Chapter 37


    JENNIFER''S POV


    I stood frozen at my ce, absolutely dumbstruck!


    Randhir... Randhir Manthena! Your fucking father!


    Randhir... Randhir Manthena! Your fucking father!


    Randhir... Randhir Manthena! Your fucking father!


    Those words kept reying themselves in my mind like a damaged tape-recorder, repeating itself over


    and over again. Father had disconnected the call by then, leaving me in a state of utter disorder.


    My lips were quivering while I was desperately trying to back those big, fat tears from trailing down my


    eyes. I had looked for the ''Manthena Group of Industries'' before when I had in the very first time,


    eavesdropped on father. I had searched on each and every search engine. At that time, I hade to


    know that for a decade or so, Randhir Manthena had been the CEO of the corporation. But then


    abruptly, he gave up the position. Since then, his whereabouts were unknown. Some of the tabloids


    said that he had surrendered himself from the business world and was staying in some distantnd


    while other paparazzi said he had been ailing since a long time due to some lung disease and hence


    was counting hisst days in some oldage home.


    At that time, I had felt a dire need of searching for him, meeting him once, ask about his health,


    confront him for not asking about me all these years, not trying to meet me for even once, keeping me


    away from parental love, security. But most necessarily I had wanted to give him a tight hug. I had felt


    ecstatic for have gotten someone whom I could call as my own but this recent revtion had shattered


    everything.


    I had a family, atleast a father.... True


    He had been looking for me all these years.... Damn right


    But was it all for a happy, teary, reunion? Absolutely not!


    He had been hunting for me all this time, he had kept me alive possibly because he had some very


    profitable business to extract through me. I still couldn''t reason out why he had kept me away from


    himself these many years?


    Because he despises you like some rotten, worthless trash. You were nothing to him from the


    beginning and so, he didn''t want you around him except for once when he could fulfill his purpose from


    you!


    Chimed my subconscious mind.


    My knees gave in and I copsed on the floor. For once, I agreed with it on this. I felt empty all over. It


    felt horrible to even think that I had noone to call as my own family. My head began to pound because


    of uneasiness and terror... terror of being left alone, with noone else to help me out of this mess. I


    tightly shut my eyes, and as a cue, tears trickled down my cheeks, probably messing the eye makeup


    but who the hell cared? I was still going to be sacrificed either ways, be it my own dad or the devil.


    All of a sudden, something shed in my mind, in front of my closed eyes.


    A grand, enchanting mansion stood in front of me, as if owned by one of the mightiest of all kings. It


    somehow, surprisingly looked..... familiar. As if I had been there for a long time, running around the


    beautiful gardens, ying hide-and-seek behind the mahogany trees, sshing the pond water on him.


    Him, that small boy with the most beautiful, innocent set of deep brown eyes one would have everid


    eyes upon! He began running behind me for trying to get hold of me but I stealthily hid behind one of


    the huge banyan trees near the temple. Suddenly, I heard a heart-wretching, ear-splitting st behind


    me. That made me gasp out of shock. I peeked from the side of the tree only to find that mansion to be? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.


    caught in zing mes and desparate cries of people stuck in there but absolutely no sight of the


    boy.....


    I opened my eyes with a jerk and a terrified shriek left my mouth. I had been sweating profusely and


    shaking like a dry, old leaf. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and stood up, with the


    support of an adjoining cupboard.


    What was that?


    I thought. I was totally nk regarding those visuals which had just invaded my mind out of nowhere. I


    didn''t have any idea of what I had seen but still felt like a dream which once I had been living in reality.


    Maybe due to my soaring anxiety levels.


    The thought popped in my mind and I dismissed those visuals like a bad dream.


    Just as I was about to move to the bed with my wobbly feet, I heard some hurried footstepsing up


    and then, the door was clicked open.


    "Are you okay madam?" Thedy asked.