Page 72 of Twisted Deceit
Aadhya woke up to a distant sound. She blinked, wondering what she heard that woke her up, considering she was a heavy sleeper. It took her a moment to realize she had fallen asleep on the couch. Her eyes fell on the large clock on the wall and her heart dropped to her stomach. It was early morning hours and if she was still in the living room on the sofa, Nakul had not returned. There have been many occasions where she had fallen asleep on her desk and he had coaxed her back to bed with kisses. She wasn’t sure why Nakul didn’t wake her up that night, as she went up the stairs to their bedroom.
Maybe he didn’t see her on the couch!
The cold and hard emptiness greeted her. Fear and confusion gripped her as she rushed downstairs to get her phone. She called him again and still no reply.
Fighting back dire thoughts and an impending panic attack she approached the main door and opened it. The security that Nakul had appointed was alert and looked at her. “Good morning, Ma’am.”
“Good…morning, do you know where Nakul is?” her voice shook as she spoke.
The men exchanged looks. “Ma’am, those details are not disclosed to us.”
She wanted to scream in frustration. “Please—find out where he is and get a car ready, I need to go out, now.”
“Ma’am, but, Nakul sir—” The man objected and Aadhya did not let him finish.
“I need to go. Please get a vehicle ready and how many ever need to go with me. I need to go to wherever Nakul is.”
She started walking toward her aunt’s room to tell her and decided not to worry her. What did she not want her aunt to worry about?
Nakul was away and she didn’t know why she was panicking. He texted her that he would be late so he must be okay.
Just busy!
She suppressed the scary voice that warned her. She told herself that her husband was well trained to take care of himself. He may not have been born in Singoor but he was one of the warriors.
She walked into the bathroom on the main floor to splash some water on her face. It helped her calm down a little, but something told her it was not normal for him not to be back even in the morning. And all she got from him was a text. Something was keeping him.
The sun was not up yet when she stepped out of the house, her hair a mess, her face damp from splashing water and her dress crumpled. She did not care how she looked and all she wanted was to be with him.
She was glad the security did not push back and got the cars ready. She slipped into one of the SUVs and said, “Take me to the Thakvar Mansion.” If there was anyone who would know where Nakul was it was his older brother, Shivay.
It was going to be an hour-long car ride and she could not wait to find out more information about Nakul’s whereabouts. Did he travel outside the Singoor region? Was he chasing her aunt’s attackers? She had a million questions but the most important one: why was her husband not answering her calls?
Her anticipation grew when the car pulled up in front of the main gates of the Thakvar mansion. The last time she was there was over a month ago to celebrate their three months of marriage. It was still dark when the car stopped in front of the main entrance. As she got out of the car, she was a bit embarrassed about showing up at such an hour but she knew Nakul’s brother would understand her concern.
Could Nakul have been kidnapped and it wasn’t him who sent her the text?
She fought away all negative thoughts and knew the Lord of Singoor always protected his people. Especially the ones who were working on doing good for the people. The security held the main door open for her and a couple stood by the entrance. She recognized them as Bahadur and his wife, Malini who she met during her last visit.
She picked up on the gloom in their eyes. “Nakul—where is he?” her voice shook as if in response to what she saw in their eyes.
“Please come,” Bahadur said, leading her to the right side of the main living room. She followed him, her heart in her mouth, unable to speak. She wanted to ask all the questions but she could not find the voice.
She followed him down a long hallway, stopped in front of a door a few turns later, and pushed it open. “After you,” he said, and Aadhya feared taking the next step.
It was unclear what was causing the tremor all over but she took a couple of steps into the room. Her eyes fell on the man asleep on a chair next to the bed. It was Shivay.
Her eyes swept to the bed, and she gasped when she saw Nakul on it. An IV ran into his arm and he lay still on the bed. Her gasp woke up his brother and he slowly stood up.
“Aadhya, he is okay. Recovering.” She was thankful for his brother’s timely words. That was all she needed to hear.
“What-what happened?” Her heart twisted painfully as she walked closer to where Nakul lay on the bed. She was glad to see he had no injuries.
“A poison dart hit him.” His brother’s voice was soft. “He was hoping to return to the Kanwar mansion before you woke up.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she gently touched his forehead. “He said, you’d worry. The poison is out of his system. Just resting now.”
“Thank you!” Her lips trembled as sobs escaped her and it was a novel feeling for her. She could not remember the last time she cried. Even when her parents passed away, she was so traumatized she had fallen silent for a year. Even when her aunt was attacked, she was scared and angry at the same time but she did not have tears rolling down her cheeks like they were endlessly in that moment.
“Excuse me,” Shivay said, leaving her alone with Nakul.
