The Perfect Revenge

Chapter 16

Abhimanyu

"Akshara, you should rest now" I say but she seems a little hesitant and so I add "I'll be right here"

She nods and then lies down while I sit on the chair.

I feel her eyes on me but I'm too overwhelmed myself to look back at her and answer the unsaid questions in her eyes.

After half an hour, I hear a light snoring sound and I turn to see that she is sleeping now.

I take out my phone and open the messages that are flooding in.

I open Rehan's message who tells me that Sandeep Dhiman was given first aid and that he's spending the night in jail.

This isn't enough! I want to kill him!

Rehan also tells me that the entire thing has caught the media's attention and that they're asking questions and creating speculations.

Goddamnit! I can't let Akshara anywhere near them. Those vultures will rip her apart!

In that moment, I realise that I'm the very same person who wanted to rip her apart myself but here I am, trying to protect her from everyone.

How did we even come to this?

I close my eyes and the horror of the evening comes back to me in flashes.

Akshara's assault.

Sandeep's words that this has happened before.

Her cries and screams.

When did this happen earlier?

Why did she not tell her father about this?

Does anyone else know?

What had happened back then?

All these questions make me restless and I go to the bathroom to wash my face.

Suddenly, I hear Akshara's screams.

"Leave me!" she cries.

"I can't take this again, I'll die"

I run to her and see that she's having a nightmare.

"Akshara" I shake her up. "Akshara, it's a bad dream, you're safe" I tell her repeatedly.

She wakes up with a jolt and looks around.

Her forehead and neck are covered in cold sweat and her hands are shivering.

I pick up a wet tissue from the table side and wipe her face.

"You're safe, you're okay here" I cup her face and her lip trembles.

"I-I'm s-sorry-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for" I make her lie down but she clings on to my hand like it's the rope saving her from falling off a cliff.

I sit down on the bed, next to her, and I caress her forehead.

I see her breath turning normal as the movement of her chest becomes slower.

She slowly closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

I'm about to get up but her grip on my hand makes it difficult for me to move without waking her up and so I have no other option but to stay there.

A million thoughts are running in my head and the most important of them is that I might have to give up on the idea of seeking my revenge by using her as a pawn.

I will still make her father pay but after what she has gone through, I cannot do that to her.

I need to find another way to destroy Raj Goenka.

Slowly, I feel my exhaustion take over me as my eyelids become heavier by the minute.

Akshara

My cheeks feel warm and I'm surrounded by an unfamiliar scent.

I slowly open my eyes and my world is suddenly shaken.

I'm sleeping with my face hidden in Abhimanyu's chest and his arms are wrapped around me pulling me closer to him.

What the-

I suddenly recall the events of the previous night and my heart starts racing.

I had been through that hell yet again.

His filthy hands had touched me, his mouth had been on my neck...

I feel utterly disgusted and my body starts shaking visibly.

"Akshara" I hear Abhimanyu's voice and he wakes up with a worried look on his face.

"I need to take a shower, I need to wash him off me.

His dirty hands, his breath, I- I want to wash it all off" I cry and he tries to calm me down.

"Shh... yes, yes Akshara but please take a deep breath"

He helps me get up and I make my way to the bathroom.

Suddenly, I stop and turn around and I don't know what comes over me.

I take two steps towards him and hug him tightly.

"Thankyou. Thankyou Abhimanyu"

He seems to have frozen by my act but honestly I can't help myself.

The last time this had happened, I had no one.

For months, I was afraid to go to sleep and even if I did, I was surrounded by nightmares.

I screamed in my sleep but nobody ever helped me.

But this man in front of me did.

He was there for me on one of the roughest nights of my life and even if he hates me, he has done enough for me to be thankful.

"I- uh-" He says awkwardly.

I pull back and without looking at him, I go into the bathroom.

I can't tell him that this has happened before. But if I could, he would know why I'm thanking him.

He says he's a monster who wants to keep me caged.

Little does he know that his cage is now my protection.

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Author's Note: Hi Guys, wanted to end the weekend with a lighter update! 

Good night everyone. 

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