Tangled hearts in love

Chapter 1 - The Couple

A couple whose hands were tied up with handcuffs came running through the streets of Mumbai at midnight. The sweat from their faces was enough to tell everyone that they were running to save their lives. The man’s left hand is tied up with the woman’s right hand in a handcuff.

"Let’s go in the left direction." told the woman, breathing heavily

.

"No, we have already gone in the left direction last time. But they caught us somehow. Now, we will go in the right direction. So that they won’t catch us." said the man, wiping his sweat from his brow with his right hand.

The street light on the right side was a little dim. The couple started to run fast in the right direction. The couple just collided with a young girl whose age is just around 21.

That young girl was carrying a blue rucksack travel bag on her shoulders. She has been coming from Bangalore to Mumbai after completing her summer vacation at her uncle’s house in Bangalore.

The couple was breathing heavily, looking at each other and the young girl. From their appearance, the young girl examined the couple. She understood that the couple's age must be above 40. The dresses of the couple were untidy. The face of the couple told her that they had not even slept properly. She used her phone flashlight to get a clear view of them. Now their faces were visible. The young girl’s face turned into excitement after looking at the faces of the couple.

"You are looking like our daughter. Please save us! Save us!" begged the woman to the young girl.

"Don’t worry! I will help you. There is a railway station nearby. It will just take 5 minutes to reach the railway station. Come on, I will show you the direction." whispered the young girl looking at the couple.

The young girl held the woman’s left wrist and started to run. After meeting the young girl, the couple had a strong feeling that they would escape this time. That young girl's motive now was just to save them.

Soon they reached the railway station, and the couples tried to hide their handcuffs in front of the public. The young girl recognized their predicament and sympathized with them. She immediately took a dupatta from her rucksack travel bag and she tied the dupatta over the handcuff to hide it from others. The young girl got the train tickets for them from Mumbai to Bangalore.

Finally, they reached their compartment in the train. The couple sat inside the train compartment in their respective places. But still, their hearts were racing fast. "What if they were caught by him this time also?" was the question running through their minds.

That young girl noticed a small canteen on the platform. She went to the canteen and bought tea, a water bottle, and biscuits for the couple. She gave the things to the couple in the gaps between the windows. The couple was astonished to see a young girl helping them in this situation.

"Uncle, this train will depart from Mumbai in 10 minutes. You will reach Bangalore within the next 22 hours. My uncle is currently residing in Bangalore; he will help you. "

She took a purse from her rucksack travel bag and gave the man her uncle’s visiting card. That man didn’t look at the visiting card, but he was busy looking at the young girl's face.

"After you both reach Bangalore, just go to the address mentioned in the visiting card. My uncle will help you." She said, with a small grin on her face.

Again, she opened her purse and took the amount of 2000 rupees from her purse and gave it to that man. But he refused to get the money.

So that young girl held the woman’s hand and placed the amount on it, then folded the woman’s hands into fists and placed her hands above the woman’s fist. The couple looked at each other for a moment.

"You didn’t even ask about why we are wearing these handcuffs? You don't even know what is happening in our lives. We are just strangers to you, but you are ready to help us? Why? Do you know the consequence that you are going to get after helping us? HE WILL... KILL YOU……" said the woman with a trembling voice.

"We are not strangers. We have met before 13 years. You both don’t remember me because I am grown up, but I remember you. I know the consequences also, after helping you. I am ready to sacrifice my life to save you both. " The young girl said those words, determinedly looking at them.

The couple was lost in their world, thinking about who this young girl might be. Within a minute, the train started to move from its position slowly. The young girl slowly walked along with the train to have an interaction with them.

"Do you still don’t remember me, Mr. and Mrs. Laddu?" asked the young girl with a naughty smile on her face. The couple was surprised by the girl's appearance. The man caressed the girl’s head with his hands in the gap of the window. The woman had tears in her eyes.

"Riddhima!!!" said the woman in her sweet voice.

The young girl nodded her head and said, "Yes, your Riddhima. Have a safe journey, Ajay uncle and Uma aunt!" The train started to move fast. Riddhima stopped walking along with the train and waved her hand to bid them bye. The couple also waved their hands.

After sending the couple safely on the train, Riddhima arrived at her home and knocked on the door. The door opened and she noticed the two people who hated and cursed her since birth standing in front of her. Rishab Malhotra, her uncle, frowned while looking at Riddhima. He is a gambler and an alcoholic.

Riddhima was scared when looking at her uncle and aunt. But she held her face high with lots of confidence. She entered the living area when she was about to move to her room, located in the garden area. Her aunt, Mayuri held her hands and asked her to remove her travel bags. She was about to remove her bag when her uncle quickly plucked it from her hands.

"How much money did your Bangalore uncle give you this time?" asked Rishab, searching through the rucksack travel bag. Riddhima didn’t open her mouth.

"Your Uncle, Shankar is an affluent person in this society. He would have given you some money. Just tell me where the money is. " Mayuri asked her in an investigating tone.

Rishab noticed only 8,000 rupees in the purse. Mayuri was shocked to look at Riddhima’s purse. Whenever Riddhima came from Bangalore, she used to bring 75,000 rupees. They couldn’t even digest the fact that everything except the money was missing after looking at the purse. They collapsed her entire rucksack travel bag.

"Where is the money? Did you steal it? "shouted Rishab at the top of his voice.

Riddhima was exasperated after hearing the words steal from his uncle’s mouth. It is her money that her uncle used to give her for her educational purposes. But she controlled her emotions.

Riddhima opened her mouth and gave him a reply, “Uncle has created a bank account for me. He told me that he will deposit money in the bank.”

“So your mother’s brother and you won’t believe us. So you are storing the money in the bank. Because of your mother's side relative, my entire family has been destroyed into pieces. Rishi, your father was a very powerful person in the water clan. After marring your mother yazhini, our entire water clan was demolished. Now, we are working as slaves for other mafia clans. Do you know the reason for our current pathetic situation? Then definitely it will be your mother.” said annoyed Rishab.

Riddhima couldn’t control her anger anymore, she couldn’t tolerate her mother’s degradation.

“Not another word about my mother, you don’t have any rights to talk about my mother and uncle. Before 13 years, that tragic thing happened in my life. My uncle was ready to adopt me and take me to Bangalore. But you stopped it and told him that you will take care of your brother’s daughter. What have you done for me till now? You know the answer; you have done nothing for me. My mother didn’t demolish the water clan, it was you who lost all the money because of gambling and drinking alcohol.” Said a furious Riddhima.

Mayuri gave a tight slap on Riddhima’s face for her words on Rishab.

“Is this the way you talk with your uncle, give some respect to him because he is elder than you. Yes, we have done nothing for you. Why should we spend money uselessly on you? You are like a hen that laid golden eggs for us. We will get a lot of money from your Bangalore uncle by using you. Now immediately go to your room” jeered Mayuri by holding Riddhima's arms and pushing her on the floor.

Riddhima stood up and started to run into the garden area, she opened her room which is allocated a little far away from the house. Her room was like a storeroom. The walls of the room are built with bricks and the roof is covered with color-coated sheets. The size of the room is 10*10.

It was a room where only five people can stand in that room. In the room corner, there was a kitchen set up with only two vessels for her. In another corner, her books and dresses were just kept in an old suitcase. That particular room is Riddhima’s bedroom, kitchen, study room, etc...,

She rested her head on the old sofa by sitting on the floor. Tears started to flow from eyes to cheeks like waterfalls. Suddenly someone caressed her head from behind. Riddhima closed her eyes and just hugged the person. That person broke the hug and wiped Riddhima's tears with a dupatta.

“Stop crying, my dear sister. It is our fate that we were born in a mafia family. We have already faced a lot of situations like this. This is not new to us. You are my brave girl, aren’t you?” mumbled Ahana Malhotra daughter of Rishab and Mayuri.

Riddhima glanced at her cousin who was sitting near her. Ahana was her only happiness in Mumbai. Ahana is the only person in this family who supports and takes care of her. Ahana was currently studying her higher studies at arts and science college. Her parents refused to give her an education due to money issues, but Riddhima somehow convinced Ahana’s parents and asked Ahana to continue her higher studies.

“Doctor, when you are going to your medical college?” questioned Ahana pushing a morsel of food into her mouth.

“Tomorrow Ahana. we will be visiting the hospital to have some practical sessions.” Stated Riddhima to Ahana.

Riddhima was currently pursuing her MBBS degree at a reputed college in Mumbai. Ahana asked her to sleep and left the room by switching off the light.

Suddenly, Riddhima remembered about that couple. She quickly took her phone by sending a text message to her Shankar uncle in Bangalore.

Uncle, please inform me. If Ajay uncle and Uma aunt reached safely to Bangalore.

After sending the message, she drifted off to sleep by thinking about that couple.

Do you believe that pair can be rescued?

Who is attempting to imprison the couple?