The Vile.

Chapter : 58

Towards War.

The car stops infront of the all famous Sachdev Palace. None of them ever thought of seeing it from the very front, let alone staying inside it. Zoya widens her eyes in awe. Mr. Sachdev did tell her that he will manage their stay but never in her wildest dreams could she imagine he meant their palace. The magnitude of the whole construction is strikingly beautiful. They start getting out of the car one by one, as a man in white uniform hurriedly comes to escort them.

Inside the car, Abhirup turns to look at Vasudha and finds her still looking outside. As if she couldn't even realize that they have arrived or the car has stopped moving. He very slowly places his hand on her shoulder and that makes her snap out of her thoughts as she looks at him.

"We've arrived Sudha." He says. She looks outside and her eyes narrow.

"Wait, this.... this is the Sachdev Palace. Ekansh Sachdev wants us to stay here? In his own palace? Why? What makes us so important to him?" She asks mostly to herself.
Her thoughts doesn't surprise Abhirup, because he was thinking about the same thing the moment the car stopped. What's making them so special? Is Sudha's assumption correct then?

However, they get down and join the others. Sudha stands beside Derek who looks at her and utters,

"What you did back at the hospital, I am still skeptical about that Sudha. You're taking a huge risk. A dangerous one at that, when you could've very easily settled for the peaceful and less complicated option. I hope you're confident enough."

"Trust me Derek, I want nothing more than peace now. I am tired of al these things as well. But this, this is not something small anymore. All of you'll see when the time comes. Please, have faith in me. That's all I need." She says as her eyes fall ahead surpassing the huge iron gate, behind it slowly emerges the man with dark brown eyes and neatly combed curly hair. He comes out with a huge grin on his face, wearing a half sleeve army green t-shirt that shows off his generous built and a grey sweatpant, as the guards efficiently opens the gate for him. He looks directly at her ignoring everyone else around.

"Vasudha, you're safe. Thank goodness. I was worried for so many months." She looks at him without any expressions. This man hasn't seen her more than five times but the way he is behaving seems like he has been someone really close to her. His way of addressing her also alerts her. Did he just call her Vasudha instead of Ms. Roy? What's going on?

"Thank you for helping us Mr. Sachdev." Zoya cuts in. "It means a lot to all of us. We are truly grateful." She adds.

"Oh, don't bother. You guys did a great job, rescuing her from that man, otherwise it would've been a serious challenge. But being a Sachdev I keep myself prepared for everything you know." He responds turning around but not before placing his hand on the small of Vasudha's back. And she immediately tenses up and looks at Abhirup, who is already looking at his hand furrowing his eyebrows. This is the time when you get the feeling, the feeling of the stark difference between a good touch and a bad touch. No science, no logic can explain it. It's just instinct. But she stays calm. After all that's what she's good at.

"Welcome to the Sachdev Palace Vasudha." Ekansh whispers lowering his head close to her ear. She clenches her jaw and looks ahead of her with a determined pair of eyes that hides every bit of her strength, every bit of her intelligence quite mysteriously, as she willingly places her first step inside the mansion. The first step towards the inevitable war.

Flash back to the hospital.

"I need some time alone Zoya, I need some time alone with both of my brothers." Vasudha says confidently looking at Nihal, who understanding her reference fails to control the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes.