Miss X (Swasan Fan Fiction) [√]

Chapter 1 : " Rescuing a Stranger "

25th April 2018

Arjun woke up early the next day with lingering guilt that he would be missing his cousin's wedding. Laksh had invited him personally, but Arjun has no intention of attending the wedding.

By the time he got his daughter ready to visit her grandparent's house. Sanskar all but forgot about his cousin's wedding as he drove Dida and Asha to Asha Grandparent's house. He already knew Sakshi's mom would demand Asha to stay the night, and he wouldn't be able to say no to her.

When his wife died, and he had learned that she got murdered. Sanskar spent the next three months obsessed with finding her killer. It seemed like there had been no tangible lead until he received the first email. The words he read and reread had got imprinted on his mind. He thought he had finally found a way to get her. But he never expected an 80-year-old woman to open the door from the IP address either.

She wasn't just a killer on the loose. She was a killer with hacker skills. Each technological footprint she left behind could never be traced back to her. There was no other way to find her as well. He always found thoughts about her depressing. And the sound of his daughter's laughter was a welcome reprieve as he turned to see her sitting next to Dida laughing with her.

" Asha dear, you will listen to dida and play well with your grandparents okay, " Arjun spoke up to his daughter. Then he parked his car outside the street of the Sakshi's house.

" But I want to play with you, " his daughter's answered back. Moments like this made Sanskar realize how lucky he was to have her in his life.

Asha was his world, and he couldn't survive losing her. Even if people around him considered he was paranoid, he would never let it interfere with his daughter's safety.

Asha was still at an age where she gets distracted easily. So Arjun didn't get worried when she ran towards Adarsh the moment she walked inside the house. He was her favorite uncle, and the realization Laksh never got a chance to know her bothered him. 

" We are going to the wedding son. And if you don't want us to take Asha. Adharsh will stay behind with her. But Asha should stay the night with us. Because Sujatha has been looking forward to spending the whole night with her granddaughter, " his uncle Ram spoke up, and Arjun couldn't hide the fear it caused at the thought of Asha walking into the house without him.

" I don't like Laksh anyway. I will stay behind with my favorite niece. Don't worry Arjun, " Adarsh spoke up to his defense which was a relief as he didn't know how to voice his disagreement.

Sakshi's parents had understood him when he moved Asha to a deserted place. They had understood when he only allowed Sakshi's parents and Adharsh anywhere near Asha. But they also worried about their granddaughter living such a lonely life. He always told himself it was until she grew up a little where she could understand his instructions. But he knew his daughter had got deprived of social life because of him.

" You should stay till we return Son, " his Uncle Ram spoke up and left with his wife and his mother-in-law. No one said a word about the silence between Sakshi's mom and him. It had been two years since she talked to him. So his uncle Ram and Adhrash tried to overcompensate for it whenever he visited.

It shouldn't hurt after this long, but it did because her silence made him aware of his guilt. So he kissed his little girl and left her alone with her uncle before the guilt overwhelms him. He hated that his car drove towards the house. It was the house he brought for them. He couldn't sell the house when all his happy memories belonged within the four walls.

He decided a run would clear his mind. His path took him into the woods. He loved to be alone with no one around, so he usually chooses the same route. It involved a bit of trekking before he hits the smooth surface to run, but he liked the physical exertion.