Author pov...

Divya and Ishani reached home, with Vaibhav following behind them.

Inside the house, Rani, Malini, Devnath, and Nirmala Dadi were all gathered together.

Devnath sat silently on the sofa, his face heavy with regret and guilt.

Divya looked around, sensing the tension in the air.

"What happened, Mummy?" she asked softly. "Why does everyone look so worried?"

Rani's voice trembled as she replied, "Divya... Rahul has left the house."

Divya, Ishani, and Vaibhav froze in shock.

"Left the house?" Divya repeated, disbelief flooding her eyes. "Where could he go, Mummy? He must be somewhere nearby. Wait I'll find him and bring him back."

Rani stopped her and held out a piece of paper."Look at this," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I found it in his room while cleaning."

Divya took the letter with trembling hands and began to read:

(Mom, Dad, I am leaving this house. No one loves me here, so I am going away. I will take care of myself. Please don't try to find me.)

Divya's breath caught in her throat.

She stood there, stunned. Ishani gently took the letter from her and read it too.

Her eyes widened in shock.

Vaibhav read it next and said firmly,

"Rani Aunty, he must be nearby. I'll go look for him."

Rani shook her head helplessly.

"Your uncle has searched everywhere, beta, but we couldn't find him anywhere. We feel we may have to go to the police."

She broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Malini immediately held her, trying to comfort her.

"Vaibhav," Malini said softly, "you go too, beta. He must be somewhere close."

Devnath finally spoke, his voice filled with pain."This is all because of me. If I had spoken to him with love, none of this would have happened."

"Papa, please don't say that," Divya said, fighting back tears. "I'll find him. He can't have gone far."

Without wasting another moment,

Divya rushed out.

Ishani and Vaibhav followed her closely, their hearts pounding with fear and hope, praying they would find Rahul before it was too late.

"Wait, Divya. I'm coming with you," Ishani said urgently.

Vaibhav stopped them at once. "No, wait. I'll search on this side, near the Ganga ghat. You both go that way. If you find him anywhere, call me immediately."

"Okay, bhaiya," Ishani replied.

Divya and Ishani got into an auto-rickshaw, while Vaibhav sped off in the opposite direction on his bike.

Inside the moving auto, both girls kept looking around anxiously, scanning every street, every face.

Their eyes searched desperately, but Rahul was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, Ishani leaned forward and shouted, "Stop! Stop the auto!"

The driver applied the brakes at once.

Ishani's heart began to race.

She had seen Rahul standing not alone, but beside an older boy.

"What happened?" Divya asked,

alarmed.

"Look," Ishani whispered in fear, pointing ahead. "That's Rahul... and who is that with him? Come on, quickly!"

Divya looked in the same direction, and her face turned pale.

"What if he's a kidnapper?" she said, her voice trembling. "What if he's taking my Rahul away?"

Fear gripped Ishani too.

"Let's go, fast!" Divya said.

Both of them jumped out of the auto.

"Pay me first, sister," the driver said bluntly.

Divya panicked. "Bhaiya, a kidnapper is taking my brother!"

"I don't care about that," the driver replied coldly. "I want my money."

"Divya, give him the money and come quickly," Ishani said. "I'm going ahead."

As Divya hurriedly searched her bag for cash, Ishani ran toward Rahul and the boy with him.

Suddenly, her foot struck a stone.

She lost her balance and was about to fall but strong arms caught her just in time.

She fell straight into Abhay's arms.

Abhay looked down at her face soft, innocent, almost fragile.

Ishani's eyes remained tightly shut.

She thought she had fallen to the ground.

When she realized she hadn't, she slowly opened her eyes.

And saw the face of the man she believed to be a child kidnapper standing right in front of her.

Divya came running at full speed, breathless, hair flying everywhere.

The second she saw Ishani standing way too close to that so-called kidnapper, her temper went from zero to volcano.

"Ishani!" Divya screamed. "Excuse me, WHAT is going on here? Are you shooting a Bollywood romantic scene or what? Step away from him right now he's a Bacchaa chor!"

Abhay stood there like someone had just dropped a bomb on his head.

"Baccha chor?" he blinked. "Me?"

Ishani instantly jumped away from him as if she'd touched live electricity.

Before Abhay could even understand what was happening, Divya grabbed his collar with full filmy intensity.

"Listen carefully, Baccha chor" Divya snapped. "Where were you taking my Rahul? Huh? Answer me before I start screaming!"

"My Rahul?" Abhay repeated, completely confused. "Which Rahul?"

"Oh wow," Divya scoffed. "Now he's acting innocent too! Ishani, look at his acting National Award level!"

Ishani crossed her arms and warned him, "Just tell us where Rahul is. Otherwise, I swear I'll call the police right now."

"Yes!" Divya added dramatically. "Call them, Ishani! Let him hear the police siren in his imagination first!"

Abhay looked from one furious girl to the other, clearly questioning all his life choices.

Suddenly, his brain clicked and his eyes widened.

"Oh my God," he said slowly. "WAIT. You two girls... you're the same ones from that viral video, right? The ones who beat up my brother and sent him straight to jail!"

Divya frowned. "Your brother?" she snapped. "Who cares about your brother? Where. Is. My. Rahul?"

"Raj Thakur," Abhay replied. "He's my brother."

For a second, everything went silent.

Divya and Ishani stared at him like someone had pressed the pause button on life.

"...WHAT?" both of them said together.

"Oh my God, Ishani!" Divya exclaimed in panic. "He's come to take revenge on us. That's why he kidnapped our Rahul! Call the police quick! The entire Thakur family is crazy!"

Abhay scowled. "First of all, let go of my collar," he snapped. "And who are you calling crazy? Leave my collar!"

Divya released him but pointed a warning finger at his chest.

"Don't even think about running away," she said fiercely. "We're two girls and you're just one person."

Inside, both Divya and Ishani were terrified their hearts racing, hands trembling but on the outside, they stood tall, pretending to be fearless.

Abhay looked at them for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oh wow," he said sarcastically. "I'm terrified."

Then he paused."By the way... who is this Rahul everyone keeps shouting about?"

Suddenly, realization struck him like lightning.

His eyes widened as he stared at them."Wait," he said slowly. "Rahul... Deeksha's friend? Rahul Pathak?"

He looked at them again, shock written all over his face."Are you two his sisters?"

"Yes!" Divya replied sharply. "I am his sister. Now tell me where is my Rahul?"

“You can’t even take care of her own brother, and here you're threatening me,” Abhay snapped.

Divya frowned. “What do you mean by that? I can take care of him.”

Just then, the door opened and Deeksha and Rahul stepped out from inside.

The moment Rahul saw Divya and Ishani standing there, fear flashed across his face.

He froze.

Ishani noticed him instantly and whispered urgently, “Divya… look. It’s

Rahul.”

Divya turned and the world seemed to stop.

The next second, she ran toward him.

Cupping his face gently in her hands, she looked at him from head to toe, her eyes scanning every inch, desperate to make sure he was safe, that he was unharmed.

Before Rahul could even react, Divya pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him as if letting go would make him disappear again.

“Is this how someone leaves home?” she cried, her voice trembling. “Do you have any idea what you did to us?

You scared me to death, Rahul. Today Papa, Mummy, Dadi everyone is so worried.”

Rahul stood there, frozen, unable to move, unable to speak.

Divya didn’t loosen her grip.

She held him even tighter, as if her arms were the only thing keeping him from breaking or running away again.

Divya said softly but firmly, “Say something at least. Does anyone leave their home over such a small matter?”

Ishani stepped closer and whispered to Divya, “Let him go first, Divya. Let him breathe.”

“He won’t go anywhere,” Ishani replied with quiet certainty.

Still, she loosened her arms and stepped back slightly, her hands lingering on him before she finally let go of the hug.

Rahul kept staring at her.

His eyes were filled with tears, and his face had turned red, as if he was struggling hard to hold himself together.

Just then, Deeksha spoke up. “Didi, he was trying to run away. I saw him and somehow stopped him. If I hadn’t, God knows where he would have been by now.”

Divya turned to look at her. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m his classmate,” Deeksha replied.

Divya’s voice softened instantly. “Thank you… for not letting my brother go anywhere.”

Deeksha gave a small smile. “It’s nothing.”

Divya turned back to Rahul. “Come on, Rahul. Let’s go home.”

She reached for his hand and tried to pull him along.But Rahul didn’t move.

He remained standing right there, rooted to the spot, refusing unable to go with her.

Divya looked at him with worried eyes and said softly, almost pleading,

“What happened, Rahul? Come on now… let’s go home. Everyone is waiting for you. Vaibhav is searching for you everywhere.”

Then she turned toward Ishani, her voice steadier now.“Tell Vaibhav to stop looking. Rahul has been found.”

Ishani nodded immediately.

Divya turned back to Rahul and held out her hand.“Come on, Rahul.”

But in the very next moment, Rahul yanked his hand away from her grip, anger exploding out of him like something he had been holding in for far too long.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said coldly.

Divya and Ishani froze.

“What?” Divya whispered, stunned.

She looked at Ishani and then back at Rahul. “Rahul… why? What happened now? You won’t go? At least come home.”

Rahul’s eyes burned, his jaw clenched tight.

His voice shook not with fear, but with pain and rage.“Why don’t you understand the first time? I said I won’t go. That place… that place is not my home.”

Those words hit Divya like a slap.

Her worry turned into anger in seconds.

All the fear she had felt, all the panic of losing him, twisted into frustration.

She stepped closer to him, her voice sharp and trembling.

“You’ve crossed all limits now,” she snapped. “So much stubbornness, so much attitude! If you don’t move right now, I swear I’ll slap you two or three times and knock some sense back into your head.”

But even then, Rahul didn’t move.

Divya completely lost her temper.

For a moment, it looked like she was about to strike Rahul.

Before she could, Ishani instantly grabbed Divya’s hand and stopped her.

“Divya, stop,” she said firmly. “He’s just a child. Don’t behave like this. I’ll talk to him. You go from here.”

Divya looked at Ishani, her eyes burning with anger and helplessness.

“Can’t you see how worried we all are?” she snapped. “We’re losing our minds, and he’s still stuck on his stubbornness.”

Her anger kept rising, but she finally forced her hand down.

Without saying another word, she turned away and walked off.

Deeksha flinched in fear when Divya almost hit Rahul.

The anger in Divya’s eyes had shaken her.

Rahul, Abhay, and everyone else stood there watching, stunned.

Abhay couldn’t understand what was happening to this family why everything felt so broken, so tense.

After a moment, Abhay turned to Deeksha and said gently,“Come on, Deeksha. Let’s go. Your friend’s family is here now. They’ll handle it.”

Deeksha hesitated, worried written all over her face.

“But bhaiya… how can I just leave Rahul like this?” she said anxiously. “He’s not agreeing to go home at all.”

Abhay finally broke the silence, his voice heavy with restlessness and concern.

“How long are we supposed to stand here like this?” he said quietly. “It’s already getting late. The evening is almost here. His family is here now they’ll take care of everything. We should go home.”

Deeksha turned toward him, her eyes filled with worry and helplessness.

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Please, bhaiya… don’t say that. We can’t leave Rahul like this. Not when he’s in this state.”

Abhay looked at her properly then.

He saw the fear in her eyes, the stubborn concern, the way she was holding herself together only because she didn’t want to give up on him.

He let out a long, tired sigh the kind that comes when you stop arguing not because you agree, but because you care too much to fight anymore.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Do whatever you feel is right. Stay if you want to.”

Then he added, more gently, “Just tell me when you’re ready to leave. I’ll be right here.”

Deeksha’s face instantly lit up with relief. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.

She nodded, her lips curving into a small, grateful smile one that carried more emotion than words ever could.

Abhay turned and walked away, giving her space, leaving her there with her choice.

And Deeksha stayed because some people don’t walk away when things get difficult.

They stay, hoping that somehow, their presence alone might make things hurt a little less.

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