Chapter 74
"Where is Shekhar?" Akansha asked, and that one question left him surprised. Why is she asking this now?
"Sneha, Shekhar's teenage daughter, called me today. She wanted to know if her father will ever return to them," Akansha answered his unasked question.
"No. Tell her he will never return to them," Shaurya said with conviction.
"That's what she wanted too. I am thinking of going to their house next week. No amount of your 'security concerns' can stop me, and I want to go there with answers, not questions, Shaurya. So answer me—where is Shekhar?" she asked him.
"I answered the one question she asked you. What more do you want?" Shaurya asked her. Though his tone was soft, she could sense the uneasiness he was experiencing while talking about Shekhar.
"What did you do to him, Shaurya?" Akansha asked, and Shaurya shut his eyes. "I want to know where he is. In fact, after seeing your reaction, I want to see it with my own eyes—and until then, I know I'm not sleeping peacefully..." she said, and Shaurya took a deep sigh.
"Okay. Get ready, we're going there," he said. Without saying anything further, he quickly got changed, and after he was out, Akansha went to change. She wanted to tell him they could go tomorrow, but she couldn't take the risk—what if he changed his mind the next day?
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"Sir..." Suraj greeted Shaurya.
"Take us to Shekhar, Suraj," Shaurya said, and Akansha looked at him in surprise. She was sure Shaurya was holding Shekhar unlawfully—and he involved NSG commandos in that? She couldn't believe this... She glared at Shaurya as they settled into the car.
"Suraj wanted to help me," Shaurya said.
"Despite knowing it's unlawful to hold a fugitive?" Akansha asked.
"What's unlawful is leaving that pedophile free.
He had some information about other pending cases, and he wanted to cut a deal with the department.
In return, he would be set free with a minimal sentence.
So I felt I should help Shaurya sir. Well, he can do it with or without my help, but with me involved, things would get a bit easier," Suraj said, and Akansha sighed, processing this new information.
If Shekhar were set free, she knew he would make Kavita and Sneha's lives hell.
After some time, they reached their destination. It looked like an old warehouse, and after walking in, Suraj shut the shutter. On noticing Shaurya, a few people who were sleeping there got alert.
"Arre, Shaurya beta, why didn't you call me before coming here? I would have kept everything ready," an old man, who looked like a mechanic, said.
"It's okay, Chacha. I'm just here to see him.
By the way, this is my wife, Akansha," Shaurya introduced her.
Akansha, clueless about how to greet the old man, simply folded her hands in a curt 'Namaste'.
She didn't know what kind of man he was, but she assumed he was good—because her husband was associated with him, he couldn't be bad.
"Namaste, beti. I've heard a lot about you from Shaurya. Are you wondering whether I'm good or bad?" the old but wise man asked, noticing the hesitation on Akansha's face.
"Definitely not bad—if Shaurya is associating with you," Akansha replied with a small but confident smile. The old man smiled.
"Definitely not good either," he said. "I run this place.
It acts as a court, but in here, there will only be people who are guilty—people the court failed to punish.
I had a strong desire to see your father-in-law and mother-in-law here, but Shaurya got the CBI to take up that job," the old man added.
"We'll see Shekhar. Ask someone to wake him up," Shaurya said, and the old man nodded and walked inside.
"He is Shyamlal. Nine years ago, a rich brat drove over his son after a fight at college.
He got acquitted because they made him a minor by changing his birth certificate.
He was 18, but they showed he was 17 and claimed he was forcibly drugged, limiting his punishment to community service.
It was Virendar Shekhawat's influence that got the kid out.
Shyamlal believed his dead son deserved justice, so he took matters into his own hands.
He was arrested seven years ago. Though there was no evidence, Virendar Shekhawat and the boy's parents ensured he stayed in jail.
But when I came into power, I got him released.
Jail is not for people like him," Shaurya said.
Akansha couldn't decipher whether bypassing the law and courts was right or wrong—but what would a common man do if he doesn't get justice in court? And what would happen to the country if every common man took the law into their own hands?
"Shaurya! You can go..." Shyamlal told him.
"I don't want anyone inside. Just us," Shaurya said, and Shyamlal gestured to his man—who had gone inside to wake Shekhar—to come out.
Shaurya walked in, holding Akansha's palm.
Shekhar was tied to a chair. His ankles were shackled, and so were his hands, but there were no major injuries on his body, unlike what she had imagined when she saw this place.
"He looks fine," Akansha said, looking at Shekhar with disgust.
"Oh yes, he is fine—but at the same time, not," Shaurya said.
"From the day he was brought here, his punishment has been to slap himself a hundred times a day. That's it. He gets food twice a day. Shyamlal and his men make sure Shekhar is healthy enough to endure his own punishment," Suraj said, and Akansha looked at Shaurya.
She realized Shaurya had come up with this to avenge how Shekhar slapped her.
"If he doesn't use enough force, Shyamlal or his men take over—and Shekhar knows that would be worse," Shaurya said.
"That's terrible pain," Akansha said.
"He deserves it," Shaurya said with zero emotion, and she understood—Shaurya had taken it personally, and now no one could save Shekhar.
They walked closer, and under the dim light above him, she could clearly see the fingerprints on Shekhar's face.
She remembered how he had cruelly hit his wife with a bat, trying to kill her.
He had sexually assaulted his teenage daughter, tried to rape her, and had also tried to kill Akansha—but Sneha had saved her by hitting her father with that cricket bat.
Akansha remembered how he had said he would do the same to Siya—what he did to his own daughter—and her blood boiled at the memory.
"Ever thought of increasing his suffering?" Akansha asked, and Shekhar looked at them upon hearing her voice.
"Madam... Madam... Sorry, please get me out of here... please..." Shekhar begged, but Akansha remained unfazed, and Shaurya knew she was remembering something cruel he had done to her—and he wanted to know what it was.
"No? Why?" Shaurya asked her.
"You may want to, after you hear this. Do you know what he threatened about your daughter?" Akansha asked. Shekhar's eyes went wide with fear; he kept apologizing, but Akansha ignored every bit of it.
Shaurya's eyes blazed with fire. He didn't want to hear further—no one gets away after even thinking of harming his daughter in any way. He kicked Shekhar hard in the face, and Shekhar fell off the chair.
"Your hell just got a premium upgrade," Shaurya said and walked away, with Akansha and Suraj following him. Shekhar kept begging, but an inhumane man like him didn't deserve mercy.
Suraj guided Akansha outside as Shaurya gestured to him, while Shaurya briefed Shyamlal about the next proceedings before exiting the place.
They were on their way when Akansha decided to ask the question that had been eating her up.
"How does that place work? If the police are aware of such a thing's existence, what would their reaction be? And what will happen to your reputation if people find out you're openly protecting such an institution?" she asked.
"Not many people know about this. Whoever does usually writes about unpunished criminals, and Shyamlal decides to take charge after verifying the authenticity.
A few people from the department are helping him run this place.
And no, people will never find out about me helping Shyamlal—even if they find out about this place, which is almost impossible.
Yes, I used my influence to bring Shyamlal out, but I did that for 45 other people who were in prison for things they didn't commit.
I just appointed lawyers; they took care of the rest. Nothing is done illegally," Shaurya said, and Akansha nodded.
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The next week, Akansha visited Sneha and Kavita. She was happy to see the mother and daughter living peacefully after suffering so much. Kavita thanked Akansha for being so kind and always helping her.
The society president, Mr. Bansal, and some other residents came to Kavita's house upon learning that Akansha was there.
Mrs. Bansal apologized to Akansha, and some others did too, for complaining about her and asking Mr. Bansal to evict her when she was just a single mother—without knowing who she really was.
Though Akansha felt satisfied hearing their apologies, she knew none of them were genuine.
Not one of them would have stood in front of her apologizing if she weren't the Chief Minister's wife—and she was certain of it.
Akansha spoke to Mr. Bansal privately, asking him never to abandon Kavita or Sneha, or even think of forcing them out of the colony. Mr. Bansal gave his word. After that, everyone left, and Akansha took Sneha aside.
"I'm here to answer your question..." Akansha began.
"Will he come back?" Sneha asked, fear evident in her voice.
"The only thing that will happen is what you want to happen. If you want him to come back, he will. If you don't, he won't. I know what you want—so you already know what my answer is, don't you?" Akansha told her, and Sneha nodded, understanding what she meant.
Sneha hugged Akansha and sobbed.