Ten days later.
Sneha's room had become a dark cave.
For the past ten days she had not stepped out anywhere.
Not even to school.
She had done nothing but sit at home and cry.
She wouldn't even allow light into the room — the curtains remained tightly drawn, blocking every ray of sunlight.
Her face was pale and drawn from illness.
She lay curled up under the blanket, body burning with fever. A damp cloth rested on her forehead, but her eyes were swollen and red, her lips dry and cracked.
Every now and then her body would jerk with a sudden shiver, and fresh tears would slide down her cheeks onto the pillow.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around her chest, as if she were desperately trying to hold someone close.
The fever made her tremble; the pain made her sob. Together, they were breaking her.
For ten days she had barely eaten and hardly slept. At night she would sit up crying; during the day she lay motionless on the bed. The mere thought of Sir brought fresh waves of agony.
Since morning her temperature had climbed to 103 degrees. The doctor had come, given her an injection, and left medicine, but the fever refused to break. Because this was not just a fever of the body — it was a fever of the heart.
Sneha whispered through her tears, her voice shaking:
**Sneha** (trembling):
"Sir… why did you leave… I can't live without you… it hurts so much… please come back… please…"
She closed her eyes and clutched the pillow to her chest. Her sobs grew louder, her body shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly the door was shoved open with force and Riddhiman stormed in. His eyes burned with rage, his face twisted with arrogance.
The moment Sneha saw him, terror gripped her.
**Riddhiman** (with a mocking smile):
"Wow, impressive!"
Then, in the next breath, his anger flared again.
"You've done this to yourself because of that teacher of yours!"
**Sneha** (voice shaking):
"Please… go away… I'm sick…"
**Riddhiman** (furious):
"Sick? I'm the one getting sick because of you! My parents don't want me to marry you anymore! But I will marry you anyway!!!"
Sneha began crying harder.
**Riddhiman:**
"There's no shortage of girls in my life!!!! But I want only you!!!"
**Sneha** (crying out):
"Why?!"
Riddhiman gave a wicked smile and moved closer.
Sneha shrank back in fear.
**Riddhiman:**
"You still don't understand? Do I have to explain it to you?"
Sneha screamed, "Aunty!! Aunty!!"
**Riddhiman** (advancing):
"You're going crazy for that teacher and you don't even realise he just used you! You're so naïve!"
Sneha kept crawling backward in terror.
**Riddhiman:**
"Your reputation is ruined all over the city. Who do you think will marry you now? Only I will. You should be grateful and fall at my feet!!! You'll become Riddhiman Sen's wife!!!
He lunged forward and grabbed both of Sneha's hands, pinning them to the bed.
**Sneha:**
"Ah!! Let go! Let me go!"
**Riddhiman:**
"Shut up! From now on you belong to me. I will marry you. And don't you dare speak that bastard teacher's name again. Understood?"
Sneha struggled weakly to free her hands, but the fever had left her with no strength. She cried and screamed,
**Sneha:**
"Let me go! Please… Aunty! Aunty!"
Riddhiman leaned over her, trying to force a kiss. Sneha kept turning her head away desperately.
Just then the door flew open and Aunty Nitu rushed in, eyes wide with horror.
**Aunty Nitu** (shouting):
"Riddhiman! What are you doing?! Let her go!"
But Riddhiman refused to release Sneha's hands. He kept them pinned firmly to the bed.
Sneha was thrashing and crying uncontrollably.
When Aunty Nitu tried to pull him away, Riddhiman shoved her violently. She stumbled backward, her head striking the wall with a sickening thud, and collapsed to the floor.
**Sneha** (sobbing):
"What have you done?!"
Riddhiman stood up and snarled,
"I'm letting you go today. But I won't let you off so easily. Either I'll marry you, or I'll destroy you so completely that you'll never be able to show your face to anyone again."
Fuming, Riddhiman slammed the door and stormed out.
In her feverish state, Sneha crawled weakly toward her Aunty. She was crying bitterly. Aunty Nitu noticed and slowly sat up.
**Aunty Nitu** (eyes filled with tears):
"Don't cry, Sneha!"
She pulled the trembling girl into her arms. Sneha buried her face in her Aunty's chest, sobbing.
**Sneha** (crying):
"Aunty… I was so scared…"
**Aunty Nitu** (wiping her eyes):
"Shhh… calm down, my child… I'm here. No one can hurt you."
Sneha kept crying with her eyes closed. But in her heart there was only one thought — *Sir…*
_
_
_
Evening had fallen. Uncle Surajit had returned from the office, his face tired but filled with worry.
Medha had come back from school, tossed her bag in the corner, and gone straight to the living room.
Aunty Nitu, wiping her eyes, slowly told them everything — Riddhiman's arrival, his behaviour, how he had grabbed Sneha's hands, tried to force himself on her, and then pushed Aunty Nitu to the floor.
Uncle Surajit's anger exploded. Riddhiman had now crossed every limit.
Medha stood beside them, phone in hand, furiously typing a message to Anirban Sir. Her fingers trembled with rage.
**Medha** (in the message):
"Sir! That son of a dog, son of a pig, bastard, pervert, filthy Riddhiman Sen! I won't spare him!"
**Anirban Sir** (replying):
"Medha, watch your language. Tell me exactly what happened."
**Medha** (typing furiously):
Sir, that disgusting man has crossed every boundary today! My Didi has already been suffering from high fever for ten days. Today he forced himself on her! He tried to kiss her against her will! He pushed my mother and knocked her down! He said if Didi doesn't marry him, he'll destroy her life! And for the past few days his parents have been threatening us, saying they'll ruin our entire family.
Reading Medha's message, Anirban Sir's blood boiled. He had been busy with an important school responsibility and hadn't known how bad things had become for Sneha and Medha's family.
**Anirban** (to himself):
"They need to be taught a lesson…"
**To be continued…**