to why he’s seeking revenge on your husband, I won’t reveal it to you. Ever. He’s my close friend. Even if you choose to build a case against me, I’m willing to risk my career and my freedom for him.”
Nina’s first thought was that the name of the man she loved—wasn’t Gaurav. But Nina didn’t care. She would refer to him as Gaurav in her mind.
And then, disappointment sat heavy in her stomach.
Vikram wasn’t going to budge. Gaurav had a loyal friend in him.
Nina was both proud and disappointed at the same time.
The disappointment and the feeling of a devastating loss was mostly because Gaurav had left.
Even though she knew both Gaurav and Suraj were much safer with Gaurav leaving, Nina still felt the heavy blow.
Vikram was observing her closely. Nina knew she no longer looked like the confident woman who had come to demand answers from him. Instead she looked like a shaken woman who suffered a heavy loss.
“If… if you speak with him or meet him some time, can you let him know that Suraj is willing to talk and be open about any investigation. I checked with Suraj, and he told me that he never passed such an order to have an innocent killed.”
Vikram’s eyes hardened. “Yes, of course,” he said politely. “Anything else, Mrs. Bhupati?”
“No.”
Vikram nodded and called for someone to escort her outside.
Nina blindly followed the man.
Later, when she sat in her car, looking out the window, she realized that the possibility of never seeing Gaurav was now a reality.
CHAPTER 54
Two months had passed since Nina was found after her kidnapping, and life was back to being as before.
Nina was miserable.
“Ready, sweetheart?” Suraj’s voice called from their bedroom.
Nina looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Not yet,” she whispered to herself. She didn’t know if she would ever be ready or even feel happy.
Taking a deep breath and raising her chin, she went out of the dressing area and to her bedroom where Suraj was waiting for her.
Suraj had tried to cheer her up by spending most of his spare time with her. But Nina spent long hours of the day, continuing to do her charity and volunteer work and collapsed on the bed during the nights.
Charity work gave her peace of mind. She had spent the last ten years similarly and was somewhat content with it. Now, she became greedy and craved other things in life as well.
She wanted to be in love. She wanted color, and she wanted passion. And she didn’t just want those things from anyone—she only wanted it from Gaurav.
She knew she might never have any of it.
“Radha is waiting in the car.” Suraj’s voice was gentle. He kissed her forehead. “Sure you are up to this? It’s only been a couple of months since you returned. People will understand if you can stay home.”
Nina was tempted to take up Suraj’s offer to stay home. But she knew that, lately, she had reverted back to drowning in self-pity, and she was shunning a lot of social interactions because of it.
She knew she couldn’t go on like that. She had to get back to the land of the living and do whatever best she could.
Suraj still needed her. Elections were only a few months away. In the last month, so far, even though she didn’t socialize or accompany him to any place, people forgave her, because she had gone through an ordeal.
She had even heard that there were rumors being spread about her which would work against Suraj’s political ambition. So she had decided to join him tonight in her first social outing since her kidnapping.
“I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “What’s the occasion?” she asked as she slid into the car.
“It’s the annual function that Ganesh Verma hosts. Harika said she tried to reach you, but you didn’t return her calls.”
“I was busy,” she said.
Soon, the car parked in front of the Verma’s house.
It was a huge, showy house that screamed of wealth and power.
&
nbsp; “Nina!” Harika greeted her with a smile. She was standing on top of the steps at the entrance greeting the guests.
Although Harika didn’t live here, she hosted the parties on behalf of her uncle.
Harika’s husband, Raghuveer, shook Suraj’s hand. “Glad Nina could join you today. How are you doing, Nina?” he asked with a smile.
Nina forced a smile at the man. “I’m fine.”
“Your parents are already here, Suraj,” Harika said with a beaming smile.
It didn’t fill Nina with dread. Maybe because Nina didn’t care anymore, the senior Bhupati hadn’t really been obnoxious to her lately. He had barely visited them in the last two months and even during visits, he barely spoke to Nina.
Nina knew it must have mostly been because of Suraj. He must have strictly warned his father about upsetting her.
Clutching Suraj’s hand, Nina took a deep breath to face rest of the evening. As soon as she entered, she was dragged away from Suraj and people began conversing with her.
“Belize was just awesome. You should visit that place sometime, Nina. You’ll absolutely love it.”
“God, Nina. Ninety days! Weren’t you terrified?”
“Did you really not see any of your kidnappers’ faces?”
“What did they do to you for three months?”
“How did you escape?”
Two hours into the party, Nina realized that having the familiar circle of people whom she knew for nearly a decade, only made her even bitter and lonelier. Either people were lost in their own lives to bother asking how she was doing or there were probing questions about her captivity.
She was sick of fielding both.
Some of them even looked towards her stomach. Since she had lost a considerable amount of weight and looked fatigued, they thought she was pregnant. They had excited looks in their eyes, imagining the juicy drama that would ensue if she was pregnant. Would the baby belong to the husband? Or the kidnapper, they all would probably wonder.
