~Sanvi's POV~
"What the hell happened ? Why is this ladder fallen?" Mom's voice rose in panic, as the first thing our eyes fell on while peeking out the window was the broken ladder on the overgrown grass.
I knew I was going to lie yet again to my already suffering mother but I didn't know why the guilt didn't seep through me as it usually did in such situations.
I had bigger troubles to worry about.
Rishabh freaking Rathore was in my room,—locked in there by my own self! I had to evade this situation as soon as possible and go deal with him.
"Oh.. God.. Maybe a thief was trying to break into the house Mom!" I tried to sound as nervy as I could but I knew I should be burning in hell for the bad acting.
That man scoffed at my words from the dining room while chugging yet another glass of his usual poison.
My mother looked at my face for a second before widening her eyes.
"Oh my god.. Oh no, what should we do? You're right, Sany! What if someone's inside the house? Should we call the police?"
I attempted to calm my mother down by pulling her back from the window. Knowing full well that my mother usually went ultra-sonic in such situations, I cursed myself inwardly for making that up.
But I couldn't think of any other excuse.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MUMBLING, YOU DELUSIONAL WOMAN! THIEF? POLICE? AT MY HOUSE? SHUT UP BEFORE I SLAP YOU!" I hurried to shield Mom from that man who was already advancing towards us with a raised hand.
I stood facing him with a reproachful look. The monster in his drunk stance seemed ready to end us all with one swat of his burly hands.
A bloodbath, that's what he wanted.
"One hand on my mother or me, and there will be police in our house but not for the burglars." I bellowed in a harsh tone as his expression turned livid.
Mom squeezed my shoulder to make me stop confronting him, but I had to stop him from hurting her in anyway.
Therefore, I diverted his anger towards me.
Yes, pour it all down on me. Leave her alone.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU UNGRATEFUL RAT?!" His already bloodshot eyes turned dark and he went ballistic as he grabbed me by my right arm.
I knew I was going to get thrashed but I just wished Rathore wasn't there in my room to hear it. Mom tried prying his hands off of me but he had already dragged my inside the living room.
"Please, stop. Don't hurt her. She is in pain, leave her!" Mom wailed looking at the pained expression on my face.
His vicious nails bore into my skin, drawing blood and making me wince out loud. I was squirming to get out of his hold but the beast was just so damn strong, even in his drunken stupor.
The moment he grabbed a fistful of my hair, my mother jerked me out of his hold. She threw me across the room, glaring at me to flee from the room immediately but I crouched there beneath the stairs, throwing daggers at him with my blazing eyes.
She turned around and attempted to restrain him from lunging at me again.
"Please, I beg of you, stop it. Stop it now. Sanvi, go to you room! Don't show me your face! Go!"
"YES RUN! RUN BEFORE I END YOU RIGHT HERE, YOU USELESS GARBAGE!"
As he roared on, my gaze didn't falter for once. I glared at him with venom in my eyes,—the venom accumulated through nights like that.
"THREATENING ME WITH POLICE? I HAVE BIRTHED YOU BUT I CAN FULFILL YOUR DEATH WISH RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! The bitch has delivered another bitch to destroy my life! Die die die!" He swayed and screamed some more as my Mother began pulling him into the bedroom.
Mom knew that I wasn't going to move and I truly didn't want to leave her alone with the animal. But as he began mumbling his insults in his drunk stance, I didn't stop Mom from pulling him back into the room.
He'd probably pass out in the bed and Mom wouldn't be in any danger, not until tomorrow morning. Peace prevailed in the Dixit house until the moment that man was awake.
My scalp hurt like hell as I held my head with my hand.
Rathore had probably heard all of that, didn't he?
Now he knew my predicament.
He would perhaps use my weakness to mock me from then on.
A minute later, I looked up to see Mom scurrying towards me after bolting the bedroom door behind her. I was inspecting my wounds when she sat down on the stool before me and opened the first aid box.
She didn't say a word and I kept on looking at her tear—stained face as she dressed my right arm. It was a regular issue for us and we didn't usually talk after the storm had left us in ravages.
What could you even talk about after that?
After dressing my wounds, Mom wiped the fresh tears off of her face as I blankly stared at her. She stood up and closed the windows.
I sighed in relief, thinking the worst to be over but I was truly wrong. The previous panic due to the prospect of a supposed thief hit her again.
"Sanvi, take the bat and come let's check your room. If it is indeed a thief, then they must have been trying to get into your room with that ladder." My eyes widened at her words.
"No, no, no, no!" I grabbed her hand and stopped her in her track.
I couldn't fathom the shock Mom would get if she encountered Rishabh in my room. She already had enough stress for the day.
"I was in the room when the sound erupted, Mom. I surely would've seen if anyone had come through the window. Besides, the window is shut tight. And do you think a thief would still be huddling in some corner after that ruckus?" Mom didn't seem satisfied with my reasoning.
Her drained face looked etched with a doubtful look.
"Still... Let me go and check once for my peace. And don't sleep up there tonight. Sleep in our bedroom." I was doomed.
"Mom, trust me. There's no one in my room. I have already checked the entire room. Besides, I think I would be much safer with a burglar in my room than being in the same room with that man."
The latter half of my lie wasn't entirely baseless. I hadn't slept in my parents' bedroom since the time that man had taken up his capricious habits.
Mom whimpered at my words and nodded softly.
"Go and sleep.." She gave up on her insistence and patted my head.
"Don't open the window tonight at any cost. These things shouldn't be taken lightly. I don't know what I would do if the thief has already entered through some open window or door. Let me check all the entrances." Saying so, she walked off, leaving me alone to tackle the unwelcome trouble currently chilling in my bedroom.
Yes, Mom, there indeed is a thief that has entered your house tonight. Your own daughter has literally pulled him inside the house.
His name is Rishabh Singh Rathore. Your daughter's supposed rival.
What is he capable of stealing? Your daughter's peace of mind.
Why is he here at this point of night? I have no idea.
What should I do with him? I have no idea.
What if he heard all the arguments from upstairs? I will just kick him out the moment he asks me about it.
I groaned and climbed up the stairs with a thousand queries in my mind. On reaching the landing, I placed my ear against my door. It was quite suspicious that I could not hear any sound.
What was he doing in there?
I cautiously turned the knob and entered the room before locking the door behind me. Upon turning around, the sight that welcomed me almost made me facepalm.
A sleeping Rishabh had nuzzled underneath my favourite duvet with his legs wounded around my side pillow.
My bed was compromised to this sleeping leech.
What on the earth was wrong with this guy?
It would be a lie if I admitted that I wasn't immediately transfixed. The sight wasn't that charming except that bit of handsomeness on his calm countenance. A handsomeness I had noticed before but it didn't entice me as much as it did then.
His lips curled up into a pout as his hairs danced over his broad forehead under the ceiling fan. He looked so peaceful. Too bad, he was such a ginormous pain in the butt.
I walked over to the left side of the bed, beside the window and stood hovering over his sleeping body.
He came all the way down there just to sleep on my bed after everything that had transpired between us in the evening?
Just so he could scrounge out more trouble for me?
I had honestly thought that a burglar was trying to pry his way into my room. I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw him dangling down the window, pleading me not to hit him with the bat that I had so courageously grasped in order to beat the shit out of the burglar.
Had it not been for him, I could have avoided being thrashed for a second time in one night. Whats, hows and whys still remained to be answered. I couldn't allow him to sleep so peacefully when my own sanity was on the edge.
A nerve-wrecking anger surged through me as I grabbed the lower part of the side pillow and yanked it out of the cage of his legs.
"Get the hell up, you troublemaker!" I bellowed in a low voice as he attempted to nuzzle into my duvet.
"Uhm, let me sleep." He whined as I slapped his left arm.
"Don't you have your own house to sleep in or have your parents finally kicked you out after another one of your disgusting party rendezvous?" I flared my nose at his silent sleeping frame.
He seemed so cozy and warm while I was seething with anger. My head throbbed like hell and I walked upto my table to grab the painkillers.
I returned to the bedside to grab the bottle of water when I heard him murmur something in his sleep.
"I am sorry. " My head whipped towards his sleeping frame and came face-to-face with a very awake Rathore, laying sideways on my bed with his arms crossed.
His eyes held an indiscernible look,— almost apologetic, if I hadn't known him better.
Ugh, troublemaker.
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To Be Continued.