I swallowed hard, reading the note again and again. I hoped the words would change if I stared at them long enough. I must have read that note ten times, but the ending was always the same. She was gone.
I whipped out my phone and dialed her number.Unreachable.I tried again. Nothing.
Panic set in as I bolted out of the house, my lungs burning. I told the driver to move and jumped into the driver’s seat myself. I tore down the driveway, racing toward the only person who might know where she went.
Abhiraj Sisodiya.
My ex-best friend. I used to love him like a brother, but he had betrayed me. He and my father had hidden my military documents to keep me from serving. I could have eventually forgiven him for that, but then he tried to get close to my wife. Or so I thought.
I screeched into the parking lot of Sisodiya’s office and ran inside. The guards recognized me and stayed out of my way. I took the elevator to the top floor and barged into his office. His secretary tried to stop me, but I pushed past her.
"What the fuck…" Abhiraj started to say, but I didn't let him finish. I lunged forward, grabbed his collar, and slammed him against the wall.
"Where is Kavya?" I barked.
Abhiraj didn't look scared. Instead, a mocking smile touched his lips. That look earned him a hard fist to the jaw.
"You were the last person with her!" I yelled.
"She left," he said, wiping a trail of blood from his lip. He laughed, but it sounded bitter. "She’s gone forever, Saurav. For good."
"Where?" I demanded, clenching my jaw so hard it pained me.
"I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. It was your job to know. You’re her husband." He shoved me away, straightening his suit. "But how could you know anything? You were too busy hating her. You spent every second screaming at her and blaming her for every single one of your problems."
Abhiraj stepped closer, glaring into my eyes. "You’re the biggest fool on the planet."
"Where is she, Abhiraj?" My voice was breaking.
"Find out yourself," he said, turning his back to me to look out the window.
I turned to leave, but his voice stopped me cold.
"Her father forced her to file that complaint against you, Saurav. He threatened to kill her younger sister if she didn't. She did it to save her family, but the girl died anyway."
I froze, looking at him in total shock. The world felt like it was tilting.
"Don't look at me like you had no idea," Abhiraj snapped, looking at me. "She’s been through hell her whole life. Her father abused her. Her mother died when she was a kid. Her stepbrother stole every cent she earned. She wasn't a gold-digger, Saurav. She was a survivor."
I didn't stay to hear the rest. I ran. I got into the car and called uncle Dhruv. After a few minutes of frantic talking, he finally gave me the answer. She had booked a flight to Switzerland.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" I screamed into the phone.
"I thought you knew... I thought this was what you wanted," he stammered.
"Dammit!" I hung up and floored the gas, heading back to the airport.
I reached the terminal and sprinted toward the gates, but a security guard stepped in my way, holding up a hand.
"I'm sorry, sir. You can't go through."
"I need to get on the flight to Switzerland! It’s an emergency!"
The guard looked at me with pity and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. That flight took off twenty minutes ago. The gates are closed."
I stopped dead. It felt like the floor had vanished beneath my feet. I looked through the massive glass windows at the empty runway. She was up there, somewhere in the clouds, moving thousands of miles away from me.
I was a fool. A complete, arrogant fool.