The slap came so suddenly my head snapped to the side. My ears rang.
“Don’t you dare answer back!” he hissed. “Since you’ve tainted our family’s image, you will be punished. And next time, you will remember what happens when you step against your family.”
“Pa, please,” I begged, my voice breaking. “I didn’t sleep with him. I swear. Nitin is lying.”
But he never listened. He had hated me since the day I was born. I was the living proof of something he despised. He had always resented my existence.
“You’ll be punished, Kav.” A slow, cruel smile stretched his lips. “But the twist is… your sin will be paid by Kirti.”
My blood ran cold. I froze for a moment unable to speak but a few moments later. “No… no, please, no.” I shook my head violently. “Pa, please…”
My knees hit the floor. The sound echoed, hollow and small, just like me. “Leave her alone,” I sobbed. “Punish me. Do anything to me. But not her.”
“This time,” he said calmly, terribly, “she will take her last breath, Kav.” His smile widened. “We are stopping her medication. We don’t have lakhs for her treatment. This is the easiest way to get rid of the burden.” He tilted his head. “After that, you’ll be free to go wherever you want.”
The world swayed.
“No… no…” I whispered, clutching at his feet. My tears dropped onto the floor. “I’ll arrange the money. I swear I will. I’m trying. I’ll do anything.”
“But we need it today, Kav,” Pa replied mockingly.
Today.
That single word crushed whatever strength I had left. I cried, begged, pleaded until my throat burned and my chest ached, but his face remained empty like stone.
Then Nitin’s voice cut in, smooth and venomous. “I have an idea to save Kirti’s life.”
My head snapped toward him. He smiled sinisterly. “If Kav files a complaint against that rich man,” he said, “that he molested her then we’ll get pay.”
“What are you saying?” I whispered in disbelief.
Nitin took a step closer, his crooked smile still pasting on his face. “You will go to the police and say he touched you, trapped you, used you. You will cry if they ask you to and sign the papers.”
“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “I won’t! He’s innocent.”
Pa’s voice cut in sharp like a knife. “You will.”
I flinched.
Nitin laughed softly, caressing my cheek with mocking sympathy. “Men like him don’t fight cases, Kavya. They buysilence. One complaint and his world will shake. His image, his respect, his future everything will hang by a thread.”
“I won’t lie,” I said, my voice breaking and so were my soul. “You can’t make me.”
Pa stood up. “You forget who you are talking to,” he said quietly. “You forget who controls what happens in this house. We have the photographs. We have witnesses. We will drag you to the station if we have to. And if you open your mouth there and say anything else… ” His eyes darkened and ugly smile spread across his lips. “Kirti’s medicines stop tonight.”
“Pa…”
“You don’t file the complaint,” Nitin murmured, “and by morning your sister will be gasping for breath. You file it, and we save her. It’s that simple.”
“That’s blackmail,” I cried angrily. “That’s a crime.”
Pa’s lips twisted. “So is prostitution. So is lying to your father. So is shaming your family.” He leaned down until his face was inches from mine. “We are far beyond right and wrong, Kavya. This is about survival.”
I shook my head violently. “You’re asking me to destroy an innocent man.”
Nitin’s hand slammed against the wall beside my face. “We are telling you to sacrifice him or bury your sister.”
Suddenly silence fell, heavy and suffocating.