The Vile.

Chapter 16: D's place.

"Sudha.."
"Sudha......"

The faint but persistent voice wakes her up. She slowly raises her head to find her father smiling at her. Derek had to leave early in the morning due to his office. So she came inside and sat beside her father, eventually falling asleep.

"Good morning, baba." She says smiling back at her father.

"You look tired. I know it has been stressful for you." He says slowly rubbing her hand.

"It's nothing baba. Trust me I can handle more." She says.

"I know. You always remind me of your mother. She was like this, brave, strong and intellectual. I miss her." He says.

"I miss her too. But I don't want to miss you that way. So fight hard big guy. You can't do what everyone else did to me. You have to stay with me for the rest of my life. Please." She says, barely controlling her emotions.

"Did you really think I'll leave that easily. Nah.. I am not leaving that soon. I couldn't complete the list of hill stations yet. So many adventures are still out there waiting for me you know." He says winking at her.

"You are incorrigible baba." She says smiling and wiping the tiny drop of tear that peeps out of her eye.

¤¤¤¤¤

"You really didn't need to come to school today Vasudha." Tulip says.
She is the headmistress of the school, the senior most and has always been biased towards her. Vasudha knows how kind she is and feels really grateful to have her as the headmistress.

"It's totally fine ma'am. His surgery starts at 3pm. I can take a few classes till then. It also makes me happy to see the kids." Vasudha says.

"Fine, you must leave at the right time then. Have you eaten anything since morning?" Tulip asks. Her personality is like this. She seems very strict from outside but inside she is just the purest soul.

"Yes, ma'am." She lies looking down at her feet.

Tulip looks at her face for a few seconds, then slowly brings out a tiffin box from her bag.

"Here. Have this, then go to class." She adds. Without uttering another word Vasudha leaves silently. She knows thanking her will only mean belittling her greatness.

¤¤¤¤¤

The kids, the classrooms are everything she looks forward too. They make her happy. They give her the strength to fight for the good. Doing the slightest for them makes her confident.

Everytime she looks at their faces, she sees herself in them. The struggle she has gone through her entire life, the hard work she had to put into everything to achieve whatever she has become today. She feels good to make at least something a little easier for the kids. She makes sure to be the one they can confide in. She makes sure to help them through the tough time of teenage.

She takes her bag and gets ready to leave when her phone rings. Her phone number has been given in the leaflets, so unknown numbers are nothing new to her. She comes out of her school as she receives the call.

"Hello." She says, supporting the phone with her shoulder while putting her bag inside the tiny storage of her scooty.

"Hello, am I speaking to Miss Vasudha Roy?" An unknown male voice says from the other end.

"Yes. Who is this?" Vasudha replies.

"My name is Ojas ma'am. You might as well know me. I work for Mr. Danuj D'." Ojas introduces himself.

The name itself infuriates her from the very core.
"I know none of you. Come straight to point Mr. Ojas." She says as curtly as possible.

"As you wish ma'am. Mr. D' wants to have a meeting with you, regarding Ashroy." Ojas answers.

"Is there anything left to have a conversation about?" She asks.

"That can only be found after you consider having it with him ma'am. Do you agree?" Ojas asks.

This sudden proposal throws her into a weird dilemma. Who knows if this is a plan to harass her and her teammates? On the other hand it can also lead to something fruitful. It might turn out good for the people of Ashroy.

"Fine. When does he want to meet?" Asks Vasudha.

"At the earliest ma'am. How about I pick you up today?" Ojas offers.

"That's not possible. I am not at Ashroy right now and also I would like to bring my friends with me." She says.

"I apologize ma'am. But that won't be possible. He wants to talk to you alone. Otherwise he will prefer not to have it at all." Ojas says.

"Then be it. Let's not have it at all. Everything can't happen according to his terms. He doesn't own every individual. He should know that." She answers.

Ojas tries hard not to chuckle at her straightforwardness but fails.

"Miss Roy, I think you should consider the offer at least once. It might change the fate of those people. It might secure their future." He says.

"And how does that sit well with you? Weren't you one of them?" She asks.

"Right you are ma'am. That's my duty. I serve the D' Imperium. That's where my loyalties lie. But if I am given any opportunity to support them without hampering my loyalty, I will certainly do so." Ojas explains.

"That's good to hear. Fine then, I have recorded your call and am sending the same to my friends. So if anything happens to me, you'll be the one responsible. Give me the address." She says.

"That's not possible ma'am. You don't worry, I will be standing right outside the hospital. Will pick you up after your father's surgery is done. Is that okay? " Ojas utters.

"What?! I can't believe this. He has lowered himself to this? Spying on us? How dare he?" She retorts as she starts to climb on her seat.

"Not spying Miss, only collecting a few necessary information." Ojas says.

"Now I think I do need to talk to him, no matter what." She says closing her eyes out of disbelief.

¤¤¤¤¤

The surgery ended well. She waits till the nurses settle her father's unconscious body on the bed again and comes out of the cabin.

"Do you think this is a right decision? I find it fishy Sudha." Zoya says.

"Me too. But I can't afford to lose this chance. I can't lose any possibility of ensuring their security Zoya." She replies as she takes her bag.

"Fine then. Just give a missed call if you find anything fishy and keep the live location on okay?" Zoya says.

Vasudha nods and turns around to leave. The very moment she comes out of the hospital her cell phone starts ringing. She picks it up.

"At your right ma'am." Ojas's voice utters.

Vasudha turns to her right to find the guy in a black suit. He is not too tall, not too short, has wavy brown hair and a fair complexion, with a brown pair of eyes. He very smoothly and professionally brings forward his right hand for a hand shake and she very swiftly ignores it and folds her hands into a namaste.

"How much time will it take? And where am I going?" She asks.

"It might take one or two hours and I will be taking you to Mr. D's place." Ojas clarifies.

"Fine. As you know I sent your recording to my friends. So whatever is gonna happen next, you'll be the one to blame." She says crossing her arms over her chest.

"I take the responsibility to return you back as safely as possible. That's a promise Miss." He says as he opens the car door for her.

After she's well settled inside Ojas doesn't waste another second before sending the call recording to his boss.

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Love, Puja.🥰