Thriller The Story of Meera

[Priyanka98]

"Saloni's parents, they were just angry, and they blamed it on me," Aryan said, "They kept accusing me that I did something to her. They got me arrested on suspicion of her murder, I was tortured in security officer custody. They had some circumstantial evidence and I spent a few months in jail as an under trial. It was not easy to...survive there, but I learned eventually. Most of the other inmates were convicted criminals, and gradually I began to understand the world of crime. I was released finally as they could neither prove murder nor my guilt."
"I never cared if the world thinks Saloni was dead," Aryan said, "I wasn't going to give up. I kept looking for her. In jail, I met some people who knew things, they did this for a living, finding out information and then selling it for a living, they were called informers or snitches. I learned this work, and over years I became good at it. My network spread across the city and eventually around the country. I was good, and I knew most of the things that were happening in the underworld. But I still had no clue where my Saloni was. Only information I had was that perhaps she was taken by an organized trafficking gang and she was most likely in another country."
"When you and Kabir arrived in Mumbai," Aryan said, "Someone informed me that you both have escaped from traffickers. I had some hope that perhaps one of you could have seen Saloni. The chances were remote, but still I decided it was worth a shot. You had no memory, so I approached Kabir. I showed him a picture of Saloni and he recognized her! He had seen her, and he knew exactly where she was kept. Perhaps you don't know this Meera but, Kabir, he knew stuff and had his resources. He always tried to keep a low profile, but his looks and his accent gave away the fact that he was an Arab. And I doubt that he was a slave there, it is hard for a slave to have that kind of resources. Kabir was certainly a man of higher standing, considering that he really...knew things. He gave me some contacts in Dubai, I went looking for her and finally, I was able to find her! I still remember the first time I saw her after 5 years...she was still so beautiful...but she didn't recognize me. They did something to her...I don't know what, and I didn't care either, I just wanted my Saloni back."
Aryan paused to wipe a tear off his cheek and continued, "I didn't have enough strength or resources to fight an organized trafficking gang or to run away with Saloni. But I had money that I had earned over the years. I spent every last rupee I owned to buy her freedom and bring her back safely. I even had to borrow money keeping my house mortgage, but Saloni was all that mattered to me. I brought her back to Mumbai. I took her to her parents, but she didn't recognize them. And they didn't want her either after knowing what happened to her. I brought her home. I took care of her. But she was completely broken. She would barely talk, she would barely eat, she just spent her time blankly gazing at a wall. Sometimes she would call out to me, and I used to see a hint of love for me in her eyes. But the very next moment, her gaze would turn blank. I was almost broke, but still I did everything I could to help her, to provide for her. I bought her gifts, cooked her food she liked, I spent time with her...I even took her to therapy, hoping to heal her. But nothing worked. She was like a living corpse. She was alive and breathing, but there was no soul in her body, no life in her eyes. I was fighting a losing battle."