chapter 40
Standing in the shadows, her posture cold, smug, and deadly, was Swetha.
“You…” Ishni hissed, her voice a mixture of anger and disbelief.
Swetha’s lips curved into a cruel smile, her eyes gleaming in the dim light. “Well, well… if it isn’t Ishni Singh Rajput. Brave… or maybe just foolish, coming here alone.”
Ishni’s fists clenched at her sides, her body trembling with fury. “This ends tonight, Swetha,” she spat, her voice steady despite the fear clawing at her chest.
Swetha laughed softly, a venomous, chilling sound. “Oh, dear… tonight is only the beginning.”
Ishni’s gaze hardened, her fingers tightening over her stomach instinctively. “Not if I can stop you,” she whispered.
“Catch her!!” Swetha yelled, her voice slicing through the silence like a whip.
Suddenly, several men appeared from the shadows, moving quickly to surround Ishni. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized she was trapped.
“Rudra!!” she screamed, her voice cracking with panic.
Swetha’s laugh rang cold and cruel, echoing off the dusty walls. “Scream all you want, Ishni… but he won’t come!!”
Ishni struggled violently, fists swinging, kicking, but the men’s grips were too strong. They started dragging her toward the darkened corridor.
“Let me go!!” she yelled, her voice raw with terror. “Rudra!! Help me!!”
The more she fought, the tighter their hold became. Dust swirled around them, and the dim lights flickered above, casting long, menacing shadows.
Her heart pounded, each step away from safety making her panic grow. She twisted, kicked, screamed but there was no escaping.
Ishni wasn’t a fragile woman not for Rudra, not for their baby.
Even as the men grabbed her, she summoned every ounce of strength she had.
With a sudden push, she sent two of them stumbling backward.
Her legs moved before her mind could think she ran.
Hard, fast, blindly, her bare feet scraping against the rough floor as she bolted into the dark corridors of the mansion.
“Catch her!! This bitch!!” Swetha’s furious yell echoed behind her, but Ishni didn’t dare look back.
She could hear the footsteps of the men following, heavy and relentless. Panic surged, but she forced herself to keep moving. Her lungs burned, sweat dripped down her face, and the night air was thick with tension.
She burst through the mansion’s exit and stumbled onto the roadside, her bare feet feeling every stone, every crack. She was gasping, hands pressed instinctively to her stomach.
“Bacha… tension mat lo… Mama aapko kuch nahi hone degi…” she whispered softly, rocking herself slightly as if talking to the baby inside her. Her fear for Rudra and their child gave her courage, a burning determination that refused to let her falter.
She wiped the sweat and tears from her face, her eyes scanning the road, searching, hoping… praying that Rudra would come.
Even in fear, even in exhaustion, Ishni refused to surrender. She would fight for her life, for their baby, and for Rudra.
The road was dark, empty, and silent, save for the distant hum of the city. Ishni had run far, barefoot, her bare feet scraping against the asphalt, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Rudra!!” she screamed, her voice breaking in desperation. But no answer came.
Suddenly, the shadowed figures of Swetha’s men appeared, surrounding her.
“This time, you won’t survive, Ishni,” Swetha hissed from the shadows, her voice venomous.
Ishni’s hands clenched into fists. Fear surged, but courage burned brighter. She fought with every ounce of strength, kicking, punching, and throwing herself at them, refusing to be overpowered.
The men staggered under her ferocity, but there were too many.
Then a heavy thud to the back of her head. Pain exploded across her skull. Blood ran down her face, blinding her, everything swimming in red and darkness.
Her legs buckled. The night spun around her like a cruel storm. She struggled to lift her head, to fight again, but her body refused.
Her lips moved, barely audible.
“Rudra…”
And with that final whisper, she collapsed onto the cold asphalt, unconscious, her blood mixing with the night.
Rudra was still inside the abandoned mansion, his mind focused on every shadow, every sound. Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain gripped his chest. Something didn’t feel right.
His eyes snapped open. “No…” he muttered, instincts screaming.
Without another thought, he bolted toward the exit. Outside, chaos met him Vipul and his men were running frantically in every direction, shouting orders, searching desperately.
“Vipul!!” Rudra yelled, his voice cutting through the panic
Vipul spun around, his face pale, eyes wide with fear. “Boss… ma’am… she… she’s missing!”
Rudra’s chest tightened, the world narrowing down to a single horrifying possibility. “Ishni…” he whispered under his breath, his jaw clenching so hard it ached.
He scanned the area, the night, the dark road ahead. Every second felt like an eternity. His hands trembled not from fear for himself, but for her, and for the life growing inside her.
“Where is she?!” he demanded, his voice sharp, commanding, raw with desperation.
Vipul shook his head. “We don’t know, boss… we were just about to…”
Rudra’s hand closed around Vipul’s collar like iron.
The world narrowed to the metallic taste of panic and blood nothing else mattered.
“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SHE ISN’T HERE?
” he roared, every word a blade. He slammed Vipul against the nearest pillar, his voice low and deadly.
“Even if a single scratch touches her, I’ll bury you all alive. FIND HER NOW!!!”
Vipul’s face went white but he didn’t flinch.
“Boss—yes, boss! Right away!” he stammered, swallowing hard.
Rudra threw him aside and pivoted, fury turning to orders.
“Seal this place. Every gate, every exit lock it now. Men split into teams. Roadblocks at every turn. Searchlights. Phones on. Nothing moves without my say.”
A dozen men leapt into action like soldiers answering a war cry.
Rudra’s voice cut through the chaos: “Vipul, take half the men and scour the surrounding roads quick, in pairs. Arjun, you and three go check the hospital and nearest clinics. Neeraj CCTV, traffic cams, every camera in a five-kilometre radius. Call every contact. Find her. Now!”
“Lock down every hospital and clinic within ten kilometres.”
His voice was calm but deadly calm.
“Nobody walks in. Nobody walks out. Not a single damn soul.”
He loaded his gun, slipped it into his jacket, and whispered,
“She’s missing…
and the city bleeds until I find her.”
Rudra kept walking, his steps heavy and uneven, the silence of the night pressing in from all sides. The air reeked of smoke, dust, and dread. His heartbeat pounded louder with every passing second.
Then, under the dim flicker of a broken streetlight, something caught his eye a dark, wet stain glistening on the road.
He stopped. Slowly, he bent down, fingers trembling as they brushed the surface. The red smear clung to his skin.
Blood.
His throat tightened. “Jaan…” he whispered, the word breaking from his lips like a prayer and a curse at once. His eyes widened, rage and fear flooding through him.
His jaw clenched, the vein in his temple pulsing as he looked around the empty road desperate, wild, searching. His breath grew heavy, almost a growl.
He rose to his feet, fists curling tight enough to draw his own blood. The streetlight flickered again, casting his shadow long and dark across the pavement.
“Ishni… where are you…” he whispered, his voice trembling, a storm brewing behind his eyes.
Somewhere…
The room was dark and damp, the only light flickering from a single hanging bulb. Ishni sat tied to a chair, her wrists bound tightly, a black ribbon covering her eyes. Her breath came in sharp gasps the metallic taste of fear mixing with anger.
Suddenly, splash!
Cold water hit her face. She flinched, coughing, droplets running down her cheeks as the ribbon soaked through.
“You think you can outsmart me, huh?” Swetha’s voice sliced through the silence, dripping with venom. She stepped closer, heels clicking against the concrete floor.
Ishni’s jaw tightened. “What the hell do you want from me?! Let me go!” she shouted, struggling to twist her wrists free from the rope, her skin already bruised raw.
Swetha smirked, leaning closer until Ishni could feel her cold breath near her ear. “Oh, sweetheart… you really think I’d let you go after everything you’ve done? You took everything from me Rudra, the mansion, my name.”
Ishni spat to the side, her voice sharp even in pain. “You destroyed yourself, Swetha. You and your greed.”
Swetha’s expression darkened. She grabbed Ishni’s chin roughly. “Keep talking, darling. Let’s see how long that tongue of yours lasts when your precious Rudra watches you suffer.”
Ishni spat through clenched teeth. “Don’t play dirty, Swetha. Rudra will destroy you.”
Swetha laughed a cold, mirthless sound that filled the room. “Darling, you don’t even know me yet.” She drew closer, eyes glittering. “I came all the way from Italy to finish him… and his father.”
Ishni’s blindfolded face stiffened. “What… do you mean?” she managed, every word a knife.
Swetha’s fingers closed on Ishni’s chin, forcing her head up.
“Everything you’ve seen, everything that broke his life it was my plan.
” Her smile widened, cruel and proud. “Rajput’s father built bridges with Italians, made deals, climbed higher and higher…
until greed ate him. He betrayed people who trusted him. We lost everything because of him.”
She let the words hang, then lowered her voice to a hush. “So I seduced him. I became the woman at his side. I pushed his wife out. I made sure the kids were out of his household. And when the chance came… I burned them.”
Ishni’s stomach lurched. She tried to wrench her hands free but the rope bit deep. “You liar,” she hissed. “You killed them.”
Swetha shrugged, as if naming murder were a trivial thing.
“Unfortunate collateral. He thought he could use me instead I used him. But fate is a funny thing. The brat lived. Rudra survived. And now? Now I’ll finish what I started.
I’ll take his name, his crown, his bloodline everything. ”
Swetha leaned close, her perfume sharp and suffocating, her lips brushing Ishni’s ear.
“And the funniest thing?” she whispered, voice dripping venom. “Rajput never even realized I was using him.”
A cruel laugh slipped from her throat, echoing in the dark, empty room. Ishni froze her heart pounding, her breath uneven and the tears she’d been holding back finally broke free, sliding down her bruised cheeks.
Swetha straightened slowly, watching her cry with a smirk. Then slap! her palm cracked across Ishni’s face, sending her head jerking to the side.
“You’re pathetic,” she sneered, tilting Ishni’s chin up with a finger. “All that fire, all that attitude… and look at you now. Crying like a lost girl.”
Ishni’s jaw trembled, but her eyes though wet and red blazed with fury. Swetha noticed it, her smile twitching slightly before she turned away.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Swetha said over her shoulder. “You won’t have to cry for long. Once Rudra’s gone, I’ll make sure you join him.”
She walked out, her heels clicking against the concrete floor, leaving Ishni trembling but not broken. Her tears slowed, her jaw clenched.
“Rudra…” she whispered to the dark. “Come fast…”
Rudra’s hand slammed against the table the sound cracked through the silence like thunder.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL DOING?!” he roared, his voice shaking the walls. “WHY HAVEN’T YOU FOUND HER YET?!”
The men around him froze. No one dared to look up. The air was thick heavy with fear, tension, and Rudra’s rage that could tear the world apart.
“Answer me!” he shouted again, grabbing one man by the collar and throwing him against the wall. “She’s out there, alone, and you fools are standing here like statues!”
“B…boss, we—we’re trying, the area’s—”
“Trying?!” Rudra’s eyes were bloodshot, veins visible on his neck.
He pulled out his gun. “Trying doesn’t save her!
”
He fired a shot into the ceiling
BANG!
— and everyone flinched. Another bullet — BANG!
— straight into the table, splintering the wood.
“I swear on my Jaan’s life,” he growled, his voice low, dangerous, “if a single scratch comes to her I’ll burn this world to the ground.
Every one of you will beg for mercy before I’m done. ”
He dropped the gun on the table, breathing hard. His jaw tightened, his eyes glistened pain flickering beneath the rage.
“Find her,” he whispered, almost breaking. “Before I lose my mind.”
Somewhere...
Ishni’s breaths came out uneven, the room reeking of damp walls and fear. Her hands were tied tight behind the chair, wrists burning against the rope. She looked around, desperate eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
“Please… God, help me,” she whispered under her breath.
Her gaze landed on something a sharp stone lying a few feet away.
Her heart skipped. That could be her only chance.
Carefully, she shifted in the chair, her ankles scraping against the floor until the edge of her foot brushed the stone.
It slipped away once twice.
“Shit… shit…” she muttered, biting her lip, refusing to cry.
But Ishni wasn’t the kind of woman who gave up. With trembling strength, she angled her foot again, dragging the stone closer inch by inch. Sweat rolled down her temple; her legs ached, but finally, she caught it between her toes.
Her pulse quickened. Slowly, painfully, she bent forward, lowering her head toward her legs until her lips touched the stone. Her shoulders screamed in pain, her head spun but she didn’t stop.
“Come on… just a little more,” she whispered to herself, gripping the edge of hope.
She clenched the stone between her teeth, the rough edges scraping her lips, but she didn’t care. Every second counted. Every heartbeat echoed louder in the silence.
Her hands ached, her arms trembling, yet she kept rubbing the stone against the rope slow, steady, desperate.
Sweat trickled down her forehead, mixing with the dried blood near her temple.
“Come on… come on…” she whispered through gritted teeth.
The rope started to fray, thin strands snapping one by one. A spark of hope lit in her chest. Her wrists burned, but she didn’t stop. She pressed harder, ignoring the sting, her breath turning ragged.
Finally — snap!
The last thread broke. Ishni froze for a moment, staring at her freed hands in disbelief. Her lips curved into a trembling smile.
She had done it.
She wiped her tears roughly and whispered,
“Rudra… just hold on. I’m coming back to you.”
Ishni slowly stood up, her legs shaking. Her head was hurting, her feet were bleeding, but she didn’t stop. She looked around and saw a small light coming from a door the way out.
Her heart was beating fast. I just have to reach there, she told herself.
She started running barefoot, her breath heavy, her chest tight. “Just a little more…” she whispered.
She could almost see the door clearly now, she was just a few steps away but suddenly, she tripped.
Her body hit the floor hard, her stomach hurting badly. She groaned in pain and looked down she had fallen on someone’s leg.
Then came a voice she hated to hear.
“You bitch! You think you can escape?” Swetha said angrily, standing in front of her with an evil smile.
Ishni’s eyes widened. Before she could get up, Swetha kicked her hard, making her fall again.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps filled the room slow, strong, and scary.
A man walked in wearing a black suit. Ishni’s eyes filled with fear as she looked at him.
He laughed and said, “Daughter-in-law…”
Ishni froze. Her body went cold.