Chapter 26
Kashvi tapped impatiently at the dark screen of her phone as she climbed the narrow stairwell to their apartment. No matter how many times she held down the power button, the phone refused to come alive.
As she slipped off her shoes, her heart sank at the empty spot beside her rack.
Swayam wasn’t home.
She sighed and dug through her purse for the key. A faint scent of roasted chicken drifted from the apartment next door, and for a brief second, she wondered if she could lure Swayam back home with the promise of cooking for him.
The need to talk to him, to hear his voice and know he was okay, eclipsed everything else. With the sole mission of finding her charger, she unlocked the front door.
The moment Kashvi stepped inside, shards of glass crunched beneath her heels.
A startled gasp broke from her lips as she took in the destruction around her.
The curtains were torn into jagged strips, exposing the harsh afternoon light spilling over broken planters and the wreckage scattered around the room.
The sofa stuffing lay strewn in uneven clumps around the room, and her favourite mermaid lamps had been smashed into colourful, glittering shards across the floor.
Her heartbeat grew louder as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but she couldn’t. It looked as though a violent tornado had ripped through the apartment.
What the hell happened to my home?
In the scrambled haze of her mind, she picked her way through the living room, searching for her charger. But when she reached her bedroom door, the sight inside hit even harder.
Her clothes were strewn everywhere, yanked from drawers and tossed across the floor, some of them torn apart completely. The mirror on her vanity stood shattered, leaving only sharp edges clinging to the ornate copper frame. Photographs of her family and friends had been ripped to pieces.
‘Oh God,’ she whispered as her gaze swept over the ruined remains of what had once been her room, her sanctuary.
A hollow ringing filled her ears as she crouched to touch the torn head of her childhood teddy, Mr. Buttons.
A terrifying sense of panic closed around her ribs, and she reached beneath the heap of clothes for her charger. With trembling hands, she plugged it in beside the bed and the next few seconds stretched endlessly as the phone powered back on.
Her gaze drifted towards the window, and she froze at the lipstick-stained words smeared across the glass.
I’ll do worse to you.
That merciless threat felt horribly familiar, and the recognition made her gasp.
Viraj had done this.
Now that she looked around properly, she could see the echo of his rage in every broken thing.
Her phone vibrated in her hand, snapping her attention back to it. Acting on instinct, she pressed and held number two on the speed dial.
Call Swayam? flashed across the screen.
Kashvi hesitated for a split second. Maybe she should call the police first.
But she needed her anchor in this storm.
So she hit yes.
As the call rang, she tapped her foot restlessly. Then a loud, abrupt slam from the front door made her flinch.
Relief rushed through her. ‘Swayam?’
No answer.
She unplugged the phone and hurried into the hallway leading back to the living room. Confusion flickered through her when she found it empty.
Kashvi was about to call out again when a hand clamped around her throat, choking her painfully. Another yanked her wrists behind her back with such force that she thought her shoulder might snap.
‘Let me go,’ she wheezed out.
‘Why should I? This is how your brother choked me last night.’
Her pulse thundered in her ears, but Viraj’s menacing voice cut through the panic easily.
‘It’s a pity he stopped, isn’t it? Because now it’s my turn.’
Viraj squeezed harder, cutting off her air. Her hands struggled uselessly behind her back, but she still tried to type blindly on her phone. Her vision blurred as breathing became harder and harder.
‘I can’t breathe,’ she forced out, frantically fighting against his hold.
‘I couldn’t either,’ Viraj said coldly.
Cruel amusement laced his voice. ‘You made me wait all night. Do you always make a habit of sleeping your way through the city before coming home?’
Viraj caught her fumbling with the phone and snatched it from her hand. ‘Trying to call for help? I don’t think so,’ he sneered, flinging it across the room.
A surge of anger broke through her panic. ‘What the hell do you want?’
His grip tightened in response. ‘Answer my question first. Did you spend last night fucking around with my dear cousin? Is that why you were too busy?’
‘Swayam was... with you,’ she choked out.
‘Was he? Then how come I didn’t see him anywhere at the venue?’
Her chest burned as she desperately struggled for air. ‘I...’ she tried, but her throat refused to cooperate.
Viraj lowered his ear closer to her lips. ‘What was that? Say it again.’
His sadistic laugh sliced through the haze, and she slammed her sharp heel onto his foot. The second she felt it pierce the leather, she drove down harder.
Viraj cursed sharply and shoved her away.
Her ankle twisted as the heel snapped beneath her, and she hit the floor hard.
For a moment, all she could focus on was breathing. Her chest rose and fell violently.
Then the searing pain registered in her hand.
A huge shard of glass was embedded deep into her palm, blood already welling rapidly around the wound. Smaller splinters had cut across her arms and legs, and if adrenaline hadn’t been coursing through her, she would have screamed.
Viraj hissed through his teeth, clutching his foot where blood stained his torn shoe. ‘You bitch! Are you out of your mind?’
The room slowly swam back into focus, and she saw Viraj crouched a few feet away.
She didn’t know what was more unsettling: his sneer twisting his mouth or the bruises covering his face.
The left side of his face was swollen purple and black, and his lip was split at the corner. The sight sent a flicker of satisfaction through her.
Kashvi chuckled despite the scalding pain in her hand.
‘My brother did that to you, didn’t he? Maybe you should think twice before picking fights with men stronger than you.’
‘Why do you think I’m here?’ Viraj asked, his eyes darkening with rage. ‘I warned you not to use that little brain of yours and to make sure Swayam came, but you just couldn’t help playing games, could you?’
‘What games? Luv was supposed to drop them off at your place from the mall.’
Viraj strode towards her. He looked down at her with cold, unreadable eyes. ‘You’re lying, and I don’t like being lied to. Where is Swayam?’
Kashvi tried to get up, but her twisted ankle gave out immediately. ‘I don’t know! If you want answers, then talk to your mother or your fiancée. They must know where Swayam is. He was supposed to be there.’
Viraj bent down and gripped her jaw tightly. She tried to push his hand away but whimpered when the movement drove the glass shards deeper into her palm.
The helplessness of the situation crashed over her.
She couldn’t fight him.
‘Tell me, Kashvi, what did you even do to get Swayam to my engagement? Did you even try? Or are you too obsessed with him to let go?’
‘I took him shopping. I suggested we get a divorce. I broke his heart! What more do you think I could’ve done?’
Viraj yanked her hair viciously, pain ripping across her scalp as her head snapped back with an agonised cry.
‘It wasn’t enough. You didn’t do enough,’ he replied coldly.
‘What else was I supposed to do? Rip out his heart and hand it to you?’ she snapped.
‘If that’s what it took, yes,’ Viraj said.
His eyes burned with hatred for Swayam, and somehow that felt more dangerous than his anger. ‘Because he didn’t show up and I lost fifty lakhs because of it.’
Swayam hadn’t gone.
She let out a shaky breath, clinging to that scrap of relief in the middle of this nightmare. Maybe, just maybe, there was still something left to save between them.
Viraj tightened his grip. ‘You made the foolish mistake of not taking my warning seriously and chose to dig your own grave. Did you forget about the pictures?’
She met his gaze head-on. ‘You don’t have anything anymore. My brothers made sure of it.’
His voice went frighteningly calm. ‘Did they?’
Viraj reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a new phone.
Her eyes widened with a sudden jolt of adrenaline, her heart stuttering violently.
‘I really hoped it wouldn’t come to this,’ he said almost regretfully, waving it in front of her face.
‘You can shove your empty threats up your ass. I saw your broken phone, so you don’t have anything left,’ she fired back.
‘Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to keep everything in one place?’ Viraj leaned closer, the smell of alcohol heavy on his breath. ‘I might be obsessed with you, but I’m not careless. You’re not the only person I stalk. You’re just the one I enjoy the most.’
The realisation hit her with a sickening thud.
Everything Dhruv and Vihaan had done had been for nothing.
She was still trapped.
‘Let’s see how confident you feel now.’ Viraj tapped the screen and turned the phone towards her.
The same topless picture he had once sent her flashed in the small thumbnail, already uploaded. The ads crowding the bottom of the page made it clear it was an adult website.
A gasp tore out of her at the sheer force of the fear that hit the moment she read the caption.
Hi, I’m Kashvi Kashyap Sharma, and I’ll be yours at the right price.
Her stomach dropped so violently she nearly lost her balance.
Acting on instinct, Kashvi tried to lunge for his phone, but he tsked, holding her in place. ‘Careful,’ he cooed, his thumb hovering over the blue upload button. ‘If you make me lose my balance, I might make this live. Is that what you want? To go viral?’
She forced herself to stay still. Every muscle locked and every instinct screamed at her to keep fighting. She had to grit her teeth to stop herself from screaming in frustration.