Page 65 of One Hellish Desire

“If anything happens to Daadi, I’ll make sure you all repent. You’ve tortured her enough. No more,” Maahi continues to scream. I step in, dragging her away.

“Stop,” I say, trying to calm her down, but she struggles against me.

“Leave me,” she yells, shaking off my grip once we’re at a distance.

“Calm down,” I urge.

“I can’t. I can’t believe Daadi has a family like yours. If families are like this,” she points at my parents, “I’m glad I don’t have one.”

She kicks a table in frustration, hurting herself and is about to fall, but I catch her. I won’t let her fall. Ever. She looks at me with pain in her eyes.

“Hurting yourself won’t fix this,” I say gently.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she snarls. I’ve never seen her so out of control. Her fiery spirit matches mine perfectly.

The door to Daadi’s room opens, and the doctor steps out. We rush to him.

“How is Daadi?” I ask.

“She’s out of danger. It was a panic attack. She’s had a few before. I suggest keeping her stress-free to avoid future attacks, which could be worse.”

“Can I see her?” Maahi asks, her voice filled with pain.

“Yes, but only one at a time.”

Maahi rushes inside without waiting for us to decide. She deserves to be with Daadi now.

The doctor leaves, and I arrange for a nurse to stay full-time until Daadi recovers. I turn to my parents.

“You told Daadi about Devki Estate?” I ask Dad directly.

“I’m not a fool,” he replies.

Mom frowns at me. “I don’t hate her enough to put her through this. I didn’t say anything.”

I nod. “Fine, but now that she knows, we need to be cautious. I don’t want Daadi to take any more stress.”

“We should leave and forget about the estate, Vanraj,” Mom suggests. “I know it’s important, but we can deal with it later.”

Dad remains silent and I show no interest in it either. All I do is wait for Maahi to come out so I can check on Daadi too.

MAAHI

When I step into the room, Daadi is resting peacefully. I don’t want to disturb her, but I need to touch her, to make sure she’s okay. I sit beside her bed, holding Daadi’s hand. Tears blur my vision, but I hold them back. I have to be strong. Daadi is the one person I can’t let lose hope. I kiss her hand and sit there, time slipping away unnoticed.

When Daadi opens her eyes, the first thing she does is touch my head. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep until I felt her touch.

“Daadi,” I say, sitting up and holding her hand. “How are you feeling?”

She blinks to assure me she’s okay and tries to sit up.

“Don’t get up. You need to rest. We were all so worried about you.”

She presses my hand and nods. The nurse returns to check her vitals, and Vikram follows. I step back to give him space. He sits beside Daadi and gently caresses her head.

“You scared us all,” he says softly.

She smiles weakly at him. “Help her,” she insists, pointing at me. We all know what she means. Vikram glances at me and, without hesitation, nods.

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