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Yug's anger had reached its peak. As Shera tried to step forward, Yug raised a finger—his signal for Shera to stop.
Without wasting a second, Mannat walked out. Shera motioned everyone to move on and focus on work. Yug stormed toward the elevator at a furious speed of 180.
The office atmosphere was extremely tense. Everyone was terrified—today's "earthquake" was bound to bring destruction. Yug entered his cabin and slammed his hand on the desk. He touched his cheeks, reliving the slap he had received in front of everyone. To calm his fury, he punched the walls hard two or three times until his hands started bleeding.
Just then, Shera rushed in and tried to stop him. Yug, still burning with rage, shouted at him, "Get lost!"
Shera stuttered, "S-Sir..."
Losing all control, Yug roared, "Can't you hear? I said get lost!"
Shera quickly exited the cabin. Gritting his teeth, Yug muttered, "You've made a huge mistake, Mannat Aggarwal. You'll pay for this—today."
After leaving Bajaj Industries, Mannat took an auto to the hospital. When she arrived, Mr. Keshav asked worriedly, "Child, where did you go? I've been so worried about you!"
Mannat said, "Papa, I just…"
Before she could finish, Naina jumped in, "Oh Mannat! You're still not home? You're wearing yesterday's clothes! Go, freshen up quickly."
The night before, when the doctor had said Yuvraj was out of danger, Naina and Pihu had returned home.
Mr. Keshav added, "Yes, child. Let's go home, or you'll fall ill."
Everyone except Mayank had already left the hospital to rest after a sleepless night. Once home, Mannat went to her room and broke down crying. Pihu, unable to bear seeing her like that, tried to comfort her. But what could she do? Pihu also had to go to college. Still, how could she leave Mannat crying? She sat beside her, resting her head on Mannat's shoulder. Both sat quietly on the bed.
Mannat asked, "Don't you have to go to college?"
"I do… but I can't leave you like this," Pihu said, saddened.
Showing a bit of annoyance, Mannat said, "Pihu, you go to college first. I'm totally fine. Got it?"
Pihu replied, "Alright, Di. I'll go, but only if you promise not to cry." After comforting her, Pihu left for college.
Trying to stay strong, Mannat went to the washroom. After 35–40 minutes, she came out, freshened up, lay on the bed without eating anything, and began thinking about everything that had happened.
Meanwhile, at Bajaj Industries, Yug made a phone call in anger, "Pick her up. I'll meet you at the villa." After ending the call, he touched his cheek again and muttered, "You'll regret this, baby. You messed with the wrong man."
Around 2 PM, Yug arrived at the villa. Shera came up and said, "Boss, this guy is causing trouble. What should we do?"
Yug said angrily, "Shut him up."
Shera went inside, took an injection from a box, and injected it into the man's neck—silencing him.
Returning to Yug, Shera asked, "Boss, what next?"
Yug sat on a king-size sofa, crossed one leg over the other, lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and said, "You don't have to do anything now. I'll handle the rest. You may leave."
Around 3:00 PM, Mannat left for the hospital. She had barely walked a short distance from her home when her phone rang.
It was an unknown number. She ignored it and got into an auto to head to the hospital.
Just twenty minutes later, the phone rang again. This time, she answered, "Hello? Who's this?"
There was no response. Irritated, Mannat said, "If you don't want to talk, then why call?" and hung up.
As she was putting the phone back into her purse, it rang again. Annoyed, she answered it, ready to lash out, when a voice barked, "How dare you cut my call?"
The voice sounded familiar. Shocked, Mannat asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm your heartbeat, baby. Don't you recognize me? How can you forget me? We just met this morning. If you suffer from forgetfulness, I want to be your cure—so you never forget me again."
Before he could finish, Mannat, grinding her teeth in fury, snapped, "How dare you talk to me like that?"
Yug chuckled darkly, "Talk like what? Baby, this is just the beginning. You have no idea what I'm going to do next. So tell me—want to see the trailer or the full movie? The choice is yours."
"Stop this nonsense! I don't have time for your rubbish," Mannat retorted.
She was just about to cut the call when Yug screamed, "Don't you dare hang up again! Or your fiancé and your father will be sharing a hospital room!"
Furious, Mannat yelled, "Don't you dare mention my father with that filthy mouth of yours! Have you already forgotten the effect of that slap?"
The moment Yug heard "slap," his anger exploded like a volcano. In a chilling tone, he said, "I'm sending you an address right now. Come and take your father back." And he hung up.
Mannat kept saying "Hello? Hello?" but the call was dead. A moment later, she received an address and a photo of her father—unconscious. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead. "P… Papa…" she stammered.
Terrified, she ran toward the road, flagged down an auto, and headed to the address, praying all the way that her father was okay. But who would help her now?
After about an hour, Mannat finally reached the address—Marine Drive, from Kandivali.
It was a massive villa spread over acres. The color was light grey, and the nameplate read "Bajaj Villa." Mannat, hiding her fear, approached the guard.
Showing him the address, she said, "I was called here."
The guard, as if expecting her, replied, "Yes, ma'am. Please go inside."
Inside, Yug was watching her through security cameras. Mannat wiped the sweat from her forehead as she hurried in.
The villa looked beautiful, but she didn't care. She rushed toward the main door, took God's name, and opened it.
Walking in cautiously, wiping the sweat from her brow and clenching her hands together, she entered a large hall where Yug Bajaj sat on a king-size sofa.
He looked like a demon in a rage, holding a remote, staring at a giant LED screen. On it was an image of Mr. Keshav—unconscious.
Mannat screamed, "P-P-Papa!"
Hearing her, Yug looked at her with a dangerous smile. He stood up and began walking toward her.
Mannat shouted, "Where is my father? What have you done to him?"
"Shhh... You care so much about your father? Then tell me—how far would you go to save him?" Yug whispered.
Wiping her tears, Mannat said, "What do you want?"
Yug circled her like a predator, staring at her obsessively. "What can you even offer me? What do you have that's worth anything?"
Pointing her finger at him, Mannat barked, "Stop your filthy talk and speak clearly!"
"Oh, you want clear talk? Then let's talk business. I'm a businessman. I don't make deals that bring losses."
As soon as Mannat heard the word "deal," she stared into his eyes and said slowly, "Deal?"
Yug smirked, "Yes. A deal. And in this deal… what I want—is you."
To be continue...