The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 74

Nishant’s voice reverberated in the drawing room like a gunshot. His eyes burned with fury as he stared at Virendra Sharma, whose face was twisted with fear.

“Nishant, let it be, please,” Naresh Naik pleaded. 

But he did not listen. Nishant continued to stare as his anger increased with every passing second. 

“Nishant, don’t you dare raise your voice. Don’t forget you are speaking to my father,” Rushali said jumping to her father’s defence. 

“Shut up!” Nishant commanded going close to Rushali who backed away immediately. 

“Nishant, calm down, please,” Vikrant pleaded with him as he came near him. 

“No, I am not going to calm down, Bhaiyya. They did not even spare a 6-year-old.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rushali asked.

Nishant finally lost it completely the moment he heard Rushali. He strode towards her and shoved her to the sofa. Just as she collapsed on the sofa, he sat down in front of her on the table and fetched out a pen drive.

“Kavin Malik does not know Madhu’s address then how did he follow them?”

But Rushali did not answer. She just kept looking at him trying hard to shake off the feeling of dread. 

“Answer me!”

“I don’t know,” Rushali said in a small voice.

Nishant closed his eyes and breathed hard. He picked up the laptop and dragged Rushali out of the sofa. As he forcibly made her sit down in one of the dining room chairs, he gestured towards Siraj who quickly came and started the laptop. 

Nishant inserted the pen drive and opened the image folder. 

The moment he clicked on one of the images, Rushali’s eyes widened with shock. 

As one by one the images opened, she started to shrink away looking at herself in different compromising positions. The whole folder contained her each and every London trip. 

“Want to see more?” Nishant whispered in her ear. 

Rushali was completely speechless with fear so much so that she couldn’t even shake her head. 

Nishant opened another folder and muted the sound. Then, he opened one of the videos and turned away. 

Rushali saw herself in bed with somebody else with every bit of her clothing gone. She did not know what to do. Shaking, she closed the flap of the laptop not able to take it anymore. 

“Now, tell me. Who gave Kavin Malik Madhu’s address?” 

Rushali still did not answer. She kept on sitting in the dining chair trying to think what to say. 

Nishant lost his patience and pulled out the pen drive, and handed it over to Dhruv. 

“Call the press and give them everything in here,” he instructed. 

“Nishant, please no. You cannot do that. I know you can’t be that ruthless.”

Gritting his teeth, Nishant turned towards Rushali and grabbed her by her neck. Cranking it, he pushed her towards the wall and pressed his fingers more into her neck till she was completely choked. 

Dhruv and Vikrant rushed towards him and tried hard to drag him away but couldn’t. 

“Let go of my daughter,” threatened Virendra Sharma as he tried to pull Nishant away. 

“Shut up before I strangle your daughter,” Nishant fumed. 

Then he looked at Rushali, his stony and merciless gaze boring a hole in her. As the pressure on her neck increased, every little pore erupted with fear. Tears of fright slowly streamed down her eyes and she inaudibly pleaded with him to let her go. 

“I told him the address,” she somehow managed to croak.

As he heard her, he let go and moved away. 

Everyone else just stared at Rushali not knowing what to say. 

“I did it because I wanted Aparna out of your life. Kavin promised me that he will take her away. I never knew he was planning the kidnapping.”

“You knew it well. In fact, you were the one who plotted it.”

“I did no such thing.”

Nishant shook his head losing his patience and said, “Dhruv, call the press and give them the pen drive. This is pointless.”

Virendra Sharma rushed towards Dhruv and managed to take away the pen drive from him. Throwing it on the floor, he started to stamp it with his foot hard. As the pen drive broke in pieces, he smiled like a devil looking at Nishant, who looked completely unmoved by his antics. 

When Virendra Sharma finally stopped, Nishant held out his hand towards Siraj, who handed him a big envelope. 

“Take a look,” Nishant said passing it to Rushali’s father.

Virendra Sharma opened the envelope and was about to look through when one photograph fell from it. His gaze fell on it and saw his daughter sitting on a man’s lap with his face buried in her shirt. The moment he saw it, he closed his eyes and the envelope fell from his hand. 

Siraj gathered the strewn pictures and shoved them inside the envelope, giving it back Nishant. 

“I have multiple copies of these photographs and videos with me. I’ll give everything to the press if your daughter doesn’t tell the truth.”

Virendra Sharma staggered to one of the dining chairs and sat down. He looked at his daughter who was standing against the wall, eyes lowered to the floor. Shaking his head, he looked away words failing him. 

“I haven’t done anything,” Rushali said defensively. 

Nishant was about to lose his patience again when a thought struck in his mind. 

“Kavin Malik has confessed to the police so, you don’t have any choice but, to tell the truth,” said Nishant staring at her. 

Just as she heard him, Rushali collapsed on the chair next to her. She looked at Nishant with eyes filled with anger. 

“Yes, I did. I planned the kidnapping. I wanted that woman out of your life. You broke off the engagement because of her. And, now you don’t want to get married and she is the reason,” Rushali lashed out. 

Nishant closed his eyes and breathed hard as he tried to control the building animosity inside. 

“You don’t love me. Then, why marriage, Rushali?”

“Because I wanted all this. I wanted your money. Most of all I wanted you, Nishant Naik to be my puppet. If that woman hadn’t come in your life then you would have married me to be true to your family name,” she shouted at him. 

Breathing hard, Nishant went near her and said in a steely tone, “Kavin Malik hasn’t confessed anything.”

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