Page 82 of Always With You

“What about his parents? He did mention they stay here. Why didn’t you tell them anything?”

She just stares at me. “I did speak to them. Jai doesn’t even live with them. He has a separate house, which he rents whenever he comes down to India. It is through his parents I found out that he has an Intermittent Explosive Disorder. They even asked me to leave him, but how do I explain about the videos? I thought if I asked Jai to seek medical help, it might do some good, but he refused to get himself checked. Instead, he blamed me that I am just keen on proving him insane.”

Her torment is too much to bear but I have to get it all out of her system. “What happened today?”

She continues to look at me with teary eyes. “Today, when he told me that he will be on a short trip, I told him that I, too, will be out of town to meet my parents. He lost his cool and… p… pushed me down the stairs. He feared that I would meet my parents, and they would find out about him, which he didn’t want to risk. He didn’t even bother bringing me to the hospital after seeing that I was… hurt. Instead, he left the house with a warning that I should not open my mouth to anyone.” She sniffs a sob and breaks down for a while. I feel helpless that I am unable to do anything for her except console her. I put my hands over her head and caress her. She snivels as she explains, “I stepped out of the house to get myself some medicine for the pain, that’s when I must have fainted and someone would have brought me to the hospital.”

“Rewa, I so want to press charges against him. I want him to pay for raising his hands on you.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I don’t let her speak. “I understand where you are coming from. I know you don’t want to be exposed. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. He will pay for what he did without your videos being leaked. I will get those videos for you.”

Rewa lets out a gasp. “Are you serious?”

I close my eyes and nod. “I am dead serious.”

“How will you do that?”

I open my eyes and stare down at her. “I want your help though. I want you to tell me where the videos are. Is it on his mobile or something?”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s on his laptop in his house. However, I am not sure where the laptop would be.”

I look directly into her eyes. “Do you have access to his house?”

“Yes, I did make a duplicate key without his knowledge.”

“You are smart.” I smile. “Listen, I am sure Ajay is around. So, I will have to sneak out of the hospital without his knowledge and then go to that jerk’s house to get the laptop. You did say he is out of town.” She nods her head. “Okay, so once I get hold of his laptop, we will destroy all that he is holding against you, and then we will press charges against him.”

“What about Ranveer?” she questions.

I take a deep breath and look down at the ring on my finger. I did promise Ranveer that I will not risk my life, but I also made a promise to myself that I will go to any length to protect my loved ones. “We will need his help but only after I get the laptop from Jai’s house. We can’t risk this one opportunity we have.” It’s not going to be easy, but we don’t have any other way. I need to get the laptop at any cost.

“But what if something happens to you? I can’t let you risk yourself.”

My head is feeling a bit relaxed, knowing that I can help my friend out of this situation. I smile and rise to my feet to walk out of the door before looking back over my shoulder. I give her a small reassuring smile and say, “Relax, nothing will happen to me.”

“Please be safe.” She looks at me helplessly.

“I will. I am going to come back with the laptop. And then we both are going to kick his ass,” I say with a wink.

???

An hour later, I am pulling the car outside Jai’s house. I take a couple of seconds to gather myself as I gaze at the white house in front of me before I step out of the car with my shaky legs. Taking a deep breath, I make my way to the front door while my eyes dart around to be sure no one is watching me. Then, I slip the key in the knob and open the door.

The moment I step inside, my eyes move around on their own accord to take in his space. The walls are covered in off white with scenery paintings. The wooden floors are covered with white rugs with bare minimum furniture. A comfortable-looking cream-coloured couch takes up most of the living room. Everything here is so simple and clean. A contrast to the person he is. I close my eyes for a few seconds before I walk further into the house to begin my search.

“Where the hell can it be?”I mutter to myself as I stand in the master bedroom, going through the drawers. I have been searching in this damn house for the past two hours but am not able to get my hands on the damn laptop. Then, I glance over and look at the wooden cupboard and realise I didn’t check that. I walk over to the closet and find it unlocked. A reckless rampage through the wardrobe makes me come to a halt when my eyes fall on a grey laptop.

With shaky hands, I take the laptop and get up on my feet. As I turn to head out of the bedroom, I stop dead in my tracks. I raise one of my hands to my heart and whisper, “Jai.”

He is leaning against the door frame, glaring at me. My first instinct is to run until I realised I couldn’t. My body is quivering at the implications. The laptop slips from my hand, and I let out a shriek when it hits the floor.

Jai shakes his head in disappointment. “You can’t stop yourself from destroying others’ belongings.”

“I… I… thought you were travelling?” My voice trembles in fear.

“Well, I was supposed to, but I missed my flight, all thanks to the tiff I had with that dear friend of yours this morning. By the way, how is she doing? I am sure she is the one to lead you here.”

I feel sick in my stomach, as if I would pass out at any moment. “You are an ass! She is lying in the hospital bed because of you. How could you?” I could feel the fear creep in me but try to look brave.

He throws his head back and lets out an evil laugh. “At least she made it to the hospital. I assumed she would be dead and gone. But lucky bitch, she survived.”

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