Married To A Stranger

The night of Esha’s disappearance:

Sreesha was wide awake for some reason while her cousins were fast asleep. She is still waiting for her mother and uncles to come n wish them goodnight. When she heard footsteps, she thought it was her family and closed her eyes smiling mischievously. She likes to scare her family when they least expect it.

She frowned when she heard the footsteps going to another side of her bed. It was always her, who they kiss goodnight first but not her cousins. When she opened her eyes slightly to check what is happening, she saw two figures hovering over her cousins’ bed, which is designed as cradle to prevent them from falling from it. Sreesha gasped slightly in shock. One man loomed over the cradle while the other picked Esha carelessly and dumped her on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to grab her too” Sreesha immediately closed her eyes and slowly placed her hand under the pillow to find her weapon.

“No man, she has to live here. I will make sure she suffers from her family’s mistakes. I heard her calling herself a Queen too many times. I will make sure she lives a life of a slave. I will make her family treat her nothing but shit. I will witness her taking her life for her mother’s mistakes one day. While this little princess pays for her father’s deeds. I lost my sister because of that bastard now it’s his turn to know the pain of losing someone” the other man concluded, smirking.

When Sreesha was sure they are distracted, she got a hold of the gun which was gifted by her uncle. She slowly stood on her bed and pulled the trigger. The man who was holding her cousin yelped in pain when the rubber bullet hit his forehead. The toy gun may not kill them but can leave a mark. The other man got a hold of her cousin when the man lost his grip on her.

“You little…” the man who was shot started but stopped when his partner tapped on his shoulder. Sreesha pointed the gun at the other man, who is smiling at her cynically.

“I see, they are definitely raising you like a brat. Don’t worry darling daughter, you will learn to be respectful by the day you are supposed to claim your power then I’ll meet you again to destroy everything around you” Sreesha pulled the trigger again, but she was disappointed that the man didn’t flinch when the bullet hit him.

“Why is this brat still awake?” the man who was shot first wondered.

“You shouldn’t have skipped your dinner, Sreesha Verma” the man who called her daughter chided.

“I am Sreesha Thakur, not Verma. Give me my cousin back or I will call my uncle” Sreesha threatened them.

“Verma! You are a Verma. I will make sure you’re one” he hissed and tried to reach her.

Sreesha sprinted down her bed and ducked his advances, then she ran along the corridors to her uncles’ room and started banging on each one of their doors yelling for them to help catch the intruders.

Rajat Verma caught her when she tried to reach the phone and took her downstairs. She was yelling for help but no crying or begging for him to let her go. He was frustrated that she wasn’t begging him all she did was demand.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Having had enough, he applied enough pressure on her neck to make her unconscious and left her on the front porch.

“She shouldn’t have raised you like a brat. You will know your place soon”

“Remember one thing clearly, you’re one of the reasons I am taking your little princess away” were the words she heard while losing consciousness.

Jayantha Thakur did everything in his power to find Esha. He appointed investigators and reached out to many officials. There were hundreds of people searching for her. According to police, Rajat Verma was not in India from the past couple of months and that there is no way that he was guilty of his niece’s kidnapping.

But he trusts his elder niece, she recognized Rajat’s picture and explained everything that happened on that day.

He was so proud of how his niece acted that day. If it is any other child, he/she would have been too fragile to fight back. His tightened his fit allowing his nails to dig deeper into the skin. He had seen the bruises around her neck, it had been too difficult for her to talk, yet she told them everything she witnessed.

According to Sreesha’s words, Jayanth knew that he was planning something big. But he also knows, Esha is safe. He doesn’t know for how long, but she is safe for now.

After a couple of weeks, Gagana have had enough and tried to investigate herself with the help of her best friend Vinay Shekhar, Her protector.

“We have to leave in an hour. Are you sure about this?” Vinay asked her hesitantly. One look from her is all it took for him to arrange everything she had asked from him.

Gagana left Sreesha in the hands of her sister-in-law as she was not letting Sreesha out of her sight. Yamini was too anxious and depressed, so she wasn’t allowing the children outside the house. So, Gagana had no other choice but to leave Sreesha behind. Gagana knows she must leave the village in order to find Esha.

A few months later, she found enough evidence to prove Rajat is guilty and was in a hurry to reach her family. She finally found Esha somewhere she least expected. She sped down the highway smiling at the child sleeping peacefully. She can imagine her sister-in-law and brother being too overprotective from the moment they got their hands on their daughter.

She can imagine the couple smile again genuinely.

She can finally feel the burden on her heart slowly leave.

It was then something untoward happened, out of nowhere a truck crashed into her car.

It was then everything turned upside down for Thakurs.

It was then Sreesha lost her mother.