Despite the brutal blow from the wooden stick, Madhu stood her ground, one hand clutching her head, one eye closed in pain. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to fight back. But just as she was about to move, Lalan Raj—disguised as a lawyer—delivered a ruthless punch to her stomach. In an instant, she collapsed into unconsciousness.
Some time later, Madhu slowly opened her eyes. Her vision blurry, she heard a man calling her name, urging, "Are you alright? Please wake up." As her sight cleared, she realized they were trapped inside a wooden box. Startled, she jolted upright, grabbed the man's collar, and demanded, "Who are you?"
Calmly, he replied, "I'm the real one. The real Advocate Aman." He began explaining what had happened. About an hour earlier, Aman had been returning from his office, thinking about the difficult case he was set to fight. As he reached his door and began unlocking it, someone had ambushed him, drugging him unconscious—and now he had woken up here, trapped alongside her. Hearing this, Madhu grasped the gravity of their situation.
Meanwhile, Vidya and the other women remained locked in the cage. Some were crying, mourning their fate. But Vidya, alert and composed, was secretly recording everything through a miniature camera hidden in her bracelet. Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed nearby. A goon appeared—cigarette in mouth, an M118 gun slung over his shoulder. He leered at them and, with a disgusting sniff, said, "Hmm… looking good. You know who I am? I'm your boss. As of now." He laughed cruelly.
One of the women in Vidya's cage stood up and shouted, "You useless dog! You think you're our boss? You're still hatching from an egg and trying to provoke us!" The other women burst into laughter. Embarrassed, the goon stormed toward the cage, grabbed the woman by her hair, and growled, "You'll be my slave forever! How dare you speak, you pest!" He raised his hand to slap her—
But a cold voice interrupted him.
"What are you doing?" It was Lalan Raj.
The goon hesitated. "Sir, I was just teaching her some discipline."
"Discipline?" Lalan snapped.
"They insulted me! A slave can't insult her owner!"
Lalan grabbed the goon by the neck and spat in his face. "You're an idiot. A disgrace to me. Don't you understand? If even one of these women is harmed, we won't get the royalty we're promised. A single bruise, and we'll be cut off from the organization. Do you know what the boss will do then? He'll pierce you through and feed your flesh to his dogs. Got it?"
Terrified, the goon nodded and stepped back. Silence fell across the room as Lalan turned and walked away.
Madhu turned to Aman, her voice uncertain. "Are you the one Vidya Ma'am talked about? The one who was supposed to help me?"
Aman nodded. "Yes, I am. And judging by the situation, I need to do whatever I can."
Madhu studied him closely. "I'm still a little cautious," she admitted. "I already made a mistake trusting someone like that."
Aman looked slightly embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay... I get it."
(Though shy by nature, his resolve hardened when justice was at stake.)
"We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Madhu said, scanning their wooden prison.
"But we're caged," Aman replied. "We can't just walk out."
Madhu thought for a moment. "I've seen things like this in movies—when the hero gets trapped and searches the room for something useful." Without wasting time, she began searching the cramped space.
Aman blinked. "W-What kind of things?"
Suddenly, Madhu's eyes lit up. "These things!" she whispered, pointing excitedly.
They both gasped.
"You're a genius," Aman breathed.
"You bet I am," Madhu smirked.
But their excitement was cut short by the muffled sound of voices outside. Men were talking.
Aman pressed his ear to the wooden wall, listening carefully. "I think they're towing us... We're being moved."
Madhu's tone turned urgent. "We need to get out—now."
"Hit that broken part!" she ordered.
Aman nodded and began slamming his fists against a weak section of the box. The sound was loud with each strike, but the rumbling of the truck outside drowned it out. After the sixth hit, the wood finally gave way with a crack.
They leapt out of the broken box—but froze.
Right in front of them stood Lalan Raj—the fake lawyer—with nearly ten goons armed with wooden and steel bats.
Aman's voice faltered. "We... need... to... run."
Madhu, eyes wide and breath heavy, replied, "Okkk…"
Madhu and Aman sprinted through the crowded bazaar, weaving between stalls and startled pedestrians. Behind them, the sound of pounding footsteps echoed—Lalan Raj's goons were in full pursuit, their numbers overwhelming. Dodging through alleyways and carts, the two were clearly outnumbered, breathless and drenched in sweat.
Desperate to escape, they finally ducked behind a garbage dump, crouching low and still, trying to silence their heaving breaths. Moments later, two of the goons arrived at the spot, smashing objects nearby with steel rods. Aman and Madhu remained frozen in place, terror gripping them.
Suddenly, a soft chime broke the silence—it was a notification from Madhu's bracelet. A video file from Vidya began to download, footage from earlier events. But the timing couldn't have been worse.
The goons heard the sound and turned sharply toward it. A twisted grin formed on their faces as they spotted the pair. Without a word, they charged.
Aman took two brutal blows, blood trickling from his mouth. But with sheer will, he caught the third strike mid-air, gripping the wooden stick tightly.
"Why are you doing this?" he shouted. "What do you even gain from this?"
But instead of a reply, the other goon delivered a vicious blow to his groin. Aman screamed in agony. Madhu cried out, "Please! Stop!"
Unfazed, the goons dragged the injured Aman and the weeping Madhu back to Lalan Raj.
Lalan sat like a monarch on a rusted iron chair, speaking calmly into a phone. "Boss, it's done. We've caught the imposters."
He turned to the captives and smirked. "Let's end this little cat-and-mouse game. Tell me—why are you targeting us? What's your motive?"
Madhu, battered and barely able to speak, gasped, "First, you tell me—how did you know we were planning this?"
Aman gave a bitter, mocking laugh. "We have eyes everywhere. Not just in India—across the globe. Even if it happened in a small dhaba, we'd know."
Madhu's eyes widened in horror.
Then Lalan spoke, his voice ice-cold. "We killed the dhaba owners—man, woman, and their child. All of them."
Madhu broke down, sobbing. "Why? Why them? They had nothing to do with this... why?!"
Silence fell over the room.
Not a single voice answered.
After sending the pictures, Vidya hoped desperately that they would reach the right hands. She had no idea what was unfolding on the other side. But now, her focus shifted—her true mission had begun. She had to find her elder sister. Not like a prisoner locked in a cage, but as a seeker of truth and justice.
Suddenly, two women appeared. They, too, were captives—stolen from the slums of the world. But unlike the others, they weren't empty-handed. Draped over their arms were clothes—short, transparent garments meant for bar dancers. Vidya's eyes narrowed.
Each woman also held a bundle of cards—ten in total.
One of the goons stomped in, voice loud and cruel. "Listen up, you filthy pests!" he barked. "These two will hand out your new clothes and cards. These cards bear the names of those chosen by the boss—only the most beautiful among you. Be proud. Out of these ten... one will be the ultimate winner." He smirked. "Or should I say... the ultimate slave." A burst of mocking laughter followed as he turned and left.
The women began distributing the cards, one for each of the ten cages. Some of the prisoners, women in their thirties, clutched the cards silently. A few wept. Others smiled—not from joy, but from the strange, fragile faith that kept them sane.
Vidya remained in her cage—unselected. Her fists clenched. If I want to find my sister, she thought, I need to get out of here first. No matter what.
But will her resolve be enough?
Will Madhu and Aman succeed in delivering the evidence to the court?
Or will the darkness swallow them all?
In the next chapter...