*Trigger warning*

The following chapter contains mentions of physical and sexual assault, domestic violence, and killing. Please proceed with caution.

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"Are you hungry?" I asked.

Shailesh snapped his head at me, raising an eyebrow in question. "What did you say?"

I looked at him straight in the eye. "I asked if you are still hungry for more."

He looked at his thugs and asked them if they understood what I was trying to say. He taunted that I must have fallen on my head very hard, making me lose my mind.

I let him mock me as I tried to keep my anger in control. I just wanted to lunge at him and poke his eyes out, but I was aware that even thinking about physically harming him was going to be a death sentence for all of my family.

He liked to talk a lot and boast about what he was capable of, so I decided to play mind games with him; I wasn't totally confident, but that was my only option anyways.

I took a deep breath and kept my voice calm. "I am asking if you are hungry for more ransom as you clearly look unsatisfied with what Mom had promised you."

I ignored my mother when she signalled me to keep my mouth shut.

Shailesh narrowed his eyes at me. "What exactly are you implying here? If you are talking about what my dear mother-in-law promised, then I was already not satisfied with it. You think that by giving me fifteen lakh rupees, you will be able to save yourselves? And that offer is too old now. Those seven lakhs your mother owed me were all wasted on my lawyer only. What are you going to do about my reputation that was ruined because of you all?!"

I nodded. "I will complete every demand of yours. You name it, and I will do it, but you have to leave my family out of it."

"Bhoomi, what are you doing?!" Mom yelled.

Shailesh moved and stepped closer to me. Srishti hugged me tightly and hid her face.

"And what exactly can a small girl like you do?" Shailesh laughed. "Are you trying to negotiate with me? with Shailesh Narane? the man who can swipe out your entire family line in one go? Bhoomi, don't play around with me, or I won't just kill you all but your entire village, got that?"

Don't get afraid, Bhoomi. Stay calm and try to stir the conversation in your favour. Shailesh is already hooked on what you are saying, so carefully choose your next words.

"Of course, I know who I am talking to, and that's why I am not stating any conditions myself. I am willing to agree to anything as long as you keep your end of the deal. As it is, what will you get after killing us off? You will end up losing out those remaining eight lakh rupees too," I cajoled. "And I also know that amount is nothing for you. You are doing all this not because of just money, but because you want to take revenge from my sister as she got you tied up in a domestic violence case. You are having trouble clearing your name, aren't you?"

Shailesh's face twitched. He kept staring at me, and I held my breath; I covered Srishti with my arms and prepared myself for the outcome of my words.

"You are right," Shailesh said. "Eight lakh rupees will vanish in a flash, and I can finish you guys too, but what after that...?"

He glanced at Dhara Di. "Isn't it weird, Dhara? I am so angry at you that I just want to snap your neck, but wouldn't it be too easy? You will die and happily leave all of your worries behind, but what will I get in return? My time, money, efforts, happiness, peace, and everything will be gone along with you!"

"Then why don't you just continue with Mom's offer and add your unfulfilled demands in it? I know you are hungry to extract revenge, but food tastes better when you take your time," I suggested.

Watching all those soap-operas and crime shows is truly helping me right now. Just feed the ego of such narcissistic fuckers and see them get confused in their own thoughts. I am doing good for now, so I hope I won't end up messing up.

Shailesh listened to me carefully. "Looks like you are the only smart person among your family, but I know what you are doing right now. I am not a fool to fall into your trap, Bhoomi. As soon as I let you guys go, I will regret it because you will go straight to the police station and try to get back at me using that already filed case against me. You know how much money I lost in bribing those judges, but those old farts just want more and more. And media? They just want such cases to increase their TRP!"

"We will take back the case from the court," I announced.

"What?!" Dhara Di looked at me in accusation. "You can't decide that, Bhoomi. And stop talking already. You don't know what kind of a person he is. Stop giving into his demands."

She looked at Shailesh and cursed him with all of her strength. His face started turning hard, so before he could attack my sister, I moved Srishti to my mother and picked myself up from the floor.

I stumbled but fisted my hands and stood in front of Dhara Di. I pointed at her lying on her mattress and scoffed.

"What's she capable of doing to you?" I poked at Shailesh. "Look at her. She can't even move without help. Even if you won't kill her, there isn't much time left before she erodes by herself. And as for Srishti, why you want to compromise when you can get married again? Unlike how you had to marry a girl from a family with a very low status than yours, I am sure there are still very influential people that would happily take you as their son-in-law."

There was not much reaction from Shailesh, but I saw a faint smirk on his face.

I continued convincing him. "Since you are not saying anything, I will put up my offer. See if you like it or not; you can demand anything anyways. First of all, to make up for ruining your reputation, my sister will take back the case, and since it might take some time and interrogation may be done, I request you to co-operate too. As for you shelling out your money on bribing all the officials, come up with a final amount that you want us to compensate you with, and I promise that I will pay you every penny."

"You really that confident, Bhoomi?" Shailesh sneered.

"Yes, I am," I replied.

I honestly don't know if I am actually going to do all of that, but keeping ourselves alive is the topmost priority at the moment.

Shailesh nodded and paced around the house. He looked at my unconscious father, then Mom, and then at my sister and niece.

He chuckled. "Well, I appreciate you for proudly claiming that you will complete my demands, but how will you do it? Look around yourself for once: there's an old man who got knocked down in just one punch, an old woman who may lose her breath any minute, a partially paralysed patient who can't even walk, and a toddler who hasn't even seen the real world yet. So, Bhoomi, care to explain how is this deal going to work?"

"I am also here, no?" I replied. "I am not old, not suffering from breathing problems, not paralysed, and not a toddler. If you didn't hear me in the beginning, then I remind you that I said 'I' will fulfill your demands."

Shailesh's eyes widened in realisation. "You got a lottery or what? Is this why you look so unfazed?"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't, but you are missing out on getting your name cleared from the charge-sheet. I am serious about what I am saying."

"Will you be able to pay off 40 lakh rupees then? And what if I get bored and increase the amount? I gotta pay the salaries of these men too."

"I don't have any other option, do I? Since I am willing to agree, please think of a fixed amount," I said. "I will be able to plan accordingly then."

Mom looked at me in confusion. I stared at her, trying to covey my actual intentions. Fortunately, my mother understood and joined me.

"Shailesh, I support what Bhoomi is saying. I know I may not be able to earn much in my age, but I have completed half of your payment, haven't I? Ignore what Dhara says. Since I am the one who got her married to you and also encouraged to end her marriage, I take the responsibility to go to the court and take back our application. Please trust us. We won't put our family in danger by lying to you."

Mom and I both repeated our words, trying to drill them inside Shailesh's head. Slowly, our efforts started showing results as he pondered over our offers. After twenty minutes of silent torture, he signalled one of his men.

That man ripped off a blank paper out of Srishti's drawing book and took out a carbon paper, a pen, and an ink stamp from his pockets.

Shailesh took his time to write down his demands and told me to sign it. Mom pushed me back and told him that she would be the guarantor, but he refused.

He looked at me, "I need only her."

"But, Bhoomi is just-" Mom pleaded, but I stopped her.

"I will do it," I said.

Shailesh told me to read everything properly and imprint it in my mind. I glanced at the paper just once because I knew I was going to get reminded of it everyday. I signed the deal and placed my thumb impression below the signature.

"Great," Shailesh whistled. "You succeeded in negotiating with me, but remember, this is your last chance. Try playing oversmart, and the consequences will be far worse than what I was going to show today."

He was going to kill us off! What kind of worse is he talking about?

Seeing our confusion, Shailesh gave a copy of the deal to us and told us to listen carefully.

"I have made a deal with you," he said, " but I haven't listed out the consequences in that paper. I know what you are thinking about, so let me clear your confusion. If you or any of your family members try to take help from your friends or neighbours, I won't kill you. Instead, I will keep you alive and let you witness your friends get butchered right in front of your eyes."

"What?!" I asked in shock. "Why are you bringing them in this? They have nothing to do with our matter."

"Exactly, but I can't fully trust you. Who knows if once I leave, you may go straight to one of your friends? You have a lot of them, don't you? I remember you playing around with them in my marriage; all those little kids must have grown up a lot now, right? What were their names again? Hm... Akshay, Vibhan, Yasir... then Shlok, Rehman, Pratik... and there were some girls too, no? Weren't they Arushi and Jiya?"

Shailesh laughed as I gaped at him in horror. He knew the names of all of my friends - even the ones that weren't even present in his marriage.

He high-fived with one of his thugs and grinned in satisfaction.

"Oh, I forgot that Akshay had three younger siblings too, but not a father!" he laughed manically.

"Please don't involve them," I begged.

"That depends on you," Shailesh retorted. "If you involve them first, then I will happily involve them in a lot of such activities that they will cry tears of blood. A lot of your friends are boys, aren't they? What will happen if I get them roped in fake rape cases? Just one article against them, and boom! I know a lot of girls too who will do whatever I ask in exchange for a few bucks. And as for your female friends, the opposite will be too easy, wouldn't it? Still, even if after this you are planning on informing the police, then let me help you with that."

He pointed at the two men standing near Dhara Di. "Both of them are policemen, so play your chances carefully. The moment you take even a step towards the police station or use social media to expose me, I will light up your whole chawl on fire. I imagine how many funerals one person can attend in a day... Hm... Why am I guessing when I can make my imagination come true any time?"

My breathing became shallow. All of my friends' faces started flashing in front of my eyes. Anyways, I wasn't going to invite them in my mess, but after hearing Shailesh's threat, all of my confidence started fading away.

Mom took my hand in hers and squeezed it. When I looked at her, I couldn't stop myself from crying.

My mother was fighting against this monster by herself, and I suspected her of all the wrong things. To protect us, she was willing to sacrifice herself.

"Please don't start your drama now," Shailesh complained. "Give me your confirmation before my mood gets spoiled."

I wiped my tears and held Mom's hand strongly.

"I promise that I won't do anything that will make you take drastic steps," I said.

One of his men showed his phone to Shailesh, and Shailesh pushed the replay button on the recorder.

I heard my own voice and all of the conversation starting from me discussing the offer with Shailesh was recorded.

"I will edit it of course." He smiled.

He glanced at Srishti and her mother. "Bye bye, Srishti. Papa is leaving but keep an eye on everyone in my absence, okay? See you soon~"

Srishti didn't look at him, while Dhara Di had her head down in defeat. One by one, the goons moved out of our house, and Shailesh also left after throwing a warning glare at us.

The moment our door was closed, I slumped down, and my body shivered violently. Mom hugged me and rubbed my back.

"It is okay, Bhoomi, we are all okay," Mom consoled and cried. "Meri bacchi... (My daughter...) I am sorry you had to go through all of that."

I hugged my mother tightly as tears kept falling. My father was still unconscious, so I told Mom to check on him first.

Mom nodded and rushed to her husband with a glass of water. She sprinkled a few drops, and when Dad woke up, I began sobbing more loudly.

Seeing me like that, Srishti also started crying. Dad hugged me and apologized for failing at protecting us. We told him to not say that as we were glad that he was alive.

"I shouldn't have come back," Dhara Di mumbled. "All these problems just keep increasing. Only if I had just died-"

Mom clasped Dhara Di's mouth with her palm. "We are not going to repeat the same things again," Mom said.

She stared at her eldest daughter and then glanced at me. When she looked at Dad, I understood what she meant.

Dad asked us about Shailesh, and Mom gulped nervously before she pulled on a fake shield of confidence and got ready to lie to him.

"He left when I told him that I will pay off his remaining eight lakh rupees," she said.

Dad glared at Mom. "How could you make a deal with him without telling me? Who do you think I am? You consider me so incapable that you didn't even think once about informing me what you were doing? I am calling the police this instant!"

"Dad, calm down. Your BP will rise at this rate," I said and pulled him back before he could take his phone.

Mom sighed. "Don't worry. I have already given him seven lakhs, and I won't be entertaining him any longer. As it is, we have a criminal case against him. He didn't show it, but he was scared, and that's why he left without harming us."

"Is she telling the truth?" Dad asked me hopefully.

I nodded and glanced at my sister. Her lips trembled, and Mom and I were thinking of ways to counter any truth Dhara Di would reveal, but my sister fisted her hands and nodded.

"Mom is telling the truth, Dad," she said.

Dad's frown decreased, and he looked at all of us. We noticed him being conflicted, and I cursed under my breath when he told Srishti to come to him.

Srishti launched herself in his arms, and he patted her back.

"Mera baccha (my child), your grandfather is sorry. You must have been so scared," Dad said as tears sprung up to his eyes.

After hugging his granddaughter, he asked her if we were being honest.

I, Mom, and Dhara Di exchanged worried glances. Srishti didn't look at any of us and kept quiet, increasing the tension.

"Srishti beta, can you answer me?" Dad asked.

My niece kept staring in the distance, and I felt my heart clench as I replayed all the events she had suffered and the trauma she got at such a young age.

"Srishti..." Dad called.

She shook her head. "They are not lying."

Phew... that was a close call.

If Srishti had ended up contradicting us, my father wouldn't have just gone to the police asap but would have ended up risking his life too. Dad got hyper very quickly in such stressful situations, making his blood pressure spike like a rocket.

He was a calm person, but when it came to his family, he didn't hold back at all. If I hadn't heard Shailesh's threat and hadn't seen how much harm he was capable of doing, I would have also joined my dad to go against him.

But after what happened just a few minutes ago, I didn't want to put Dad in danger, and keeping him in the dark was the only solution to protect our family and also my friends.

If my sister's ex-husband was just an ordinary person, he wouldn't have been a threat at all, but we knew how much of a menace Shailesh was. It was because of his family status and connections that he was still out of jail instead of being locked up.

My parents weren't aware of him and his family being this much dangerous when they fixed my sister's marriage with him. On top of that, Shailesh was the son of one of Dad's close school friends. Getting blinded by their wealth and thinking that Dhara Di will live a luxurious life, Mom arranged the marriage without much thought.

All of it seemed like a beautiful dream and everything was going smoothly until Shailesh started showing his true colors. And instead of reprimanding their son, his parents blamed my sister for him acting up, and the relationship between the two families turned sour. After six months of Srishti's birth, Dhara Di returned to us and never went back.

She left her husband's house four years ago, but her husband kept coming to our place, and one day, when Mom saw Shailesh beating up Dhara Di, she dragged him to the police station.

After that, we thought we got rid of him for good, but it was just a hopeful wish.

Mom was handling him alone all this time, but we all are together now.

The future looks blurry, but as long as I am alive, I will do everything in my power to get over this big obstacle.