Her Saviour

1

The course of true love never did run smooth.

- William Shakespeare

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Author's POV :-

She couldn't believe her eyes. She took several steps back, hurting her wounds in the process.

She didn't want to accept that her dream of living a free life was shattered. Her plan was solid. Her only way to be out of this horrifying life. It was like what? Hardly 15 minutes. Only fifteen freaking minutes that she got the taste of freedom and her God was so cruel to snatch it away from her this soon? Whyy???

She looked down and her sight fell upon her hands, the same hands that were carrying the name of the man standing infront of her written with henna.

"Kitna gehra rang chaddha hai meri bachi nu mehendi da", said Utkarsh's grandmother.

("The colour of the henna is so deep on the hands of my daughter")

We all were gathered for the mehendi ceremony in the grand halls of the Khurana family's mansion at the Famiglia Headquarters. It was like an entire city, where all the important members, other than those who were either sent on a mission or themselves decided to stay at a different place, of the famiglia lived in a closed, highly protected territory. Given the situation under which the marriage was taking place the event was kept simple and small, only the important members of the famiglia being invited.

"Bhala kaise na ho mehendi laal, sadde munde ne pasand kitta hai maa", said my future husband's mother.

("And why shouldn't it be deep? After all, my son has chosen her, maa.")

There were no men. Though male members holding significant values in the famiglia were spotted here and there helping the women, she didn't get to see the man she was getting married to for once. Something she was thankful for. She knew it, better than anybody else, what these men were capable of and their actions behind closed doors.

And here she was, with her future husband, who was ready to take her back to the hell she tried to escape. She was caught. And she knew that her life is going to become unbearable. More than what it had been for the past 3 years. She pricked her legs while stumbling back and her face twisted into an expression of pain and despair.

"Careful there, love!", he said while wrapping his arm around her waist to protect her from falling.

She had been expecting the backlash to come since sometime now but never imagined an arm coming around her waist to keep her from falling.

But she was experienced. Too experienced to fall into the traps of such false tactics. The men that the famiglia made were downright inhumane, incapable of love and softness. And this realisation alone made a shift turn inside her.

"Pl...Please please let me goo. I pro..promise to keep myself hidden. Pleaseee", she cried in a desperate plea joining her shivering hands together which were almost touching his chest. She was ready to go down any line to run away from the twisted life that came with being in the famiglia.

"Okay!"

What? Did he say 'okay'? Did she even hear that right? Did the man who was supposed to be her husband in her second marriage just accept her request so easily?

"But where do you think will you keep yourself hidden?"

He was right. The Indian Mafia Famiglia will find her, no matter where she tries to hide as long as it is in the Indian subcontinent. She won't be able to fly abroad because all the documents of the women are for the men to keep once she enters the family. And even if she somehow succeeds in reaching a foreign land, their international connections were so strong that she'd end up getting caught before the night.

Her line of thoughts came to an end when she felt herself getting lifted. He picked her in his arms and she felt a pit in her stomach. This was the end. She'll die miserable. And maybe death is the only thing that will bring her freedom and peace.

Another thought that froze her mind was the fact that she was caught. This simply indicates that the family was now aware of the petty stunt that she pulled. Despite being an obedient lil wife throughout her life, history was the proof that any woman choosing this option had always faced the wrath of not just her husband but the entire family. And the thought alone sent shivers down her spine.

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Her POV :-

I was sitting in a limousine. He was coming in a different car. It was odd, to say the least.

Earlier, he had walked himself to this car with me in his arms. He, then, had placed me gently on this very same seat and walked out without the exchange of a word.

It was more confusing rather than scary. It would've been easier if he had shouted, abused, and then threatened to teach me everything at night when we were alone. But no such thing happened. On the contrary, there wasn't a single frown marring his face. Heck! He wasn't even looking angry. As if he had expected all this. As if he thought it was natural for me to flee.

"Ma'am, are there any other spots where you got hurt?"

"No. Thank you!", I denied in my quiet voice.

There were in total three attendants looking after me. One of them tended to my injuries, another one was fixing my makeup and hair that I had ruined earlier, and the third lady was trying to get rid of all the dirt I had accumulated in my lehenga.

I don't know why they were helping me fix my disheveled state when I will anyway get punished by the family at the end of the day.

The journey wasn't so long. But the entire fiasco made me so tired that I didn't realise when my eyes dropped close and I drifted off to sleep.

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