Sahil took a deep breath after disconnecting the call. He turned around and found Srishti's eyes trained on him with a 'I-know-something-is-wrong' look.

Aditya and Zevah were busy playing with Ayaansh but Sahil knew he had to tell what was going on.

"There is a problem." He blurted out and watched Srishti tensed visibly, Aditya looked at him with a serious face while Zevah was now anxious.

"Vishal Saxena was granted bail just few hours ago and he's now not traceable." He announced causing Srishti to freeze in fear. Sahil clenched his jaw seeing the fear in her eyes and so he walked towards her, taking her hand in his.

"Nothing will happen, Srishti. I'm here and he won't be able to harm you as long as you stay inside. You're getting it? Don't leave the house in any circumstances." He said sternly and she felt her heart racing.

"Where are you going?" She questioned with a slight tremor in her voice, her hold on his hand tightening.

"I have to make some arrangements. I'll be back soon, I promise." He assured her but she wasn't convinced.

"Besides, Aditya is coming with me. You, Ayaansh and Zevah stay here. Don't step out even if you get a call as absurd as me getting into an accident, alright?" Sahil tried to joke but she didn't even smile causing him to sigh.

Aditya nodded at Zevah and got up followed by Sahil. Srishti pulled Ayaansh on her lap, as she watched them leave.

Sometimes she hated that they didn't have a normal relationship but she couldn't regret even for a moment.

────────

Ayaansh was asleep on the bed, Srishti sitting on the right and Zevah on the left. It had been an hour since they left and there was not even a message from them.

"Srishti, we need to be alert. Everything will be fine." Zevah said seeing her lost in her thoughts. She was scared herself but needed to be strong for her bestfriend.

"I just ─I feel this is all my fault, Zevah. I shouldn't have wandered in that unknown place and I shouldn't have talked with him." Srishti hated it because she had pined Vishal to be a good person.

She ignored all those red flags when she felt uncomfortable with his smile and stares. What was she going to do now?

"Don't be stupid. Just because we talk to someone nicely doesn't mean we gave them wrong signals. Some men are bastards who can't take a 'no' for an answer. Srishti, if you will show him your fear, he will take it as an advantage for himself. So stop being scared." After Zevah's mini speech, Srishti gave her a blank look.

"Should I give you an award for this pep talk?"

Zevah shrugged in return. "I don't mind." Both let out a chuckle after that, shaking their heads.

"But, I know you are right. It's just that I'm scared for Ayaansh. I don't want him to even lay his eyes on my baby." She knew that even if he so much as tries to harm Ayaansh, she won't hesitate to kill him.

"Alright, let's just talk about something else. All these depressing talks are going to make me old faster." Zevah frowned and Srishti rolled her eyes.

"You are already old."

Zevah gasped a little loudly which caused Ayaansh to stir in his sleep. Srishti glared at her and she grinned sheepishly mumbling an 'oops'.

"How dare you call me old! I am even younger than you." She resumed her previous argument and Srishti narrowed her eyes.

"FYI, for your information, I am two years younger than you. So don't lie." Srishti fired back and Zevah grumbled because she was right. She just hated being called 'old'. And here she was in fact older one.

"Shut up. Don't make me hit you." She huffed looking away whereas Srishti hid her smile.

"So how are things with Aditya?" Srishti smirked when Zevah fumbled with an answer.

"Everything's fine. How else will it be?" She mumbled not wanting to discuss about her married life especially when Srishti had problems going on with her own.

"Any plans for honeymoon?" Zevah's eyes widened at the mention and Srishti pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing.

Zevah hissed,"Shutup!"

The next few hours they talked about anything and everything trying to distract themselves from the current situation. Srishti would glance at her phone every now and then, her hands itching to call him but she waited. She waited for him to finish whatever work he had to finish and return home.

She just prayed everything would be fine. Little did she know, everything was going to be messed up.

────────

Srishti woke up at the sound of her ringtone and she immediately sat up picking up the call.

"Sahil, where are you? Are you fine? And Ad─"

"Tch tch. So much care for your husband, Srishti. Why can't you show it for me?" She froze on her spot hearing the voice and her heart started thudding against her chest.

"W─What do you want?" She tried to swallow her fear as she got up and moved away from the bed. Her eyes landed on Zevah and Ayaansh sleeping peacefully and she took in a shuddering breath to be brave.

"You fucking know what I want. Come to me on your own or I won't hesitate to harm your dear husband and his friend." Vishal sneered on the phone and she gripped the phone tightly.

"You won't be able to even lay a finger on them so just fuck off." The words flew out of her mouth even before she could process them.

"You bitch! You will regret this." And the line went dead.

Srishti felt like her heart would leap out of her chest as she tried to calm herself. She immediately dialed Sahil's number with her shaky hands and pressed the phone to her ear.

The number you are dialing is currently out of network. Please try again later.

She tried again for a few more times but got the same response. Even Aditya's number was not reachable and she felt like slapping both of them.

Anxiously, she kept walking in the room, thinking about what Vishal was going to do. She didn't want to wake up Zevah simply because she will be worried too.

Ten minutes later, her phone pinged and she gulped as she opened the message.

She gasped covering her mouth to stop the cries. It was a video of Tina held captive by him as he covered her mouth roughly with a cloth. Srishti felt as if someone was squeezing her heart as she watched Tina crying incoherently.

"If you wish to see her alive, come to the address that I will send you. And if you try to inform anyone else, I swear more than one kid will be dead."

The video ended leaving Srishti in tears. She shook her head trying to stop her tears and stood up. Her phone pinged again and she knew it was the address. Hurriedly she stood up and wiped her tears, marching towards the door.

"Srishti?" She froze when Zevah called her from behind but she didn't turn around.

"What ─Where are you going?" Zevah sat up alarmed as she watched Srishti's tensed form. Slowly she turned around and Zevah knew something was wrong.

"Zevah, please stay with Ayaansh. Please just please take care of him. I need to go." Srishti pleaded desperately and without another word dashed out of there.

Zevah was going to run behind her but just then Ayaansh started crying and she had to stay behind. She picked Ayaansh in her arms and dialed Aditya's number with her free hand.

It went straight to voicemail and she cursed him in her mind. She tried again after a few minutes and much to her relief the phone rang.

"Aditya─"

────────

Srishti dialed Sahil's number again and she felt grateful when the phone was reachable. He picked up on the third ring and she didn't give him time to speak.

"Sahil, Vishal has Tina. I have to go, just please don't ─"

"You are not going anywhere, Srishti. Fuck! Don't even step out. Do you understand. I'll go there. Send me the address and stay in the house." Sahil said in an agitated voice, commanding her and she pursed her lips.

"Aditya, go to the orphanage and see if everybody's fine. Go, now!" She heard him ordering Aditya and bit her lip to stop the sob from escaping.

"Srishti ─"

"Sahil, I'm sorry."

"NO! Srishti─"

She heard him yelling but she disconnected the call and walked out of the house, ignoring his repeated calls. There were two guards at the gate and she frowned knowing they won't allow her to leave.

"Ma'am, you can't leave." As expected, she was stopped at the gate which made her anxious.

"Please let me go. Its urgent and important." She pleaded but they didn't budge. She saw a cab waiting outside and a plan formed in her mind.

"Okay I can't go alone. But if you come with me, it'll be alright, right?" She asked expectantly to one of them and they shared a look.

They nodded and opened the gate and it was the only thing she wanted. She ran towards the cab and sat inside ignoring the shouts from behind.

The driver started the cab rather hurriedly as if he was waiting for her to sit inside. She pressed herself on the left side, away from the man when he didn't even ask her where she wanted to go.

"Took you long enough." Her face paled when the person turned around and winked at her. It was him.

"Y─You! Where is Tina?" She asked and heard him scoff.

"Where she should be." Anger bubbled inside her and she yelled, "Where is she?"

Her phone pinged. It was from Sahil.

"It's a trap, Srishti. Tina is at the orph─"

The phone was snatched from her but she had already read the message.

"Oh, so your dear husband has told you everything. I guess I don't have to lie anymore." He chuckled causing her to shiver. She watched as he rolled down the window and threw her phone out.

"Stop the car." She glared at him but he only laughed. She curled her fists in anger as he watched her from the rear view mirror.

"Stop or I will jump from the running car." She warned him and when he didn't listen, she opened the door, however before she could jump, Vishal held her hand.

"Fucking bitch." He hissed trying to handle driving the car with one hand as the other held her in a tight grip.

Srishti struggled violently which caused the car to go haywire. Vishal tried to get the car back in his control but with Srishti continously trying to free her hand, he couldn't focus on one thing.

"Fuck!"

There was another car coming towards them and in order to avoid crashing, he swerved the car in the nick of time. Srishti fell on the seat due to the impact however Vishal couldn't stop the car in time and it crashed against a tree.

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