Only Mine

Chapter 4

I was buckling myself in safely in a plush private jet in the early fall morning. The sun had not yet risen and there was a slight chill in the Delhi air, signifying the slow transition from Delhi fall to cool winters. I could hear the pilot announce over the jet's intercom. "Good morning everyone. This is your pilot, Greg Daniels, requesting you to please be seated with your seat belts secured.  We are prepared for take off and are waiting on final approval by Air Control. We should be on the runway in exactly 20 minutes. Flight from Delhi to Paris is approximately 9 hours and 20 minutes. We shall be landing at Charles De Gaulle at 10am. The weather in Paris is 12 degrees Celsius. On behalf of the cabin crew, we wish you all a safe and comfortable journey ahead."

As the intercom announcement was coming to an end, Anna settled in to the seat in front of me, such that she was facing me. We both had window seats towards the front of the plane. Jean, Lorenzo and Alessandro had settled into the seats in the back as they had a huge table that was already occupied with a few laptops and large folders. They were already busy with "work" and seemed to have completely ignored the pilots orders to be buckled in.

The past 2 hours flitted across my mind in rapid succession. One minute we were discussing the possibility of me leaving Delhi and shifting to Paris and before I could really process the bombardment of this new information, I was walking across the Delhi airport tarmac and climbing the stairs of the private jet that belonged to Renauld Corporation. Renauld Corporation was the privately held company that belonged to Jean Renauld and Anna Renauld. It had been set up by their father and had been inherited by Jean and Anna after he and his wife had passed away. 

I had never traveled on a private jet. It was more spacious than the domestic economy flights I was accustomed to. I was able to stretch my legs without any discomfort and each chair was equipped with a retractable tray that flipped into a mini TV. It was loaded with all the latest movies and TV shows. Normally, I would be deep into a movie right now, as take off filled me with anxiety. But I was a lot more anxious with the decision I had made of finally abandoning my country and my family. The anxiety of sitting in a tin can that was being launched into the air at an alarmingly fast speed was safely ensconced into the recesses of my memory. 

My thoughts were primarily were occupied with the threat that Daniel Vanderbilt posed. It was petrifying, but the final push towards hastily agreeing to Jean's plan of faking my death, was the fear of Daniel unleashing his depravity on my family. The mere thought of my sister being abducted the way Anna and I almost were made me nauseous. I would do anything to protect her. My heart filled with sadness knowing I did not even get the chance to bid her goodbye. I had pleaded with Anna to postpone the flight plan to the coming week so I could spend a little more time with my family, but I was swiftly refused. We had to leave urgently and Jean was steadfast in his resolve of flying back to Paris at the soonest. "You can either join us in the car in 10 minutes or you can go back home and take your chances. Either way, that plane is taking off today, with or without you."

Besides those two clipped lines, Jean had made it a point to stay away from me. No words of comfort were provided or sympathy offered. He had wordlessly arranged for safe passage for me, without a visa or passport, in less than an hour.  Anna had hurriedly packed a small bag with her most prized possessions and we were soon cruising down the road, on our way to the airport.