Page 105 of Twisted Alliance

She began to run.

“Ishani!” her brother shouted. “Stop!”

But Ishani didn’t stop. She ran as fast as she could with the phone. She ran towards the holy land where she would get protection. The Singoor temple was far away, and she knew it would be hard to go that far in her bare foot.

Her heart nearly stopped when she heard the sound of the engines behind her. Her brother was chasing her in his vehicles.

With a sob, she kept running. But she couldn’t outrun the vehicles and was soon surrounded by them. She slipped the phone back into the pocket of her dress and waited as dread increased inside her.

He is my brother. He won’t hurt me. I will make him understand.

With her heart continuing to beat in dread, she watched as her brother approached her.

He stopped a foot away from her, and then slapped her. Hard.

Ishani’s face whipped to the side followed by a burning pain.

“You traitorous bitch!” her brother spat.

“Please,” she begged. “Shivay is the heir. Don’t harm his family.”

“Give me the damn phone!” her brother yelled.

“Please listen—” Before she could finish, her brother slapped her again.

Her face burned even more and her jaw ached with intense pain.

“Give me the phone!” her brother shouted.

Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head.

“No,” she replied.

He kicked her in the stomach then. Stars burst behind her eyes at the pain. She collapsed on her knees as her breath was knocked out of her chest.

“If you don’t give me the phone, I will kill your child,” her brother said.

Shocked, she stared at him.

There was an evil glint in her brother’s eyes. “Yes, dear sister. You are carrying that bastard’s child.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Yes, you are. The maid I put as a spy in the Thakvar household told me that you didn’t get your period for two months, which means the bastard deliberately impregnated you when he began the clan meetings. He ensured there would be an heir, and I would not have any claim on the Gujjar inheritance.”

Her mind spun.

She was using birth control. And she did get her period the last two months. But doubt gripped her because she recalled that her period was light.

My God.

She trembled in fear, praying what her brother said wasn’t true.

“Save your child instead of that bastard or his family. Take your mother and go live in a faraway country away from Singoor.”

Tears filled her eyes. “His family is innocent. Please stop and listen—” Her words broke with another kick to her stomach.

“Give me the phone!” her brother screamed.

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