CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 14: Contract of Fate

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Safia was combing Kalyani's hair and tied them into a braid . She was wearing a light green saree with white blouse which Ismail brought for her .

"And here ! You are all done" Safia told her and she walked slowly and stared at herself in the mirror . Her eyes were wide as if she saw herself after a long time .

"I have changed" She whispered.

"Everyone changes with time" Safia told her .

"And why is that?" Kalyani asked , although she herself knew that life had pushed her from one area to totally another .

"I don't know . Maybe because life is a journey. You can't expect all stops to be the same right ? Delhi has its own beauty , Bengal has its own and so on. That's how different phases of life are too" Safia said and she was a little proud of herself for coming up with such an example .

"Soo, tell me about the most beautiful phase of your life Kalyani" Safia asked her . They were sitting on the mattress which laid on the ground , and they had two bottles of appy fiz along with some bakery cupcakes and homemade frymes .

"My-"she started to think although the answer wasn't that difficult.

"It was my boyfriend" Kalyani smiled.

"Intresting—I absolutely adore hearing love stories so go on" Safia told her while looking at the clock . They both were awake since 4 am for some reasons , so here they were killing the time. Kalyani seemed a lot better in Safia's company too.

"He was my classmate since childhood. Where on one hand , I hated studying , he loved it . He always sat in one corner or two while studying . He had 2 friends with whome he always roamed around. Later—When we grew up , I finally found the courage and proposed to him" She told Safia happily as if they were truly the best moments of her life . She told her about how the boy would get her red roses everyday even if it meant a single one , or pick flowers from the trees on the way to their college and they would go on various dates to parks and dhabas. Nothing was expensive as they both were students , but it was the best time of her life.

"Do you know where he is?" Safia asked her.

"I don't . On our day of marriage , my family was shot—I hid my younger sister in the cupboard, but ended up being caught by the men" Kalyani said .

"Oh , don't worry , he might be searching for you " Safia assured .

"A part of me doesn't think so . Leave me , tell me what's your favourite phase in life?" Kalyani asked and Safia noticed how she was more talkative now .

"My favourite phase was when I was in my village . I ran and played all day without any care of world " She said.

"And why don't you do it now?"

"I will do it someday again" Safia happily chirped.

Kalyani smiled at her words.

"By the way, Safia . Do you know who is Mrs Z?" Kalyani asked and Safia shook her head.

"No , who is this?" Safia inquired.

"I don't know . She helped me in escaping and just gave me this name. I thought that she is some famous cop" Kalyani informed.

"I will search about her . There would be some article available about her" Safia told her . Kalyani thanked her for that . She wanted to thank Mrs Z for the favor she did for her .

"And what's the name of your man ? Maybe I can find him on Instagram" Safia offered.

"What is Instagram ?" Kalyani asked.

"You don't know Instagram?" And Kalyani shook her head.

"Do you know what is Facebook?" Safia inquired and Kalyani gave a nod.

"Yeah so Instagram is like that too , just a bit more different, but nonetheless we can find people on it" Safia told her.

"Really ?" Kalyani's whole energy came to her body as soon as she heard about it . She wanted to know how he is doing now and if he's fine .

"Yes , now tell me what was his name?" She asked.

"Rudhra"

Safia typed it and stopped for a second.

"Rudhra? What was his surname?" She asked in shock .

The story she heard from Seth was matching up with Kalyani's story . The names were same and even the incomplete marriage was there too.

"Rudhra Rajpoot" Kalyani had a small smile lingering upon her face remembering the name.

Safia's jaw hung open and her throat felt dry. Instead of going to Instagram, she went to Google , to search about articles of muder . His name was enough , as hundreds of articles appeared , with his pictures.

She took a screenshot and showed it to Kalyani.

"This Rudhra?" She was hoping the answer to be a 'no'.

Kalyani's whole face lit up as her eyes got teary in happiness.

"Yes , he's my Rudhra" She caressed the picture with her palm as if she was touching the real man .

But Seth's words rang into her ears

'Trueee, but Rudhra wants to kill her once he finds her , he doesn't see a future with her or any single girl'

She needed to hide Kalyani from Rudhra until she finds a way to prove her innocence . Because she had escaped from Khalid and there were high chances that Rudhra would just kill her without any second thoughts.

"Kalyani—There is a problem" Safia mumbled, but the girl was too busy in admiring her lover . He looked so healthy and safe , unlike her and she was happy for that.

*Ding*

*Dong*

The bell rang and Safia quickly got up from the ground while holding the dupatta and wrapped it around her chest to cover herself up . She looked at the time , it was 8 am .

Today she took a leave from work , so it was confusing about who could disturb her at this time .

She walked towards the door and opened it lazily .

"Who is there" she flung the door open , but her hands froze as she noticed Fawad standing there all dressed up in a creame coloured suit with polished shoes . And behind him stood Rudhra in a muddy brown shirt with black pants . The ring was again on full display and his knuckles were hurt , but Safia guessed it would be because of punching someone.

"Good Morning. You aren't ready yet?" Fawad asked scanning her with a frown.

"Ready for what?" She asked with uncertainty.

"For our date to the food fest" Fawad told her.

"Food fest?" She was clueless and Fawad opened the phone and showed her the texts. She quickly snatched his phone from his hand and stared at the texts in disbelief.

'oh no no ! I texted him instead of Kashaf di' she clasped her palm on her forehead.

"Is something off?" Fawad inquired with raised eyebrow and she awkwardly shook her head.

There is no way in the world she would confess that she accidentally messed up the texts . She was sure Fawad would kill her for wasting his time , and now that he was there , there was no issue in actually going with him.

"I will be back . Just give me a minute to get my wallet" She said.

"Are you kidding me ? You won't be paying when I am here . Just wear a suitable clothes for the occasion and that's all" Fawad told her .

"But—"

"It wasn't a question Safia . I told you , so you better go and get dressed up" Safia stayed quiet but then decided to speak.

"I don't have a habit of taking favours from others "

"You are my fiance . So its not a big deal" Fawad's words sounded genuine somehow , and Safia looked at him.

"How about I make some food for you later ?" She offered .

Fawad was amused at that . He had met many ladies and gents in his life , whome he paid or did favours for , but none asked for doing anything for him in return .

'You are one such amusing person Safia' he thought to himself.

"Okay " He accepted the offer.

"How rude" Rudhra commented from the side.

"We are here at your doors yet—Yet you didn't invited us inside" Rudhra's words made Safia realise that indeed that was kind of impolite on her behalf . But before she could offer the thought of Kalyani sitting inside came into her mind . There was no way Rudhra would forget how she looked , when he was finding her to kill for years.

"Give me a second" Safia quickly told them and rushed inside shutting the doors on their faces.

"Kalyani" Safia whispered yelled , but there she was still staring at the picture of Rudhra.

"Kalyani!!" She whispered and shook Kalyani tightly making her come back to reality.

"Yes ?" She asked.

"Quickly go in the kitchen !!! Don't come out until I tell you to! And thiss!! Wrap this on your head and cover your face" Safia passed a dupatta to her hurriedly and Kalyani covered her head with it like a ghunghat.

"Is there any problem?" She asked worriedly for Safia , because she knew how powerful her kidnappers were.

"Kind of"

"Handle me to them" Kalyani quickly told her.

"NO! It's not your problem . It's mine. So stay in the kitchen"She pushed Kalyani in the kitchen and kicked all the stuffs on the floor to a side and covered it with the bedsheet.

Looking at the surrounding with a satisfied look , she opened the door.

"Come ! Sit !" She exclaimed feeling relieved that she was able to hide Kalyani just on time.

"You aren't hiding anyone now are you?" Rudhra asked. He could hear the muffled voices from inside , asking someone to go .

"Nooo!! What made you think so?" Safia awkwardly laughed to hide the fear.

"So it won't hurt if I go on a little checking . Now does it?" Rudhra raised his eyebrow and questioned.

"No , it doesn't " She gave a sheepy smile hoping that he won't ask a girl to remove her viel from her face.

"There is no need for that Rudhra. Safia is my fiance. Doubting and checking her room is like an insult to me" Fawad said.

"Right ! How insulting" Safia dramatically shook her head while holding her forehead in worry.

"Okay . I will drop the topic for now . But I will keep a close eye on you" Rudhra said and sat on the couch.

"Now that we are here , why don't you go inside and dress up?" Fawad asked her.

"I will do it , Before I go, I have a lot of doubts to ask Mr Siddiqui . Can I do it?" She asked.

"Okay go ahead"Fawad was curious to know her side.

"I-I don't get the fiance thing . I am not your fiance and neither are we in love . Why did you announced such a thing back then ? I was too perplexed to say anything that day , but this whole week I kept thinking about it . And no matter how much I think , I can't exactly point my finger at the reason for this decision " Safia asked worriedly .

Being announced as the fiance of a C.E.O was stressing her out. And that too , of a man she just met for one day.

"Your queries are valid . Rudhra will explain to you about it" Fawad told her , and she stared at Rudhra for answers.

"Mr Khalid Siddiqui is growing old and he is in search of an heir for Fawad . In this quest , he have introduced him to hundreds of ladies with all sorts of background , but no one seemed to caught his intrest . Until he met you . He wanted a smart lady for this thing and you seem perfect for this" Rudhra said.

"But marriage isn't done like this. It is a union of two souls who love each other" Safia countered.

"Love is a myth and Fawad is too busy to pursue any romantic relationship. I should have cleared earlier . So this marriage is nothing but a contract marriage from which both parties will profit . Fawad will be able to push the matter of heir and marriage for a bit time , and you can get a big fortune which will be enough to last for your whole lifetime" Rudhra added.

"A contract marriage?" Safia asked.

"Hmm . You both will be with each for for a span of 5 years like business partners . You can pursue your personal life . There is just one rule , you can't pursue any romantic relationship while being in this contract, because if the news goes out a scandal will be created , which will be and for his image" Rudhra said.

Safia initially wanted to refuse the offer , but it was too tempting to do so . Murad's words rang into her ears.

"Quit lying to yourself . You need a man who will take care of you . Your eyes and lips tell a different story . You look so tired , don't you think working for so many hours a day is worse than just serving a mann? He will take care of you and maybe let you cry on his shoulder when you feel depressed or low"

In her heart she knew his words were totally lies . She really needed some extra money , as she was tired and in future , she didn't knew if things got worse and if she would be able to afford the cost of treatment. And till when will she continue to live in this apartment with her family ? Her parents got dream and she wanted to fulfil them .

So even though it was unethical , it felt so right deep in her heart.

"I will take your silence as a yes to the deal" Fawad told her , and Safia just gave a nod , swallowing her own pride.

"Sooo why don't you go and get dressed up ? We are running late" Fawad suggested and she gave a nod while going inside to dress up .

To be continued...

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My story is slow paced I am well aware (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠) but I can't take things fast , because it looks rushed and artificial but thank you so much everyone who is dealing with it till now !!♥️