chapter : 1 - That Dark Night
Aditya Rathod... the name alone was enough to strike fear. A man who was handsome only on the outside, with a heart of stone.
The only grandson of his grandparents and the sole heir to the Rathod Group. So handsome that anyone who saw him once would just keep staring. Many girls tried to win him over, but Aditya humiliated them so badly that they never showed their faces near him again. He was a ruthless man who felt no pity for anyone.
It was 12 AM. A loud scream was coming from that old mansion in the middle of the forest.
Inside, Aditya was sitting on a large chair. His face was expressionless. In one hand, he held a gun, and the man standing before him was begging for his life.
"Forgive me, boss, it was a mistake... It will never happen again."
But a devilish smile played on Aditya's face. There was not a trace of mercy.
The next second, with the sound of a gunshot, the man fell to the ground.
"Take him away from here. Feed the wild animals," Aditya said in a loud voice.
His men began to drag his body out. Just then, a voice from behind struck his ears — "You killed him?"
Silence fell over the entire room. All eyes turned to the door behind them.
There stood a tiny, fairy-like girl. Wrapped in a pink dress, her face held such innocence that it would melt anyone's heart. Her frightened eyes were fixed on Aditya.
It was Mini. She had wandered in by accident.
As soon as Aditya's eyes fell on Mini, they burned with rage. Grinding his teeth, he said, "I'll kill you... Get her!"
Mini's face turned pale with fear. She realized the crowd was closing in to catch her. The next moment, she ran for her life and, in no time, vanished into the dense jungle.
It was very dark, so Mini had managed to escape from them, but fate had thrown her into another predicament—she was lost somewhere in the dense, dark forest. Thorns were pricking her legs, and her dress was torn in places.
Just then, piercing the silence, some voices reached her ears. "Mini... Mini, where are you?"
It was none other than her own friends. Her brother was with them, too.
As soon as they saw Mini, they all ran towards her. Nidhi grabbed her. "Mini! Where did you go? Do you have any idea how everywhere we searched for you in the whole forest!"
But Mini was a mess. She was so terrified that tears were streaming down her face and her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth.
The next moment, Mini hugged her brother tightly. Her small arms were trembling.
Sobbing, she said, "Brother... please let's leave from here quickly. This place is so scary, so dangerous. I'm so scared, let's go."
Her brother's name was Aman. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with fair skin, light curly hair, and small, deep, dark eyes. He was so handsome that any girl who saw him would fall head over heels.
Aman pulled Mini away from his chest, startled, and took both her cheeks in his hands.
"Mini! What happened to you? Are you okay? What did you see over there?"
Before Mini could say anything, one of her friends, a boy named Vishal, stepped forward and said, "Aman, we should get going. It's getting too dark. Whatever the matter is, we'll talk about it at home."
Vishal was also very handsome, just a little less so than Aman, but he was by no means lacking.
There were two other girls with them—Nidhi and Parul. Parul was Mini's best friend, and Nidhi was a friend of Vishal and Aman.
Without further delay, they all started heading back home. Mini kept looking back over her shoulder, feeling as if someone was following her.
Meanwhile, Aditya's men were exhausted from searching for Mini. They had combed every corner of the forest, but the girl was as if she had vanished into thin air.
Just then, one of them mustered the courage to approach Aditya and said fearfully, "Boss... we couldn't find the girl anywhere."
Hearing this, Aditya's blood boiled. His eyes turned red with anger. He threw the whiskey glass on the table to the floor.
The very next moment, without thinking, Aditya pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired at the same man.
The sound of the gunshot echoed through the entire forest, and the man fell to the ground right there.
Aditya stomped angrily toward his car. As soon as he got in, he said to his other man,
> "I'll move heaven and earth to get that girl in the pink dress. She has seen Aditya Rathod's true face... and no one who sees Aditya's true face survives."
> And the car sped out of the forest.