Page 144 of Since You Stole My Heart

Am I dying?

The thought made her bruised stomach clench hard. It became difficult to hold onto awareness, and her eyes fluttered shut. In the darkness, she saw Swayam. His heartbreaking smile. His soft gaze. His deep, baritone voice.

No! I have to tell Swayam I love him.

That singular, soul-deep need snapped her eyes open and kept her tethered so she wouldn’t get swept under by the pain threatening to consume her.

His phone rang in a shrill tone. Viraj glanced at the screen, and his bitter laugh echoed through the room. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he said, ‘Unbelievable. Of course you’d get saved by him.’

Viraj rejected the call and crouched beside her. He reached out to cup her bruised face gently. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back. I won’t give up on you, Kashvi, no matter how insolent your behaviour is. Because… you are my golden goose.’

She pushed his hand away, trying to blink through tears.

He chuckled. ‘I’ll keep punishing you until you learn. Until you become what I need you to be. My obedient little pet.’

If she’d had even an ounce more strength, she would have spat in his face.

Viraj straightened and surveyed the wreckage in the room. Then he found her phone and picked it up.

‘You know what’s funny? I actually have to give you some credit. You made me realise how stupid I’d be to use my own phone to leak your photos. Tracking, metadata, all that bullshit.I tell you, there’s just no privacy in the world anymore,’ Viraj said, laughing at his own joke.

The cruel irony of his words was not lost on either of them.

‘So I had to come here and get yours.’ He held her phone just within reach to taunt her, then laughed at her feeble attempts to grab it. ‘I’m feeling generous, so I’ll give you a couple of hours. Keep the money ready for me by tonight, because if you don’t, I’ll post the pictures from your phone. And everyone will know who to blame.’

He didn’t say the name, but she understood.

Swayam.

With a wink and a promise to see her soon, Viraj stepped over her and walked towards the door. Just before he left, he said, ‘One click, Kashvi. That’s all it takes. I truly hope you remember that.’

The door clicked shut behind him, and finally she let the tears fall. The back of her head throbbed in a dull, nauseating rhythm, and her eyes squeezed shut.

She didn’t know how long she stayed on the floor, floating in and out of nothingness, until a panicked voice pulled her back from the edge of the abyss.

‘Kash? Hey, hey, what happened?’

Faint and distorted at first, her thoughts dragged themselves into a sluggish crawl as she clung to that voice with all her might. The anguish in his voice felt worse than the pain. Was this her version of purgatory?

Rough, urgent hands shook her shoulder. ‘Open your eyes, baby. Talk to me. I’m right here.’

God, she tried. All she could manage was a shallow, broken whimper.

She forced her eyes open and found Swayam kneeling beside her. He held the phone to his ear and frantically scanned the room. ‘Don’t worry, baby. Just hold on. I’m calling an ambulance. We need to get you to the hospital.’

Kashvi grasped at the fabric of his jeans with whatever little strength she had left, trying to get his attention. ‘Don’t.’

His attention snapped back to her. ‘What is it? What do you need?’ Swayam asked, crouching closer.

Everything looked blurry, but Kashvi pointed a shaking hand towards the broken coffee table and the diary pinned beneath it. ‘Call... Maithili.’

Though she tried to hold on, the world tilted around her. The last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was the broken bookshelf and her torn books scattered across the floor.

Chapter 27

‘Are you sure?’

Kashvi took a deep breath and placed her trembling hand in Maithili’s outstretched one. Even the slightest movement sent fresh pain tearing through the split skin of her palm. ‘I’m sure.’