Love Bites- Collection of Short Romantic Stories

Star-Glazed #6

"Here's the photo you asked for." A man said.
"Here the money as promised," the woman said, giving the bag full of money. Her eyes never left the pictures she got. 'Wait till these pictures go viral. These pictures will go to a person you least thought of. I'll ruin your life.' The woman thought to herself and laughed hysterically.

*
Advik was heartbroken after the incident. He wanted to break the contract, not wanting to see Lavanya anymore, but it would give media unnecessary gosip to spread. Even if she threw him out and insulted him, he couldn't help but think of the consequences he would bring to her.

Sana was in the middle of her online yoga classes. In her last days of pregnancy, she decided to take a break and get ready for new life. Her phone rang. Looking at the caller, she smiled.
"Hello, Mr. Husband." She greeted. "Hello," she repeated when no one answered, "Hello."

"Hello." There was a loud cough. "Hello. Haan, Sana. My voice was a little distorted because of cough," cough sound again. "I wanted to talk about Lavanya. Is she home?"

Sana's eyebrows furrowed until yesterday her husband was perfect. What happened today? "What about her? She is at her home....", and before she could ask anything, the line got disconnected. Sana looked at her phone, confused. What devil possessed her husband so early morning? Then her doorbell rang. She groaned. Standing up with all the efforts, she went to open the door, only to find her husband standing, disturbed.

"What in Allah's name happened to you?" She asked, worried.

"Did you get a call from my phone?" Zain asked, entering the house.

"What? Yes, I did. You didn't call." Now Sana was sweating from stress.

"You need to sit down. And call Lavanya. Maybe your brother too. With need him." Zain said.

"What happened, Zain? Please explain."

"Shekhar escaped."

Sana sat on the couch, losing her balance. She wanted to say something, but words were not coming out.

"He was out on parole. Her mother was on her deathbed. After her last rituals, he stole the constables rifel, killed him, and ran. It would not take a genius to guess where he'd go." Zain explained.

"And the phone call?"

"Stolen. It was still working last time, and the last call was to you. Now it is switched off. I came here as fast as I could."

Sana took her phone and started calling Lavanya.

Lavanya was not picking up her phone. It was in her bedroom, and she fell asleep on the couch, tired from all the crying.

Sana called her brother to inform him about the situation. He was a sub-inspector of a nearby police station. Because Shekhar was already serving his term in jail and escaped, the information had already been passed to the probable police stations.

Sana was again tried calling Lavanya while pacing. Suddenly, she felt sharp pain under her belly, and within minutes, the pool of water was on the floor. Zain took her phone and called the ambulance. While in the ambulance and between crying in pain, Sana remembered she should call Advik.

Advik was still in his car at Lavanya's front gate. His head was kept on steering wheel, tried from his journey and recent events. He was in the middle of self-pity when his phone rang. One eyebrow raised when he saw the caller name. Sana never called him, so it must be important.

"Hello." He greeted, but his phone almost slipped from his palms when he heard loud screams from the other side. "What happened? Why are you crying?" Advik suddenly got all alert.