Dhruv's POV

I chased behind him to the other end of the section. I finally caught him in my arms.

He struggled a lot and yelled for help. People surrounded us, and some even came near and separated us.

"Help. Help. This uncle is trying to kidnap me." He said and started crying bitterly. For a second I even doubted myself.

"No. No." I panicked as the crowd glared towards me. This kid is going to get me killed.

"Who are you to him?" A woman asked me fiercely. She looked like she might beat me any second. One wrong word and this crowd will jump on me. I felt scared for the first time. Even if I tell them who I am, it wouldn't matter because right now I am just a kidnapper in their eyes. I can already hear tomorrow's headline in my mind.

'Dhruv Singh Rathore was beaten by the public in the mall while kidnapping a child." I calmed myself.

"He is my friend's nephew." I said nervously.

"Do you think we believe this nonsense?" She pulled my collar. I tried to reason with her, but to no avail. Am I going to be beaten? Aakriti, where are you? I tried to distance myself from her.

"Stop. Please let him go. He is my friend." Aakriti came running towards us and requested the women. The woman still didn't leave my collar. Aakriti forcefully jerked her hand and separated her from me.

"They both are with me. I am sorry, everyone; he is my nephew." She said and apologized to everyone. Everyone looked at Samar, and he nodded. But the crowd still looked doubtful. Aakriti showed them their photos.

"Sorry, the kid is just being naughty." She said, and the crowd finally dispersed. Hush. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you ok?" She asked me and fixed my collar.

"Luckily you came at the right time, or else they might have beaten me to a pulp." I said. Today's incident made me realize to not underestimate anyone. My guards would have been able to handle the situation, but I am still shocked after what happened right now.

"I am sorry. Did they hit you? Are you hurt anywhere?" She said softly and looked at me to check whether I was injured or not.

"No. I am alright." I said.

She turned to Samar and picked him up. He looked like he would cry at any moment.

"We will talk about this when we meet your mom." She said in a serious tone, and he started sobbing softly.

"Why did you get so angry?" She asked softly as we moved towards the ice cream stall.

"He is just like him." He said with so much grievance in his voice. Like whom? He ran away saying the same thing. About whom is he talking?

"I don't know about whom you are talking, but I am not like him."

"If you don't know about whom I am talking, then how can you say you are different from him?" He interrupted me and made me speechless.

"Because I will never hurt your Masi. She is very special to me."

"Why should I believe you?"

"True. Why would you believe"? I said and took him from Aakriti's hand. He readily came into my arms.

"How about I make you believe while we eat an ice cream?" I said, and his worry vanished; after all, he is still a five-year-old.

He ate ice cream without saying a word and was greatly relieved. It is as if only he and his ice cream exist at this moment. Aakriti was worried and constantly checked his mood by secretly glancing at him from time to time.

We reached Aakriti's house, and he ran inside. We both followed him.

"Dadu." Samar yelled and jumped on Aakrit's grandfather. Aakriti's Dadu held him in his arms and raised him in the air.

"I missed you so much." He said, giggling brightly.

"You forgot this, old man. If your masi were not her, you would not even come and meet me."

"Mumma was busy, and I am a tiny boy. How can I come alone?" Samar said dramatically.

"OK. Ok. Enough with your antics. I will forgive you this time. Tell me what you want to eat, and I will ask them to prepare it. How about pizza?"

"No, I am full. If I eat anything else, my stomach will burst." Samar said, rubbing his stomach cutely.

"Oh, you met Dhruv. Did you like him? He is going to marry your Masi."

"What?" He screamed pretty loudly. He looked at me as if wanting to beat me. Buddy, it was your masi who lied to you, not me. He swiftly came towards me and grabbed my hand.

"Come with me." He said and pulled me. He turned around and instructed both to not follow us. I entered his room. He has a room in this place. His room was carefully decorated, befitting his taste. It looks like he is really special in my wife's heart. Dhruv, come on, use your charms; you need to impress this tiny fellow. 

"You are marrying my masi." He said with a stern expression. I was not wrong; he is a mini version of Aakriti.

"Yes," I replied dumbly. What should I say to him?

"Did it look like a question to you?" He was acting brave, but I could see him shivering. Now I know why he left the door open. Did he think I would hurt him? What did he go through to be so cautious?

"I love your Masi."

"Is love enough? What if you abuse her in the future?" He said with so much sadness in his voice. He seemed to be on the verge of crying. I picked him up in my arms.

"I don't want her to get married." He said and started sobbing. Buddy, please stop crying, or both Dada and Poti (Grandfather and Granddaughter) will kill me.

"I promise you I will take care of your Masi. I will never harm her."

"You are lying. You will hurt her. Just the way Dad harmed Mom. Who will save her? What if she became like Mom? What will I do? I love her. I will not let you harm her." He said and started beating me. He started crying bitterly. Is he having a panic attack? I held his hand and hugged him tightly to stop his shaking. I yelled his name.

"I know you are scared, but please just listen to me. I will not harm your masi because I love her. She is very special to me. Believe me. I know you don't trust me, but please let me marry your masi. I promise you that your masi will be very happy with me. I am not like your dad. I have been taught to never even raise my voice in front of women. Harming her is out of the question. You don't trust me, but don't you trust your masi? She will beat me if I ever make her suffer." I said softly. This kid went through so much that I don't think my words will work on him.

"You will not hurt her, right?" He asked with worry.

"Yes, I will never hurt her. I promise you." I said.

"If you break your promise, I will take Masi away from you. I will tell her to give you a divorce." Don't talk about divorce; it was already difficult for me to convince your Masi. Don't put ideas in her head. 

I saw Aakriti rushing into the room.

"Maasi, didn't I tell you not to come?" He said arrogantly.

"You brat, if I weren't worried, would I come here? Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yes." She raised her eyebrow and gave me a questioning look. I smiled at her, and she sighed in relief. I saw Samar yawning.

"It's your nap time."

"But I want to talk with him." He said, still yawning.

"Talk later; now sleep." She said and placed him on the bed. He dozed off within a few minutes.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of Samar's room. I entered her room. Her room was just like mine: plain and dull. Basic with no character.

"I am sorry you suffered because of my selfishness. I was only thinking about Samar. I didn't realize that it would also be uncomfortable for you. Sorry." She said softly.

"Not really, I had a great time with you both." I said truthfully. It did make me uncomfortable, but not because of the way he behaved; instead, because of how he got so scared of me.

"Don't you have any questions to ask me?" She asked me softly.

"I am waiting for you to be ready to tell me everything." I answered.

"I am ready but don't know how to form words." she said and stopped talking.

"Meera, my friend, Samar's mother is a victim of domestic violence." She said in heavy voice.

"Does Samar get scared because he witnessed his mom get beaten?" I asked in shock, and she nodded lightly. No wonder the kid gets so scared.

"Meera got married for love. The happy family of three who everyone would envy. Meera denied it for a long time, but it started being noticeable. I could see how much she suffered. He didn't just hurt her; he shattered her soul and spirit. I tried to put some sense in her head and told her to leave that man. They had no future together. But she was not ready to leave him. What she was going through then I didn't understand. She started rationalizing his behavior, not accepting his fault. I didn't know what to do. During that time the company was going through a crisis, and the drug that was going to be revolutionary in the pharma industry suddenly started mutating even after passing all the tests. At the same time, Dadu got sick. Got busy handling all the matters. She started going out less in public, and I didn't have time to reason with her. Maybe I am a bad friend, but at that point, I couldn't prioritize her. One fine day I got a call from her, but she didn't speak. She was crying bitterly. I rushed to her home, and what I saw was blood. The scene was so terrifying. Blood, blood covering the entire floor." She was shivering and held on to my coat tightly, slightly leaning towards me.

"But it wasn't Meera who was injured; it was Samar and her husband who were injured, and Meera was blankly staring at Samar. He was lying lifeless, covered with blood. And whipped marks on him. Dhruv, I was so scared. I thought he was dead. I went near him, and Meera pushed me, and I hit the table. And injured my head. She behaves hysterically. As if she would kill anyone who approached Samar. Luckily at that point, the ambulance arrived. The ward boy held her as she was ready to beat anyone who touched Samar. Luckily he was breathing. Both were getting treated, and I was waiting for them in the corridor. I heard Meera screaming Samar's name, so I entered her ward, but she pushed me and ran away. I chased behind her, but ..." She paused as it became difficult for her to speak.

"She got hit by the ambulance coming in at great speed at the hospital entrance." She leaned on me and still held my coat tightly. As if seeking strength. I wanted to hold her, but then I remembered the promise that I made to her. She must have gone through a lot at that time handling everything alone. I didn't say anything and just let her vent everything. Her fear, pain, guilt, and anger.

"Maybe if I had tried harder to convince Meera to leave that jerk, that situation would have never occurred. Dhruv, Samar was only four years old at that time. Abusing your child like that—how heartless you have to be." She trembled.

"Samar was so scared when he woke up. He feared the attending doctor so much that he had a panic attack when he tried to treat him. Later I got to know that Samar was reacting so strongly because he was a male. After being brutally beaten by his father, it left a shadow on his mind.

He used to get scared whenever any man tried to talk to him. But he was ok with boys and aged men. He used to hyperventilate around men similar to his father's age. Maybe recalling that incident. Today, after a year, he came in contact with a man. I know that I am at fault for just bringing both of you in front of each other without explaining the situation before. Sorry." She realized our position and distanced herself from me. I wish I could pull her back and hold her tightly in my arms. 

"Thank you. For handling Samar so well." I could see her holding back her tears.

"I promised Samar that I would never hurt you and I will for sure keep that promise." I said and she gave me a bright smile.

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