The Price of Protection

Chapter 12: The Forensic Counter

🛑 The Protective Barrier

Siddhi watched the accuser rush toward her, intent on ripping off her mask. But before the girl could reach her, Veer reacted with explosive speed.

Veer grabbed the girl's wrist, twisting it sharply, and shoved her away from Siddhi. "How dare you touch her?" he snarled, his eyes blazing with a dangerous light. Anjali was shocked by the extreme, protective aggression.

Karan, however, remained calm. He had been informed by Gopal about Siddhi's successful confrontation with Veer the night he was out of town, and he understood that Veer's possessive attraction to Siddhi was now a powerful, useful tool.

Veer reiterated his claim, his voice tight with ownership: "No one touches her except me."

Siddhi was bewildered, thinking: What does Veer think? That he has the right to touch me just because he wants to? I never gave him that right.

The unknown girl, now desperate, played her final card. "Veer, baby, how could you do this to me? I have loved you for three years! You abused and r***d me, and now you won't take responsibility! What if I get pregnant?"

The dramatic revelation stunned both Anjali and Siddhi into silence. Karan, watching the performance, felt a cold admiration for the girl's chaotic destruction, knowing that only someone ruthless could cause this much trouble for his brother. Veer's hand was clenched into a fist, his veins bulging, a clear sign of suppressed violence.

The girl began to sob loudly, begging the police inspector for justice.

🔪 Siddhi's Interrogation

Veer opened his mouth to deliver a furious defense, but Siddhi moved first. She stepped directly in front of him, catching his hand as he tried to pull her back.

Ignoring his possessive grip, Siddhi turned to the senior inspector, her voice firm, calm, and professional. "May I ask what qualification you had when you became an inspector?"

She then turned her sharp gaze to the sobbing accuser. "Seriously, you are claiming to have been abused and r***d by Veer, sir?"

The girl forced out a "Yes."

Siddhi narrowed her eyes. "Seriously?" she repeated, her tone hardening.

The unknown girl faltered, unable to meet Siddhi's gaze.

Siddhi seized the moment, her medical knowledge coming into play. "Your bruised hands and neck show that they were not caused by forceful intimacy," she stated matter-of-factly.

"What are you saying? I was r***d!" the girl cried, indignant.

"You are claiming Veer Sir forcefully engaged with you, yet your bruises look like you resisted slowly before willingly being intimate with someone," Siddhi countered, her voice now stern.

Veer, standing directly behind Siddhi, was mortified by the public, clinical discussion. He leaned down and whispered hotly into her ear, a mix of embarrassment and possessiveness in his voice: "What are you doing? Go to our room!" Stop talking—my brother and I will handle this!"

Siddhi ignored him completely. She held up the wrist Veer had been clutching moments earlier, where the skin was now mottled and reddened from his vice-like grip.

"If Veer Sir had forced himself on you and r***d you, your bruises would look like this," Siddhi asserted, showing her wrist to the inspector. "This is called force. Now check her hand; her bruises are not forced. They indicate consensual intimacy."

The unknown girl froze, realizing she was caught.

Siddhi continued her forensic analysis, her voice devoid of emotion: "A girl who has been r***d usually waits only a few hours to report it. She comes much later to ensure that there will be no evidence remaining in her vagina." She paused, delivering the final, devastating blow. "However, there is still something you can check, Inspector."

Everyone in the room—Karan, Anjali, Veer, and the police—looked at Siddhi, stunned into silence by her clinical precision and sudden, authoritative knowledge.