❝The only kind of love I want is one where even if it is just for a short moment, it feels like I have lived a lifetime in that moment with that person. ❞ - Jhanvi Raichand.
**You CANNOT read this as standalone. Read Dare to Be before reading this...
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2.33 ELeventh Hour
I wince feeling a sharp pain in my head as I open my eyes to the darkness around me. I try to move, disoriented and trying to grasp my surroundings. Where am I? How did I get here?
I jog my memory. Last I remember, the wedding ceremonies were almost done and I was walking towards the kitchen to make sure all the dishes were ready for dinner that would follow in the open garden at the back of the palace. Someone had handed me one of the desert options to taste.
Oh, God. Did someone drug me?
Panic starts to settle in for a moment as I realize I am bound to the chair and unable to stand up or free my hands.
Then, I hear a voice. "There, there. Are you that impatient to meet me?"
At first, I don't recognize the voice. Until the light above me flickers on and I hear footsteps nearing. He steps into the light and I see his face.
Though my body stiffens seeing him in front of me, I try to mask my expressions. "Mr. Raichand." I call him for I refuse to acknowledge that he is my father, "Did not think you had the guts to show your face."
My heart start pounding in my chest seeing the man in front of me who is responsible for murdering my mother. The fact that I share his blood makes my insides recoil from disgust.
Narayan laughs, "See what I have to do to get a reunion with my own daughter? I have to kidnap her."
It is my turn to laugh at the absurdness of the statement, "You think you kidnapped me? Do you really think that the girl who was kept safe for almost twenty years can be so easily kidnapped? By you?"
"You're here, aren't you?"
I remain confident, "You're mistaken. If I am here, then he wants me to be here. There is only one person who can breech my security to kidnap me and sorry to break it to you, but that person is not you."
He smirks, which I do not understand at first. Shouldn't he be offended instead? "You're right. And that, my child, is the exact reason he kidnapped you for me. You'd be surprised how far money in this country will take you."
My heart starts beating faster as if adrenaline is kicking in.
What is he implying? That Aarush would kidnap me for the sake of money? No. He is not greedy. He has saved me many a times from danger. He wouldn't put me in danger. He is a true solider. He wouldn't sell me out. He wouldn't betray me.
He couldn't.
Narayan scoffs, "What? Don't believe me? How about some proof?"
He knocks on the dark wooden door and I wait apprehensively. In that moment, my heart must have started to beat double its speed. Thousands of doubts run through my head. Days ago, meeting him, the reason he had appeared was to warn me. He didn't have much time, but he made sure to convey that message. I trusted him. Heck, I had feelings for him!
