Niharika

I was discharged from the hospital. Vedant didn't allow us to take the taxi. He was adamant on taking us to my apartment. And no one can win over that arrogant jerk. So we let him take us home. Vedant dropped me at my apartment and took Kavya to her boutique, she got a call on the way that one of her regular customer is coming to get her pre ordered designer wear. So she has to go and see her. She was feeling bad about leaving me alone. But I assured her that I am ok now. Her boutique wasn't too far from here so she promised me that she will be home in an hour.

The car stopped in front of our apartment and I got down. Kavya looked me an apologetically I scoffed at her reaction and gave a tap on her hand. Vedant gave me a firm nod. I didn't give any response and walked towards the building. While walking into the building I met one of my neighbours and had a little chit chat.

I searched by bag for the key and took it out. I slowly opened the door. I felt something wrong when I entered the apartment. Some kind of fear was consuming me. I slowly took some steps inside. There was no one in the living area. Then I checked both the bedrooms. It was empty. I sighed in relief. I came back to the living room and walked up to the dining table. Took out a glass and poured some water from the jug. I gulped it in one go. I closed my eyes and took deep breath to relax myself.

"Is that enough? Do you like something cold to drink?" I heard the same demonic voice. My breath got stuck in my throat and the glass slipped from my hands. It fell down and broke into million pieces. I turned and saw the green eyes looking at me. They were furious. I could feel the shivering of my lips. "How did you get inside?" I asked.

He scoffed at my question. "How do you think? Who and all have the keys to your apartment?" He was leaning against the kitchen door and watching me while sipping a can of beer. I was confused at first then the shock came to me. No way. He won't stoop that low. "Father?!!" I asked unbelievably.

The evil smirk on his face widened. "You guessed right." He said while giving me a mocking appreciation. "How could he do this to me?" My eyes started to sting. "Because, he is not your father. Did you think he will let you go easily? Nah. He won't and me either." He said evilly.

I looked at him shocked. "You can't do anything now. I'm married. I'm someone else's wife now. So you better stay away from me." I tried to be brave and warn him. But that made him more furious. He crushed the beer can in his hands and throws it away. He stormed towards me like a lion hunting his prey. I took a step back but my back hit with the table. He kept his both hands on either sides of the table caging me in. My breath got heavy.

"Don't tell me that you are someone else's wife. You are my wife and you will always stay with me. That's why I am taking you with me." He roared. "What?!!!" I asked with panic in my voice.

"Yes. We are leaving this country forever." He said smiling. "No. No." My panic was increasing. Is he going to kidnap me? I have to escape. I searched the table behind me for anything to defend myself. "Yes. Yes. You are coming with me. I will take you to such a place that no one will ever find us. It will be only me and you. We will live happily there." He was speaking like a psycho. I got hold on something in my hands. It was the table top pepper powder container. I removed the lid with one hand and pushed him back with other. He was shocked by my sudden action. He looked at me startled. I took this as an opportunity and throw the pepper powder on his face. He yelled in pain and closed his eyes with his hands. I ran towards the door and opened it. I hit with something hard and stumbled and was about to fall but someone caught me before that. I looked up and saw a nervous Vedant staring at me. He brought me up. "Inside.. He. He came. He was trying to.." I couldn't finish the sentence because of fear. He brought me close to his chest and hugged me tight. "It's okay. I'm here. Don't worry." He patted my back. Then he slowly pulled me away from his embrace and looked at me. He gave me an assurance nod and started to move inside I suddenly got hold of his hands. I was afraid of being alone. He looked at me and my hands gripping his elbow then he slowly took my palm and brought it to his and intertwined our fingers tight. I was still scared.

We slowly moved inside the house. Karan was not there in the dining area anymore. Where is he? Then we heard sound from the kitchen. Vedant left my hand and walked inside the kitchen. I slowly followed him. Karan was washing his face in the kitchen sink. His back was facing us. Vedant looked at him suspiciously. He finished washing and turned towards us. That's when Ved saw his face.

His face changed, a look of bitterness swept across his face. His finger formed into a fist. His knuckles turned white. Ved launched himself at Karan even before he could register what was happening. The first blow was on his jaw. He fell backwards. Karan was not even able to defend himself. Ved was giving him punch after punch. I closed my mouth in shock. He was mad. All I could see in those eyes were rage.

Karan fell on the floor on his back. He was bleeding all over his face. He was not moving. He looked like he lost consciousness. But Ved was still furious. He grabbed the knife sitting on the counter and hold it in boths hands and raised it to stab him. "NO." I yelled and went forward. I hugged him tight from behind. "Stop it. Stop it. Ved. Please." I begged. It took my full strength to pull him away. We stood like that for a little while. My eyes were closed tight. My breath was not still even. I could hear my heart beating loud. Then I heard the knife clattering to the floor. He slowly removed my hands around him and turned to face me. I was still scared to death. He cupped my face in his hands and looked at my face.

"Are you OK?" he asked gently. Tears started to fall. No, I'm not okay. Everything happening around me was strange. I shook my head in no. Sobs escaped from my mouth. He pulled towards his chest and hugged me tight.

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I was sitting on the sofa with a shawl covering my torso. The shock was still raw. Vedant was giving his statement to the police. He kept looking at me concerned. Karan was handcuffed and was seated on a chair near dining table. His face was purpler than any other colour. His nose was dislocated and his lips were cut on the corner. His head was hung down.

Vedant came to me with the officer. The officer took the seat opposite me and Vedant sat next to me. "Hello Ms. Niharika. I know you are very disturbed for now but we will be glad if you could give us your statement now." The inspector said to me.

I gulped and nodded my head. "So can you tell me what happened here today?" He asked calmly.

I opened my mouth but the thought itself made my mouth go dry. My lips were trembling. I rubbed my hands together. Suddenly I felt warmness on my hands. I looked at my hands and saw Vedant's palm covering mine. I looked at him. He squeezed my hands tightly and gave me an assurance nod. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"He was already inside my apartment when I reached here. He told me that he will take me to a place where no one can find me." I stopped for a second and then told the rest of the story to the inspector.

"You divorced him because of the domestic abuse right." The Inspector asked me. I nodded my head. "Do you have any idea how did he get inside the apartment? Did he break the door or something?" He asked again.

"He said he had a duplicate key to the apartment." I said. "Do you know how he got the duplicate key to your apartment?" The inspector questioned me again. "No. I don't know." I replied without looking at him. He gave us an acknowledging nod and got up from the seat. We repeated after him.

"Ok. Thank you, Mrs. & Mr. Aryan. That's all for now. We will call you if we need anything more." He said while shaking hands with Vedant. Then he walked towards Karan. "Mr. Karan Kohli, you are under arrest for breaking into Ms. Niharika's home and trying to kidnap her. So now please cooperate with the investigation and follow us to the police station." He said to Karan.

He was too weak to stand up on his own. So two policemen supported him from either sides and helped him to walk. When they reached us suddenly Vedant grabbed him by his collar. I was startled by his action. Karan was not even able to lift his eyes. "If you touch her again, I will kill you." Vedant said to him furiously and pushed him back. The policemen holding him helped him from falling on the floor. They took him out fast. I looked at the figures disappearing and sighed in relief.

"Why didn't you tell them that Nakul gave him the key?" I heard an angry voice from behind. I closed my eyes tight while thinking about a reply. I slowly turned around and saw an angry Vedant. His hands were folded across his chest and were looking at me for an answer.

"Even though he is not my father, he was the man I called Father for my entire life. I know he hates me but I can't see him in a prison. It is his face coming in my mind when I think of father. So I can't do this to him." I said. My cheeks were wet with tears. I hugged myself and looked down.

He sighed annoyingly and walked towards me. He cupped my face in his hands and made me to look at him. "You are too good for this world. Don't be so forgiving Niharika. There is no one who can love you more than you. Start living your life a little." He said with sympathy.

That's when the door opened and Kavya came in. He left my face and we both took a step back. "Hmm, what is going on here? Did you made her cry again?" She looked at Vedant suspiciously.

"You can ask your friend yourself." He said while walking towards the door. Before going out of the apartment he turned around and said to Kavya. "By the way help your friend to pack her luggage. We are going to Mumbai tomorrow morning."

"What?!!" we asked at the same time. We looked each other confused and then looked at him. "You heard me. We are leaving here tomorrow morning." He said without any emotion.

"You must be leaving. I am not coming with you." I said irritated and angry.

He gave his usual smirk. He slowly walked towards me and stood in front of me. "Yes, you are coming with me my dear wife. If you think that I will let you live here alone after all this drama. You are highly mistaken MRS. NIHARIKA VEDANT ARYAN. You are coming with me and that is final." He said with a stern voice.

"No. I'm not coming with you." I too said with equal stubbornness.

"You will come with me unless you want me to carry you in my hands and put you in the car." He said. His voice was husky and authoritative.

My mouth fell opened in shock. "No. You won't do that."

"Try me babe." He smiled pinched my nose. I was stunned. Then the unexpected happened. He cupped my face and kissed my forehead. Then he looked at me. His eyes were filled with concern. "Sleep tight dear. Goodnight." He said and walked away immediately. I stood there in surprise looking at the closed door behind him.

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"I think you should go with him to Mumbai. We don't know what else that man will do to you if you stay here and that son of a bitch won't be in the prison for long. He can get out easily with the money he has. You need to be with someone who can protect you Hari. I know he tricked you into this marriage. And your experience with men makes you to not trust anyone. But I don't know why I have this feeling that he will not hurt you. Just try giving him a chance." Kavya said after listening to everything that happened today.

We were both sitting on the bed. I was leaning my head on her shoulder. She was holding my hands tightly. "How can I go with him Kavya? I don't know anything about him. What if it is like out of the frying pan into the fire? I can't handle it Kavya. Only you know how I survived. If something like that happens I don't think I will make it out of it. I have lost my trust in anybody. He married me to get the shares. And you think I can trust him?" I asked while wiping my tears.

"I know he married you for the shares but as I said I don't know why but I think he will keep you safe." She said and turned towards me. She lifted my face to look at her. "Look at me Hari. You go with him. He can't do any harm to you since the will says that if you die without an heir it will go to the charitable trust right. So if he wants the shares with him he needs to take care of you. And for now you being away from here is good for you. I will call you every day. Okay. If he does something to you I will come there and kick his ass. Agreed?" she asked.

I scoffed at her terrible joke. I too think going with him is a good idea. I too needed a change in my life. Let me see what he is up to. I nodded my head for a yes. She smiled and hugged me tight. Then we started packing my luggage for my trip with my new HUSBAND.