Chapter 31
Rain crashed against the glass windows of the office building violently.
The entire city looked blurred beneath the storm.
Thunder echoed outside.
Roads flooded.
Cars moved slowly through sheets of rain while lightning occasionally lit up the dark evening sky.
Most employees had already left hours ago.
The office floor stood nearly empty now.
Only a few lights remained on.
And me,
Standing near the lobby entrance clutching my bag while watching the storm outside nervously.
The security guard nearby sighed dramatically.
"Madam, rain won't stop anytime soon."
I smiled awkwardly.
"It's okay. Someone's coming."
My phone vibrated softly in my hand.
And instantly,
My stupid heart reacted before my brain did.
Dhruv:
I'm reaching in 10 minutes.
Then another message.
Don't leave the lobby.
I don't know why that tiny instruction affected me so much.
Maybe because Dhruv had started doing this lately.
Checking if I'd eaten.
Picking me up.
Texting when late.
Tiny things.
Dangerously husband-like things.
My lips curved slightly unconsciously while staring at the message.
The security guard smiled knowingly seeing my expression.
"Sir coming?"
My face immediately heated.
"Uh... yes."
God.
Why did everyone around me suddenly act like we were an actual married couple.
Outside,
Rain intensified harder.
The storm looked almost violent now.
The glass doors rattled slightly under the wind.
I wrapped my arms around myself shivering lightly.
Then suddenly,
The elevator dinged behind me.
I turned instinctively.
And immediately smiled.
Armaan stepped out adjusting his coat slightly while talking to someone on phone.
Even exhausted after meetings,
The man still looked like billionaire magazine covers came alive.
Tall.
Sharp features.
Grey shirt sleeves rolled slightly upward.
Expensive watch glinting beneath the lights.
The second he noticed me,
His expression softened instantly.
Always instantly.
He ended the call immediately.
Then smiled walking toward me.
"Riya."
I waved brightly.
"You're still here?"
He laughed lightly.
"That was my question."
Then glancing outside:
"In this storm too?"
"I'm waiting for Dhruv."
The name changed his expression slightly.
Only slightly.
Still noticeable.
But Armaan smiled anyway.
"Ah."
Then softer:
"He should've come sooner."
Before I replied,
Everything happened too fast.
Too terrifyingly fast.
SCREECH.
An SUV suddenly stopped violently outside the office entrance.
The security guard frowned immediately.
The car doors burst open.
Three masked men jumped out.
My brain barely processed anything before one of them grabbed me violently.
I screamed instantly.
"WHA- LET GO OF ME!"
My bag fell hard against the marble floor.
The security guard shouted in panic.
Armaan's face changed instantly.
Pure fury.
"RIYA!"
Everything blurred afterward.
One man covered my mouth roughly while another dragged me toward the SUV.
I kicked wildly.
Tried fighting.
Tried screaming.
But they were too strong.
Fear exploded violently inside my chest.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
Not again.
ARMAAN RAN.
Actually ran through the rain toward us.
"LEAVE HER!"
One of the kidnappers shoved him back hard before throwing me inside the SUV.
The door slammed shut instantly.
And suddenly,
The car sped away violently into the storm.
I screamed again trying opening the door.
Hands shaking.
Heart crashing violently.
The men yelled at each other in panic.
Rain blurred the windows completely.
The city lights streaked past.
Too fast.
Everything too fast.
Meanwhile outside,
Armaan chased after the SUV into the rain like an insane person.
His white shirt soaked completely.
Face furious.
But the car moved too quickly.
Too quickly.
Then suddenly,
Headlights appeared ahead.
A black Rolls-Royce cut sharply across the flooded road.
Dhruv.
The SUV sped past him recklessly.
Meanwhile Armaan reached Dhruv's car breathless slamming his hands against the hood.
Dhruv immediately stepped out.
And one look at Armaan's face changed everything.
Because something in Dhruv's expression turned deadly instantly.
Not anger.
Not panic.
Something far worse.
Armaan grabbed him harshly.
"Someone took Riya."
Silence.
The storm itself seemed to stop breathing.
Dhruv stared at him for one horrifying second.
Then quietly,
"What."
Armaan pointed violently down the road.
"THE SUV."
Dhruv moved instantly.
No hesitation.
No reaction.
Pure instinct.
He got into the driver's seat so fast it barely looked human.
Armaan entered the passenger side immediately.
And then,
The car launched forward.
The tires screeched violently across the wet roads.
Rain hammered against the windshield while Dhruv drove like a man possessed.
His jaw clenched dangerously.
Hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles whitened.
Meanwhile Armaan kept scanning the roads frantically.
"Black SUV. No plate visible."
Dhruv didn't respond.
Didn't blink either.
The speedometer climbed higher.
Faster.
Faster.
Traffic lights blurred past.
Rain crashed endlessly around them.
Then finally,
Ahead.
The SUV.
Dhruv's eyes darkened murderously.
"There."
The Rolls-Royce accelerated violently.
Armaan grabbed the dashboard.
"Careful!"
Dhruv ignored him completely.
Because nothing existed right now except one thing:
Finding me.
The SUV suddenly turned sharply into another road.
Dhruv followed instantly.
But the storm worsened.
Visibility disappeared.
Cars blocked intersections.
Water flooded the streets.
And then,
The SUV vanished.
Completely.
Gone.
Dhruv slammed the brakes violently.
The car stopped hard in the middle of the rain-covered road.
Silence.
Heavy breathing.
Thunder crashing outside.
Armaan looked around frantically.
"Where the hell did they go?!"
No response.
Dhruv sat completely still.
And somehow,
That terrified Armaan more.
Because Dhruv Malhotra wasn't panicking.
He wasn't shouting.
Wasn't losing control.
He had gone terrifyingly calm.
The kind of calm that came before destruction.
Then slowly,
Dhruv picked up his phone.
And spoke only one sentence.
Cold enough to freeze blood.
"Lock down the city."
...
Rain battered against the windshield while the city descended into chaos.
Absolute chaos.
Police sirens screamed across roads.
Traffic barricades appeared everywhere.
Security checkpoints activated across the city within minutes.
Every highway exit.
Every toll booth.
Every private airstrip.
Locked.
Because Dhruv Malhotra had spoken one sentence,
And suddenly the entire city moved.
Inside the Rolls-Royce,
The atmosphere felt murderous.
Armaan sat beside him calling people nonstop.
"Check every warehouse."
"No, I don't care who owns it."
"Search EVERY abandoned property."
Meanwhile Dhruv remained terrifyingly silent.
Phone pressed against his ear.
Voice cold enough to kill.
"I want every CCTV footage from the last thirty minutes."
Pause.
Then colder,
"And if one camera is missing, fire everyone responsible."
The call disconnected instantly.
Another one came immediately.
Then another.
Then another.
Police commissioners.
Private security heads.
Cyber teams.
Political contacts.
Underworld informants.
The most powerful people in the city suddenly searching for one girl.
Me.
And somehow,
That scared everyone more than the kidnapping itself.
Meanwhile Dhruv's eyes remained fixed ahead.
Dark.
Emotionless.
Deadly.
Armaan glanced at him once quietly.
And honestly?
He'd never seen Dhruv like this before.
Not even during billion-dollar crises.
Not even during assassination threats.
This was different.
Personal.
Dangerously personal.
Then suddenly,
Dhruv's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
The entire car went still.
Dhruv answered immediately.
Silence.
Then,
A distorted voice.
"Don't look for her."
Armaan's jaw tightened instantly.
The voice continued calmly.
"You won't find her no matter what."
Dhruv's grip around the phone tightened slowly.
The voice laughed softly.
"And if you want to stay alive..."
Pause.
"Forget the girl."
The call disconnected.
Silence exploded inside the car.
Armaan looked furious.
But Dhruv?
Dhruv had gone terrifyingly still again.
Then another notification appeared.
A message.
No number.
No traceable source.
Just words.
Stop searching.
This has nothing to do with you.
Forget her if you want to stay alive.
Armaan frowned instantly.
"...what?"
Dhruv stared at the message silently.
Then slowly,
Something shifted in his eyes.
Because suddenly,
He understood something horrifying.
This wasn't about him.
The shooters before.
The kidnapping now.
Someone wasn't targeting Riya because she was Dhruv Malhotra's wife.
They were targeting Riya.
Only Riya.
But why?
How?
She didn't even remember her own past.
Meanwhile another call came through.
One of the cyber teams.
"Sir... every CCTV around the kidnapping route was disabled."
Silence.
Dhruv's expression darkened further.
"All of them?"
"Yes sir."
Even traffic cameras.
Office cameras.
Street surveillance.
Gone.
Perfectly erased.
Not amateur work.
Someone powerful was involved.
Very powerful.
Because only people with money and influence could wipe an entire city's surveillance system clean within minutes.
Armaan cursed under his breath.
"Who the hell is she?"
Dhruv didn't answer.
But somewhere deep inside,
Fear finally entered him.
Real fear.
Because for the first time,
He realized he knew absolutely nothing about the girl sleeping beside him every night.
...
Meanwhile,
My eyes fluttered open slowly.
Pain exploded through my head instantly.
Darkness surrounded me completely.
For one terrifying second,
I couldn't breathe.
Where was I.
What happened.
Then memory slammed back violently.
SUV.
Masks.
Kidnapping.
Panic flooded through me instantly.
I tried moving,
And realized my wrists were tied tightly.
Ropes cut painfully into my skin.
My ankles tied too.
The room smelled damp.
Old wood.
Dust.
A tiny broken bulb flickered weakly overhead.
And somewhere outside,
Voices.
Male voices.
My breathing became shaky instantly.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
I forced myself staying still.
Pretending unconscious.
Because years of survival instinct screamed one thing:
Don't let them know you're awake.
Footsteps approached outside the room.
I immediately let my head fall sideways pretending unconscious again.
The door creaked open.
Two men entered.
One smelled strongly of cigarettes.
The other laughed quietly.
"Still out cold."
"Boss said wait for instructions."
My heart pounded violently.
I stayed completely still.
One of them stepped closer.
And suddenly,
FLASH.
A camera clicked.
They were taking my picture.
My stomach twisted in horror.
The second man pulled out his phone.
"Yeah boss."
Pause.
"She's still unconscious."
Another pause.
Then colder,
"We'll finish her when you say."
The blood drained from my body.
Finish me.
Kill me.
The man laughed softly afterward.
"No problem."
Then the call disconnected.
Footsteps again.
The men left.
The door shut.
And suddenly,
Silence.
My eyes flew open instantly.
Terror exploded through me so violently I nearly choked.
They were going to kill me.
Actually kill me.
My breathing became uneven while I looked around desperately for anything.
Anything.
The room looked abandoned.
Old wooden walls.
Broken furniture.
Dust everywhere.
Then suddenly,
My eyes landed on something near the wall.
A small rusted cutter.
Hope slammed into me instantly.
I shifted carefully trying reaching it.
The ropes burned painfully into my wrists.
I stretched harder.
Almost.
Almost,
My fingers brushed the cutter barely.
I nearly cried from relief.
Slowly,
I dragged it toward myself.
Hands shaking violently.
Then awkwardly,
I started cutting the ropes behind my back.
The angle hurt horribly.
The blade scraped against my skin repeatedly.
My fingers bruised painfully trying holding it properly.
Every tiny sound outside made my heart stop.
Faster.
Faster.
Please.
Please.
After what felt like forever,
SNAP.
The rope loosened.
I almost sobbed.
Quickly,
I untied my wrists completely.
Then ankles.
My hands shook violently from adrenaline.
I stood up too fast nearly collapsing.
Then slowly,
I moved toward the door.
Tiny crack.
I peeked outside carefully.
Two guards wandered near the lodge entrance lazily talking.
Rain still poured outside.
Beyond them,
Forest.
Dark endless forest.
My pulse crashed violently.
If I could escape outside,
Maybe,
FOOTSTEPS.
Coming back.
Oh God.
I panicked instantly.
Quickly,
I rushed back.
Threw the ropes around myself roughly.
Hands behind my back again.
Leg rope loose but appearing tied.
Then immediately let my head fall pretending unconscious.
The door opened again.
One guard entered lazily.
"Told you she won't wake up anytime soon."
The other yawned.
"Let's get tea first."
"Yeah."
The footsteps faded again.
Silence.
Three seconds.
Five.
Ten.
Then,
I moved.
Fast.
I untangled myself fully and ran toward the door barefoot.
Rainy cold air slammed into me instantly the second I stepped outside.
And God,
We were in the middle of nowhere.
An old wooden lodge hidden deep inside a forest.
Dark trees everywhere.
No roads visible.
Only rain.
Thunder.
Night.
Fear exploded through me again.
But survival screamed louder.
RUN.
I ran.
Branches scratched against my arms while I sprinted blindly into the dark forest.
My lungs burned instantly.
Mud slipped beneath my feet.
Rain soaked me completely within seconds.
Behind me,
A scream exploded.
"HEY-"
Another voice shouted violently.
"SHE ESCAPED."
Panic erupted inside the lodge instantly.
Doors slammed.
Men yelling.
Flashlights turning on.
And suddenly,
The entire forest came alive hunting me.