Broken but Alive

13

   A mansion worth crores was where Sidharth lived, right in the heart of the city. He had an expensive car and so was everything he owned. He dressed simple and walked around like a common man, but nobody knew how rich he was or what he did. Most of the time, he never stepped outside his home unless there was an important work to attend to. But ever since his eyes met Kiara, he was mostly outside, with the hope of meeting her. Shraddha woke up on a bed. She was surprised to see herself locked up in a huge bedroom painted in Prussian blue with lights, white curtains, a huge balcony and large French windows. She got down and pulled every window and door she could see but, unfortunately she was stuck. The room had a table with a notepad and pen. It all seemed so well planned to her. He knew she couldn't talk and the only possible way for her to communicate was by writing it down since her phone was left home. Deep inside she was scared for her life, no knowing what this man was capable of and because he did as he said the last time they met. She sat back on the bed, her eyes welled up, wondering to herself what she had done, to be in such a situation. She tried her best to convince her brother, hating to ruin her own blood's life for a stranger. Tears trickled down her eyes one after the other. She heard footsteps approaching. She knew she was upstairs looking outside the windows. There were no houses to be seen but a long lawn and backyard. The keys turned and the door slowly opened. She stood in the corner of the room, her eyes filled with fear. She was trembling as the door opened. There he was once again, Sidharth Mishra, the man who kidnapped her from her own house. He approached her making her to move a step back.

"Shraddha, time for breakfast. Did you sleep well last night? Come on, we can talk along. Come on downstairs. Did you freshen up? I guess not. The bathroom is all yours. I'll wait for you, see you in ten", he walked back downstairs leaving the door open.

She couldn't understand what was going on. Shraddha opened the bathroom door and saw a luxurious bathroom with all basic necessities. It felt like one from a five star hostel. Everything from towels to candles were arranged. She turned to the side and saw a wardrobe with women's clothes hanging inside comprising of t-shirts, shirts and pants just like she wears. One thing was confirmed, Sidharth had the idea of kidnapping her and executed it perfectly. 

Around fifteen to twenty minutes later, she walked down the stairs, her fingers moving through the black railing. Her eyes darted around every corner of the house. It was humungous and beautiful. He was at the table with many dishes spread across it. She stood by the chair.

"Come, sit down", he said with a pleasant smile on his face.

She did as she was told and he served her a little bit of everything. He was wearing all white from head to toe. Simple yet elegant.

"And here's your hot coffee". He poured her a mug. "Milk?"

She nodded her head and he added milk to the mug. 

"Have it".

She kept staring at him, watching his movements closely. He didn't seem intimidating and dangerous like he did before. He caught her.

"Hey Shradds, oh, maybe I'm not close enough to call you that, am I? So, Shraddha, I know what's going on in your mind. You must be wondering what all this is about right? Well here's the thing. I just wanted to scare you, which I did successfully and kidnapping you was my only way out because you wouldn't come with me if I called you. I just wanted things to work my way and for that you had to stay away form your family. I'll never hurt you. This is my house and you can do whatever you want. There's tv, video games, a bike outside incase you wanna ride it through the lawn. A huge kitchen to cook if you like baking or something. You are not a hostage here. Feel like home. I assume your friends know about me and by this time they must have told the others as well. So until they find me or you, lets give your brother and his girlfriend some time to think over their current relationship too. I'll stop talking so we can have our breakfast".

After listening to him talk, all of her fear faded away. She actually liked his presence. A small smile appeared on the corner of her lips. Both of them concentrated on their food and coffee. She wanted to know more about him. When they were done, he took the dishes away and she helped keep everything back to the kitchen. They were behaving like friends who met after so many years. He sat down on the couch and surprisingly she joined him with the notepad and pen in hand. She handed it over to him.

"Tell me about your love story", he read and looked at her. "I don't think you should know".

She took it back from his hand and continued writing while he watched her hand move through each line.

"Maybe I can help you. Aaryan bhaiyya loved her since school and waited so many years until she said yes. Nobody is that loyal and hopeful in a one-sided love. When did you fall in love? I think my brother's love is stronger than yours. If you can prove me wrong, I will help you out. Trust me on this. So tell me about everything. The choice is yours Sid", he read. "Well seems like you're not afraid of me anymore", he raised an eyebrow. "Shraddha, here's your notepad incase you want to communicate more. I'm pretty sure there's the other side of Kiara which your bhaiyya nor your friends know about. I do because, there's also a different side of me other than what you have seen. Not everyone is bad like me and not everyone is good like her. I'm not making up false stories to make them break up".

"What do you mean?" she was curious.

"Only I can handle Kiara. She may seem too sweet and loyal or whatever but the woman will turn out to be possessive and controlling. The independent woman she is portraying to be is all a farse".

"Huh?", her eyes gestured.

"I'm not a die-hard one side lover for the woman of my dreams. Yes, there's more to the story", he said and walked off to a room shutting the door.

Things began coming to light a little bit. Maybe the villain of the story was not the villain after all.