Madam Sirr 2

Chapter 14

 The Truth Uncovered

The jeep sped through the streets of Lucknow, a white blur in the crowd of traffic. Haseena Malik had her life uprooted with Anubhav's sudden appearance and what he claimed to be the truth. She had just discussed it with the Commissioner. She massaged her throbbing temples, closing her eyes sinking down to the meeting.

"Ms. Malik, you've met Anubhav?" The commissioner asked handing her a file that read confidential.

A gnawing fire spread throughout her burning Haseena with a deep intensity. She grappled her knee in an attempt to bury the rising memories. She couldn't drive back down, especially not in front of her senior. She forced herself to breathe quelling the rising anxiety.

"Ji Sir" she said masking her voice in a cold dead print.

She opened the file and read it, her eyes scrutinizing each and every page, the words in it drilling down to her chest. Haseena felt as if someone had grabbed her heart and flung it across to a hearth making her watch as her heart was burned alive. She gasped for breath, her airways clenching tight. The file detailed Anubhav's mission as patriotic. She read through the details of how Anubhav was undercover to find the culprits.

Haseena's eyes flashed fire as she read Bakshi sir's name. He had recruited her for the undercover mission plotting Anubhav as the traitor but he himself was the traitor. Haseena gripped the handle of the chair to control herself. She had been made a fool. She couldn't believe what she read.

So, Anubhav was telling the truth, she thought. Her mind floated back to the day where she had shot Anubhav, the man she had loved with her own hands. She had done it in the name of duty but if what the file said was true, she had committed a blunder. A blunder that everyone around her had to pay dearly. That she herself was still paying for. She heard the unmistakable sound of her gun. She fired. Thrice. She saw as clear as day, the giant mound of Anubhav touch the ground in a heap.

She clawed her way back to the present, desperation stinging every nerve in her body. Her mind fluctuated with mixed emotions. She had hated Anubhav with the same intensity of her love but now that she learned the truth....could she go back to the past?

The jeep jerked over a pothole awakening Haseena to the present. The morning light burned deep into her eyes, shielding her vision from the past and the present. Her phone vibrated. She fished it out and almost let out a small gasp, involuntarily choking herself. It was Anubhav.

"Haseena Ji, can we talk? I want to fix things. Shall we meet today at 6?"

Haseena stared at the message rereading it for the umpteenth time, her heart bellowing swear words at her for reasons unknown. She sank down burying her head in her hands.

What could she do? She had to learn the truth but could she give Anubhav another chance, after everything he did? Even if he was mission, he had broken her heart, not once but twice and Haseena wasn't about to let herself fall back into the same trap. She needed time. She needed to think. She switched off her phone, staring at the Lucknow landscapes ignoring the flutter that now rose in her.

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Amar had joined as the SHO at the JPT station with renowned determination. He strolled to his office and decided to tackle Bulbul first. He called him in, Bulbul's eyes, a glaring shade or red. Amar knew that he had challenged Bulbul's authority and that Bulbul would never succumb to him.

Bulbul stood in front of him, his heart leeching in anger. He was furious with both Amar and Haseena, determined to teach them both a lesson. Bulbul didn't salute Amar as he should. He knew that he would never accept Amar as his senior.