Ok guys, it's been a while since I set a goal, so let's go for a target of 180 votes this time!

____________

The next morning passed beneath the cold white lights of the hospital, carrying an unsettling stillness that made every sound feel sharper than it should have been. 

After countless checkups, repeated examinations, and long hours spent waiting for reports, the doctors had finally declared her condition stable enough for discharge. 

The assistant working under Siddharth stood near the reception desk, quietly handling the discharge papers with practiced efficiency, occasionally exchanging brief words with the staff before returning to the stack of documents in his hands. 

Nearby, Aarohi's mother moved around the room slowly, carefully packing Aarohi's belongings back into her bag, folding every piece with the anxious attentiveness of someone trying to stay occupied so her thoughts would not consume her entirely.

At the same time, one of the nurses stood beside Aarohi, gently removing the syringes and medical attachments from her body, as she no longer needed the constant support of drips and injections. 

The tape peeled away from her skin with slight resistance, leaving behind faint marks and soreness, but Aarohi barely reacted to any of it. 

Physically, she was better now—better enough to walk on her own, better enough to leave this room behind—but the stiffness in her posture and the coldness in her eyes made it painfully obvious that healing was far from complete.

Throughout all of it, Aarohi sat silently on the edge of the bed, her expression stern and unreadable, her gaze fixed beyond the glass door of the room. 

Outside, Siddharth stood with his back partially turned toward her, speaking on the phone in a calm, composed manner, his voice too distant to be understood clearly from where she sat. 

Yet Aarohi's eyes never left him for even a second. There was something sharp in the way she stared at him, something heavy and unsettled hidden beneath the silence, as if every passing moment in his presence only deepened whatever unease she already carried inside herself.

"Mummy," she finally called softly, though the firmness in her tone made her mother immediately look up from the half-zipped bag in her hands.

"Yes, beta?" her mother asked quickly, concern appearing on her face almost instantly as she walked a little closer. "Is it hurting somewhere? Should I call the doctor-"

Aarohi shook her head before she could finish, cutting her off quietly but firmly. Her eyes shifted once more toward the figure standing outside before she finally asked,

"Who am I going home with now?"

For a brief moment, her mother fell silent. The question clearly weighed on her more than she wanted to show. 

Knowing Aarohi's condition, knowing how fragmented and unfamiliar everything still felt to her after the memory loss, she let out a slow, tired sigh before answering in a quieter voice,

"Him."

Aarohi's eyes immediately hardened as she turned toward her mother fully.

"And why?" she asked, the irritation in her voice no longer hidden.

Her mother walked closer to her bedside then, her expression softening with helpless patience as she tried to explain something that sounded simple in words yet felt unbearably complicated in the atmosphere around them.

"He is your husband," she said gently. "He is your family now... and a wife stays with her husband."

Aarohi looked at her mother suspiciously, her eyes narrowing slightly as if she was trying to see through every word being spoken to her. 

There was no trust in her expression, only growing doubt mixed with the quiet hostility she had been carrying ever since waking up and finding herself surrounded by strangers claiming pieces of her life she could not remember.

"Mom, be honest," she said slowly, her voice calm but carrying an unsettling seriousness beneath it. 

"If he is blackmailing you... Or bothering you somehow, tell me right now. We'll call the police and hand him over to them..." Her eyes drifted toward the glass door again, where Siddharth still stood outside, completely unaware of the thoughts forming inside her mind. "...or else I'll kill him myself right now."

Her mother gasped softly at the words, genuine shock flashing across her face before she immediately reached forward and lightly slapped Aarohi on the head.

"Hey Bhagwaan, you stupid girl," her mother scolded in a hushed but stern voice, glancing nervously toward the door as though afraid someone else might hear her. 

"Who talks about their husband like this, huh?"

But Aarohi said nothing after that.

She simply went quiet again, leaning back slightly as her eyes returned to Siddharth's back visible through the glass, her stare fixed and unwavering. 

To anyone watching, she looked expressionless, almost detached, but beneath that silence, her mind was already spiraling into dangerous possibilities, each thought darker than the last.

On the way back to his jungle-like estate, she would do something. She had already decided that much. 

Either she would push him into one of those filthy water bodies filled with crocodiles hidden around that cursed place... or she would wait until his car picked up speed and shove him out through the moving door straight beneath a passing truck. 

The thoughts came to her naturally, almost calmly, as if she was planning something ordinary instead of murder, and strangely enough, none of it frightened her anymore.

Because in her mind, letting him stay alive felt far more dangerous.

For her.

For everyone.

For this entire country, if her instincts about him were true.

She was convinced he had done something to her family, something terrible enough to force them into accepting him, into calling him her husband despite the fear and discomfort she sensed lingering beneath their behavior. 

Nothing about him felt normal to her. Nothing about him felt safe. Even without her memories, every instinct inside her screamed that he was not a man to be trusted.

Aarohi kept her face completely blank, masking every thought carefully while the room continued moving around her, but deep inside, something cruel and satisfied slowly curled into a smirk. 

For the first time since waking up, she felt certain about one thing.

This time, she would win.

No matter what happened.

Because somewhere within herself, beneath the confusion, the missing memories, and the growing darkness clouding her thoughts, she knew with terrifying certainty that she would never truly live in peace until Siddharth was dead.

Her mother walked toward her slowly after finishing the packing, the exhaustion on her face hidden beneath a gentle smile that looked more forced than reassuring. 

She placed her hand softly on Aarohi's head, patting it with quiet affection before speaking in a calm voice that carried a strange urgency beneath it.

"Your papa got something important at the office, so we have to leave now," she said softly. "Behave yourself... and don't you dare do anything reckless, okay? And take care of yourself, too, beta."

Before Aarohi could respond, her mother leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, lingering there for a brief second as if she wanted to say much more but chose silence instead. Then she turned and walked out of the room.

Aarohi's eyes immediately followed her through the glass door.

Outside, she watched her mother stop near Siddharth. From where she sat, she couldn't hear their conversation, but the sight alone was enough for her mind to twist the scene into something darker. 

To her, it looked like pleading. Begging. Submission forced out of helplessness. 

She watched her mother fold her hands slightly while speaking to him, and in Aarohi's mind, it confirmed everything she had already convinced herself of—that this man had trapped her family somehow, threatened them into obedience, and now controlled every part of their lives while pretending to belong in it.

A few moments later, her parents finally walked away together, disappearing down the corridor and leaving her alone in the room.

Aarohi let out a slow sigh as the silence settled around her again.

So this was it.

Her journey alone had officially started now.

And if nobody else was going to save her, then she would have to save herself before it was too late.

Her eyes slowly moved around the room, scanning every corner carefully before finally stopping on the phone placed quietly on the side table near the bed. 

For a moment, she remained still, listening carefully to the faint sounds outside, making sure nobody was about to enter. 

Then, silently, she stood up and walked toward it.

Her fingers wrapped around the receiver quickly as she picked it up, immediately dialing 1091 with nervous urgency.

 Her heartbeat had started rising again, not out of fear alone but out of the adrenaline rushing through her as if she was committing something dangerous simply by asking for help. 

She followed the instructions carefully, pressing the required numbers with trembling fingers while constantly glancing toward the door.

The moment the line connected, she lowered her voice almost instantly into a hurried whisper.

"There is this one most wanted criminal..." she said quickly, trying to keep her breathing under control. "I don't know his name, but he is right here. He blackmailed my family, and now he is going to take me back to his house again... to kill me. Please help me."

There was a brief pause on the other side before the woman speaking to her immediately sensed the seriousness hidden beneath Aarohi's trembling voice. Her tone turned alert, professional.

"Ma'am, may I know where you are right now?"

Aarohi looked around the room helplessly, her eyes moving from the walls to the door as panic slowly crept in again.

"I-I don't know," she admitted softly. "I'm in some kind of hospital room... I don't know the place, room number, or anything." Her grip on the phone tightened. "My name is Aarohi... and he is getting my discharge papers ready right now. Please be quick."

The woman on the other side immediately assured her that help would arrive soon and calmly instructed her to stay on the line.

And for the first time since waking up in that unfamiliar life, Aarohi felt a faint sense of relief rise within her, fragile but real, believing that maybe—just maybe—she still had a chance to escape him before he took her back into whatever darkness waited for her beyond those hospital walls.

The department acted faster than Aarohi had expected. 

The moment the emergency call was marked serious, the number was traced immediately, and a nearby team was dispatched to the hospital without wasting another second. 

Throughout the entire process, one of the women from the helpline remained on the call with Aarohi continuously, her calm voice trying to keep her steady while quietly gathering details, making sure she stayed safe until help arrived. 

Every passing minute felt painfully slow to Aarohi, her eyes repeatedly shifting toward the glass door, expecting Siddharth to walk in at any second and discover what she had done.

Almost twenty minutes later, the once quiet hospital floor had completely transformed into a tense and chaotic scene.

People from nearby rooms had started peeking outside curiously, some standing partially hidden behind their doors while whispering among themselves, trying to understand why multiple police officers had suddenly surrounded the hallway. 

The atmosphere had become heavy with unease, carrying the strange excitement and fear that always followed public confrontation.

A constable stood firmly in front of Siddharth with his gun pointed directly toward him, refusing to lower it even slightly, while two other officers positioned themselves around him cautiously to ensure he could not move from his spot. 

Aarohi remained standing behind the Sub-Inspector, half hidden behind his shoulder, while carefully peeking toward Siddharth with guarded eyes, as though she expected him to attack the moment nobody was paying attention.

Meanwhile, Siddharth stood there in complete silence, though internally he was mentally cursing both himself and her repeatedly for leaving her alone in that room even for a short while.

 His jaw remained tight with controlled irritation, but outwardly, he maintained his composure as he calmly handed over every possible document the officers demanded on his phone and on the tablet of his assistant.

His ID card.

Business documents.

Official papers.

His passport.

Even the marriage certificate.

Everything was shown one by one to the SI while another officer remained on call with the main department office, verifying his records thoroughly to see whether there was anything suspicious in his background. 

At the same time, one of the doctors quietly explained Aarohi's condition to the SI in lowered words, carefully mentioning her memory loss and the mental confusion she had been dealing with since regaining consciousness.

The SI listened patiently to both sides before finally letting out a long sigh, clearly exhausted by the growing tension around him. He turned toward Aarohi slowly and spoke in a calmer tone compared to everyone else around them.

"They are saying he is your husband," he said carefully. "And he has all the proof documents too."

Aarohi immediately rolled her eyes in visible annoyance, crossing her arms tightly as anger flashed across her face.

"More than twenty-eight percent of documents in India are fake," she replied sharply without hesitation. 

"And more than forty percent of government departments work on references and money. Who knows? Maybe you are one of them, too." 

Her voice grew colder as she pointed toward Siddharth without even looking at him directly.

 "You are believing him over me without even knowing who I am. I think he bought you also with his black money, and that's why you're taking his side too."

The entire hallway fell awkwardly silent after her words.

A few constables exchanged uncomfortable glances while the doctor quietly rubbed his forehead in exhaustion, already sensing how difficult this situation was becoming. 

Meanwhile, Siddharth simply closed his eyes for a brief second, as though forcing himself not to react to her accusations despite the growing irritation visible in the stiffness of his expression.

But Aarohi remained completely serious.

To her, every person standing there looked suspicious now. Every calm explanation sounded rehearsed. 

Every proof placed before her looked fabricated. The more everyone insisted Siddharth was innocent, the more convinced she became that he was powerful enough to manipulate all of them.

And somewhere deep inside her fractured memories, that unsettling fear continued whispering the same thing over and over again—

that the moment she left this hospital with him, she would disappear into darkness once more.

The SI froze for a brief moment at Aarohi's accusation, the muscles along his jaw tightening as visible irritation crossed his face. 

He let out a slow breath through his nose before turning sharply toward the crowd that had gathered across the hospital corridor. 

Curious patients, nurses, attendants, and even hospital staff had been lingering there shamelessly, whispering among themselves while watching the drama unfold like entertainment.

His glare alone was enough to make most of them immediately step back awkwardly, but the constables standing nearby quickly began pushing the crowd away properly, tapping their sticks against the floor with warning looks.

"Inside. Everyone move inside," one of them ordered sternly.

Within seconds, the corridor started clearing out, though a few people still peeked nervously from half-closed doors, unwilling to miss the final outcome completely. The tension in the hallway remained thick even after the noise died down, leaving behind an uncomfortable silence that pressed against everyone standing there.

The SI finally looked back at Aarohi again, his expression now carrying more exhaustion than suspicion.

"Do you have any proof that he is a criminal?" he asked directly, his tone calmer this time, though there was clear impatience hidden underneath it.

Aarohi stared back at him without hesitation.

"That's his specialty," she replied immediately. "He does everything so perfectly that he barely leaves any proof behind."

The certainty in her voice made the atmosphere feel strange again.

For a second, even the SI looked uncertain about how to respond. 

Slowly, his gaze shifted toward Siddharth, who stood there equally stunned, listening to the identity Aarohi had unknowingly created for him. 

There was genuine disbelief in his expression—not because of the police involvement anymore, but because of the way she spoke about him as though he was some hidden monster operating in shadows.

The SI rubbed his forehead tiredly before finally taking a deep breath and stepping toward Siddharth.

"Look," he said in a lower, more controlled tone now, "you are a respectable personality, and after verifying your records, we are letting this matter go for now." 

His eyes briefly shifted toward Aarohi standing behind them before returning to Siddharth again.

 "But take her to a good therapist... or some proper mental asylum if needed. Because if she calls us one more time with accusations like this, we will have to take you with us too and proceed with stricter procedures."

Siddharth simply nodded quietly, maintaining his composure despite the growing frustration clearly hidden beneath his calm face.

 He exchanged a formal handshake with the SI, ending the matter professionally, while the officers finally began walking away toward the lift one by one.

But before they could leave completely, Aarohi's voice suddenly echoed loudly through the corridor again.

"Call them back!" she shouted furiously from behind, struggling against the nurse trying to calm her down. "I will suspend every single one of you once I get back to work, I swear! I won't leave you ali—"

Her voice slowly faded into the background as the lift doors closed in front of the officers.

Inside the elevator, a few constables exchanged awkward looks while the SI simply closed his eyes briefly in exhaustion, already regretting taking the emergency call personally.

Meanwhile, outside in the corridor, silence settled once again—but this time it carried something darker beneath it, because Aarohi still stood there glaring at Siddharth with burning distrust, while Siddharth looked back at her with a calmness that somehow felt far more dangerous than anger ever could.

 The last thread of Siddharth's patience finally snapped.

Before Aarohi could continue shouting or move another step toward the corridor, his hand shot forward and wrapped tightly around her wrist. 

The grip was firm enough to silence her instantly, not painfully crushing, but strong enough to leave no room for resistance.

 Aarohi gasped softly as he pulled her toward the hospital room with long, controlled steps, his anger no longer hidden beneath politeness or restraint.

The moment they entered the room, he shut the door behind them with a sharp sound that echoed through the silence, and before Aarohi could even process what was happening, he reached toward the rope hanging beside the glass door and pulled it down in one harsh motion.

The blinds dropped immediately.

Within seconds, the transparent glass door disappeared behind thick curtains, sealing the room away from the outside world completely. 

The corridor vanished. The people vanished.

 The nurses, the police, the safety of public eyes—everything disappeared behind those blinds, leaving only the two of them trapped inside a suffocating silence that suddenly felt far too private.

Aarohi's heartbeat rose violently.

Fear crept into her chest so fast it almost hurt.

Because deep down, she knew one terrifying truth—she still was not strong enough to protect herself from him. 

Not physically. Not mentally. 

And after what had just happened outside, after watching everyone eventually stand beside him despite her desperation, the last fragile sense of security she had been holding onto had shattered completely.

Now they were alone again.

And that realization alone made her breathing uneven.

Siddharth finally stopped once they stood near the center of the room. Slowly, he turned around to face her fully, his expression unreadable but terrifyingly calm. 

There was no loud anger in him, no visible outburst, and somehow that made him far more frightening.

His hand lifted slowly toward her face.

The moment his fingers touched her jaw, Aarohi's entire body stiffened instinctively.

His voice darkened when he spoke—the same voice that always managed to freeze something inside her, no matter how much she tried to resist it. Low. Controlled. Dangerous. It didn't need volume to terrify her.

"Now listen to me carefully, Aarohi."

Every word came out measured, but the heaviness behind them crashed against her like thunder trapped inside a closed room.

Her pulse began racing harder immediately.

His brown eyes had darkened completely now, shadows settling beneath them while strands of his hair had fallen loosely over his forehead, partially covering his gaze and somehow making him look even more unsettling.

 There was something deeply suffocating about the way he stared at her—as though he could see through every layer of fear she was trying to hide.

"If you utter one more single word," he said slowly, his fingers tightening slightly against her jaw, "or do anything until we reach home..."

He paused.

The silence between them became unbearable.

"I swear," his voice dropped even lower, almost dangerously calm now, "I will make you regret the hell out of it. Understand?"

That last word alone was enough to completely weaken her legs.

Aarohi felt her breath turn shallow instantly, her chest tightening as fear spread rapidly through her body despite how desperately her mind fought against it.

 Her hands twitched faintly at her sides, every instinct inside her screaming to step away, to fight him, to say something back—but her body betrayed her once again, reacting to him before her thoughts could even catch up.

Fear had settled too deeply into her nerves.

And she hated it.

"I won't repeat myself again," he continued, staring directly into her eyes without blinking. "Understood?"

Without even consciously deciding to, her head nodded slightly on its own.

The reaction made something dark settle behind his eyes, though his expression itself did not soften even a little. If anything, his calmness became more unsettling. 

His grip around her jaw loosened slightly afterward, but instead of pulling away, his hand moved higher, his fingers sliding slowly behind her ear while his thumb remained resting against the side of her jaw.

The touch was controlled. Casual almost.

But dangerously intimate in a way that made her stomach twist.

His hand rested frighteningly close to her pulse, and he could clearly feel how violently it was beating beneath her skin, how hard her body was working to keep itself steady under his presence. 

His other hand rested loosely against the side of her waist, not gripping tightly, not forcing her, yet positioned in a way that silently reminded her how impossible escaping him right now truly was.

Aarohi barely moved.

Not because she wanted to stay still.

But because every movement suddenly felt dangerous.

"I know you want answers," he finally said after a long silence, his voice quieter now but no less heavy. "I will give you all of them once we reach home. Understand?"

This time she didn't nod.

She didn't trust her body enough to move anymore.

But her eyes revealed enough. A silent agreement forced more by fear than acceptance.

Inside her mind, however, the war continued violently. One part of her wanted to run the moment his grip loosened even slightly. Another part wanted to grab something sharp and bury it into him before he could destroy her completely. 

Every thought inside her had turned dangerous now, tangled between survival and revenge.

Yet none of those thoughts changed the reality standing in front of her.

Because with his hand resting against her pulse, his body trapping her space without even needing force, and that terrifying calmness lingering in his eyes, Aarohi knew one wrong movement from her side could turn this moment into something far darker than it already was.

_______________

You can't leave without voting. I am watching you.👁️👁️