Chapter 10 #2
Honestly, she didn’t understand how Kavita could live with a man who abused her verbally, physically, and even sexually. And that bstrd hadn’t even spared his daughter—Akansha had noticed the way he gave the child those unsettling, dirty looks that day. It disgusted her.
If it were her, she wouldn’t have stayed in a marriage for even a second if her husband had ever raised a hand or used his words as weapons against her.
Shaurya had certainly hated her, but he had never misbehaved with her or abused her in any way.
Whatever he did… was far worse in a different sense, and she could never forgive him for it.
The emotional wound he left behind refused to fade.
Yet, he was still a gentleman in many ways—and that was exactly what had made her fall in love with him in the first place.
She hated herself for compromising her self-respect and enduring his cold, distant behavior for months, all for even a glimpse of affection that never came.
She had loved him too deeply to walk away easily, but eventually, he gave her enough reasons to leave—and she did.
His harsh behavior had hurt her heart, not her dignity. If it had been her dignity, she would have walked away much earlier. Despite everything, she couldn’t deny that he was a wonderful man who knew how to respect women.
"Mumma... my lunch box..." Siya said, walking into the kitchen with her bag, pulling Akansha out of her thoughts.
"Here..." Akansha said, placing the tiffin box into her bag. And together, the mother and daughter left for school.
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"Will you be here or not? It's so late Richa and you aren't home till now..." Akansha asked on the phone.
"Ansha... sorry, I forgot to inform you. We were just informed of this journey. We're going outstation to cover a story. Will be back in 2 weeks. Take care," Richa said and hung up.
"What? This crazy woman didn’t even think of texting me... Why am I still friends with her?" Akansha cursed before starting to lock all the doors and windows when she noticed something unusual in their neighbour’s house.
She couldn’t find Kavita anywhere. She saw Sneha closing windows and drawing the curtains, but there was fear on her face, which made Akansha suspicious. Was it really there, or was she overthinking?
She called Kavita, but no one picked up.
Akansha tried to peek inside their house, but couldn’t see anything as all the doors and windows were locked and the curtains were drawn tightly. This was unusual, as Kavita always kept the curtains slightly open for safety.
She wanted to check, but she couldn’t risk leaving her daughter alone, who was sleeping peacefully inside. She immediately called Richa’s father.
"Uncle... please reach my home with aunty, it's urgent. You'll find my house keys in Richa’s bedroom. Please stay with Siya until I return," Akansha said quickly.
"We’re starting right away, beta... but what’s the issue?" he asked.
"I don’t know, uncle, but I strongly feel something is wrong with Shekhar. I’m going to check on Sneha and Kavita. I’m locking my house. Please stay with Siya, don’t let her come out, and keep her safe," Akansha said.
"Beta... wait for us, we can check together—"
"I can’t, uncle. I feel she is in danger. Please reach my place soon and take care of Siya," Akansha said and hung up.
She locked her home and walked toward her neighbour’s house with pepper spray and a knife. On the way, she called her brother, but his phone was unreachable.
"Damn Akash... pick up, pick up..." she mentally prayed, but the phone remained unreachable.
She reached the neighbour’s house and knocked.
No one opened the door.
No sound came from inside.
It was as if no one was there.
The deafening silence made everything more terrifying.
She started banging the door harder.
"Sneha... Kavita ji... open the door... someone please!"
Inside, Shekhar whispered, "Open the door and bring her in."
Sneha, terrified, opened it.
He looked at his unconscious wife and smirked—killing two birds with one stone.
He had been pretending to behave nicely in front of his wife and daughter for months, waiting for the right moment. And when he got it, he acted.
He had sent his wife away to a relative’s function. Kavita didn’t fully trust him, but she still went, believing Sneha would be at a friend’s place for group studies. However, he had already brought Sneha back and confiscated her phone so she couldn’t inform anyone.
But Sneha’s friend, aware of how terrified she was of her father, immediately called Kavita.
Kavita rushed back home, ruining his plan.
In rage, Shekhar assaulted his daughter in front of Kavita. When Kavita tried to stop him, he brutally hit her head with a cricket bat and rendered her unconscious.
Then he turned his attention to his daughter, blackmailing and threatening her.
In all of this, he did not expect Akansha.
He began everything only after noticing Akansha’s house lights were off. He assumed she was asleep, but she was actually waiting for Richa.
Sneha opened the door slightly and asked Akansha to come inside.
"No, I won’t. You come out. And where is your mumma? Is everything fine?" Akansha asked.
Sneha broke down crying. Akansha immediately pulled her into a hug.
"Damn it," Shekhar cursed and dragged Sneha back inside, slapping her hard.
Akansha couldn’t tolerate it anymore. She sprayed pepper spray into his eyes and pulled Sneha away.
"Ahh! Why are you here?" Shekhar shouted, struggling with the burning sensation in his eyes, already forming another plan in his mind. He searched for the cricket bat and finally found it.
Akansha was shocked to see Kavita lying in a pool of blood. She quickly dialed the police, but Shekhar snatched the phone and smashed it on the floor.
He tried to attack her with the bat, but his daughter hit him with a decorative jar from the table.
He was struggling with her when Akansha grabbed the cricket bat and struck him, making sure she didn’t hit his head. She didn’t want to kill him.
Shekhar managed to stand and immediately dialed the police, already building his story.
"Inspector saab... save me... this woman... she hit my wife and is now trying to kill me," he said into the phone, shocking Akansha.
"Ah!" he screamed and hung up quickly, creating enough drama to support his claim.
He knew the inspector would likely support him, as he had evidence of bribery against him. If the SI didn’t help, he would lose his job.
"If you say a single word in her favour, I will leak your mother’s tapes... and yours too," Shekhar threatened.
Akansha’s eyes widened.
"You bastard... how could you do this to your wife and daughter?"
"Think about yourself now. You’ll rot in jail. But what about your daughter? Should I adopt her? I’ll treat her exactly like I treat my own daughter," he said.
"How dare you... I will kill you even before you think about my daughter," Akansha said, striking him again with the bat.
"Sneha... go and tie something on your mother’s head. We need to stop the bleeding," Akansha said, still holding him down.
Shekhar suddenly grabbed Akansha’s hair and slapped her hard.
Sneha picked up the bat and hit him on the head again. It wasn’t strong enough, but it made him stagger and loosen his grip.
She hit him again.
The police arrived soon after.
Kavita was taken in the ambulance. Officers were about to take Shekhar as well to the hospital for treatment, but Akansha narrated everything. Though the SI tried to discredit her, the severity of the case forced action—physical and sexual assault charges included—so he had to proceed.
Shekhar was detained, and Akansha was taken into custody for formal procedures.
"Don't be scared, I won't put your mother's or your dignity at stake..." Akansha whispered to Sneha
"Sir... please, let's take the kid with us. She won't be safe anywhere else. Please," Akansha said.
"Shut up... don't preach to us," the SI shouted.
"You and I both know the truth. If you don't bring Sneha with us, I'll make sure this story—and your involvement in it—reaches women and child rights organizations," Akansha threatened.
The SI finally decided to bring Sneha with them after his subordinates also suggested the same, but mentally he promised himself to destroy Akansha’s life.
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"Sh*t... today's day is so bad. First that human trafficking and s*x racket bust, and now this.
Even before I could handle that headache, this Shekhar planned all of this.
Couldn't he choose another day?" the SI Ankit said on their way to the police station, while Akansha and Sneha were in another vehicle behind them.
Akansha was terrified by everything unfolding. She was afraid for her daughter. Tears of helplessness streamed down her face. She could see the promise to destroy her in the SI's eyes. All she could hope was that her brother would be able to save her this time.
"Sir... the women we took in this afternoon are still at the station, right?" the constable asked.
"Yes, so?" the SI replied irritably.
"Saab... the TV people are offering the highest bid—paanch laakh ek chehre ke (5 lakh per face)," the constable said.
The SI smirked.
The faces of the arrested women were not supposed to be shown, but media channels were desperate for exclusive footage, so they illegally paid the police for photos.
"You mean we have 16 girls in the station... now we'll have 17," the SI said with a smirk.
"Yes, we'll receive 5 lakhs extra, Saab. And you'll also be saved from making another story to protect Shekhar and cover it with fake evidence. After this, no women and child rights organization will even listen to her," the constable added, widening his smirk.
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"Sir... the 65 girls who went missing 5 years ago—16 of them have been found. Since you are personally handling this case, I wanted to inform you," the DGP said over a call with Shaurya.