8:10 pm, Singhania Holiday Home, Anjuna, Goa.
I sat upright on the bed and looked around in order to make sure that there were no CCTV cameras set up in the room.
After scanning the entire room thoroughly, I concluded that there most probably weren't any...
When I went to the door and tried to open it, I found that it was locked!
Well, if there weren't any cameras, it was quite natural that the Singhanias had locked me up!
All of a sudden, I remembered my promise to Manik to call him every hour! He would be so worried! An hour had already passed!
I reached for my bag which was kept at the foot of the bed, and yanked the phone out of the giant sanitary napkin packet.
I then tiptoed to the bathroom, and locked the door. If anyone were to come into the room, I didn't want them to spot me with a phone!
I took a deep breath and dialed the number that Manik had given me in the morning.
The phone barely rang once before Manik picked up!
"Nandini? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did Madhyam touch you? I'll kill him if he did!" Manik ranted on and on, without even waiting for my response.
"Manik, would you just stop for a moment and give me a chance to speak?!" I hissed in frustration.
There was silence for a few seconds, on the other end before he answered. "Sorry..."
His sweet apology made my heart melt instantly...
"I'm fine, Manik! They haven't hurt me! I was right, Manik! They haven't told Meenakshi aunty the whole story! While she's around, they won't try to harm me! She allowed me to stay the night! Now,all I have to do is try to steal the recording while everyone's asleep!" I said, enthusiastically.
"Wait! So your fainting plan actually worked? Those scumbags didn't chuck you out?" He asked in an incredulous tone.
Wait! What? How did he know what I'd done in order to stay the night here?!
"How the hell did you know about that?" I asked in a shocked voice.
"Did you really think that the doctor was stupid enough to actually pronounce you unconscious when you clearly weren't? While I was waiting to hear from you, I saw a man wearing a white lab coat, walking towards the Singhania mansion. My curiosity got the better of me and I ran up to him in order to ask him, what he was doing there...That's when he told me that some girl had fainted at the mansion and he was going to attend her! It immediately struck me that this must be some sort of ruse of yours in order to stay back at the house! I was pretty sure that you hadn't actually fainted...I know you're stronger than that! So let's just say that I convinced him to go along with your plan..." He said cheekily.
"Manik, what did you do?" I asked, slightly scared of his reply.
"I might have threatened to break his bones badly, if he didn't listen to me..." Manik confessed, hesitantly.
I slapped my forehead when I heard his answer.
"Manik, you can't just scare people like that!" I said, in an exasperated voice.
"Listen, it worked right? Now the Singhanias think that you really fainted! Besides, I don't care what people think of me!" He said in a smug voice.
Aiyappa, this boy! He's just so careless when it comes to himself! Here I was praising myself for my spectacular acting performance, and it turned out that my plan had only worked due to Manik's threats!
"Alright, we shall talk about this attitude of yours later...I have to figure out where the recording is..."
Before Manik could answer, I heard a voice echo from outside.
"Nandini beta, are you awake? Where are you?" I heard Meenakshi aunty yelling in a confused tone outside.
Shit! I had to go outside immediately!
"Manik, I have to go! Aunty's right outside!" I whispered.
"Okay...just be careful!" He said, yet again.
"I will!" I said, before cutting the call.
I stuffed the phone inside my top in order to conceal it, took a deep breath and finally unbolted the door.
"Nandini! When did you wake up? Are you feeling alright?" Aunty rushed to me when I stepped out of the door.
I put on a show of weakness and said. "I'm feeling a little dizzy but I'm okay otherwise...I just had to use the washroom so..."
"Come sit here beta...the doctor said you're very weak..." She said, as she dragged me to the bed.
Her concern was endearing and I felt a resurgence of guilt at fooling her in this way!
After I sat down, she kept a tray of food near me and said. "Have some dinner, beta...you'll feel better! And you must rest here tonight! Strict instructions of the doctor! So off to bed immediately, after eating! I'll listen to your side of the story in the morning..." She said, sincerely.
"Really?" I asked, slightly surprised.
"Yes...Mukesh and Madhyam don't seem to trust you, that's why they've locked you up...but I'm willing to give you one chance! For Kishori's sake!" She said.
I held her hand and expressed my gratitude. "Thank you so much, aunty!"
My gratefulness was genuine! If it weren't for her, my plan would have never worked!
"So eat quickly, and go off to sleep soon! Good Night!" She said, as she got up from the bed and exited the room, while a servant locked it again.
I waited a few minutes after she left, and decided that it was best not to touch the food. After all, Madhyam and his father were talking about killing me barely minutes ago, and I didn't want to push my luck!
What if they had mixed some sort of poison in the food without aunty noticing?!
I opened the bag and stuffed the burner phone back in it. I then contemplated various ways using which I could find out where the recording was hidden. But for that, I had to get out of the room first! I knew it was risky, but it had to be done!
I took out the toolbox from my bag, and found a pin of approximately the same size as the keyhole on the front door.
I then proceeded to pick the lock as effectively as I could in order to get the door to open.
It took a few tries, but ultimately, the door clicked open.
I peeked outside to see if anyone was watching me or not! Thankfully enough, it seemed like most of the servants had retired for the night!
I tiptoed outside, and decided that the most probable places where the recording could be hidden would be the closest to Mukesh Singhania! A man like him would want to keep his treasures as close to him as possible!
When I walked discreetly, past the balcony, I heard a voice yelling in the distance.
"Soha! Baby! Just relax! She's just here for one night! We'll throw her out tomorrow! It's only because of Dadi she's staying anyway!" Madhyam said, in a calming voice.
I hid behind a wall to listen to their conversation.
So Madhyam was speaking to his fiancée-Soha Khurana! This could be interesting! I wanted to know more about their sudden engagement anyway...
"What? Baby?! You have no reason to be jealous! I have no interest in her whatsoever! Have you even seen her? She looks like a villager!" He chuckled into the phone.
Anger reverberated through me once again, but I managed to put a lid on my rage! Having an outburst wouldn't help my case at this point!
"No...I don't think she knows anything...Manik is a lot of things, but I don't think he'd be stupid enough to tell her about the recording...very few people know of it...but I told you because, you know that I don't hide anything from you, right?"
I rolled my eyes at his statement. But, the discussion about the recording made me more alert...
"No, Soha! It's in the safe downstairs, in dad's study! And it's protected with biometric security! Only Dad and I can open it since only our fingerprints are registered! There's no way in hell anyone can force it open, or else it will sound an alarm! It's top-notch!" Madhyam said.
When I heard this, I wanted to chuckle loudly at his statement, but I stopped myself at the last moment!
A finger print scanner? Really? I had grossly overestimated the impenetrability of the safe! I was carrying drills and screw drivers! I didn't need any of that!
All I needed, was a copy of either Madhyam's or his father's fingerprints! And I knew exactly how to make one! The girls in our college hostel used to do it all the time in order to escape their night perms! One fake fingerprint, and your attendance for the night was marked on the machine!
In an effort to make their safe high-tech, they had not thought of the simplest way to bypass its locking mechanism! So much overconfidence!
There was only one problem though...how would I make a copy of either of their prints? It was quite a challenge!
I started walking back towards the room, when I saw a servant frantically moving down the stairs mumbling something...
I strained my ears to listen to what she was saying and was able to hear it partially. "Sumitra...tu aaj phir se gai...green tea time pe na milne par baba phir se chilayenge..."
Green tea, at this time of the night? Madhyam certainly had eccentric habits!
It took a few seconds, but eventually a light bulb glowed in my head.
I thanked Aiyappa silently in my head! He had shown me a way to get what I needed yet again!
I swiftly went back into my room and pulled out the tiny tube of transparent adhesive that was a part of my tool box.
Then, I moved out of the room and climbed down the stairs cautiously, when I saw that the drawing room was empty.
I slowly made my way to the kitchen hoping that I would find the servant that I'd seen earlier.
And thankfully, that's exactly where she was! I watched her mumble to herself yet again as she stirred a pot of boiling water.
A large cup was placed on a tray, a few feet away from her, on the kitchen counter. It seemed like it was Madhyam's special cup!
Taking a deep breath, I took two steps into the kitchen, while the servant's back was turned. It seemed like Madhyam drank some fancy green tea that didn't come in bags! The tea leaves actually had to be boiled thoroughly with the water!
I picked up the cup from the counter and spread a thin coating of gum on the thick handle of the cup.
It wasn't very precise but I prayed that it would work! This was the only way to make a copy of Madhyam's prints! To have him directly dab his hands on the adhesive in order trace the impression of his fingers! It was highly amateur but worked in ninety percent of the cases! That's one thing my college life had taught me!
I quickly placed the cup back on the tray and ran back upstairs as soon as I could! I couldn't have the frazzled maid catch me!
I waited next to the balcony and watched Madhyam text someone intently on his phone.
Just a little longer...I was sure that the maid would show up with his tea at any moment!
It took a few minutes, but eventually, I saw her waddling up the stairs, and hid myself from her immediately.
When she finally handed the tray over to Madhyam, she said. "Baba, aapki chai..."
"I can't believe this! Aaj phir se late! Kaamchor kahi ki! I swear, agar aise hi chalta raha na toh is poore mahine ki tankhva nahi milegi!" He yelled.
"Sorry baba..." She said, apologetically, cringing at his tone.
"Haan haan ho gaya ab... ab yaha se dafa ho, mujhe tumhari shakal pasand nahi hai!" He screamed at her.
He was so rude to his staff members! How did they even manage to work here, without tearing their hair out?!
I watched her shuffle away from the balcony. I peeked and waited with bated breath for Madhyam to pick up the cup by the handle.
Aiyappa, please let him pick it up in such a way that I get a clear impression of his prints!
I had spread the adhesive on the cup as extensively as possible without it being directly visible. However, luck would play a major part in the success of my plan...
Madhyam finally picked up the cup and took a sip from it, still preoccupied with his phone.
He took a few sips, before he placed the cup back on the tray. But as expected, the cup refused to come off!
It took a few seconds for him to realize what was happening.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, as he tried to free his fingers from the mug.
I stifled my laughter as I watched him struggle with it. If my plan didn't work, I wouldn't be completely disappointed! At least, a part of his skin would have been torn off of his thumb!
"I swear, I'm not going to leave that bitch Sumitra!" He screamed as he finally clawed the cup off of his hand.
I retreated a few steps, as I watched him storm off from the balcony in order to find the maid...
After a few moments, I went to the balcony, and lifted up the cup that Madhyam had conveniently left behind on the railing of the verandah.
I quickly took the cup and walked back to my room as soon as I could.
I kept the cup directly under the fan and marched from one end of the room to the other in order to wait for it to dry.
It took around ten minutes for the coating of adhesive to dry completely.
I took a breath and peeled the coating off the cup carefully, and tried my best not to damage it in the process.
I observed it carefully, against the light and assessed whether the embossed impressions would work or not.
To my relief, at least three of the prints had clear enough impressions! The thumb, forefinger and ring finger...
That would definitely be good enough!
I got to work instantly and took out a pair of scissors from my toolbox to cut the fingerprints out to shape.
I blew on it in order to clean up any impurities on it and looked at it in satisfaction.
I finally had what I needed in order to break into the safe! I was just one step away from obtaining the evidence that would not only acquit Manik, but also put the Singhanias behind bars!
Now all I had to do was wait for everyone to go to bed, before I tried to unlock the safe...
*****************************
11:30 pm, Singhania Holiday Home, Anjuna, Goa.
Finally! All the lights in the hallway were off, and there was an eerie silence all around.
I opened the door and checked if the coast was clear or not. The living room was pitch dark, the balcony doors were bolted and the kitchen was closed as well! It seemed like everyone had gone back to their rooms for the night.
I took a deep breath, came out of the room along with my bag, and crept down the stairs yet again. For once, my lithe frame was an advantage rather than a nuisance!
I walked towards the corridor that had a number of doorways to different rooms. One of them had to be Mukesh Singhania's study, right?
There were six rooms in all and only two were locked. I made an assumption that the study must be locked if it truly held something as important as the recording.
I managed to pick the lock of the first door, but was disappointed to find that it was just a store room for old furniture.
I said my prayers and then tried to open the second door. The lock was tricky, but after trying three or four times, I managed to open it.
I was really relieved that no one was patrolling the corridors, or else I'd definitely be caught!
I barged into the room and immediately recognized it as a study.
Yes! I'd done it! I'd found the room! Now all I had to do was break the safe open as quickly as possible!
I looked around and found a number of shelves with books on them, but I couldn't spot a safe.
I scanned the wall in order to find it and my eyes came to a standstill when I observed a painting hanging on the wall in a slightly tilted angle.
Could it be? Could it be that the safe was hidden behind the painting?
I walked towards the painting and attempted to remove it in one swift move. I staggered backward for a few seconds due to its weight, but controlled my balance at the last second.
I couldn't afford to fall down and create a ruckus! It would most definitely wake everyone up!
When I kept the painting on the ground and looked up at the wall again, I saw the safe right in front of me!
A safe protected with optical fingerprint recognition software! Exactly how Madhyam had described it!
I quickly took out the prints from my bag and used a bit of double sided tape to fix the fake thumb print on my finger. I had chosen the thumb print because it was the best out of the three...
I moved slowly towards the scanner and sighed before placing the print on the it.
Please Aiyappa! Let it work! I prayed.
I gasped in dismay when the automated voice of the machine said. "Invalid fingerprint detected. Please try again..."
I adjusted the print on my thumb slightly and removed the small beads of sweat that had appeared on my palms.
If this didn't work then I would have no choice but to break the safe open by force! And that would most definitely sound the alarm...
I took a deep breath and placed my finger on the scanner yet again.
It took a few seconds, but ultimately the automated voice said. "Welcome, Madhyam Singhania."
I wanted to jump for joy when I heard it! I had done it! I had managed to unlock it! It was a euphoric feeling!
I quickly pulled the door of the safe open, and found a number of compartments inside. One seemed to have some official documents in it. Another had some foreign currency bills. Finally, my eyes fell on a compartment that had a small electronic device jutting out of it.
I pulled it out immediately and examined it in the minimal light that I had.
It was a playback device! One which could be used to store voice recordings!
When I pressed the play button, I nearly froze when I heard Nyonika Malhotra's voice.
I'd found it! I'd found the recording that contained Nyonika's confession! I was ecstatic! I wanted to meet Manik right at this instant and give him the good news!
I quickly shut the door to the safe, gathered my tools in the bag, and turned around to exit, when suddenly the lights of the room came on.
The hair on my body stood up in fear as I watched the main door creak open, and Mukesh Singhania enter through it.
"Ah...Nandini, turns out that we underestimated your acting talent...you truly did put up a brilliant performance of fainting, but as it turns out...not good enough..." He said with a slight chuckle.
Shit! They had caught me red handed! There was no escaping now...
"Come on dad, I'd told you, right? I told you that she had come to steal the recording...but you didn't believe me." Madhyam said as he waltzed into the room casually.
I tried to make a run for it and made a dash towards the exit, but Madhyam was too quick for me. He caught my hand harshly and pushed me to the side, making me fall over and hurt my knee badly. My rational thinking had gone out the window!
When I tried to get up, two burly men entered the room and held me tightly by the hands on either side.
"Let go of me!" I yelled incessantly as I struggled to get out of their grip.
It was of no use...the guards were too strong!
I did the only thing I could think of to save myself and screamed. "Meenakshi aunty! Aunty!"
Mukesh Singhania erupted with laughter as he said. "Scream all you want! Maa has taken her daily dose of sleeping pills and gone to bed! Even an explosion won't wake her up!"
My stomach dropped as I listened to his words. Who would save me now?!
I watched in horror as Madhyam stepped towards my bag and emptied out its entire contents. The playback device tottered to the floor and I watched Madhyam pick it up from the ground with an evil smirk on his face.
I felt a mix of extreme anger and sadness as I watched Madhyam give the device back to his father.
It felt terrible to have come so close to retrieving the recording only to have it snatched away at the last moment...
A tear fell down my cheek when I realised that I'd failed Manik! How would he clear his name now?
"You know, when you showed up here, I knew there was something fishy, but when glue showed up on my cup, my suspicions were confirmed...Sumitra might be lazy, but she'd never dare to serve me tea in a cup which had glue on its handle..." Madhyam said, in a menacing voice.
"So, I was right, then? You are fucking him! It's a good thing for us that Manik thinks with his cock rather than his brain...or else we might have been in trouble..." Madhyam said, as he drew closer and stood inches away from me.
I couldn't tolerate his insults quietly for another second! Rage was bubbling through me!
"Manik follows his heart...an organ that you seem to lack entirely! I pity Soha...for she has to get married to a scumbag like you!" I hissed, spitting on his face deliberately after I completed my sentence.
He looked at me with anger and shock in his eyes and retaliated by yanking my head back and pulling my hair, causing me to yelp in pain.
"You bitch! You think you can insult me and get away with it?!" He growled.
"Come on Madhyam...let's not get messy. After all, we have an important guest downstairs..." Mukesh Singhania said, in a casual tone.
A guest? What the hell was he talking about?!
Madhyam let go of my hair as his father continued talking. "Nandini, did you really think that it would be that easy to get your hands on the recording?! I've been saving it for someone special...and she's finally here...so why don't you come downstairs and meet her?! I'm sure she would love to meet you!"
His words were confusing me more and more by the second. She? Who was this person? Another vampish member of the Singhania family that I didn't know of?
"Bring her downstairs!" Mukesh Singhania ordered the two men who were holding me firmly in place.
After that, Madhyam and his father exited the room, with the guards carrying me downstairs while I kicked and screamed in order to break free from their grip.
When we finally reached the living room on the ground floor, I spotted a woman sitting on the couch.
As soon as I realised who she was, an involuntary shiver ran down my spine...
I could only stare blankly as she stood up from her place and walked towards me with a sinister smile on her face, her stilettos clacking all the while she moved.
I had seen her before on television, but this was the first time I was ever seeing her face to face...
"Nandini Murthy...it's great to finally meet the girl that my son seems to be so taken with." She said in a shrill snake like voice- the same one that I had heard merely minutes ago on the playback device.
There was an intense sinking feeling in my stomach as I listened to her words. My insides were churning!
What the hell was Nyonika Malhotra doing here?!