Chapter 8
Ranbir
Ididn't sleep that night.
Even after Surbhi had finally fallen asleep with her head resting against my shoulder, my mind refused to quiet down. Every word she had spoken echoed in my head, each one heavier than the last.
I was twelve.
He touched me.
He said he would kill my mother and father.
Every time I replayed those words, I felt the same overwhelming anger rise inside me.
She had lived with that fear for years.
Years.
She had walked into our marriage believing she could never be safe around a man because one monster had stolen that feeling from her before she was even old enough to understand what was happening.
I gently moved away only after I was certain she was sleeping peacefully. I tucked the blanket around her shoulders and stood there for a few moments, silently looking at her.
"I'll fix this," I whispered.
"I promise."
The next morning, I didn't go to the office.
Instead, I made a few phone calls.
Being the managing director of Raichand Group had its advantages. Over the years, I had built relationships with some of the finest legal experts, forensic auditors, and investigators in the country. I wasn't interested in taking the law into my own hands.
I wanted Lalit Sharma to answer for every crime he had committed.
Legally.
Permanently.
Within hours, the preliminary reports began arriving.
Lalit's business accounts were a disaster.
Benami transactions.
Tax evasion.
Shell companies.
Fake invoices.
Unaccounted cash flow.
The more my legal team investigated, the uglier the picture became.
He hadn't just destroyed lives.
He had built his entire business on fraud.
I handed everything over to the appropriate authorities.
After that, events unfolded far more quickly than I had expected.
By late afternoon, several government vehicles were already parked outside Lalit's residence.
Officers walked in and out carrying files and sealed boxes while neighbors gathered outside, whispering among themselves.
I stepped out of my car only after watching everything unfold for several minutes.
There was no satisfaction on my face.
Only anger.
A deep, controlled anger.
Lalit was standing near the entrance, surrounded by officers. His expensive clothes were crumpled, and for the first time since I had met him, the confidence he usually carried had completely disappeared.
The moment he saw me, his expression changed.
"You..."
I walked toward him.
He tried to straighten himself.
"So this was your doing."
I stopped barely a foot away from him.
"My doing?" I asked quietly.
"No."
"This is the consequence of everything you've been hiding for years."
His jaw tightened.
"You think you've won?"
I looked him straight in the eyes.
"I haven't even started."
For a brief second, neither of us spoke.
Then I remembered Surbhi sitting on the floor of her bedroom, shaking uncontrollably as she tried to tell me what this man had done to her.
The memory shattered whatever restraint I had left.
Before anyone could react, my fist collided with his jaw.
He stumbled backward.
I didn't stop.
Years of controlled discipline gave way to a rage I had never experienced before.
I grabbed him by the collar and struck him again.
And again.
Every punch carried the weight of every tear Surbhi had cried.
Every nightmare she had endured.
Every year she had lived believing she had nowhere to turn.
"You touched a twelve-year-old child!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the street.
"She was your niece."
He tried to shield himself.
"Listen to me—"
I struck him again.
"How?" I demanded. "How could you become such a pathetic excuse for a human being?"
The officers rushed forward, trying to separate us.
I barely noticed them.
All I could see was Surbhi's frightened face.
Lalit spat blood onto the ground before looking at me with hatred.
"Your wife lied to you."
The words had barely left his mouth before I broke free from the officers' grip and landed another punch across his face.
"Don't."
My voice was dangerously calm.
"Don't you dare speak about her."
He laughed bitterly despite the blood running from his lip.
"That bitch—"
I grabbed him by the collar again.
"If you ever use another disrespectful word for my wife," I said, every syllable measured, "I will make sure you regret the moment you opened your mouth."
The officers finally managed to pull me away.
One of them stepped between us.
"Mr. Raichand, that's enough."
I took several slow breaths, forcing myself to regain control.
This wasn't about revenge anymore.
It was about justice.
Lalit was already surrounded by investigators carrying documents from his home. One officer informed him that additional criminal complaints were now being reviewed alongside the financial investigation.
His confidence disappeared almost instantly.
For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
Good.
He deserved to know what fear felt like.
He deserved to wonder what tomorrow would bring.
He deserved sleepless nights.
He deserved uncertainty.
Nothing compared to what he had forced a little girl to live through, but it was a beginning.
As the officers led him toward their vehicle, he looked back at me one final time.
There was anger in his eyes.
Hatred.
Desperation.
I met his gaze without flinching.
"You'll answer for everything," I said.
"My lawyers will make sure every lawful charge against you is pursued to the fullest extent. Your financial crimes are already catching up with you, and if Surbhi chooses to pursue criminal action for what you did to her, I'll stand beside her through every step."
His face paled.
The vehicle door closed.
A few moments later, it drove away.
I stood there until it disappeared from sight.
Only then did I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
Nothing that had happened today could erase Surbhi's past.
Nothing could give her back the childhood that had been stolen from her.
But the man responsible would no longer walk freely as though nothing had happened.
He would face the consequences of his own actions.
And as I walked back toward my car, I made one final promise to myself.
This was not the end.
This was only the beginning of making sure that Surbhi never had to live in fear of Lalit Sharma again.
Surbhi
I had barely slept after Ranbir left that morning.
Although he hadn't told me where he was going, I had sensed that something had changed in him after our conversation the previous night. There had been a calmness in his voice, but beneath it, I had seen something else.
Determination.
For the first time since I had told someone the truth about Lalit, I wasn't carrying the burden alone.
Even then, I couldn't stop worrying.
I sat in the living room with a cup of tea that had long gone cold, trying to distract myself with the book Ranbir had gifted me. I read the same page over and over again without understanding a single word. Every few minutes, my eyes drifted toward the front door before returning to the novel.
My phone buzzed repeatedly with messages from Yasha, asking if I was feeling better and reminding me that the café would always be waiting whenever I wanted to return.
I smiled faintly before putting the phone aside.
Just then, the television caught my attention.
"...breaking news..."
I looked up.
The news channel had switched to live coverage from outside a large bungalow.
There were reporters everywhere.
Government officials walked in and out carrying sealed files and boxes while cameras followed every movement.
A familiar name appeared across the bottom of the screen.
Businessman Lalit Sharma under investigation for alleged financial irregularities.
My fingers tightened around the remote.
The anchor continued speaking about financial fraud, tax evasion, forged documents, and an ongoing investigation that had uncovered several illegal transactions.
There wasn't a single mention of me.
Not one.
No one spoke about my past.
No one spoke about what he had done to me.
His name alone dominated every headline.
I stared at the television in complete silence.
A few tears slipped down my cheeks before I even realized I was crying.
I knew.
I didn't need anyone to tell me.
Ranbir had done this.
He hadn't told the world my story.
He had protected my dignity while making sure Lalit faced the consequences of his own actions.
For years, I had believed that man was untouchable.
Powerful.
Respected.
Someone everyone admired.
Now the entire country was watching him being questioned by investigators.
For the first time in years...
I felt something I had almost forgotten existed.
Relief.
Not complete relief.
The memories still existed.
The nightmares hadn't disappeared.
But the constant fear that he could walk into my life whenever he wanted suddenly felt... smaller.
I took a deep breath.
For the first time in a very long time, it didn't feel difficult.
Hours later, I heard the front door unlock.
Without thinking, I stood up.
Ranbir had barely stepped inside when I reached him.
He looked surprised.
Before he could say anything, I threw my arms around him.
For a brief second, he froze.
Then, very gently, he wrapped his arms around me.
Neither of us spoke.
I simply stood there, holding onto him while the emotions I had been trying to control all day finally overwhelmed me.
After a long moment, I whispered, "Thank you."
He pulled back just enough to look at me.
"You saw the news."
I nodded.
"I knew it was you."
His expression softened.
"I wanted to make sure he couldn't continue living as though nothing had happened."
Fresh tears filled my eyes.
"For years, I believed no one would ever believe me."
"I believe you."
There wasn't even a second of hesitation in his voice.
Just certainty.
Absolute certainty.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"I don't think..." I began slowly, trying to find the right words. "I don't think I'm ready to file a legal case against him yet."
The confession made me feel guilty.
A part of me wanted justice immediately.
Another part of me was still that frightened twelve-year-old girl who had spent years believing that speaking the truth would destroy her family.
"I want to," I continued quietly. "I really do. I just... I need a little more time."
Ranbir gently brushed a strand of hair away from my face.
"There is nothing wrong with that."
I looked at him.
"You don't have to do everything at once," he said. "Healing doesn't follow anyone else's timeline. If you decide to file a case next week, I'll stand beside you. If you need six months, I'll still be standing beside you."
He smiled reassuringly.
"And if you need even longer than that, nothing changes."
I felt another wave of emotion rise inside me.
No one had ever told me that I could move at my own pace.
My entire life had been filled with expectations.
Study harder.
Behave better.
Adjust more.
Compromise again.
For the first time, someone was telling me that I didn't have to rush my healing.
I could simply... heal.
"I will file the case," I whispered. "One day."
"I know you will."
"And when I do..."
"You won't be alone."
I nodded.
"I know."
Silence settled comfortably between us.
It was no longer the uncomfortable silence of two strangers.
It was the quiet understanding of two people learning to carry each other's burdens.
I looked into his eyes, overwhelmed by everything he had done for me in such a short span of time.
"You've given me something I thought I had lost forever."
"What is that?"
"My freedom."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
"I spent years feeling as though he still controlled my life. Every decision I made, every place I went, every unfamiliar face I saw... somewhere in my mind, I was always afraid."
My voice trembled.
"But today..."
I smiled through my tears.
"...today I finally feel like I can breathe."
His embrace tightened slightly.
"You deserve that."
I rested my forehead against his chest.
"No," I whispered. "You gave me that."
For a few moments, he remained quiet.
Then I heard him speak so softly that I almost wondered whether I had imagined it.
"I love you, Surbhi."
Time seemed to stop.
I slowly looked up at him.
There was no expectation in his eyes.
No pressure.
He wasn't waiting for me to say the words back.
Instead, he smiled gently.
"You don't have to answer."
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I just wanted you to know."
His thumb lightly brushed away a tear from my cheek.
"I don't expect you to feel the same today, or tomorrow, or even months from now. Love isn't something that should ever be forced."
He smiled, and somehow that smile made me feel safer than any locked door ever had.
"I only want one thing."
"What?"
"I want this to be a new beginning for you."
He paused before adding quietly,
"And if you'll let me... a new beginning for us too."
I couldn't say I love you.
Not yet.
The words still felt too heavy, too unfamiliar after everything I had lived through.
I believed that one day I would be able to say them.
And when that day came, I knew exactly who I would say them to.