"Til-til karke maar diya uski rooh ko... uski khushi ko, uski har aarzoo ko."

["They killed her bit by bit... her soul, her happiness, and every dream she ever cherished."]

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Author

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"Kiske Saath rangraliyan mana rahi thi?"

["Who have you been fooling around with?"]

Sargam's eyes filled with tears of humiliation.

"Choti Maa..." She mumbled.

Rukmini grabbed a handful of her hair as she bent down and pulled her head backwards.

Sargan's scalp ached terribly with the harsh pull and strong grip, and she screamed in pain.

"Maa mat bulana...apni gandi zubaan se mujhe..."

["Don't call me Mother with that filthy tongue of yours."]

The house staff went eerily quiet when they heard Rukmini's loud voice. Everyone stopped doing their chores and went still, holding their breath because Rukmini's wrath was no joke.

Everyone pitied Sargam, but no one ever dared to save her. No one had the guts, for they preferred being alive more than being righteous and taking a stand for what was moral.

Ritu was just standing in one corner, not pitying Sargam but getting bored because this was a daily affair. Moreover, she had enjoyed way too much in the past that now these sessions failed to interest her.

"Geele kapde...badan par dupatta nahi...aur chudiyan bhi gayab hain...."

["Wet clothes... no dupatta on your body... and even your bangles are missing..."]

She said with fury and contempt. It didn't take a single second for her to character assassinate another woman, without even listening to her.

"Aap...aap jaisa soch rahi hain vaisa kuch nahi hua hai..."

["Things didn't happen the way you're imagining them."]

Sargam cried, tried to keep her point, but it was of no use. Rukmini had already concluded Sargam had committed an immoral deed and was caught in the act.

"Meri umar aur tazoorba tujhse bohot jada hai toh mujhe mat seekha...Ye tera huliya hi bata raha hai ki kisi ke bistar ko garam karke aa rahi hai aur use chupane ke liye khud ke kapde geele kar liye...."

["I am far older and more experienced than you, so don't try to teach me. One look at you is enough to tell me you have been warming someone's bed, and then drenched your clothes to hide it."]

She released her hair so violently that her head struck the leg of the wooden chair.

Sargam felt like someone just poured boiling oil on her soul. Her heart sank too low, and she felt she would puke the moment she heard Rukmini spewing venom on her character like that.

She looked up at Rukmini helplessly, her eyes red with tears, face drenched with them too. Her painful sobs echoed through the walls of the haveli as she begged for her to believe her words, "Maine kuch nahi kiya...Choti Maa...sach mein ... .mera yakeen kijiye."

["I didn't do anything, Choti Maa. I swear... Please believe me."]

Another harsh slap landed on her face, and now her lips bled.

"Kaha na....apni gandi zubaan se mujhe Maa mat bulana..."

["I told you....don't call me Maa with that filthy tongue of yours."]

"Pata nahi kon si vo manhoos ghadi thi jisme tu paida hui...bachchalan kahi ki..."

["God knows what cursed hour you were born in... you shameless girl."]

Ritu, still standing in one corner, was staring at her nails, wondering what nail extensions she should go for this time as she had an appointment with the nail artist.

She wanted the fiasco to end soon, so she thought bringing up the name of someone Rukmini despised, and then, she would free her from the torment she found boring enough to even witness.

Getting the perfect opportunity, Ritu eventually brought her in her conversation.

["Isse acha toh iski sagi maa thi, didi...kam se kam vo mar toh gayi lekin ye toh jaane ka naam bhi nahi le rahi..."]

["Even her own mother was better, Didi. At least she had the decency to die. She simply refuses to go."]

Rukmini glared at Ritu. Ritu's sneer dropped; fear coiled inside of her as Rukmini's glare fixed her to her spot. If anything Rukmini hated the most was to be intervened in her matters, and Ritu had done just exactly that.

Not only that, but she also mentioned the one woman Rukmini had hated her entire life.

"Agar mere gusse ki aag bardasht nahi karna chahti Ritu toh bahar nikal ja yaha se..."

["If you don't wish to bear the fire of my anger, Ritu, then get out of here."]

She seethed with clenched teeth.

Ritu gulped as she scurried away in fear, praying for the almighty to save her.

She was relieved, though, that at least she got to walk away and her sister-in-law didn't parade her around like an assistant. Without wasting any moment, she ordered her driver to take her to the salon, not bothering about Sargam's fate.

Sargam was in shock at the mention of her mother. She always went numb for some moments whenever her deceased mother was brought up in any conversation, because she was the deepest scar etched into her soul.

"Maa..." Sargam mumbled, remembering her mother, clutching her kurta over her terribly aching heart.

Rukmini couldn't bear the mention of Sargam's mother, and she slapped her for the third time.

And then...

fourth....fifth...sixth...

She kept hitting her; the staff cried, hiding somewhere; Swara put on her headphones while in her room, trying to be ignorant, and the birds went eerily quiet too. 

The only sound that echoed was that of Rukmini's palm against Sargam's cheeks, Sargam's painful cries and pleas.

Her pain brought tears to the eyes of every spineless soul of the haveli...but.. Was it enough?

Because if it would have been, someone would have been saving that poor soul.

Rukmini had lost her temper so badly that nothing mattered to her anymore other than punishing Sargam. It felt like she wasn't hurting Sargam anymore but trying to dispose of all her anger that had been suffocating her all those years.

Rukmini grabbed Sargam's arm, and she dragged her to the basement with her.

"Nahi!!" 

["NO!!"]

 Sargam screamed in fear when she realized where she was getting dragged to.

"Choti Maa..."

"Please....please...."

"Aap jo bolengi main vo karungi...vaha nahi....please...."

["I will do whatever you say. Just not there... please..."]

"Please....vaha nahi..."

["Please...not there...."]

"Choti Maa....ple...please...."

Rukmini thrashed her in the dark basement room as she yelled for the house staff head.

"Geeta...."

The elderly woman from before came running downstairs to the basement, wiping her tears and her sweat. She didn't even spare a glance at Sargam, saving her eyes and poor heart from drowning in more guilt and pain than it was.

"Main aapki saari...saari baat manungi...Please..please...mujhe yaha mat choriye...."

["I will do everything you say... everything. Please... please... don't leave me here."]

Sargam held Rukmini's feet, begging not to be locked in the dark room, but Rukmini's anger wasn't red anymore but black, too opaque to see past it.

She kicked Sargam with her feet and extended her palm to Geeta and ordered, "Chabiyan do..."

["Give me the keys"]

Geeta handed her the keys to the basement room, and Rukmini locked the room from outside.

"Ab ye darwaza tab tak nahi khulega jab tak main na kahu...."

["This door will not open until I say so."]

"Aur khabaradar kisi ne is besharam pe daya dikhane ki koshish ki....uski taange katkar Sangam mein fikwa dungi...."

["And let this be a warning...if anyone dares show this shameless girl an ounce of sympathy, I will have their legs cut off and thrown into the Sangam."]

She shouted at the top of her lungs for everyone in the haveli to hear.

Sargam kept knocking on the door frantically, fear wrapped around her body, mind, and soul as she pleaded to be set free.

"Mujhe jaane dijiye...."

["Let me go."]

"Please..."

"Choti Maa..."

Rukmini walked away, knowing well that her screams would be swallowed by the basement walls; the walls which would come alive the moment she would walk out of there.

When Sargam heard the fading footsteps, her heart broke for the thousandth time.

She sank to the floor, pulled her knees to her chest, and cried. 

It wasn't as though she hadn't tried to end her life, as Ritu claimed, but one way or another, she was always saved. It was as if the universe hated her so much that it wouldn't even grant her the freedom to die on her own terms.

Even her death sentence was to be written by someone else, not by her.

The rope of her life was held tightly by her aunt, whom she called Choti Maa, to be precise, mother.

The walls of the room began to turn alive, and even in the darkness of that room, Sargam still felt those warm breaths. She was alone, yet she wasn't the only one breathing in there.... and then she noticed the glowing eyes; the room had finally turned alive.

******

Flashback

******

"Sur...." The soft voice just like hers enveloped her in a comforting warmth.

"Sur...kaha ho?"

["Sur...where are you?"]

Sargam peeked from behind the curtains, watching the woman wearing the blue georgette saree, walking around looking for the piece of her heart.

"Beta...kidhar ho..."

["My child... where are you?"]

She looked around behind the other curtains but couldn't find Sargam. And when, all of a sudden, a pair of pigeons flew from the top of the cupboard to outside the window, she shrieked, and just then Sargam giggled, giving away her location in the process.

The woman turned to her, narrowing her eyes at her softly, watching her frame behind the curtains. She tiptoed and then held her with the curtains still wrapped around her and said, "Pakad liya..."

["Caught You"]

Sargam giggled as Madhuri tickled her daughter. Soon, she pulled her out from behind the curtains, sat cross-legged on the floor, and placed her daughter in her lap, holding her close to her heart.

"Kya kar rahi thi yaha?"

["What were you doing here?"]

She asked adoringly, tucking the loose strand of her hair behind her ear and kissing her hair.

"Vo main chup rahi thi...sab luka chupi khel rahe hain na mere saath..."

["I was just hiding... everyone is playing hide and seek with me..."]

Madhruri's smile faded when she heard her innocent daughter.

"Dekha Maa....koi dhund nahi paya mujhe...."

["See, Maa... no one was able to find me..."]

A lump formed in Madhuri's throat as she tried to smile at her. 

How would she tell her daughter that no one could find her because no one was looking?

The kids were playing without her, and her innocent little baby was left alone, just like always.

"Meri gudiya hai hi itni hoshiyar..."

["My Gudiya is just so intelligent."]

Madhuri praised her daughter, which brightened Sargam's eyes, and then she said, "Chalo ab khana kha lo..."

["Let's go, have some food now"]

"Mujhe bhookh nahi hai Maa....mujhe abhi khelna hai...."

["I am not hungry, Maa... I want to play right now..."]

Madhuri's heart broke more when she heard Sargam. She didn't have it in her to tear her own daughter's heart by telling her the truth that when she was hiding, the kids were having their lunch, and while she waited, the other kids went out in the courtyard of the haveli to play.

No one really cared for the two in that house, but they cared for each other.

Madhuri was thinking about how to convince Sargam to have lunch, and just then Sargam heard the giggles and laughter of other kids. From where she sat in her mother's lap, she could see the view of the courtyard.

She noticed the kids playing tag. She wasn't included, just like always. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she sniffled.

"Maa....sab mujhe bhool kaise jaate hain? Pehle papa....aur ab Bhaiya...didi..."

["Maa... how does everyone forget me? First Papa forgot me... now Bhaiya and Didi..."]

Madhuri choked on a sob as she heard her innocent, painful voice of her daughter.

"Aap bhi bhool jaaayengi mujhe?"

["Will you forget me too?"]

Sargam's words hollowed Madhuri's heart. Madhuri had never witnessed atrocities like the one her child was going through, without any fault. Her only fault was that she was Madhuri's daughter.

Madhuri wiped her tears from the back of her palm as she cooed her daughter softly and said, "Nahi meri rajkumari...bhala tum koi bhoolne ki cheez ho? Aap toh itni pyaari ho...itni samajhdaar ho...Aapko pata hai aapki aawaz ki madhurta ke liye kaan taraste hain aapki maa ke."

["No, my princess... are you something that can be forgotten? You are so lovely... so intelligent... You know, even your mother's ears long to hear the sweetness of your voice."]

Sargam's lips quivered as she hugged her mother, realizing there was only one person who lived for her, loved her and cared for her, and that was her mother.

"Ek kahani sunogi?" 

["Would you like to hear a story?"]

 Madhuri asked, kissing Sargam's hair, tightening her arms around her daughter.

Sargam didn't reply but only cried in her mother's arms. Madhuri's own eyes burned, but she knew Sargam loved stories, so she anyway started narrating it.

"Ek chote se sheher mein....ek bahadur rajkumari rehti thi....pata hai uska naam kya tha?"

["In a small town... there lived a brave princess. Do you know what her name was?"]

Sargam looked up at Madhuri, wondering who the princess was, and asked, "kya naam tha?"

["What was the name?"]

And when Madhuri cupped her daughter's face, kissed her forehead and said, "Sargam...."

Sargam's face brightened and her eyes filled with hope again, and she started weaving dreams of the day when she would live the life of an actual princess.

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Present

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Sargam lay on the cold floor in darkness, remembering her deceased mother, crying for her as she mumbled, "Mujhe bahadur nahi banna, Maa...."

["I don't want to be brave, Maa"]

"Mujhse ab aur bardasht nhi hoga...."

["I can't bear this anymore."]

But then the flashes of her mother faded, and the same glowing eyes were closer to her than she ever wanted. She froze at her spot and then, in a disgusting way, the owner of those eyes whispered, "Mujhe bhool gayi, Sargam?"

["Did you forget me, Sargam?"]

******

"Kya khabar laaye ho, Mirza?"

["What news have you brought, Mirza?"]

Dharmendra Chaudhary took a puff of hookah as he sat in the armchair in his cabin at the haveli. 

Mirza, his trusted man, who had killed for Dharmendra Chaudhary multiple times in the past, stood there in front of him with a grim expression.

"Sahab...buri khabar hai...Hoshiyar Singh ko hamare dawaikhane ka pata chal gaya..."

["Sir... bad news... Hoshiyar Singh has found out about our clinic."]

Dharmendra twisted his mustache as he got up and walked to the cot now kept at the other side of the room. He picked up the revolver he had thrown there a few moments ago and extended it to Mirza.

"Pata hai ye kiska katta hai?"

["Do you know whose revolver is this?"]

He asked, holding a smug expression as if he was proud of himself for some reason. 

"Ye toh..."

["This is..."]

"Par aapke pass kaise?"

["But how do you have it?"]

Mirza fumbled with words when the realization dawned of whose revolver it was and stood there confused about how Dharmendra got hold of it.

"Kutte ko bas haddi se matlab hona chahiye... ghar mein kitne murge aaye, kahan se aaye, iska dhyan malik par chhod dena chahiye..."

["A dog should only care about the bone. The master will worry about how many chickens come and where they come from."]

Dharmendra replied with pure arrogance, again twisting his moustache. 

Men's obsession with their moustaches is centuries old. They believe all their pride, arrogance, and honor reside in those whiskers.  But who will tell those fools that a moustache does not make a man?  A person's intentions and character are what truly matter.

"Ye le ja aur khel khatam kar de aaj us daroge ka...."

["Take this and end that inspector's game today."]

Dharmendra ordered, handing the revolver to Mirza.

"Ji Huzoor..."

["Okay, Sir."]

Mirza replied as he took hold of the revolver.

"Aur us karkhane ki dealing ka kya hua?"

["And what happened to the factory deal?"]

Before Mirza could reply, the door to the cabin opened abruptly, and someone entered, intruding on the discussion.

Rukmini Chaudhary walked in, like she owned the space. Her wet hair left open, the room filled with the fragrance of jasmine. Mirza watched her in awe, because even as she had aged, she still looked the same vixen she was when she had married Dharmendra Chaudhary.

Dharmendra glared at Mirza and seethed, "Mirza, bahar jao..."

["Mirza, go out"]

Mirza lowered his eyes and scurried out of the room, not wanting to be killed by the same revolver Dharmendra just handed him.

Any man would have thrashed the other man leering at his wife, but Dharmendra was different. Firstly, he knew how loyal Mirza was, and he would not find any man as loyal as him, and second, Rukmini wasn't a naive woman; she knew what she was doing.

Her hands were painted red too, and she wouldn't mind painting them again if needed. She was a snake dressed in the elegance of banarasi silk, who knew when to hiss and when to bite.

"Kitni baar kaha hai hamare kaam ke samay dakhal andazi mat kiya kar chaudhrayin...tujhe baat samajh nahi aati kya..."

["How many times have I told you not to interfere in my work, Chaudhrayin... don't you understand simple things?"]

Dharmendra yelled.

"Aapke samajh ki hi baat karne aayi hu..."

["I have come to discuss something that concerns you."]

She put her palms on his chest and then pushed him on the cot. She lowered himself and then straddled him. She removed the veil of her saree, dropping it, and then opened the buttons of her blouse. 

She was wrapping her husband in a haze, and she was successful because Dharmendra watched her like he was watching an appetizing meal. 

Once the buttons of her blouse were done, she, very slowly, tormenting the patience of her husband, pulled her arms out of the blouse and dropped it on the cot beside him.

 Grabbing his shoulder firmly, she leaned on him and whispered, "aur ye mat bhooliye Chaudhary sahab...aapke us raaz ki chabi aaj bhi apne kamar mein bandhe ghum rahi hu...."

["And don't forget, Chaudhary sahab... I am still carrying the key to your secret tied at my waist..."]

The mention of that secret darkened Dharmendra Chaudhary's gaze. It got coiled with the haze of his desire for the seductress sitting on his lap, rubbing her against him, creating the friction against his dhoti-covered dick and her own core. 

Dharmendra slapped his wife, and she moaned, turning him on. He played with her nipples, twisting them while he circled the fingers of his other hand on her throat, choking her.

"Ab kya kiya usne?"

["What has she done now?"]

He asked, before sucking on her nipples and fondling her breast with his hand; the other moved to her hair from her throat and pulled them harshly.

"Aaah..."

Rukmini moaned, but her desire didn't blanket her intentions for which she had gone to her husband.

"Behek gayi hai, aapki gudiya....bilkul apne maa ke lakshan hai usme...."

["Your Gudiya has gone astray... she is just like her mother."]

She said between her moans. Her twisted words annoyed him.

"Saaf saaf bol...."

["Say it clearly."]

He pulled her saree up, and she unfastened his dhoti, and then she had his dick inserted into her cunt, and they both moved against each other. 

"Aaj geeli hokar aayi maharani... guards...guards baaz aur cheel ki nazron...nazron se ghur rahe the use....Main toh us maas ke tukda ko unhe fenk bhi du par fir aapki....aapki izzat ka kya hota...."

["Today the queen has come drenched... the guards were staring at her like hawks and vultures. I would've thrown that piece of flesh to them, but then what would happen to your honour?"]

Rukmini panted as she spoke; the wetness of her cunt covered the dick of her husband, which wasn't big enough to satisfy her desires.

Rukmini knew one thing: her husband's mind was in his dick. So she always used sex as a tool against anyone she wanted to hurt, even if it meant pretending she was enjoying it.

As she rode him, anyone would think the man held the power, but the leash was in Rukmini's hand. It was invisible, so only she could see how perfectly she had turned him into a puppy.

"Par aapki itni chinta hai mujhe...toh main seedha yaha aa gayi..."

["But I was so worried about you... so I came straight here..."]

He bit on her nipple as she ruled that man's conscience entirely.

"Kya chahti hai?" 

["What do you want?"]

He asked, getting close to the climax, forcing her to increase her pace.

"Uske haath peele karva dijiye isse pehle ki..."

["Get her married off before..."]

Her voice came out in shallow breaths as she continued, "Isse pehle ki vo kalmuhi hume barbaad kar de..."

["Before that wretched girl ruins us..."]

It sounded like she was asking for his permission, but in reality she had already decided Sargam's fate; to keep everyone in check, she was playing this game.

"Theek hai...dhund le rishta...ja karva de uske haath peele..."

["Fine... find a match for her... go ahead and get her married."]

He groaned as he sucked on her neck, biting her skin, coming undone. His climax hit his body hard. 

Rukmini won the move, without even letting her husband know she was playing against him all this while. She got off his lap and fixed her clothes while Dharmendra sat there weak and limp like he would lose consciousness.

Rukmini walked to the door, and then she turned around, a dark sneer spreading across her face. She noticed how Dharmendra struggled to fix his dhoti.

'Tu apni dhoti sahi karta reh jaayega aur main teri satta tere naak ke neeche se cheen le jaungi....'

["You will keep fixing your dhoti, and I will snatch your power right from under your nose..."]

She mumbled to herself as she walked out of the room.

Dharmendra Chaudhary might have been the one on the throne of the king, but in reality, Rukmini was the one ruling.

******

The moment Rukmini walked into her bedroom, she hummed an old song, "Kaid mein hai bulbul....", holding a triumphant smile because this time she was going to do something no one could have ever imagined.

She dialled someone's number whom she knew would never deny her anything.

As expected, the call was picked up on the first ring itself.

"Mirza, mujhe un logon ke naamon ki list chahiye jo aurton ka dhanda karte hain..."

["Mirza, I want a list of the people who are involved in trafficking women."]

******

The next chapter is already waiting in my drafts. 👀❤️

Bas 80 votes aur 40 comments ka pyaar de do... phir agla update silver platter par serve kar dungi. 🥹✨

[Just give me the love of 80 votes and 40 comments... and I will serve the next update to you on a silver platter. 🥹✨]

My intention is to make you all hate almost every character of this book. Let me know if I am getting successful or not. 🥹

Abhi toh sab yahi soch rahe honge ki Sargam toh abla naari hai...par apne dil aur intuition se pucho kya ye sach hai ya nazron ka dhokha?👀✨

[Right now, everyone must be thinking that Sargam is a helpless damsel... but ask your heart and your intuition: is that really the truth, or merely a deception of the eyes? 👀✨]

Rukmini ke baare mein kya khayal hai? 🤔

[What do you think of Rukmini? 🤔]

Vaise, is kahani ke har kirdaar ke kai roop hain... aur jaise-jaise raaz ke parde uthenge, ya toh aap apne baal nochoge, ya mere. 😭😂

[Every character in this story has many sides to them... and as the veils of mystery begin to lift, you'll either end up pulling your own hair out or mine. 😭😂]

Don't pull my hair, though, they are weak 🥹🙈

Now, guys, do share your views about the chapter. It would mean a lot to me. ❤️

Thanks,

Shrishtee