Married To A Stranger

A few weeks later

It has been a few weeks after Sreesha got to know about her mother’s accident and that the reason behind every destruction of her family was her sperm donor. She refuses to think of him as a father. At first, she was disgusted about herself for having the same blood as that monster, then she realized she was never his daughter but her mother’s. Her mother was the one who protected her, now she understood that blood doesn’t matter. Choosing between right and wrong does. Having enough maturity to forgive and letting go of matters.

If Rajat was matured, he would have forgiven Jaykar for not accepting his sister’s proposal. If his sister was matured enough, she would have accepted the rejection and moved on. If that was the case, she would have had her mother beside her. Jayanth would have been happy with his wife and children. Jaykar and Yamini would have been happy with Tej and Esha dealing with their mischievousness. Tej, still with his innocence intact, trying to intimidate his siblings and cousins playing protector.

Everything was destroyed due to one person’s stupidity.

She couldn’t help but hate her sperm donor more after knowing the reason behind Jaykar and Yamini’s behavior towards her. Rajat Verma made them his puppets and played with her life.

“We were threatened by Rajat, we became puppets in his hands. He used our daughter as the bait every time we refused to obey his orders. One day we received a videotape, where Esha was crying on the floor in an abandoned room with no one to attend her. We have no other choice but to let him take control over us. We had to move away from home to somewhere he chose, severing all the ties with my family.

Everything was in his control until Tej became your protector. We have no idea why he backed down, but we are glad he did. He wanted us to get you married at 15 to one of his men if it is not for Tej’s interference…

I knew immediately when Bhai reached out for Tej, because it was the same behavior Jayanth and I had when our father explained to us about our duties to our families mostly to our Queen. From then on, I knew my son would do anything to protect you. So, I started fooling Rajat by slipping details to Tej, so he could inform Jayanth about Rajat’s plans beforehand. He lost it when Manoj’s family left without a trace.

Then Shekhar’s entered our lives with their own plan, they know that I know who they really are, and our own plan started to take you away from his clutches. That monster thought it was his men who got you in the name of marriage until a few days after your marriage.”

Sreesha couldn’t help but think about what everyone went through in order to save her. They may have hurt her in the past but that hurt is nothing compared to what they went through because of that monster. One uncle lost his entire future while the other lost his child and forced to leave his own family.

She wants to kneel in front of them and beg for forgiveness for the things she didn’t do. She wants to make it her mission to trace that monster and kill him with her bare hands.

She wants to find her sister and apologize for every day of her life for not saving her.

Suddenly something flashed in her mind.

A girl crying in Karthik’s arms. This is not the first time she is reliving those moments. Something in her wants to know more about that girl.

Who is Saadhika?

Where is she from?

How did she end up in Manoj’s care?

There is no doubt Manoj likes her or was its fear in his eyes when Sreesha came face to face with Saadhika?

There is no doubt that Saadhika likes or maybe even in love with Manoj

“Karthik!” Sreesha called out for her husband.

“Sree?” Karthik said, reaching out to her.

“I have something to ask you” Sreesha said, sighing a little, looking into his eyes.

“Anything” Karthik said, without hesitation. This is the first time she had asked him anything in weeks. She had been in her own world from the past few weeks thinking about her past and nothing else.

“I want you to hire someone to investigate about Saadhika” Sreesha stated, with a look of determination.

“What? Who’s Saadhika?” Karthik asked, stupefied.

“Sree, why would you need any information on Saadhika? Do you think…”

“I think she is the one or she can lead us to the one we have been searching for” Sreesha mumbled taking a step near to him.

“A- Are you? I- I mean… Sree” Karthik stuttered in disbelief.

“I have been thinking about this for weeks now, Karthik. Did you not see the resemblance between Tej and Saadhika? Or between mother? She must be Esha. Even if she is not, there is nothing wrong with checking information about our rivals, don’t you think?”

“Since when you started thinking Manoj as a rival?” Karthik asked her bitterly.

Sreesha can sense the irritation and anger radiating off him. She slowly stepped behind him and circled her hands around his waist, leaning her head on his back, not before leaving a kiss.

“There must be a reason why the threats started don’t you think, Karthik? Think this way, if the blackmailer is Rajat, why would he say anything before attempting? He would be so furious knowing that father fooled him all along. Rajat wants power over me not to kill me. Rajat wants the power Thakurs to hold but not our lives until we’re a threat to his existence. If he wants to kill me, he would have done it when I was under his radar. He wanted me to get married to Manoj or any of the men he selected because that way he can get his hands on something that Thakurs have” Sreesha said, a slow grin appeared on her face.

“What are you trying to say, Sree?” Karthik asked, grumpily. Any topic that is related to Manoj or Rajat is distasteful to him.

“Karthik, Rajat was not the blackmailer. The blackmailer always helped us one way or the other” Sreesha explained patiently.

“How?” Karthik asked, innocently finally turning to face her.

“Do you remember the first note dad received?” Karthik nodded, cringing a little reminiscing the details of note. “That note made you appoint bodyguards for my safety. We moved to your parents’ house which is more secure that our own home after a few more notes. Every single threat you received through the note is one way or the other benefitted us. Those notes were always about me but not about business. What if Rajat has been trying to keep you distracted by interfering in our business, but these notes made you kept your focus on me? What if the one who is sending the notes trying to help us anonymously? What if I was right all along?” Sreesha has a full-blown smile on her face now.

“About what?”

“About the person who’s sending notes. What if it is Manoj? What if he was trying to protect us warning us through those notes? They were threats but always empty ones. What if he has someone who’s helping him with our whereabouts?”

“He always knew what we say out. Our honeymoon was planned as a surprise. No one knows about it except mom, dad and our friends. Not even our bodyguards. We didn’t take your private jet; the tickets were booked by our friends along with Ved and Niya’s. So, there is no way anyone in your office or security in home gets to know about it. Did you see the surprise/shock registered on Manoj’s face?” Karthik nodded again “That shock was genuine. Regardless of what or who probed him to do whatever he had to… what we had was genuine. His friendship and love were always true” Karthik was annoyed and insanely jealous of Manoj. Whatever Sreesha says about him will not change his judgement towards Manoj. And they both know it.

“What I am trying to say is, what if it is Manoj, who has been helping us?”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“Sree…” Karthik warned Sreesha sighed before continuing.

“Okay… let’s talk about who’s trying to help blackmailer. What do you think about my bodyguards? Ron, Sean and Julie” Sreesha asked nonchalantly.

“They’re well trained and referred through a reliable source” Karthik explained patiently.

“Which source?” Sreesha asked, placing her palm on his heartbeat. Karthik sighed.

“Sharma’s. Anvika’s family. They’re responsible for your family security. They were handpicked by Jayath uncle and dad” he said, kissing her other hand, interlacing their fingers.

“How much do you trust Sharmas?” Sreesha asked, carefully. Karthik stilled for a second.

“I’m not questioning about your friendship with Anvika, Karthik. I’m just asking about her family in general” Sreesha clarified.

“Anvika is someone I can’t replace with anyone in my life and she’s halfway in love with your brother” Karthik said, rolling his eyes. “About her family, it is a tight knot, her grandfather still has to hold on almost every decision they make in their family or business. Nothing goes beyond his eyes. He’s been taking care of security for decades. There were rumors that Anvika’s uncle is going to take the reins of his father’s responsibilities, but nothing is official yet” Sreesha nodded, silently.

“What are you thinking?” Karthik mumbled, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

“I think we need to test our security a little first. Then hire someone who is capable of getting all the information regarding Saadhika. Then we will snatch Rajat’s strength. Then we will live happily ever after” Sreesha says, her eyes shining with mischievousness.

“We need to what?” Karthik asked, confused.

“Now, we need to kiss hubby. How can you forget about your punishment? You need to say ‘I love you’ for the rest of your life as one more punishment” Sreesha said, winking at Karthik before pulling him into a demanding kiss.