Unwanted [COMPLETED]

Chapter 40

Mature and sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Nandini

Walking out of the house, once I get to the road, I put my hands on my knees, slightly bending and closing my eyes, taking a moment to gather myself.

The pain of the words exchanged inside the house still remains within me, and I know the angst of it will be within me for a long time.

But I can’t deny the fact that it did feel good to lay everything out in the open.

I could feel Manik’s presence beside me, and felt grateful to him for just letting me be for these few seconds without saying or asking anything.

‘Just ten seconds more,’ I tell myself, and take deep breaths to clear my head, all the while counting to ten.

Once done, I stand up straight and look at Manik.

“Did you text all the addresses to Samrat? He is with the police right now, yes?” I ask.

Manik nods at me. “I have sent the locations of all the properties that your pa—” he pauses, looking apologetically at me. “I mean, the one Mr. and Mrs. Iyer gave us. But what if there are other properties that Rishabh own which they do not know about?”

“I know, Manik. But this is at least better than having nothing at all,” I tell him. “Also, I have a strong feeling that Rishabh is hiding at the last address they gave us. Did you tell Samrat to get to that place with the police first?”

“I did send him that address. Thankfully, the station he is in currently is near that address so they might reach there faster than us.”

“That’s good then. Let’s go.”

Saying that, I walk to his car and climb inside, fastening the seartbelt and waiting for Manik to start driving.

He also fastens his seatbelt, but before turning on the ignition, he looks at me. “Are you fine?”

I know he is asking that question because of what happened in the house earlier, and for a moment, I feel myself wanting to give in to the whirlwind of emotions swirling within me.

But I shake it off, wanting to keep those emotions at bay.

“I am not fine, Manik. But this is not the time to talk or even think about it. We need to save Aastha first.”

***********

Manik stops his car in front of the house I used to live in before getting married.

This is genius really.

No one would have thought Rishabh would be hiding inside this house.

Mr. Iyer had sold this house to someone named Manish Shah via a real estate agent right after they got me married.

So, no one would have even thought of searching for Rishabh here.

Not only it would have taken a long time to establish any connection he had with Manish, it would also have perceived improbable that he hide in the house where the girl he abducted just a day back had grown up.

But when Mrs. Iyer told me about one of our neighbors residing in this area calling her up early in the morning to tell her about someone finally moving into our house, it rang an alarm in my head. 

Especially because that neighbor also told her that when she went to speak to the man, he first sounded dismissive, but when she inquired about the girl in his arms, he was suddenly friendly, telling her about how exhausted his wife was after a long drive.