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Chapter Nine

Using the walker, Riddhima made her way into the living room. She eyed the cameras that had been situated around the space. She hoped they were enough to get Kabir when he finally confessed.

Speaking of which, he should have been here by now. It was just a little above five and she hadn't heard anything from him yet. She pulled up his chat and thought about calling him when she heard the door click open. Her heart beat fast. Apart from Vansh no one had ever stepped over the threshold into the penthouse, not even the housekeeping.

Her fingers gripped the handlebars of her walker when she saw Kabir walk in. He shut the door behind him and cautiously walked further inside.

"Kabir?" She whispered, not quite believing he was actually standing before her. There used to be a time when she used to count down the seconds for when she would get to see him again. When she did the same today, she did it with the hope that she would be seeing him for the very last time.

Smiling, he rushed towards her and hugged her. "Riddhima." He squeezed her tightly. "Thank God tum theek ho." Releasing her, he cupped her cheek and spoke with immense concern. "You have no idea how worried I was for you."

Before Riddhima could respond, he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. She stood before him shocked by his action.

When he pulled back, he raked his eyes over her face with a hint of suspicion in them. "Kya hua?"

Unable to speak, she smiled and shook her head. "It's been so long. I thought this day would never come."

"Well, it's here." He leaned forward to kiss her again and this time Riddhima did her best to reciprocate it.

Breaking the kiss, he asked, "Is Vansh here? I didn't see any of his cars in the parking lot."

Riddhima shook her head. "I don't know where he is. He always leaves around this time and doesn't come back until later in the night."

Kabir nodded in understanding. "That's good. Gives us enough time to leave."

He took a step back to examine her and Riddhima wanted to hide herself from his scrutiny.

"Kya dekh re ho?" She asked when he circled around her.

"Tumhe." He answered. "Tumne kaha tha ki Vansh hurt you. But you look just fine to me."

"I never said he hurt me." Riddhima answered with a hard edge to her voice. "I said he was holding me captive."

"But you look free to me." He commented. "Kahan hai tumhari bediyan?"

"There are a lot more ways to keep someone captured than just shackling them Kabir."

"Oh? And how did he capture you? It's not violence like you had implied." He parted her hair to reveal her skin. "Or did you finally succumb to his devilish charm?"

Riddhima clenched her fists. "Of course not."

There was an area on her neck that he stared at. Trailing his finger down towards it, he asked, "Toh phir yeh nishan kaise aaya?"

Riddhima glanced downwards but had no idea what he was talking about. Swatting his hand away, she spoke to him with a hard edge. "Tumne hi toh kaha tha uske paas jao."

"So exactly kitne kareeb jaa chuki ho tum?" He asked, slightly squinting.

"Tum kehna kya chahte ho?"

"Kya woh sirf tumhare dil ke andar gaya hai ya kahin aur?"

Her clenched hands and jaw had helped her to not slap him across the face, but they hadn't been able to do much to stop her eyes from tearing up.