"What did you just say?" Jevan demanded."I'm pregnant." She said."That... That must be a joke, right?" He chuckled darkly. "It's a prank."Sarita turned and left. She returned a minute later with an envelope and passed it to her mother who opened the flap of the envelope and took out the content inside. Priya let out a gasp when she saw the sonogram.Jevan stared at the sonogram in his wife's hand, feeling like he'd been hit by a wrecking ball and looked over at his daughter. He didn't want to believe that she was pregnant but the proof was there. He knew what a sonogram was."How far along are you?" He asked."Three weeks." Sarita stared at her father from under her lashes wondering why he looked so calm. It was a calmness that terrified her because she knew he was probably concocting something sinister in his head."That's fine." He breathed. "It's not too late to terminate it." He stood up."What?" Sarita and her mother chorused, wearing similar expressions of shock on their face
Sarita looked up at the sky worriedly as the thunder rumbled and lightning bolts flashed across the dark sky. It was a sign of rain and she began to pray that Vikrant would get to her house before it started to rain because she was sure his father wouldn't want him driving in the rain. She'd have to go back into the house, back into the room where she'd had that horrendous nightmare and wait for her father to make his threat a reality. She couldn't have that. She refused to let her father commit murder because of his hatred for Vikrant Suryavanshi. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a black car pull up two houses down from hers and a second later, someone alighted from the car, shut the car door and began to walk in the direction of her house. "Vikrant?" She called. "Anu?" She shot up from her place on the porch and raced down the driveway to fling herself at him. A sob caught in her throat as his strong arms wrapped around her and she burrowed her face in his neck, inhaling
"Sarita, is everything okay?" Rohan asked her when she walked into the living room with Vikrant. "Sit. I'll have a maid bring you water." He left. "No, sir." She found that there was no use lying to Vikrant's father. She was, after all, here in his house and not her father's house. "I told my parents about the baby and my father told me to terminate it." "What?" Rohan and Amalia exchanged puzzled glances. "He threatened to hurt me and my baby if I disobeyed, so I ran away." She said. "You'll be safe here." Rohan assured her. Vikrant returned with a glass of water and gave it to her then settled down beside her. "Thank you." She gulped down the water and he took the glass from her and set it on the coffee table. "Didn't you tell him who the father of your baby is?" Amalia inquired. "He must think you were raped by Pablo or Lorenzo." "He thought that at first, but I told him the whole story and..." Her voice wavered. "It's okay. Say no more." Vikrant said. She looked like it p
"Jevan! Watch your words!" Priya scolded him. "Do not say such terrible things about your daughter.""I'm going to have you arrested for rape." Jevan swore, wagging his finger at Vikrant. "You raped my daughter!""I did not!" Vikrant protested, getting to his feet as well. "Sarita told me the whole truth." Jevan said. "I read her diary and I saw everything she wrote in it. How you beat her up and raped her!""I didn't do it on my own volition! I was ordered to!" Vikrant refuted. "They were going to kill her.""I don't want to listen to you anymore." Jevan shook his head. "Please leave.""You are really going to have my son arrested? You're going to take him to court?" Rohan asked, getting to his feet. "Are you sure about that?""I know you have a lot of money, sir, but a crime is a crime and your son committed one." Jevan answered. "I'll take him to court.""Very well, then." Rohan nodded. "See you in court, then." He grabbed Vikrant's hand and stormed out in anger."I hope you know
A month later "You don't have to kill anyone because of me." Sarita informed her father in a flat voice. Her face was devoid of any expression and the words she was about to utter made her heart ache. "You want me to come back home, right? I'll come back... but after I've delivered my baby." "That is months from now." Her father protested. "Take it or leave it." Sarita bit out. "I have just less than six months before I graduate from high school. I have seven months to go before I give birth." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Let me deliver this baby in peace... then I'll go with you to India." Vikrant grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. Confusion etched on his face and a flicker of hurt flashed in his eyes before it vanished so fast that she wondered if she'd only imagined it. "What are you saying, Anu?" He demanded. "You're just going to leave?" Sarita looked at his beloved face and she let him see what she couldn't show her father; the pain and despair
A Month later "Desperate hussy." "Slut." "Just another notch in his bed post." Sarita hung her head in shame as she stood in front of her locker at school, trying to open her locker but failing miserably as she tried to keep her tears at bay. Everyone in school had heard of her pregnancy and they weren't nice about their comments when they realized that Vikrant Suryavanshi was the father of her baby. It was worse as the rumor going around the school was that Vikrant didn't want the baby and dumped her for someone else. She was called different names but it wasn't to her face since no one wanted to incur the wrath of Kalyani Singh or her other knight in shining armor; Michael Tanner. Unfortunately, despite being her protectors, they couldn't tell the truth because Vikrant had expressly forbidden them from telling anyone, so they'd kept their mouths shut. "Don't listen to them." Raj said. Sarita whirled around to look at Raj. She eyed him over in disgust but said nothing to h
Sarita had dreaded Divya's return but surprisingly, nothing happened when she came face to face with Divya in the hallways. Divya had even politely asked her how she was, which had caught her off guard but she figured that it was because there were witnesses including Vikrant so she couldn't try anything. "You took my man from me!" Divya yelled, the knife in her hand pointed at Sarita's stomach. "I didn't do it on purpose! I swear! It just happened!" Sarita pleaded. "Getting pregnant doesn't just happen!" Divya huffed arrogantly. "Unless one plans it! I'm going to enjoy killing you, Sarita Madhav." Her maniacal laughter sent chills up Sarita's spine. "Vikrant Suryavanshi will be mine!" Divya stabbed her. "No, please!" Sarita cried out from her dream and jerked awake. "Miss Madhav, are you okay?" The geography teacher, Mrs Winston inquired. Sarita looked around with unfocused, fearful eyes that glistened with tears until she heard someone snicker and she shook her head to clear
A Month later Due to reasons best known to her alone, Sarita kept postponing her visit to the hospital for her appointment. She was supposed to have gone for her second check up but she refused to do so. Her mother bugged her about it, got no tangible reason from her and left her to it. It was her life, she thought, she was the one carrying the baby so she could damn well do anything she wanted. "Ma'am." Sarita raised her hand to get the attention of her geometry teacher. "You can ask your questions after I'm done." Mrs Clarke said. "Can I be excused?" Sarita felt like her bladder would burst if she didn't get a move on. "I need to use the restroom." "Of course." She said. "Thank you." She shot to her feet and hurried out of the class. Her classmates burst out laughing. "What's funny?" Mrs Clarke demanded. "She walks like a penguin." A girl snickered. "So I walk like a penguin?" Mrs Clarke arched a brow, resting her hand on her protruding belly. She was also pregnant. The