CHAPTER 41
Later that day
Aanya struggled against the grip of the two men dragging her out of the van.
“Let me go!” she growled, her voice laced with fury.
They ignored her resistance and hauled her into an old, crumbling building that looked like it had once been a motor garage.
The drive had lasted about thirty minutes.
..enough time for her instincts to settle into one fact: they were fools.
All of them. They had no idea she was being tracked.
The smartwatch wrapped tightly around her wrist wasn’t just for show.
It had a GPS tracker. Reyansh had made her promise never to remove it.
He was probably already enroute. These men had no clue who they were dealing with.
“Aanya…” a familiar voice echoed through the shadowy interior.
Vicky stepped out from the darkness, his hooded figure emerging like a nightmare. The once-lean bully had bulked up, his muscles straining beneath his black hoodie. But no matter how much he changed on the outside, she knew what still lived beneath that skin—cruelty and rot.
“I’m so happy to see you again,” he sneered.
Flashbacks from college surged in Aanya’s mind—his threats, his sick obsession with controlling girls, and how he’d once tried to torment her into silence.
“Where’s Navya?” she snapped. “What have you done to her?”
He smiled, slow and sinister.
“Relax. She’s not my type. She’ll stay safe but only if you cooperate.”
He stepped closer. Aanya didn’t wait. She kicked him hard in the stomach.
Vicky stumbled back, crashing to the ground with a grunt. His guards immediately tightened their grip on her arms, forcing her still.
“You stupid girl,” Vicky snarled, rising in a rage. “Try that again, and Navya gets a bullet between her eyes.”
Aanya stilled in horror.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you back in my life?” she shouted.
“Don’t play dumb,” he growled, rage pulsing through his every word. “You left me no choice. I knew you wouldn’t let it go. You always had that fighter’s spirit in you. I expected you’d come after me someday, and you did. But you picked the wrong man to challenge.”
She stared at him, baffled.
“You’re mistaken. I never came after you. I wanted to, but I didn’t.”
“Liar!” he barked. “You broke my engagement!”
“What are you even talking about?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“Me and Mira…we were in love. But you… you sent her that letter. You exposed everything I did back in college. You told her the truth. You knew Mira would dig for more. She reached out to our old classmates who confirmed it all. She… she broke our engagement because of you, Aanya.”
“Letter? Which letter?” she blinked. “I don’t even know who Mira is.”
The words barely left her mouth when his hand struck her face with brutal force.
The slap cracked through the air, and Aanya staggered from the impact. Pain exploded across her cheek, and her lip split, warm blood trickling down to her chin. Her vision blurred instantly, tears springing to her eyes, not just from the pain, but from the humiliation, the helplessness… the rage.
But even through the sting and tears, she didn’t miss what flashed in Vicky’s eyes. Behind the fury, behind the twisted satisfaction of seeing her flinch, was something else.
Vicky was cruel. But this time it looked like he’d been played.
Someone else had pulled the strings and used her name to destroy him. Someone who knew just how deep his obsession with revenge ran.
But who the hell was it?
“Enough of your lies,” he spat, stepping closer.
“You ruined me. So now I’ll ruin you. I’m going to drug you, click photos of us together, and splash them all over social media.
I want your husband, your parents, your friends…
everyone who knows you, who loves you…to see that filth.
To see a version of you they’ll never be able to unsee. ”
His venomous voice was laced with twisted satisfaction.
“They should hate you the way Mira hates me. They should look at you with disgust, the same way she looked at me before she walked away. You’ll scream, you’ll cry, you’ll say you were innocent, but no one will believe you. No one will care.”
He leaned in closer, eyes wild.
“I’m going to ruin you, Aanya Malhotra. Break you down completely, so you won’t even recognize yourself in the mirror. And when I’m done, you won’t have the courage to face another soul again.”
Her stomach turned. It was horrifying. But she refused to let him see fear on her face. Instead, her jaw clenched, fury sparking in her eyes.
“And what about Mira?” Aanya snapped. “What happens when she sees all that filth you’re so desperate to create? You think she’ll come running back into your arms after that? Or will she be even more disgusted than before?”
His face twisted with rage before his hand did the real damage, striking her hard across the cheek. Her head snapped to the side, but this time, she didn’t cry. She slowly turned back to face him, fire blazing in her eyes.
“I didn’t do what you claim I’ve done,” she said coldly, each word sharpened with defiance. “And if you try to hurt me, I swear, Vicky… Reyansh is going to make your life a living hell.”
Just then another man approached with a syringe filled with a clear liquid. Aanya’s heart pounded as she thrashed against the guards. Vicky laughed, taking the syringe from his man and holding it like a trophy.
“This is your end, Aanya,” he snarled. “Your life is finished.”
Terror flickered across her face as she shut her eyes, whispering her husband’s name like a prayer. Reyansh had promised that he wouldn’t let Vicky touch her. No matter what. And she trusted that promise.
A gunshot like sound cracked through the air from the very entrance where she’d been dragged in. The two guards flanking her froze, alert.
“Go... check what that was,” Vicky barked, nodding to one of the men.
The guard bolted with his weapon drawn. Moments later, another shot rang out. Then…silence.
Aanya’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
“He’s here,” she whispered, barely audible.
Vicky’s gaze darted to her, burning with disbelief.
“Reyansh is here,” she repeated this time loud and sure.
Panic spread across Vicky’s face. This wasn’t possible. He’d covered every trail, taken every precaution to make sure her location couldn’t be traced. How the hell had Reyansh found her?
The syringe slipped from his hand and hit the floor with a clink.
He yanked Aanya away from the guards, twisted her around, and wrapped his arm tight around her throat. His grip closed like a vice. One more ounce of pressure and she would lose breath completely.
“Let her go!” Reyansh’s voice thundered through the building as he stormed in, flanked by armed officers.
“Reyansh!” Aanya cried out, but Vicky’s grip only tightened. He jerked her backward, dragging her like a hostage. She winced in pain, gasping for breath.
“Stop this, Vicky,” Reyansh shouted again. “She’s innocent. She wasn’t the one who ruined you.”
“Don’t play games with me,” Vicky snarled, backing toward the rear exit. “She sent that damn letter. She told Mira everything.”
“It wasn’t Aanya,” Reyansh countered. “It was Shagufta. She sent the letter. She’s the one who broke your engagement, not my wife.”
Vicky hesitated. Confusion flickered in his eyes, but suspicion clouded it just as fast.
“You’re lying,” he hissed. “Why would Shagufta do that? She’s the one who helped me set all this up. She’s on my side.”
“No,” Reyansh took a measured step forward, keeping his hands in sight as the officers aimed their weapons at Vicky. “Shagufta wanted Aanya out of my life. She couldn’t do it alone, so she used you. You were her weapon.”
Vicky looked shaken but his grip around Aanya’s throat grew brutal.
“I have proof,” Reyansh added. “She was arrested this morning. She confessed everything. We can play the recording for you. But just let Aanya go.”
“No!” Vicky barked. His arm clamped tighter around Aanya’s neck.
She gasped, her body weakening under the pressure.
The two stumbled back, crashing against a dusty wooden table.
Vicky didn’t ease his hold—if anything, it grew more vicious.
He grabbed a knife from the table and pressed it to her throat.
“Shagufta is loyal to me,” he spat, eyes wild with rage. “She can’t do this to me.”
“Yes she did it,” Reyansh snapped, advancing. “She sold you out. She’s not on your side anymore. She never was. She used you to hurt Aanya, and now she’s facing the consequences.”
Aanya’s mind spun. Mira? Letter? Vicky’s engagement? And how did Shagufta know about their college past to twist it into this hellish scheme? Nothing made sense.
“Let her go, Vicky! Aanya has nothing to do with your broken engagement,” Reyansh called out again in fury as the knife Vicky pressed to her shoulder had already nicked her skin. Blood dotted the fabric of her kurta.
“Don’t come closer! I swear I’ll kill her,” Vicky barked, dragging Aanya step by step toward the back exit, his hand trembling but determined.
“You won’t get far,” Reyansh warned. “This is your last shot, Vicky. If you want even a sliver of Mira’s forgiveness, let Aanya go now. There’s still time to fix what’s left.”
“Don’t take my Mira’s name!” Vicky roared, unhinged.
“She’s here,” Reyansh added, eyes never leaving Aanya’s. “I called Mira. She’s waiting outside. Let Aanya go… and you’ll get your chance to clear everything to Mira.”
Vicky’s entire stance faltered. His steps slowed. His face paled.
“You’re lying,” he whispered, panic threading through his voice. “Mira would never come here.”
“She is here. And she’s ready to walk in as soon as we give the signal. You really want her to see you like this? Holding a knife to another woman’s throat?” Reyansh kept inching forward, drawing Vicky’s focus away from Aanya.
The panic in Vicky’s eyes deepened. Aanya saw her husband’s unspoken message in his gaze —Now. Do it now.