Chapter 48
Druve lay awake, staring into the darkness.
Sruthi's words had left him with a truth he didn't know how to face.
She had never wanted to leave him.
For seven years, he had searched for her, believing she had walked away because of what happened between them that night. But had he truly done everything he could to find her?
He had an entire network at his disposal. Men who could trace people across countries, connections capable of uncovering information that others couldn't reach.
Yet he had searched for her himself.
Not because he lacked the means, but because he had been afraid.
Afraid of finding her. Afraid of standing before her and seeing hatred in the eyes that had once looked at him with nothing but love.
Every unsuccessful attempt had hurt, but he had accepted that pain. Somewhere along the way, he had begun treating his suffering as the punishment he deserved.
I thought you didn't want me anywhere near you.
His jaw tightened.
And all this time...
He looked down at the woman sleeping against his chest.
She hadn't blamed him. She hadn't regretted their first night together.
He had been wrong about the very thing that had kept him from searching with everything he possessed.
A bitter laugh escaped him, dying almost immediately.
What have I done?
His fingers curled against the mattress.
If he had used his connections, could he have found her sooner?
He didn't know.
That was the worst part. He would never know how many opportunities he might have missed.
His eyes burned with frustration.
He wanted to go back and shake some sense into the man he had been. The man who had mistaken his own guilt for her rejection.
But he couldn't change those years.
And Sruthi...
His gaze returned to her face.
She had returned to him carrying nightmares that sometimes left her screaming, panic attacks that overwhelmed her without warning, and a terror he still couldn't understand.
She had even been declared dead.
How did someone disappear for seven years, get declared dead, and then return with no explanation for what had happened?
His chest tightened.
Then he remembered Dev.
Not merely the way she called her brother's name in her sleep, but the words she had cried between those desperate pleas.
Kill me... please... just let him go.
Druve's breath caught.
He had heard her begging someone to spare a life.
Dev.
Was that whom she had been trying to save?
The possibility made his stomach turn.
Dev had practically raised her. He had been her family, her protector, the person she depended on long before Druve entered her life.
And Sruthi had been begging someone to kill her instead.
Did they spare him?
Druve closed his eyes.
He wanted to believe Dev was alive. That somewhere, somehow, there was an explanation for his absence.
But the way Sruthi cried for him...
The desperation in those nightmares...
His heart sank.
There was a very real possibility that Dev was no longer alive.
And if Sruthi had witnessed his death—
Druve's hand tightened around hers.
He couldn't finish the thought.
For a moment, all he could do was look at her, remembering the girl who used to laugh without restraint, who had been so certain that the people she loved would always be there.
Oh, baby...
He lowered his head, pressing his lips against her hair.
A tear slipped down his cheek.
He wiped it away impatiently.
He needed to think. He needed to understand what had happened.
And then a particular word surfaced in his memory.
Seven.
Druve went still.
Kaal had mentioned seven years.
At the time, he hadn't understood the significance. But now, with Sruthi's words still echoing in his head, the coincidence was impossible to ignore.
Seven years.
The exact period she had been missing.
His heartbeat quickened.
Were you talking about Sruthi?
He stared ahead, recalling Kaal's words.
If Kaal knew something about her disappearance, then this wasn't merely about the threats Druve was facing now.
It might have begun long before Riya returned to his life.
Seven whole years.
Druve felt cold.
He had seen how badly Sruthi suffered from memories he couldn't even identify. What had happened during those years? How long had she been trapped in whatever nightmare still haunted her?
His breathing grew uneven.
Not one day. Not two. Seven years...
He gripped the edge of the blanket.
He didn't know how much of that time she had suffered, and the uncertainty made every possibility unbearable.
But why would Kaal have anything to do with Sruthi?
She had been a college student. She had no involvement in Druve's affairs, no connection to the enemies he had made.
There was no reason for someone like Kaal to pursue her.
Unless...
She wasn't the target.
Druve's eyes widened.
I was.
His thoughts flew back to those two months when he had been away because of the family emergency.
Two months out of station, completely cut off from the outside world.
No calls. No messages. No way to contact Sruthi or know what was happening back home.
His heartbeat accelerated.
Was that what you were waiting for?
If someone had been watching him, they would have known he was unreachable. That even if something happened to Sruthi, he wouldn't know until he returned.
Did you use those two months to get to her?
Druve sat up sharply.
Riya stirred beside him, her hand slipping from his chest. He immediately reached for her, carefully settling her against the pillow. She murmured something indistinct before falling quiet again.
But Druve couldn't lie back down.
He sat at the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, one hand pressed hard against his mouth.
If Kaal had deliberately waited for his absence, then he must have known about Druve's circumstances. Perhaps even anticipated how long he would be unreachable.
The thought frightened him.
Because that would mean Kaal wasn't merely an enemy who had appeared recently.
He might have been watching Druve for years.
And Sruthi might have paid the price for being someone Druve loved.
Druve bent forward, struggling to draw a steady breath.
Was that when you took her?
He had no proof. He couldn't even be certain Kaal had been involved.
But if it was true...
His eyes squeezed shut.
He had already spent seven years blaming himself for something he hadn't done.
Now he was facing the possibility that someone had deliberately exploited the one period when he couldn't protect her or even know she was in danger.
God...
He dragged a shaking hand through his hair.
Then another thought interrupted him.
Riya.
Kaal was targeting Riya too.
But why?
Was it because she was Rana Rathore's daughter? Or Vikram's sister?
Druve slowly straightened.
Sruthi might have been targeted because of him, while Riya could have become a target through the Rathore family.
Then what connects Kaal to both of us?
His thoughts returned to Rana.
If Kaal had a grudge against the Rathores and had also been watching Druve seven years ago, the connection might go much further back than he had initially suspected.
My past...
Druve's expression hardened.
If Kaal was connected to his past and Rana was involved, Rajveer might know something too.
He would find out who Kaal really was, what connected him to Rana, and whether his father knew anything about it.
But then his gaze fell on Sruthi.
She was sleeping on her side, one hand resting where he had been lying moments earlier.
And the anger that had been building inside him faltered.
What if you were waiting for me?
His throat tightened.
He had spent seven years searching for her while holding himself back, believing she didn't want to see him.
What if she had desperately needed him all along?
Druve pressed a hand over his eyes.
He couldn't bear it.
If Kaal was connected to her disappearance, then the man he was hunting might know what had happened to Sruthi.
And Dev.
Druve leaned toward her and pressed his lips against her forehead, his hand trembling slightly.
He would uncover the truth.
His phone vibrated against the bedside table, interrupting his thoughts. Druve frowned when he saw Arjun's name. He had specifically instructed him not to disturb them tonight unless something important happened.
He answered, keeping his voice low. "Arjun?"
"Sir, we've caught Raghav."
Druve went still. Then his fingers tightened around the phone as a fierce surge of satisfaction cut through the helplessness that had consumed him all night. Finally, something was moving in his favour.
Druve ended the call, his expression hardening. Raghav was finally in their hands, and the prospect of confronting him stirred an anger that had been simmering beneath his fear and guilt.
He glanced toward Sruthi. She hadn't stirred during his restless movements or the phone call. For a moment, he hesitated, reluctant to leave her on their wedding night.
But Raghav was waiting downstairs.
Druve slipped out of bed, adjusted the blanket over her shoulder, and quietly left the room.
As the door clicked softly shut, the silence settled heavy over the bed.
The lingering heat on the sheets beside her began to thin, and the cool night air seeped in. Caught between the sudden chill and the absence of his body, Sruthi's eyelashes trembled.
She opened her eyes.
Drowsily, her hand reached out across the mattress, searching for him, only to brush against cold, empty linen. She turned her head toward the door, her brow furrowing in confusion.
Where did you go, Druve?
She stared at the empty side of the bed, wondering what could have possibly dragged him away in the middle of the night.
Sruthi remained seated on the bed for a moment, staring at the closed door. Perhaps Druve had gone downstairs to attend to something. Still, she couldn't imagine what could have dragged him away at this hour, especially on their wedding night.
She pushed the blanket aside and slipped out of bed, brushing her dishevelled hair away from her face. The floor felt cool beneath her bare feet as she made her way toward the door.
The living room was empty.
She glanced toward the sofa, half expecting to find Druve sitting there with his phone, absorbed in one of those matters that always seemed to demand his attention.
"Druve?" she called softly.
No answer.
She wandered into the kitchen, peering inside before checking the other rooms downstairs. There was no sign of him anywhere.
"Where did you disappear to?" she murmured, glancing toward the entrance.
Perhaps he had stepped outside to attend to something important. She considered calling him, then decided against it. He would come back soon enough, and she could ask him about it then.
With a small sigh, she turned toward the stairs.
It was only as she made her way back that she began noticing how quiet everything was.
The house had been silent when she first stepped out of the bedroom too, but she had been occupied with looking for Druve. Now, with nowhere else to search and nothing in particular to do, the stillness seemed to settle around her.
Her footsteps sounded unusually distinct against the floor. Somewhere in the distance, the faint hum of an appliance continued uninterrupted. Apart from that, there was nothing.
She slowed, glancing around the empty hallway.
She didn't like this kind of quiet.
There was something about being alone with nothing to occupy her attention that left her strangely unsettled. It wasn't fear, not exactly. She knew she was safe, and there was no reason to be frightened. Yet the emptiness had a way of making her feel disconnected from everything around her, as though the world had withdrawn into a silence she didn't quite know what to do with.
She wished there were someone to talk to, something to laugh about, even some trivial little thing to keep her occupied.
With Druve, silence had never felt like this. They could spend hours together without exchanging more than a few words, and she would still feel perfectly content. His presence alone was enough. She could curl up beside him, watch him work, or annoy him until he finally gave her one of those looks she found so entertaining.
A faint smile touched her lips at the thought.
But he wasn't there now, and the prospect of returning to an empty bed wasn't particularly appealing.
By the time she reached their bedroom, loneliness had settled into a restless sort of boredom. She walked inside, glancing at the rumpled sheets before letting her gaze wander around the room, searching for something to occupy herself until Druve returned.
That was when she noticed something lying near the television.
A gift.
She paused, recognizing it almost immediately.
Oh, that one!
It was the same gift Druve had tossed aside earlier, and the peculiar way it had been addressed had caught her attention even then.
To the groom.
Her eyebrows rose slightly.
Who in the world sends a wedding gift addressed only to the groom?
She found herself smiling at the absurdity of it. Wedding gifts were usually meant for the couple, weren't they? And even if someone wanted to give Druve something personally, why send it on their wedding day with such a strange inscription?
Curiosity got the better of her.
She walked over and picked it up, turning the package in her hands. It didn't feel particularly heavy, and there was nothing about its appearance to suggest what might be inside.
"Now, what could you possibly be?" she murmured.
With nothing better to do, she settled down and began peeling away the wrapping.
The paper came loose, revealing a small object tucked inside.
Sruthi blinked.
For a moment, she simply stared at it, wondering whether she was looking at the entire gift or merely something that accompanied it.
She tipped the wrapping slightly, checking for anything else.
Nothing.
She picked up the tiny object between her fingers and examined it more closely.
"A USB?"
Her brows knitted together.
She turned it over, then glanced at the discarded wrapping again, as though the answer might somehow be hidden there.
Of all the things someone could send as a wedding gift, why a USB drive?
Sruthi stared at the little device resting in her palm, thoroughly confused.
She turned it over once more, wondering whether it contained photographs or perhaps some sort of video message. That would make a little more sense, although she still couldn't understand why anyone would address something like that specifically to the groom.
For a moment, she considered leaving it for Druve to open when he returned.
But then she glanced toward the empty bed.
She had no idea how long he would be gone, and the thought of sitting around waiting for him in that suffocating silence was hardly appealing.
Besides, she was curious.
And if it turned out to be some boring business presentation or one of those things Druve dealt with all day, she could simply switch it off.
Her gaze shifted toward the television.
Well, why not?
At least it would give her something to do until he came back.
She walked over to the television and examined its side, searching for the USB port. After a little fumbling, she found it and slipped the drive into place.
The screen remained dark.
"Oh, right."
She looked around for the remote, eventually spotting it nearby. Picking it up, she switched on the television and waited for the screen to come alive.
Sruthi settled comfortably onto the sofa, tucking her legs beneath her as she reached for the glass of warm water on the coffee table. Holding it between her palms, she took a small sip before turning her attention back to the television.
She navigated through the connected device and found a single video file. Without giving it much thought, she selected it and leaned back against the cushions, bringing the glass towards her lips once more.
The video began to play.