Use aisi nazron se dekha jaise woh koi maas ka tukda ho,
na zindagi jisme, na izzat ka koi hissa ho.

[They looked at her as if she was nothing but a piece of meat, a thing devoid of life, stripped of every trace of dignity.]

******

"Kaisi manhoos hai re tu...."

["What an ill-fated girl you are..."]

Ritu yelled at her niece in disgust as she grabbed her veil, also grabbing her bun. She stared at her with revulsion and then said, "Pehle apni maa ko kha gayi...aur ab hone wale pati pe bhi grahan laga diya?"

["First your mother died because of you, and now you have cast a shadow of your cursed fate over your future husband too?"]

Sargam cried; her eyes burned because of tears threatening to spill out. Her head ached because of Ritu's grip.

Sargam was dressed as a bride, but her fate was no less than that of a rag doll, and she was treated just exactly like that.

Still gripping her veil and fistful of her hair, Ritu marched her to the tent where Rukmini Chaudhary and Mahisha Thakur were sitting on comfortable cushioned cots.

Ritu pushed Sargam on the floor with force, and she fell right on Rukmini's feet where her fate lies.

"Ab kya hoga didi? Ab kon byahe ga is kalmuhi ko?"

["What will happen now, Didi? Who will marry this wretched girl now?"]

Ritu feigned hurt, as if she was worried about what had happened. Rukmini stayed quiet and only gestured for the staff to go out of the tent.

Sargam shivered in fear because she knew no one could save her from Rukmini's wrath now. 

But even scared, she wished for her wrath, because that way her torment would end that night and she would be embraced by death; after all, that's what she had been wishing for years.

"Kya hua?"

["What happened?"]

Mahisha asked, while Rukmini stayed quiet like a dangerous Cobra watching its prey at its feet, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

"Vo... Sangram Singh ko police pakadkar le gaye..."

["The police arrested Sangram Singh and took him away."]

Rukmini still stayed quiet, but then cast a glance at Mahisha, who was now red with fury. Mahisha stood up and asked Ritu angrily, pointing at the guards outside, "Tab aapke ye bhade ke tattu kya kar rahe the?"

["Then what were these hired lackeys of yours doing?"]

"Aur aap kahan thi, Ritu... jab woh unhe le gaye?"

["And where were you, Ritu, when they took him away?"]

She snapped at Ritu.

Ritu couldn't bear the humiliation and looked at Rukmini for rescue. But Rukmini had only been watching Sargam, whose tears kept falling onto her feet.

Ritu understood that if Rukmini was quiet, then something menacing was surely going on in her head, but she didn't know what.

Instead of waiting for her sister-in-law to respond, Ritu replied, "Aap mujhse kyun pooch rahi hain? Sangram Singh ki hone wali biwi se kyun nahi poochti? Ye kaisi hai, iske kisse nahi sune kya aapne?"

["Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask Sangram Singh's fiancée? Haven't you heard the stories about her? Don't you know what kind of girl she is?"]

"Maine kuch bhi nahi kiya....maine..sach...sach mein kuch nahi kiya..."

Sargam cried, pleading with her hands joined together, but for Mahisha, it was a mix of jealousy and contempt that made her arrive at a decision.

She grabbed Sargam's arm, forced her to her feet, and yelled, "Chal mere saath..."

["Come with me."]

She hauled her out of the tent, closer to the Sangam shore where a small stage for the wedding was set up.

"Choti Maa..."

Sargam screamed for Rukmini's help, looking back, but you don't ask a devil for help, now, do you?

Rukmini was still seated there. An evil smile burned her lips, and she laughed like a madwoman.

Ritu's breath hitched in fear because the last time Rukmini had laughed like that, someone's head, removed from its body, had been lying at her feet.

"Didi...kya...kya karne vali hai aap?"

["Didi... what... what are you going to do?"]

Ritu asked nervously, as she gulped the lump of fear lodged in her throat and sat beside her.

Rukmini looked back at her, smiling, and replied,

"Main kuch nahi karungi, Ritu... ab jo karegi woh is manhoos ki kismat karegi... aur aaj iski kismat Mahisha Thakur ke haathon mein hai."

["I won't do anything, Ritu... whatever happens now will be decided by this cursed girl's fate... and today, her fate rests in Mahisha Thakur's hands."]

"Please..please...mujhe bacha lijiye...Choti Maa"

["Please...please...save me...Choti Maa"]

Sargam kept crying, pleading, because the known devil was still better than an unknown one, right?

She knew Rumini might hurt her, hit her, or worse, kill her, but she didn't know what Mahisha was capable of. She was scared of the uncertainty that Mahisha brought with her.

"Maine kuch nahi kiya hai..."

["I haven't done anything..."]

She whimpered, trying to free herself from Mahisha's hold, but Mahisha was twice her size, and her grip was equally strong.

"Please... please... mujhe jaane dijiye..."

["Please... please... let me go..."]

The men gathered for the wedding watched her with undisguised lust as Mahisha dragged her away, like a piece of meat being led to the butcher's block.

Her beauty captivated those men like it was some drug they couldn't live without.

Those pigs knew only one thing: how to take advantage of a woman's dignity, so they waited for one order, one moment of chaos, to grab her and to quench the thirst that arose in them just because of her one helpless look.

Mahisha threw Sargam onto the stage, kicked the pandit sitting there, and yelled, "Hatt, Pandit..."

["Move aside, Pandit."]

She then grabbed the microphone that had been set up for the recitation of the wedding mantras.

"Suno sab log... Main Mahisha Thakur ye ailaan karti hoon ki is manhoosiyat ko main us aadmi ke kadmon mein fenkungi aaj raat jo iski sabse zyada boli lagayega..."

["Listen, everyone... I, Mahisha Thakur, hereby announce that tonight I will throw this cursed girl at the feet of the man who places the highest bid for her."]

"Nahi..."

Sargam whispered in shock as she looked up at the merciless woman, who didn't have the soul of a human, rather that of a monster.

This was the moment those pigs had been waiting for all along. And now they had a free hand, nothing to hold them back from pouncing on a helpless woman.

Sargam looked at them and observed that they were not human beings, but wolves in human disguise, for whom Sargam was not a woman, just a piece of flesh.

But she was going to fight for her dignity; if she had to run, she would; if she had to beg, she would... whatever would keep her dignity intact, she was going to do all of that.

Putting her self-respect aside, she held Mahisha's feet as she looked up at her with pure vulnerability.

"Mere saath aisa... aisa mat kariye..." 

["Please don't do this to me"]

She mumbled, with no strength in her voice.

Sargam ko aisa dekhkar ek pal ke liye shaitaan bhi pighal jaaye, par Mahisha woh rakshasni thi jiske andar pighalne ke liye kuch nahi tha...na dil, na zameer aur na aatma.

[Seeing Sargam like this, even the devil might have melted for a moment, but Mahisha was that demoness within whom there was nothing to melt...no heart, no conscience, and no soul.]

"Bada shauk hai na tujhe logon ki hawas mitane ka... aaj teri saari pyaas bujha dungi main..."

["You have a great passion for satisfying people's lust, don't you... today I will quench all your thirst."]

She spat venom that burned Sargam's soul, and then turned to the crowd, holding a smile of pride and power, and said, "Boli shuru karte hain..."

["Let the bidding begin..."]

Before the bidding started, an old drunk man slurred loudly,
"Aur agar... agar... kisi do aadmiyon ne ek hi... ek hi....boli lagayi toh?"

["And if... if... two men place the same bid?"]

Everyone laughed hearing him but was also curious about what would happen then.

A sneer appeared on Mahisha's face as she looked at Sargam, holding the same expression, and then replied, "Toh ye dono ki hui... aapas mein mil baat kar maza utha lena..."

["Then she belongs to both of them... they can share her and enjoy themselves."]

"Toh shuru karte hain..."

[Let's start now"]

"2 lakh..."

A young man in his early twenties started the bid.

"10 lakh..."

Then a man older than him showed him his place as he shouted an amount more than double of the first bid.

"30 lakh..."

This was raised by a boy; he was nineteen...even younger than Sargam.

Sargam bas dekhti rahi ki kaise uske shareer ke ek-ek hisse ka hisaab ho raha tha...

Kisi ko uski aankhen pasand aayi toh usne chaar lakh zyada laga diye... kisi ki nazar uski kamar par fisli toh usne do lakh aur jod diye...

Aur rooh... uske baare mein kisi ne nahi socha. Aur uska kya hisaab hai?

Par rooh ka kya hai? Woh kisi ko dikhti thodi hai. Woh toh zindagi bhar tadapti rehti hai, aur agar kahin dikh jaaye, toh ye cheel aur baaz jaise mard use bhi kha jaayenge ek din... uski bhi boli laga daalenge.

[Sargam could only watch as every part of her body was being measured and priced. If someone liked her eyes, they added four lakh to the bid... if someone's gaze lingered on her waist, they added another two lakh...

And her soul? No one spared a thought for it. What price could be placed on that?

But then, who sees a soul? 

It spends a lifetime suffering in silence. And if it were ever to become visible, these men like hawks and vultures in human form would devour it too one day... they would put a price on that as well.]

Jab aadmiyon ke hawas ki baat aati hai, woh umra nahi dekhte, aur aise log mard nahi... mard ke naam par kalank hote hain. Aise bahut se kalank hain duniya mein... kuch ne shareefon ka choga pehna hua hai aur kuch besharmi ka gamcha liye chalte hain.

[When it comes to men's lust, they do not look at age, and such people are not men... they are a stain on the name of manhood. There are many such stains in this world... some wear the cloak of respectability, while others openly carry the towel of shamelessness.]

"40 lakh..."

Now, this was raised by a man in his sixties. It felt like there was a competition going on between the young and the old, who was the most powerful, and the prize was Sargam.

No one raised the bar, and it was stuck to 40 lakh.

"Aur koi nahi hai isse jada ki boli lagane vala?" 

["Is there no one willing to bid higher than this?"]

She asked the crowd, but her gaze was on Sargam, taunting her that her worth was no more than mere 40 lakhs.

"Isse zyada mein toh meri bhainse bik jaati hain..."

["My buffaloes get sold for more than this..."]

Sargam was too numb to react to any mockery now, and how would she? Her fate was being written by the devil and monsters, who wanted nothing but her ruination.

"40 lakh ek....40 lakh 2...40 lakh..."

Before the deal could be sealed, a chilling roar echoed through the deep, restless, weeping waters of the Sangam: "10 crore."

******

A/N

******

Tabahi ka aaghaaz maine kar diya hai... ab ismein aag lagayenge mere characters... aur mere pyaare readers ko bas haath sekne hain... aur haan, aankhen bhi. 🙈

[I have started the destruction... now my characters will set it ablaze... and my dear readers only have to sit by the fire and warm their hands... and yes, their eyes too. 🙈]

Hi Lovelies,

I hope you all are doing great!! ❤️

Now, this is an unhinged story targeted only for an 18+ audience...

...aur agar aap chote bache galti se bhatak aaye hain toh beta... shhh... jao jaldi jaldi yaha se 🥹

[...and if any little ones have accidentally wandered in here, then shhh, sweetheart... run along quickly. 🥹]

Chalo ab bache toh chale gaye hain... bado se thodi baat kar leti hu 🙈

[Well, now that the kids are gone... let me have a little chat with the grown-ups. 🙈]

Guys,

Updates will start from 7 June, and most of the characters in this book are assholes, morally wrong, and you would want to kill them or kill me.

But mujhe mat marna please... abhi mujhe aur bhi kahaniyan likhni hai 🙈

[But please don't kill me... I still have many more stories left to write. 🙈]

Okay, now, serious question 🤔

What's your spice tolerance level? 🙈

And what's your dark romance tolerance level? 🙈

Do share your views about the prologue. It would mean a lot to me. ❤️

Thanks,

Shrishtee