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Chapter 14
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The waterfront indoor venue on the sprawling 240-acre private beach was a sun-soaked glass building set atop a cliff that offered sweeping views of the big, Pacific blue ocean and kelp forest. The crashing waves and seagull chorus blended in with the ambient music and guests' chatter.
Rafael had packed his wedding bags and arrived at the adjoining beach house to get ready with his best man and groomsmen several hours before Ruhi's arrival. He wanted to avoid all the noise and the circus field that part of his once peaceful mansion had turned into, thanks to her folks.
He couldn't wait for everybody to leave and for his life to go back to being normal, with his dad minding his business, Alisha in a better mood, and his friends not asking any more stupid questions or coming up with new theories.
The only unwanted addition would be Ruhi, a pain in the ass, who he has to slowly push away. He didn't expect her to act any better than a ho
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"Rafael, wait up!" His dad followed him when he saw Rafael running out of the beach house."Where are you going?" He asked, huffing and puzzled. "The guests are all here.""Ruhi seems to be in danger.""It's been taken care of. A black limo that wasa couple of vehicles in front of oursgot attacked, and the bride waskidnapped.""Are you sure Ruhi's okay? Landon called me a couple of times.""He just wanted to know if he should interfere because those guys seemed to be armed. They are almost here, nothing to worry about.""Okay good. I will wait for them. Ruhi isn't answering my call.""She's fine, and you aren't supposed to see the bride before the wedding.""Oh, come on, dad! ""Rafael, it's bad luck. If you are worried about history repeating and Ruhi getting killed, remember that you should put some faith in God and follow some customs and traditions."Rafael went upstairs and called Land
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Ruhi saw a black Nissan Rogue parked on a quiet street in the corner, hidden from the wedding venue by rows of cypress trees and live oaks. She didn't know how to stop the golf cart, which already looked somewhat battered on theside from riding along the rugged terrain.After passing by the car and failing to stop, she jumped out of the cart and let it roll down the street. "Hey!! It's not public property. We rented it." One of the two men, who was wearing a forest green hoodie and black cap, ran behind the rolling cart. Dhruv stepped out of the car. "Oh finally!It took these guys forever to sneak that cart in." He wrapped her in a hug and laughed at her condition, dragging sand with her trailing gown and a missing shoe. "Such useless idiots, claiming to be kidnappers," she muttered under her breath and then asked out loud,"Who trained you guys?" "No one. We learn by experience and from our mistakes." The second
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Rosy cheeks, long and curled lashes. So caught up in her eyes, Rafael was barely aware of anyone else at that moment.'Can't even staymad at her.' Hethought as hebrushed a lock of hair from herface.Ruhi forgot to breatheever since hislips pressed against her cheek, and the light touch of his warm fingers was electric. She wanted to pull him closer and capturehis lips with her own. Letting out a little sigh, she writhedher hands against the tightly knotted tieand triedto talk to him.She looked too sweet and vulnerable for him to handle."What?" He finally removed the gag and looked away from her mouth."I need to pee.""Way to ruin a moment. Good job," Eddy, who was sitting right across with a clear view of these two,huffed out a laugh."No way! I'm never going to trust you again about not running away. No bathroom breaks for you." Rafael shut the door and walked to th
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Once Rafael's dad waved them goodbye and wished them a safe trip, Ruhi hopped into the car with a heavy heart. She was quiet and lost, not bothering Rafael at all.He would have snapped at her extra hard if she did. His throat was tightened with an unwanted emotion, a feeling he had always struggled to kick down once it took over.He remembered every single detail about the day his mom died, about how pretty she looked when he saw her that morning. It was the day he returned from a week-long stay at his grandparents' place.Her long, golden brown locks curled around her face as she put a tray full of his favorite mintchocolate chip cookiesinto the oven. He ran to wrap his arms around her feet in excitement and kissed the tiny baby bump. His dad told him on the way home he was going to get a little sister."My Rafy boy has grown tall in just a week!" She struggled to pick him up and kiss him. "So tall and heavy." She swung&nbs
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"You can go. I won't get mad at all. Have fun." Ruhi tried to push Dhruv away, asking him to hang out with his friends so that she could spend some time alone.She wasn't particularly in a mood to drink, dance, or explore anything. She was afraid of running into Rafael and Alisha while they were making out somewhere."Let's shower and then decide," Dhruv said and tapped the key card once they reached the suite. His friends were staying one level below them but on the same side of the ship.Within ten minutesof setting their stuff down and exploring the lavish suite and going through food menus for dinner options, Dhruv and Ruhi heard a knock on the door. His friends showed up with a poker set in a suitcase.Ruhi groaned in disapproval.'These losers are going to play poker all night like always.' She thought.Dhruv had once planned a trip toSmokey Mountains from Atlanta, and Ruhi was super excited about seeing the fal
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"Aren't you going to change?" Ruhi asked Rafael hesitantly when he set his plate on the tableand sat down next to her.She was glad no one saw what she did. Alisha and Michelle ignored her and showed each other some pictures of their nieces and nephews. Adira looked like she had a problem with Ruhi sitting next to Rafael. She stirred somecreamer into her coffee with a grim face and refused to meet Ruhi's questioning gaze. Her husband, Eddy, Aaron, and Irene were very amused by the newly married couple."Your first fight, huh?" Irene asked Ruhi as Ruhi looked helplessly at Rafael."Correction: First fight today," Aaron chuckled.Rafael ignored them andglowered at Ruhiwith narrowed eyes and poked at the hash brown crusted quiche a little too hard with his fork. Her eyes lingered on him as he quickly gobbled his food."Looks like you don't need to eat. Are you just going to stare at him while he's eating and feel fu
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The main pool deck and the adults-only sun deck were transformed into a nightclub with an illuminating atmosphere.The DJ was spinning some 70s tunes whilemouthwatering mojitos were being served on the house. "A twenty-four hour pizzeria and sushi bar! How awesome!" Ruhi said and grabbed a dark rum strawberry mojito. "Wait, wait!" Anita stopped her from taking a sip and put her ocean blue mojitonext to Ruhi's and clicked a picture. "Damn! Your sister is here." Dhruv said and started looking for Rafael. "Give her one of these free drinks. She will be rolling on the floor in no time," Ruhi smirked and movedcloser to the sundeck. She felt someone tug at her arm and turn her around to go back to the pool deck. "Come on. We will be eating some sushi." Rafael said to her, standing withAdira and Irene. Ruhi reluctantly placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her to the others. "There's a
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Ruhi turned around to look at herself in the mirror when she tasted blood.Her lower lip was bleeding, and she was sure her neck was going to have at least five bruises. She could feel the skin tingling in several spots while her core was still on fire, feeling deprived of his closeness.Adira was flashing angry looks at her reflection in the mirror, but Ruhi ignored her existencefor a minute to understand what just happened.Her face was a shade of deep red and she couldn't help blushing, despite all the confusion.She hissed at her sister when she broke the silence, interrupting her excited thoughts."How does it feel? Stealing someone'sboyfriend, depriving them of the happiness they deserve?""What?" Ruhi turned around to face her sister. "Since when did you start siding with Alisha? You always like to take my opposing side, don't you? Doesn't matter who you support, as long as it isn't me.""I'm not talking about t
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SEVEN YEARS LATER It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with some cooling summer showers pouringdown outside the window whileRafael spent a good amount of time in his study. He was lagging behind quite a bit because he spent all day at the water park yesterday and left work early even on Friday afternoon to attend his daughter's ballet performance. He got up from his seat and stretched before stepping out to see what Ruhi and his little Snookums were up to. Even though he wanted to finish all the piled up stuff, he had gone two hours without seeing them and it felt like too much on a Sunday. He walked down to the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about. Ruhi was watching something very seriously on her daughter'spink laptop while the little girl was busy whisking butter and molten chocolate. She got chocolate mousse on both her chubby cheeks while Ruhi got a good amount on her nose. "Papa! You were not supposed to come out until w
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Rafael had always imagined death to start with some blinding light where all the best moments of his life wouldflash by him and then follow with an abyss of darkness. At least that's what he heard people say it would be like.The gunshots were still ringing in his ears long after the darkness, but the blinding light never came. The pain and the hopelessness sure felt like death.Among the many regrets he had, he regretted not being able to say a proper goodbye. Ruhi had never believed how unconditionally he loved her. He knew he did a poor job showing his feelings toher, except that he could prove that he would die for her, willing to do so over and over.He wanted to hear Ruhi's voice one last time before falling unconscious. His body was going numb, but a shooting painunfurled in the deepest pit of his stomach when he thought about the image of Ruhi lying on the floor.Was she conscious? He couldn't remember. Everything happened too quic
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"Oh, I seriously loved what you fed me. I don't know what this is.""Well, let me fix something light so that you don't go hungry. The doctor will be on his way if you throw up again." His voice trailed off as he walked back into the kitchen.Pushing the stray locks of her hair out of her sweaty forehead, she looked at the time on her phone and groaned, her head still slightly spinning. She slept for almost ten hours last night after getting rid of her dinner and felt exhausted at barely ninein the morning.Rafael stepped into the bedroom with a bowl full of chicken soup forty minutes later, and she was in for another surprise. She wished she knew how to cook a soup withthat perfect consistency and flavor he achieved seemingly effortlessly. Watching the heavy raindrops hit the window panes persistently, she stared out at the dark sky while sipping on the warm liquid."Huh, so no sightseeing today?" She asked Rafael, who was looking at her with
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No matter how much Rafael hated to move to a different room, Ruhi was super adamant, and hehad no other option but to leave the room. He hoped the next morning to be better and planned a day full of fun things to do. He missed the good old times where all she wanted was to eat a good meal with him at a restaurant and make him watch some kids' movies.She answered his call after deliberately missing it the first two times. He assumed she was sleeping. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. Without him by her side, she tossed and turned until the stormy predawn sky gave way to some daylight outside the huge glass windows."Wake up, sleepyhead. We have reservations for breakfast at a lakeside cafe here.""What makes you think I'm still in my bed. I ate breakfast already."Rafael's face fell when he heard that. It was barely 9 AM and Ruhi was still in bed on weekends, so he didn't expect her to be out already when on vacation."Where are you
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"Do I really want to talk to her? I don't think so." Ruhi crumpled the paper with Adira's number on it."Well, we can't trust anything she says, but I think we should hear her out. Also, I need to track her location. So just talk to her for a few minutes and---""I don't want to help you kill her, Rafael."Rafael entered the number into Ruhi's phone and made the call before turning the speaker on."Ruhi... I-I'm sorry. Please, please, help me. There are some half a dozen men with guns chasing me. I feel scared. Ruhi? Are you there?""How could you lie to Gus about something like that? Don't you know he still hasn't moved on?" Ruhi asked reluctantly,confused about how she felt when talking to her sister. She never wanted to talk to her again after finding outshe wanted Gus to kill her."It was... Um, it was Alisha's idea. I just told her Raina had a sister. She came up with this idea to make a deal with him
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It took a lot of courage for Ruhi to utter those four words, knowing full well Rafael wasn't going to let her go that easily. If he was a person to reason with and walk away with mutual understanding, she would have never tried so hard to run away from him. As she expected, his eyes flared, smoldering with what seemed to be fury, and his body grew rigidabove her, taut with tension."What?"He rolled onto his side and forced her to meet his gaze."You heardme. I can't live like this anymore. I want out, and I mean it."He flinched slightly at the steely resolution in her eyes. His gaze was feverishly raking her up and down, with disbelief clearly written all over his face. She was equally baffled that he hadn't seen this coming. She wondered if he was being deliberately dense."Ruhi, I know you didn't deserve the treatment you got from me." He stroked her cheek back and forth with hislong thumb. "It's not fair that I make a mistake
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"A honeymoon..."Ruhi quietly pushed Rafael's hand away and put her seatbelt on. He expected her to put up a fight orrun out of the car and was shocked to see her stare out of the window in resignation.Zack approached the car but was blocked by Harry. He handed Ruhi's cellphone, laptop, and money back to Harry. Rafael told him to hold on to them as he believed Ruhi wouldn't run without those things. He also wanted to make sure she didn't call her sister and ask her to run instead."Drive!" She told him in an impatient voice when he stalled inside the car, checking his work emails quickly."Ruhi, I don't mean to force you into---""What part of my intentions isnot clear to you? Doyou really think I'd run away from you to show you I want to go on a honeymoon? What kind of logic is that?"Rafael opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he saw the look on her face. She was royally pissed, unlike all those ot
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"Are you serious?" Ruhi couldn't believe her ears.He ignored her and focused on his phone when Zack texted and then called him."No, no weapons and none of his men. He can go back if he doesn't agree."She waited for him to finish talking on the phone while peeking into the coffee mug he left on the table."Was that dark rum or black coffee? Didyou really mean it when you said I can go?""Pack your stuff before I change my mind."She darted upthe stairs but stopped when she heard Zack enter the house with a pissed off face and announce something to Gus. When did he ever look happy? She wondered and turned back to the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she heard Rafael's name.Climbing back down the spiral staircase, she walked towards the door to listen to their conversation."Just one then. Check thoroughly.""Check who?" She asked Gus, who ignored her again and went to grab some stu
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"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k
