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“Don’t kill my daughter! Please don’t hurt my daughter!”

Vikrant tried to hold back his sobs, breathing deeply as he struggled to keep himself together. Watching his mother in such a broken and tormented state was unbearable. He rushed toward her to help, but Sonia, now overtaken by sheer panic, began hitting him with anything she could reach. Akhil quickly stepped in to assist, but controlling Sonia was nearly impossible. The doctors, realizing the urgency of the situation, prepared a sedative. Some of them gently held Sonia down while the others administered the injection.

Her screams grew louder, more desperate. Her agony was so intense that it could break even the most resilient hearts. Vikrant held her tightly in his arms, whispering her name, as she slowly started to lose consciousness, mumbling in a broken voice:

“Don’t hurt my daughter… My Vikrant must be waiting for me…”

Vikrant shut his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them and looked at the doctors. They gently laid Sonia on a stretcher and secured her safely. As one of the nurses tried to take the doll from her grasp, they realized that even in her semi-conscious state, she was clinging to it with all her might. Vikrant placed his hand gently on hers. Sonia, in her drowsy haze, tried to look at him. Her eyes fluttered, and with all the strength left in her, she whispered just one word:

“Vikrant…”

The doctors finally managed to loosen her grip on the doll, handing it to Vikrant, who took it in his arms and clutched it to his chest. As the medical team began moving Sonia into the emergency ward, Vikrant watched her leave, his soul heavy with anguish. He gently hugged the doll closer, as if trying to understand the weight it carried for his mother.

Akhil stood silently beside him, understanding the depth of Vikrant’s pain without needing any words. He knew this was not just a crisis; this was a soul-shattering moment. Vikrant’s wife, Jhankar, was still unconscious and couldn’t be there to support him, and now, after so many years, when Vikrant had finally reunited with his mother, she was in such a heart-wrenching condition. Akhil quietly pulled out his phone and called Sharda, hoping she could come and help steady the situation.

Meanwhile, Vikrant couldn’t remain still. Vikrant paced between the room where Jhankar was resting and the ward where his mother was receiving treatment. Sharda sat nearby, tears brimming in her eyes. After hearing the entire story from Akhil, she still couldn’t believe what had happened to Sonia. The thought that Ravindra had hidden such a monstrous secret—that Sonia had been alive all these years—made her heart ache.She hadn’t even seen Sonia yet, but the mere knowledge of her condition made her soul tremble with grief.

Approximately two hours later, a team of doctors stepped out of the emergency ward. Seeing them, Vikrant immediately rushed forward and stood in front of them. All the doctors recognized Vikrant very well, and due to that familiarity, their eyes lowered with hesitation and empathy before one of them began calmly explaining the situation.

“Her mental condition is extremely fragile. The kind of treatment she has been subjected to… or rather, forced to undergo repeatedly, has left strong traces of various medications in her system. But the reason her mental state is in such disarray might be something else altogether.”

The doctor suddenly fell silent. Vikrant, already shaken, asked in a trembling voice, his words almost stuck in his throat,

“What is the reason, doctor?”

“She was beaten. She was physically abused. And… she has been raped for a very long time. That’s a confirmed fact. She received barely enough food to survive. Had she been properly cared for in all aspects, her mental health might have stood a chance of recovery. But it seems someone intends to treat her — and simultaneously destroy her. They made sure she didn’t die, but they never let her live either. It’s a strange and cruel contradiction. Honestly… we cannot guarantee whether she will ever fully recover. Her mind seems to be stuck in a particular moment — the moment when she left her ten-year-old son behind. Perhaps she was pregnant then… It’s possible she suffered a miscarriage, or maybe her child was taken from her. We can’t say for sure just yet, but the emotional trauma from that event has deeply scarred her. I’m sorry to say this, but… Sheonly remembers her ten-year-old son and her daughter. Beyond that, her memory is completely blank.”

Vikrant collapsed into a chair, unable to process the weight of the revelation. His mind was spinning, heart pounding with an ache he had never known before. He felt like a part of him had broken. Sharda, holding back her tears, tried to move closer to him to sit beside him and offer some comforting words, but she found herself paralyzed. Nothing she could say would bring peace to him right now. No words could undo the pain Vikrant was going through.

PAST EVENT ENDS

In the present, Jhankar held Vikrant tightly in her arms as he wept like a broken child. Tears streamed down her face as well. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her eyes slowly drifted toward Sharda, who stood nearby with her face buried in her palms, crying silently.

Jhankar wanted nothing more than to go and meet Sonia right away. But one glance at Vikrant's devastated face told her this wasn’t the time. Currently, Vikrant needed comfort more than anyone else. She cradled him gently in her arms, trying to shield him from the emotional storm that was consuming him. All she wanted was to be his anchor, to give him the strength he desperately needed.

Here was a man who had lost his mother as a child… who had spent his entire life consumed by hatred for her… And now, after years of rage and resentment, he had finally found her, but in such a devastating condition. He wanted to be happy, to rejoice that his mother was alive… But how could he? She didn’t even recognize him. His mind was drowning in thoughts—what had really happened to her back then? Had she truly abandonedhim? Was she pregnant when she left? What had become of that child? Was it lost, or… murdered?

He needed answers, and he was prepared to go to any lengths to find them. But fate, it seemed, was testing his every breath, every emotion. Jhankar wiped her tears, forcing herself to stay strong for him, She whispered gently to Vikrant,

"Vikrant… You cannot fall apart now. Your mother needs you. You’re all she has. You must be strong for her and for yourself. You must find the truth… And for that, you’ll have to be the one to fight. No one else can do this."

Her words sank slowly into Vikrant’s heart. He began to calm his breathing and tried to hold back his tears. The child inside him, the boy who once cried out for his mother, slowly began to retreat into silence. That broken Vikrant could never have found the truth. But no force on earth could stop today's Vikrant, the man the world feared, if he decided to uncover the truth. He turned to Jhankar and gently helped her lie down on the hospital bed. He leaned in, kissed her forehead tenderly, and whispered,

“You rest. Sharda Maa is here with you. I have some very important things to do.”

Jhankar caught his hand, kissed his palm, and smiled through her tears. Her voice was soft but firm.

“When you return… I want you to have every single piece of information. And whoever did this to your mother, no matter who they are , they must be punished. They will be punished.”

Vikrant closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then he bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead one more time. But when he opened his eyes again, they were no longer red from crying. Now, they blazed with a fire of vengeance. They were red withfury, not pain. A fierce, focused storm now surged within him—a burning desire for justice.

He knew this entire nightmare was somehow connected to Ravindra. But the picture was still incomplete. He needed to put all the pieces together. How did it all begin? When? Why? Who was involved? He would stop at nothing until he found the truth.

~~~~~

Vikrant was sitting calmly in the living room, his eyes closed. Just then, Ravindra walked in with a cheerful smile on his face. The moment he saw his son, his arms spread wide as he called out to him warmly.

“Hey, Vikrant...”