“So, I am not going to stop you from leaving. If you want to walk away, please go. But tell your brother the moment you reach his doors, that his company would not be safe anymore.Tell him, I will see it burn to ashes. He wanted to barter; he knew the terms. If you leave, you leave with that.”
Mishti felt the world tilt again. “You can’t mean that.”
“I mean every word.” He stepped forward until there was no space between them.
Her tears had nearly dried by the time he finished speaking. The betrayal of her brother was more than she could contain. Daksh did what he wanted to. But if Karan had wanted a wife, why subject her to this cruelty? He hadn’t even touched her, not once. Why did he even marry her then? He was holding parts of the truth, that much was clear, and the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know:he would carry out his threat.
Karan stood there like a stone, without any remorse, without the smallest regard for the bond they had. If this was going to be the life he offered, she had no reason to remain under the same roof, continuing this marriage that felt like a sentence. She would go home first, talk to Divya and Daksh Bhai, and tell them everything; she couldn’t imagine living another day beside a man who treated her like collateral.
Karan gave her one last, cold glare before he turned around, back into his room and then snapped the door shut behind her. If she left, he would make the Goels’ lives miserable. If she stayed, it would still be the same. Either way, the Goels had just signed up for their forever doom, and he couldn’t wait.
***************
The next morning, a sharp, impatient knock jolted Karan awake. He muttered a curse under his breath, dragging a hand through his hair before yanking the door open.
Maria stood there, looking pale and uneasy.
“Sir,” she began, wringing her hands nervously, “Mishti ma’am isn’t in her room.”
Karan’s expression hardened instantly.
“The bed’s untouched. Her purse and phone are gone, too.”
For a moment, he couldn’t believe it. He exhaled slowly.So she actually left.
Everything he had heard about Mishti before their marriage painted her as the dutiful kind… like bound by societal norms, by her family’s name. He’d expected her to stay, if not for him, then for her precious brother. She wouldn’t dare bring the Goels to ruin, or so he’d thought.
But clearly, she’d just made his next move easier.
A shrill ringtone cut through his thoughts as his phone buzzed on the bedside table, flashing an unknown number.
“Get me my coffee, Maria,” he said absently as he picked up the call.
“Yes, sir.” Maria hesitated, still hoping for some updates about Mishti, but his cold stare made her leave without another word.
Karan pressed the phone to his ear. “Karan Wadhwa speaking.”
“Mr Wadhwa,” a woman’s voice said urgently from the other end, “I’m calling from the City Hospital. Your wife, Mrs Mishti Wadhwa, was brought in early this morning. She’s—she’s had an accident.”
“What?” He stilled.
“She’s under observation right now. The doctors are with her.”
Karan didn’t even realise he was already grabbing his keys and striding out the door.
“How bad is it?”
“We can’t say yet, sir. Please come to the hospital immediately.”
He took the details before ending the call and hurried out. By the time Maria returned from the kitchen with his coffee, the front door was already slamming shut behind him, making her wonder where he left so urgently.
***************
City Hospital
He parked like a man who wanted the world to get out of his way, then stormed through the hospital reception. The private ward nurse looked up, startled, but Karan shoved the door open and stepped inside without waiting for her permission.
Mishti lay on the bed, awake. There was a cotton pad at her temple while the nurse finished injecting in her arm…morphine for the pain. He looked at the bruise on her forehead, the bandage on her scalp, before he finally looked ather.
