A Heart That Bleeds

Chapter Five

Hey guys hope you all are eager to read further. It's an emotional story so get ready for an emotional ride until the end😁

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We can't control what's going in our life. Sometimes we've to do that we had never liked!

Nandini rushed out and headed straight towards the elevator. She attracted attention of the staff but she cared nothing except her peace. In a minute she was on the other side of the road, looking over her shoulder at the pristine building for the last time perhaps. For a moment her eyes caught his sight again that she didn't want to see ever. Wasting no time she took the narrow path downhill having no clue where was the path leading her to.

Without looking back, she ran as fast as she could until she came to a screeching halt when luckily her eyes spotted the stream flowing below the edge of the hill. Panting for air she perched on a rock and examined the surroundings. The chirping of birds, the beautiful sunrays being reflected from the stream, the gurgling of the water over the rocks brought an instant calm to her racing heart. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Few seconds later when she exhaled she felt a strange calmness in her heart. It could be suggestive of the calmness before a storm.

"Nandini you can't run away from me?" Those words were enough to whisk away the serenity of her heart. Her heart thumped harder still she managed to control her emotions.

"Why are you here?" She asked, her eyes still lingering in the direction of the stream.

"Still that same boring Nandini in salwar kameez!" He mocked making her turn her head towards him. "Come on upgrade yourself from that typical middle class look!" His lips curled in disdain.

"Are you here to lecture on my look? Don't you have any other work Mr Malhotra?" She pretended to give a confident look. Manik sneered thinking how long would she put up her show of confidence.

"Since you're my employee you need to upgrade yourself! You know just like phones are updated every few months, you need to upgrade your tacky dressing sense or else you would be deemed as obsolete and outdated!" He made a mockery of her personality.

"That's none of your concern!" She snapped back and took a step to leave the spot but a tight grip on her elbow stopped her marching feet.

"Told you, you can't leave the job so soon!" He tightened his hold.

"Leave me!" She begged, her eyes almost welled up. She felt disgusted, his touch seemed to soil her pure heart.

"You can't leave at all!" He smirked, "I'm not saying this!" He released her and raised his one hand in the air, "But this thing says you know!" He held some papers before her.

"Come on Nandini! I think you've read the clauses of the contract before signing it!" Nandini held her head as soon as she remembered about the contract. But still she was adamant in her decision. She didn't want to work under him.

"Let me very clear to you! If you leave before two years you need to pay a lump sum of 5 lac rupees! Pay me 5 lac and you're free!" He said stuffing the contract in the breast pocket of his suit.

"I-I can't pay that much amount!" Her voice croaked.

"I can sue you! You got that!" All at once he grabbed her wrist, twisting it hard at her back, enough to make her whimper in pain. "And I'm pretty sure you don't have the money to file a case against me!" He came dangerously close to her.

"Please leave me!" She cried but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"I've a better option for you! You can work in my agency until you pay me 5 lac rupees!" His hold tightened. A red mark appeared on her delicate skin.