Chapter 53 – Shackled
Chapter 53 – Shackled
Aanya’’s POV
My wrists burned where the rope cut into my skin. Every movement made it worse, but I couldn’t stop pulling against it. Some part of me thought if I kept fighting, the knots would just… give up. But they didn’t. They only bit deeper.
The room smelled like damp wood and something metallic—maybe rust, maybe blood. I couldn’t tell anymore. There was a single dim bulb swaying above, its light casting strange shadows along the cracked walls.
And him.
Kartik.
He was leaning against the opposite wall, arms folded, watching me like I was nothing more than a pawn in his game.
I tried to keep my breathing quiet, but it came out in uneven bursts. Tears had already streaked my face, but they kept coming, no matter how many times I told myself to stop.
“Stop crying,” he snapped suddenly, his voice cutting through the silence like a whip.
I flinched. That only seemed to irritate him more. He pushed away from the wall and in three steps he was in front of me. The slap came so fast I barely saw his hand move. My head whipped to the side, and for a moment, my ears rang.
The sting spread across my cheek, hot and humiliating.
“P-please,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “What is my fault in this? What did I do to you?”
His laugh was short and cruel. “Your fault? You really don’t know, do you?”
I shook my head, blinking away the tears.
“Before you,” he said, crouching so his face was level with mine, “Raaz didn’t have a weakness. He was untouchable. No fear. No soft spot. Then you happened. Now…” He tilted his head, his eyes glinting. “…now there’s a chance to destroy him. And you know what the easiest way is?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My mouth felt too dry, my heart too loud.
“By killing you,” he said, almost casually. “That will break him.”
The words hit me harder than the slap.
My breath came quicker now, my shoulders trembling against the ropes. “You… you won’t get away with this.” My voice was barely audible, but I forced the words out anyway.
He smiled like I’d told him a joke. “I already have.”
I turned my face away, partly so he wouldn’t see my tears, partly so I wouldn’t have to see the satisfaction in his. My mind was spinning—Raaz… did he know? Was he looking for me? Or was he—
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor snapped me back. Kartik sat down near the door, pulling out his phone. He didn’t even look at me again, as if my fear was just background noise now.
I closed my eyes, trying to block everything out. But every time I blinked, I saw Raaz’s face in my mind—how he’d looked at me earlier that day, like I was something fragile but unbreakable at the same time. Like I was his.
And now I was here, tied up, my heart pounding in a stranger’s trap.
Meanwhile – Raaz
Nothing.
No location ping.
No confirmed sighting.
Every update was another dead end, and every dead end was another second she was out there, alone, maybe scared, maybe hurt.
The map on the table was covered in circles and red crosses where we’d already searched. My men were moving fast, but not fast enough.
Yash’s condition was weighing on me too. The medic said he’d lost a lot of blood. He was stable for now, but “stable” wasn’t good enough. I needed him alive. I needed him to tell me exactly what Kartik had said, what he’d seen.
But most of all—I needed Aanya back.
The thought of her in Kartik’s hands made my jaw clench so tight it hurt. He’d dared to come into my home. To touch her. To take her.
When I find him, I thought, my hands curling into fists, it won’t be quick.
One of my men stepped into the room, hesitant. “Boss… still nothing. We’ve checked all known hideouts. Either he’s gone underground or he’s got a new place we don’t know about.”
I slammed my palm against the table, the sound sharp in the room. “Then find the new place. I don’t care what it takes—money, force, blood. You find it.”
The man nodded quickly and left.
I pulled out my phone and stared at her contact photo for a long moment. I didn’t call. I didn’t even text. I just needed to see her face, to remember why I couldn’t lose focus now.
Back to Aanya
I don’t know how much time passed. Minutes felt like hours in that room. My hands were numb now, my legs tingling from sitting on the cold floor too long.
Every sound outside made me jolt—footsteps, the creak of the old building, the distant hum of a car engine. Each time, my heart leapt, thinking maybe… maybe it was Raaz.
But it never was.
Kartik finally stood, sliding his phone into his pocket. “We move soon,” he said flatly. “Raaz will come looking. We’ll make sure he sees exactly what he’s about to lose.”
The knot in my stomach tightened until I felt sick.
I kept thinking of Milo, of how he’d curled up beside me before I fell asleep. Of Raaz’s hand on my forehead. Of the way he said “jaan” like it meant more than just love—it meant mine.
I wasn’t ready to die.
And if I knew Raaz… he wasn’t ready to let me.
Raaz POV
The phone rang.
Not just any ring—my secure line. The one I only used for matters that could cost lives.
The number was unknown. But I knew.
Before I even answered, I knew.
I pressed the phone to my ear, voice low and sharp. “Who is this?”
The pause on the other end was deliberate. A slow, calculated silence. Then—
“Missing someone, Raaz?”
Kartik.
My hand tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. “Where is she?”
He chuckled—a sound that scraped against my patience. “Safe, for now. But you know how quickly things can change.”
I could hear the faintest background noise—a drip of water, maybe a creak of metal. I tried to place it in my mind, building a picture. But he kept talking, his words taunting me.
“You’ve built yourself an empire, Raaz. No one could touch you. But then you made a mistake—you fell for someone. And that someone… well, she’s the perfect way to make you bleed.”
“Don’t.” My voice was steel now. “Don’t you dare say her name.”
“Oh, I won’t,” he said smoothly. “I don’t have to. You can picture her right now, can’t you? Scared. Alone. Wondering if her perfect Raaz will come for her in time. The truth is, Raaz…”
He let the sentence hang, and then his voice turned venomous. “…I’m going to destroy her. And when I do, you’ll watch every second of it.”
The world narrowed to a single point. My jaw locked, my breathing steady only because I forced it to be.
“You think you’re in control now,” I said, my tone low enough to chill the air between us. “But you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life. You touched my wife. That means your fate is already sealed.”
He laughed again, like this was a game. “Then come find me, Raaz. Let’s see if you’re still the legend everyone fears… or just another man who couldn’t protect what was his.”
“I will find you.” My voice was calm now—not because I wasn’t angry, but because my rage had crystallized into something colder, sharper. “And when I do, Kartik, you better have already begged whichever god you believe in. Because only he might save you from me.”
There was a faint exhale on the other end. Maybe a flicker of uncertainty. But then—“You have until sunrise.”
The line went dead.
I didn’t lower the phone immediately. My eyes stayed fixed on the empty space ahead of me, replaying his words, the smugness in his tone. Sunrise. He’d given me a clock to race against, thinking it would break me.
All it did was focus me.
I turned to my men, who had gone still, watching me like they already knew what had been said.
“Kartik,” I said simply. “He called.”
A murmur ran through the room, anger and unease blending together.
“Boss,” one of them stepped forward, “do we have a location?”
“Not yet,” I said. “But we will. He called me from somewhere quiet—dripping water, metal echo. Could be an old dock warehouse, maybe underground storage. Split into two teams. I want every possible match within two hours.”
They moved instantly.
I looked toward the closed bedroom door, where Yash was still under medical care. He couldn’t fight now. I’d told him to stay for her protection, and he’d tried—God knows he had. The image of him bleeding on the floor when she was taken burned in my mind.
I stepped outside into the night air. The wind carried the scent of rain. Somewhere out there, she was breathing the same air, maybe staring into darkness, maybe whispering my name.
And I’d get to her.
No matter how many men Kartik had.
No matter how many walls I had to break.
No matter how much blood I had to spill.
By sunrise, this would end.
One way or another.