OUTSIDE THE POLICE STATION
*𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔*
20 MINUTES LATER
INSIDE THE POLICE STATION
*𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅𝒊 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎*
"Mr Bharadwaj, there is no need for you to call a lawyer. The charges against you have been dropped as the victim has withdrawn their complaint. You are free to go." Inspector Chaturvedi says and leaves the room.
*𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎*
"Varun. Oh, thank god." Mrs Bharadwaj says as she runs immediately to Varun and hugs him tightly. "What did they say?" Mrs Bharadwaj questions.
"Where's Akruti?" Varun questions, hugging his mother lightly.
"She's outside." Disha says.
"Outside?" Varun says, confused.
"Yes, she's making calls to lawyers." Disha explains.
"Bring her inside. There's no need to call lawyers now. They said that I'm free to go as the victim dropped the charges." Varun says.
"Okay, let me go and get her." Disha says as she heads outside.
*𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊'𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆*
"Disha." Varun says. "Where's Akruti?" Varun questions.
"I don't know, Varun, all I saw was her phone broken into pieces on the floor outside." Disha says, panicking.
"Officer.... officer." Varun says, trying to get hold of an inspector within the station.
"Yes, how may I help?" The officer says calmly.
"My fiancé, she's– she's gone missing." Varun says, panicking.
"Okay, and when was the last time you saw her?" The officer asks.
"She was here 20-25 minutes ago." Disha intervenes. "And I found her phone broken outside the station." Disha continues further.
"What is the name of the missing individual?" The officer asks.
"Akruti Sharma." Varun says.
"Okay. We are going to send a team out to look for her in nearby locations, and we are also going to check out CCTV cameras to see if we can find any clues to find our victim." The officer explains.
MEANWHILE
SOMEWHERE
*𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔*
"My pyaari jaanu. My sweetie jaanu. My love." The deep voice says, hovering above Akruti, his finger tracing her jawline. "I can't wait to make you mine, my dear Kritika." The voice says as it kisses Akruti's forehead and leaves the room.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆*
"You don't need to worry. She is safe with me." The voice says and hangs up the phone. "I want you to find Varun Bharadwaj and get rid of him, do the same to anyone who comes in the way." The individual says to one of his bodyguards. "Wake her up in 2 hours and give her some nicely prepared food." He orders as he leaves the house.
MEANWHILE
AT THE BHARADWAJ RESIDENCE
*𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈*
"Beta, calm down. Please. We will not find her like this, with you panicking." Mrs Bharadwaj says.
"You're right, maa. I will not find her like this. I'm going out." Varun says, going to grab his keys from the draw.
"Don't be ridiculous, Varun. This late at night." Mr Bharadwaj says angrily.
"And you don't think it is ridiculous that YOUR future daughter-in-law and MY future wife is out there, somewhere in the dark. MISSING! It is not me who is being ridiculous. It is you." Varun says, walking out of the house.
2 HOURS LATER
SOMEWHERE
*𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒅*
"Kritika ma'am, please stop screaming." The individual says.
*𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓*
"Boss. I've woken her up, but she's started screaming." The person says.
"Don't you realise all the rooms in the house are soundproof. Give her the food dammit." The other individual says and hangs up the phone.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊'𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓*
"Ma'am food." The individual says calmly.
"I don't want your stupid food. I want to go home. I don't know why I am here, and I don't know who you are. Let me go." Akruti says, tears rolling down her eyes.
"Kritika ma'am, this is your home." The person says.
"Stop calling me Kritka. I don't know who this Kritika is. My name is Akruti, not Kritika." Akruti says in an angry tone.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅*
"Kritika, my darling. My baby. Please eat your food. Here." He says as he brings a spoonful of food up to Akruti's mouth. "You go, can't even do one thing properly." He says to his bodyguard.
*𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔*
"My name is not Kritika. Who even are you? Why am I here? Let me go." Akruti says.
"Kritu, how have you forgotten me? Your husband. Ranvijay Chauhan." Ranvijay says.
"I don't know you. I don't know anyone named Ranvijay. I'm not your wife. I am the fiancé of Varun Bharadwaj. Mr Chauhan, you have mistakenly taken me as your wife." Akruti explains.
*𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉*
"Varun. Varun. VARUN! That stupid idiot snatched my wife away from me! Listen closely, Varun is not your husband, and he is certainly not your fiancé. You are MINE! Do you understand?" Ranvijay says, slamming his hand on a table. He squeezes Akruti's face with his hand, "he does not have the right to be anywhere near you! Forget him as you will never see him again, and if it takes so much to convince you, I have arranged for us to get married in 3 days' time. So, eat your food, sit quietly, and enjoy the show." Ranvijay says, a smirk appearing on his face, leaving the room.
AKRUTI'S POV
I feel so helpless right now. Varun, please come and take me away from this hell. I'm sure this is Nani's doing. She wanted me to stay away from Varun. This is the person she chose. 3 days. 3 days is all I have, and I'm tied to this chair. Why does this Ranvijay think I'm his Kritika? Why does he hate Varun so much? And how does Nani even know him?
END OF AKRUTI'S POV