𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑.15

Dhriti's heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat echoing the turmoil within. Her footsteps echoed through the empty room, each turn leaving a trail of worry in its wake. 'My sister is missing,' the words were a mantra, a desperate plea that refused to be silenced. The fear gnawed at her, a relentless predator that whispered doubts and painted nightmares in her mind. Was she safe? Was she hurt? The questions clawed at her. She paced, her mind a whirlwind of possibilities, each one more terrifying than the last. 

D h r i t i

The urgency in my voice echoed the turmoil in my heart. 'At any cost, I have to find Aashvi,' I declared, my gaze unwavering.

"Where are you going, Riti?" Aju questioned, his voice laced with concern.

"I am going to search for Aashvi," I stated, my resolve unwavering.

"What?!" Arjun and Ruhi exclaimed in unison, their shock palpable.

"Look at your condition, you want to go and search...that Aarush Malhotra's sister," Aju challenged, his voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah...Riti, there is no need for your search," Ruhi chimed in, echoing Aju's sentiments.

"I am not going to search Aarush's sister, I am going to search a girl," I clarified, my voice hardening with determination."I will go, that's final. If you guys want to come with me, come, otherwise I will go alone."

"Okay, fine, as usual, we are knees down on your stubbornness. We are also coming with you," Aju conceded, his voice tinged with resignation.

"This girl and her stubbornness," Ruhi muttered sarcastically, her words dripping with exasperation.

"Yeah, I know I'm stubborn, but I don't care," I retorted, my defiance unwavering. Aju, understanding the gravity of the situation, took the car keys from me. "I will drive the car," he offered, his voice firm. 

"Okay, fine. Ru...please take my laptop," I requested, my mind already racing with a plan.

"Why?" Ruhi questioned, her curiosity piqued.

"Take it yaar...I will say about it later," I urged, my voice laced with irritation. She reluctantly took the laptop, and we locked the house securely. Aju slipped into the driver's seat, I took the passenger seat, and Ruhi settled in the back, her usual position.

"Where will we search for her, Riti?" Aju asked, his voice now concerned.

"We will search in her right place," I declared, my eyes gleaming with a newfound determination. "Ru, give me the laptop, and you search her Instagram profile. Find her friends, the ones she's commonly tagged with. Find the car number, as much as I think she had gone driving herself. Otherwise, there is no chance of kidnapping Aarush Malhotra's sister. So find it out," I instructed Ruhi, my voice a mix of urgency and precision.

Ruhi quickly got to work, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "Yeah. Here it is ..." she exclaimed, her voice barely a whisper.

"What?" I asked, leaning closer. 

"I think Sara_Jonas is her friend, she's tagged in almost all of Aashvi's posts. And here's her car number." Ruhi said, displaying the information on the laptop screen. 

"Yeah...Ru, try a video call on Instagram." I said, jotting down the car number and typing it into my laptop. 

"Look Aju...her car passed last on this camera, and it's not returned, I think we have to search there. And that place is like a forest, right?" I said, showing Aju the footage on my laptop.

Thankfully, thanks to my friend Ishaan, I knew a little something about using technology. "Yeah. How can we search on there? In this night and that is a forest. What if some animals attack us?" Ruhi asked, her voice laced with fear.