Page 63 of Entangled Vows (Destined Diaries #2)

Her voice was calm despite her fear. “If you don’t turn around right now, I’ll scream.”

He looked at her, irritated. “There’s no one around to hear you, babydoll.”

Her heart thundered. The car slowed as it reached a bend. Ahead, the road dipped into a rough patch of gravel, and the car slowed down. She froze as, all of a sudden, it started raining heavily.

A crumbling temple rose through the downpour, half-swallowed by moss and shadow.

The sky was shrouded in black clouds as rain poured relentlessly, the jungle dense and untamed around them.

Thunder ripped through the trees, its roar almost deafening.

Mahika’s pulse raced, matching the frantic drumbeat in her ears.

“W-what is this place?” she gasped, her voice trembling.

Rain lashed against the windshield of the car as he killed the engine. His grip on the steering wheel was unnaturally tight, his knuckles bone-white, trembling with restraint.

“Our wedding venue,” Karan said, turning to her with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You always wanted something private and traditional. Now you’ll get it. This will be nothing like your marriage with that… that Vikram.” His tone twisted into a snarl.

Mahika’s stomach churned. Panic flared through her as she tried to think about her options.

a) She had pepper spray in her bag, but it would only disarm him for a moment.

Not help her in the long run. b) She had a digital watch in her bag, but it was useless as its battery had died before lunch. So, she couldn’t speed dial anyone.

She almost gave up, thinking her doom was near. But then suddenly, she remembered the bracelet. Goddamn it. How could she forget it?

She inhaled sharply, her fingers moving discreetly to cover her wrist. She pressed the hidden button on the bracelet twice… then the third time. Done.

Now, she desperately hoped and prayed the alert had gone through. She had to stall him somehow, so she started talking to buy time.

“You brought me here... to get married? Karan, you know I’m already married. This isn’t funny.”

“Fuck that marriage with that…that Vikram,” he snapped. His voice was sharp and unhinged. “This is where it begins. You and me. No more lies. No more interruptions. You’re mine. Only mine.”

She reached for the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. Her breathing turned quick and shallow. She looked at him, her panic rising. “Why are you doing this? I thought you were my friend.”

His voice dropped to a chilling whisper. “I was never just your friend. Why can’t you see it? This is destiny, Mahika Jaykar.”

“It’s Mahika Vikram Khurana,” she said quietly, her voice quivering.

Something inside him snapped. His hand flew up and slapped her hard across the face. Her mind reeled and her head hit the window with a painful thud. Pain bloomed across her cheek and lip. She couldn’t even cry out before his hand twisted into her hair.

“You’re only his wife for a few more hours. I’m going to marry you. And then I’m going to kill him.”

“What? No...” she screamed as he yanked her closer by the hair.

“Yes,” Karan hissed. “I have contacts. Deep into the mafia. I can have him dead by tomorrow with just one phone call.”

He laughed, a high-pitched, fractured sound that made her blood run cold.

“Please stop. You’re… you’re not this monster,” she cried, tears spilling freely now.

“You don’t know me at all, my poor, naive Mahika,” he spat, releasing her as he turned to look out the window.

She sobbed quietly, her heart pounding. Her hand instinctively wrapped around her stomach. The thought of her unborn baby fuelled something fierce inside her. If anything happened to her, to the baby…

No. She wouldn’t think about that. She wouldn’t let anything happen to her baby.

“Stop it, Karan. You’re being scary,” she whispered, trying to make him realise he was still the old person she knew. But little did she know, the person she remembered never existed. It was all a facade.

“Scary?” He turned to her with a twisted smile. “I should’ve scared you more. Remember the blank calls you kept getting? That was all me.”

“What??” Mahika gasped, horrified.

“Yes, my doll. I used to listen to your voice. I even recorded it. I used to listen to it on repeat.”

“You sick bastard,” Mahika screamed angrily.

“And I followed you everywhere. You always seem to sense when I was watching you. It’s not easy, catching glimpses of you 24/7, every day.

So I lived in the car and kept tabs on where you went and what you did.

Remember that night you were chased by bikers on the road?

That was me again. I had planned to let those men scare you first…

then come to get you like a saviour. But that bastard Vikram got there first. Like some damn hero. ”

Her heart sank. So it wasn’t paranoia. It had always been him. Watching. Stalking. She shuddered in revulsion.

“How dare you?” she shouted. “I can’t believe I thought you were my friend. You’re a sick predator… a monster with no heart.”

“Call me whatever you want,” he muttered, his tone angry now, his words choppy. “I’ve loved you since college. I was always there for you. My uncle told me to make you fall for me. I tried. I was your friend. The good guy.”

Mahika stared, horrified. “Your uncle?”

“Chairman of Excel Group, Ajay Thakkar. The same man your father fought in boardrooms for years. You were too busy playing princess to notice.”

Her jaw dropped. “You... you are the son of the man who sent that marriage proposal to my father?”

“I am his nephew,” Karan continued, bitterness lacing his voice.

“I was supposed to be the heir… until I failed him. All because I couldn’t make you fall for me, couldn’t convince you to marry me.

That’s why he put me in your college. Told me to get close to you.

Make you fall in love with me. He wanted a merger through marriage to gain complete control over the business.

But your father always refused the proposal. That crazy old fool…”

Tears burned her eyes. “Maybe my father always refused because deep down he knew you were a piece of shit.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Karan sneered as he yanked a fistful of her hair. Mahika whimpered in pain.

He gritted out. “That’s why my uncle disowned me.

Gave everything to my brother… all because I couldn’t have you.

He even dragged your father into gambling and buried him in debt.

My uncle set him up. All your father had to do was agree to our marriage, but he somehow paid off the debt and walked away.

And then he died. For the whole year I fed the paparazzi the same story over and over: that the company was collapsing because your father had embezzled money.

You thought it was over, but I wouldn’t let it go.

I kept stirring the trouble because I wanted the chaos, hoping that would tear you all apart.

I thought… maybe fate was finally on my side.

Maybe I could have you… and get back my business. ”

He slammed his fists on the steering wheel. “And then that damn will cropped up, and you married that son of a bitch, Vikram. All my years of hard work, wasted.”

Mahika’s mind screamed at her to run, to escape. But she stayed calm. She needed to be the smart one now and try to get out of here.

“Karan, listen to me.” She faked softness, pretending to tremble with emotion. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe... maybe it’s not too late.”

He blinked, confused. “What are you saying?”

“Let’s get married,” she said, forcing out a sweet smile. Her cheek still stung from the slap. “Take me to the temple. Right now. I want this.”

“You’ll marry me?” he asked, hope flickering in his eyes.

“Yes. But I need air. Please. The foul smell is making me dizzy.”

After a moment of hesitation, he reached for the lock, the click echoing in the silence.

The second she heard it, Mahika sprang into action.

She shoved the door open, and a gust of fresh air hit her face.

Then, without thinking, she slammed her elbow backward into Karan’s throat with a sickening crack.

He groaned loudly, a string of curses following as his head crashed into the window with a sharp thud.

Still dazed, he tried to recover, but Mahika didn’t wait. She bolted, sprinting towards the road, her heart hammering in her chest.

Rain lashed her face and she ran as if a demon were chasing her.

And in a way, it was. Her feet slipped in the slick mud, sending her sprawling.

Her bracelet clattered to the ground and slid off her wrist. She tried to reach for it, but when she heard the sound of Karan’s approaching footsteps, she left it there and ran again, harder than ever.

Her clothes were soaked and muddy, but she kept going. Her heart pounded like a drum against her ribs, and her lungs screamed with each burning, desperate gasp.

“Mahika!” Karan screamed.

She glanced back, and he was right behind her. His footsteps pounded the ground, his curses cutting through the rain. And his eyes… they were wild, furious, and murderous. Literally.

“You ungrateful bitch!” he roared, slamming into her with the force of a madman. “I’ll carve our names into the temple walls… with Vikram’s blood!”

Screaming, she shoved him off and stumbled onto the rough asphalt of the road, but he was on her again in seconds, his breath hot on her neck.

His arm locked tightly around her waist, pulling her closer.

He yanked her back as if she weighed nothing, slamming her against a rough tree trunk and knocking the wind out of her.

“You think you can run?” he hissed, his face inches from hers, his breath hot and vile. He pulled out a worn-out mangalsutra, its beads grimy and tangled. “You will marry me. Do you hear me? No one gets to have you. Not your precious husband. Not even that little thing growing inside you.”

Mahika froze and stopped struggling. Her protective instincts kicked in. No matter what happened, her baby had to be safe. She’d die if it came to that.

But… how the hell did this asshole know?

Her mind raced, her voice coming out cold and sharp. “There is no baby, you filthy bastard. I married Vikram for the beach house in Australia. I’m divorcing him in a few months anyway.”

It was the truth, but also a lie. She knew exactly why she was saying it. To protect her baby and Vikram from the monster in front of her.

Karan sneered, his voice dripping with menace.

“I’ve been in the shadows, watching, waiting.

Did you think I’d leave you alone at the mall?

No, Mahika. I was right there. I saw you in the pharmacy, saw what you bought, saw the way you looked devastated when you came out of the restroom.

That was when it hit me. If I didn’t act now, I’d lose you forever.

So, I came for you. Today had to be the day when I took you from that man you call your husband.

That was why I was waiting outside in the parking lot. For you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice cracked.

He smiled eerily as his voice turned sinister.

“Because you’re mine. I don’t want anything of him left in you. No memory. No trace. And if I have to erase his reminder with my own hands, I will.”

She gasped as the cold, metallic edge of a blade pressed against her throat, and her hand instinctively clutched her stomach.

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening boom.

The thunder roared like a war cry from the sky.

He stood before her, soaked in the rain, wild-eyed, and completely deranged.

This couldn’t be the end. Not here. Not like this.

Do something Mahika! her brain screamed.

Like a taut string, something snapped inside her. If she had to go, she would go fighting. With a defiant roar, she mustered the last reserves of her strength and drove her knee into his groin. A strangled, guttural scream tore from his throat as he doubled over, clutching himself in pain.

She sprang into action, moving on pure instinct.

She whirled around and ran, the icy rain stinging her skin, and the tears blurring her vision.

Her sobs were ragged and raw, her cries desperate, piercing through the air, hoping someone would hear her…

hoping someone would care. The darkness stretched around her like a cold, inescapable trap.

Her dress clung to her in soaked shreds, the fabric heavy and cold, her sandals lost somewhere behind. Her feet were bruised and bleeding, leaving a trail of blood on the ground. Still, she ran, the wind whipping through her hair, driven by sheer will.

And then she saw them. Headlights.

A breath of hope burst through her lungs like a cool spring breeze.

She pushed herself harder until she stumbled further onto the cracked asphalt of the road, and threw her aching body towards the approaching car.

With a horrifying screech of brakes and tearing metal, she landed on the hood like a crumpled, rain-soaked leaf, utterly limp.

With a loud crash, the car door flew open, and then she heard it…

a low, guttural growl. And that familiar voice…

the one she had longed to hear, the only sound that ever felt like a balm to her weary soul.

It shook with dread, as if it were shaken to its very core.

But never before had she heard it so raw, so full of fear.

“Momo!