🚨 Trigger warning 🚨

Following chapter contains scenes of strong violence and strong language. Readers not comfortable reading it, you may skip that part. Please proceed with caution.

Yuvaan's POV

"Is she okay, Doctor?" Mom asked as she caressed her daughter-in-law's hair.

Doctor Paridhi was a psychiatrist, who had come to treat Reyna on recommendation of my personal doctor. She was one of the best psychiatrists in the country, and all of our hopes were set on her. She checked my wife and wrote down the inputs on her notepad.

"Don't worry. She should wake up within next few hours. If she doesn't, then please call me immediately," she said and got up from her chair.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

She gave me a short nod and told me to keep an eye on Reyna. I took a list of instructions from her, and Shaurya assisted the doctor outside. While I read what precautions I had to take, Mom stared at me and asked for an explanation as soon as I put the list down.

"What's going on, Yuvaan? How did all of this happen?" she etched her eyebrows.

I sat down beside her and took Reyna's hand in mine. "I don't know, Maa. She left suddenly, but something really bad must have happened for her to do that. I just hope she gets better."

Mom listened quietly and told me to get something to eat. I refused and stroked Reyna's cheek; she looked pale. The memories of last night flashed in front of my eyes, and I picked up my phone to contact Advait, but just as I was about to call him, my room's door flung open and Arman entered with his mother in tow.

"Look at her! Are you happy now?" he yelled at his mom.

Mrs. Bakshi kept her head down, low sobs echoing throughout the room. We all were silent, waiting for her to say something after seeing her daughter's state.

Arman looked at his mother in disgust and told her to tell us everything. Still, no word came out of her mouth, and Arman broke down crying. Mom got up and consoled him; she glanced at me and then looked at Reyna's mother.

"Mrs. Bakshi, what is Arman saying? Do you have anything to tell us? If you are hiding something on purpose, then be warned. I won't leave you if anything happens to my daughter-in-law," Mom threatened.

On hearing my mother's cold voice, Arman's mom gulped nervously and wiped her cheeks. Arman distanced himself from her and came beside his sister. He hugged her and apologized for not being able to help her when she needed it.

"Mrs. Bakshi, I asked you something!" Mom boomed.

Reyna's mother flinched and stood frozen at her place. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally opened her mouth.

"Reyu... was... Those men... Lokesh and Himesh, they ruined our lives... Dinesh was friends with them, but he had taken a huge loan fr-from them. We trusted him, but Lokesh... He... raped Reyu and threatened to kill all of us if we reported it to the po-police..."

Mom stopped her and looked at her dead in the eyes. "So, did you report it or not?"

When Mrs. Bakshi shook her head, mumbling that they were afraid of the consequences, Mom glared at her and slapped her across the face.

"What kind of mother are you?!"

After hearing what Mrs. Bakshi said, I felt my body going numb. I squeezed Reyna's hand in mine and kissed the back of her palm. I placed a hand over Arman's shoulder and told him to calm down.

My kitten... she was raped by that asshole... How much pain she endured for so long.

"Please, Jeeju, save my sister," Arman cried.

"She will be okay. Don't cry," I assured.

"Dad did nothing for her. She was so young and begged for help, but our parents did nothing. I can't believe I was unaware of all of it for so long because I fucking lost my memories. I can't forgive myself for leaving my sister to fight alone."

I pulled him in a hug and patted his back; he didn't have any strength. Meanwhile, Mom was red with rage on hearing what Mrs. Bakshi had told us. If Shaurya hadn't come on time, she would have murdered Reyna's mom then and there. Shaurya calmed Mom down and directed Mrs. Bakshi to leave. She followed his advice, and once she left, he checked Reyna's condition and told us to think positively.

"Arman, we understand how you feel, but don't hurt yourself for what happened. Your sister is fine; all of us are here to take care of her. You go now and eat something," Shaurya told Arman.

We managed to convince Arman, and he got up to leave. He was about to open the door when we heard the voice we had been waiting to hear for so long.

"Aru...?" Reyna squeaked out.

Her eyes were half open, revealing her light brown orbs; they didn't have the same glimmer anymore. Her gaze was fixed on her brother, who instantly came to his previous spot. I sighed in relief and exchanged glances with Shaurya. He motioned to me to give Reyna some time to adjust and called Dr. Paridhi.

While Reyna was busy talking to her brother slowly, the doctor arrived and checked Reyna's condition. She asked her a few basic questions, and my wife responded positively. I felt like getting a new life when she recognised me and gave me a small smile. Slowly, the doctor took some tests and told Reyna to rest before leaving.

All of us were happy to see her well and Mom left to bring us some food. Reyna didn't speak for some time and just kept moving her eyes on all of us. She patted Arman's cheek, but when she moved her attention on me, she narrowed her eyes.

"Where the fuck are those assholes?" she asked.

None of us said anything - we thought she wouldn't bring up that topic so soon. She demanded an answer and raised an eyebrow when she didn't get any response from any of us.

"You ruined my plan and now you aren't even telling me what you did with them? And where's that old hag? You guys didn't free them, did you?" She seethed.

"Relax, Reyna. Your health isn't good. Why don't we first work on recovering your health, and then talk about it?" Shaurya reasoned cautiously.

"I am fine. Now tell me where are those bastards? By the looks of it, you already know why I left, so what are you guys waiting for?!"

I grabbed her when she started getting out of bed. Her body was blazing, her fever rising up. Her body shook, but she was adamant on escaping. Arman looked in concern and pushed her sister back lightly.

"Please don't move, Di. The doctor has told you to rest as much as you can," he said and wiped a lone tear. "And about Dad and those men, Jeeju has dealt with them."

Reyna directed her murderous glare on me. "What do you mean dealt with them? What did you do?"

"Reyna, please listen to us. Don't get agitated; it will worsen your state," I said.

"I asked what did you do?" she yelled.

Shaurya came forward and answered on my behalf. "We took care of those men. They are no longer alive. You don't need to worry about them anymore, Reyna. They are dead."

In a flash, Reyna snapped out of the bed and lunged at Shaurya. But before her fist connected with his face, Advait arrived on time and caught her wrist. Shaurya moved back, and Adi told Reyna to calm down. Arman held her from behind, but she clenched her fists.

"How dare you kill them? I was going to do it! They were my prey - my revenge! How could you do this to me?! You don't know how it feels... You will never know how it feels!"

She thrashed her arms and legs around, and we had to keep her down forcefully. Just like yesterday, we had to hold her back from hurting herself. Following the doctor's instructions, Shaurya took a syringe and put it in Reyna's arm.

"You shouldn't have done that... I wa-was going to do it... Why did y-you...? I had to kill the-them..." she mumbled as she fell back into unconsciousness.

Arman's face was struck with tears as he saw his sister's form fall back to bed. He left the room as he could no longer see her in that state. Shaurya rubbed his temples and sat down beside her. He asked me what we were going to do if Reyna woke up and asked us the same question again. He was worried if she would react the same - we couldn't make her unconscious every time.

"I already told you it won't be good to lie," Advait said.

"But it should have brought a positive effect, no? She wanted her culprits dead, so that's what we told her. Why did she react so violently then?" Shaurya pondered.

I stared at Reyna and traced the faint veins on her face. "Maybe we shouldn't have said that. We thought telling her that would solve the problem, but it didn't. She wants her culprits dead, but she doesn't want anyone else to do that."

"What?"

"She wants to kill them herself," Adi completed my thought. "She won't be satisfied by only knowing that they are no longer alive. It will make the situation worse than we imagined."

We sat in silence, wondering what to do. As Adi said we shouldn't have lied to her. But I didn't want to put her in more danger - I didn't want to stain her hands with the blood of those lowlifes. I had to find a solution soon.

When Mom came back with food, she was surprised to see Reyna unconscious again. She sat on the chair and glanced at us sadly. She suggested on calling her friends to meet her, hoping that it might improve Reyna's health. We agreed and Adi called Heena and told her to come with Keerti and Upasana.

The doctor hadn't allowed so many people to be in the same place as the patient as it might result in sensationary overload. But now she had given the permission for it, so we could ask Reyna's friends to come. Hoping for my wife's recovery, we let her rest in Mom's care and left the room.

"What now?" Shaurya asked.

Advait and I exchanged knowing glances and moved towards the Cell. Shaurya followed us, still trying to figure out a way for Reyna to trust us again. Few minutes later, we were inside my secret hellhole. We wore our gloves and Adi checked his new blade he had imported from Russia.

"You okay with coming with us, Shaurya?" I asked.

He nodded, and his expressions became cold. We reached the room where the four assholes were waiting for us. While the three men were hung upside down, their skin charred due to the continuous steam being blown on them, the old lady was given as a feast to the leeches.

We hadn't yet killed them. We lied to Reyna, thinking she would be okay, but it had a negative result.

Advait checked our captives and woke Dinesh Bakshi up as he had fainted. Slowly, all of them were put down in chairs. One by one, I checked their wounds and smiled satisfactorily.

"Please, I beg you. Please forgive me. I am sorry for what I did," Lokesh spoke, his voice hardly audible.

"But I am not sorry for what I am doing," I said and punched him across the face. "Bastards like you shouldn't even exist."

I picked up his left arm and took the blade from Adi. "Let me hear you cry. If you stop even for a second, I will make your death more painful."

Unlike Lokesh, Himesh and Dinesh had already given up. Dinesh was out of his senses most of the time, so we made sure to keep him awake when he received his due punishment. Himesh on the other hand had accepted his fate.

I glanced back at Lokesh and dug the knife under his skin.

"Aaahhhh!"

He winced, and as I moved upward, skinning him alive, I heard his cries along with the other two men. Shaurya looked upon as Advait and I removed the skin of the men with the hot blade, the raw flesh coming in view.

One hour later, we were done with their limbs and left the rest of the body for tomorrow. The old lady, Reyna's grandmother, shook in fear as I headed in her direction.

"I know you were waiting for your turn." I smiled.

Her eyes widened in horror as Adi showed her the knife dripping with her son's blood. She was old, but her age wasn't going to be any excuse for her sins. Advait didn't hold back and told the lady to pray for a peaceful life after death.

With the anger and rage I felt, I wanted to finish off the bastards in one go, but it would have been too easy then. For what Reyna suffered, any punishment was going to be less.

Advait put his blade back after completing the work, and we locked the room after putting the men in the ice chamber. We cleaned our weapons and exited the Cell. When we went back to my room, Heena, Keerti, and Upasana had already arrived.

All of them were crying, and Heena hugged Advait on seeing him. Adi consoled her, while Shaurya assured Keerti and Upasana. I stood beside Mom; she rubbed my back, and like I always did, I held her hand and thanked her for her support.

"Are they still alive?" she asked, and I nodded.

"They better be because when Reyna wakes up, they need to face her again."

"Are you sure we should tell her?" Shaurya asked Mom worriedly.

"We have to. It is her right and her decision. We will support her in every way we can," Mom said. "You get what I mean, Yuvi?"

"Yes, Maa. She isn't alone. She has us."

Yes, my Reyna isn't alone. I won't let her efforts go to waste. As her husband, I will be by her side like she has always been there for me.