***Ruha's POV.***

"Adhrit..." I say as I shake.

Ramya whimpers beside me. As he gets up, I push her behind me. I want to run; I want to scream; I want to do anything but stand still, but I know what will happen. He is bigger than me, stronger than me, and has more leverage over me.

"Ramya, did your mother take you to the park?" He asks calmly, but Ramya whimpers more and clings to me, "Answer me." He roars and pounces for her, but I push her away and hold his leg.

"Let her be, please. I beg you. It wasn't her fault. It was me. Please." I say.

He grabs me by my hair to make me look at him and says, "I thought to go tomorrow and spend some quality time with my wife and daughter, but guess what? When I come home, they both are out somewhere and having fun without me. Where were you, Ruha? And don't lie"

"I went to... Agh! I went to work." The first slap didn't shock me.

It always starts with that. He never hurts my face until he is furious and today I feel like this will end badly, but that is the least of my worries. I look at Ramya, who is standing there with a balloon still in her hands, but her hands are on her face. She peeks at me from between her fingers and I do one thing which I trained her for.

"Hide." I say and she doesn't think twice and runs to our room.

"Do you really think this time I would spare her from watching it? She will see what is the consequence of going against my wishes." He says.

"No. Please no. She is just a child. Hurt me all you like, but not her." I say.

"Who said I will hurt her? I will make her hear your cries." He says menacingly and holds me by the hair again.

He drags me inside the room where Ramya is and I curse myself for ever hoping to be free of this monster. Being in this cage is better than watching my child suffer because of me. Is there no god left who could help my child at least?

"Ramya, come out and look at your Mum. This is what happens when you disobey me. Do you know how she disobeyed me?" He says as he takes out his belt and starts his torture.

Adhrit continues his assault with words and belt, but I concentrate on not crying out. I don't want my baby to hear it and be any more scared than she already is. But whimpers coming from behind the bed's headboard make my heart break.

But I can't stop my cries anymore and when I groan out in pain, she comes out. I look at her in horror as she throws herself at me and I hear a crash rather than a slash and a cry. Then everything goes silent. For a second, everything in me freezes as I look up at my tormentor.

His eyes are wide with shock, and there are little pieces of glasses near his feet. I feel Ramya's weight on my back, but I don't hear her whimpers anymore. I get up somehow and take a look at her, only to gasp in shock. The screams stop when he puts his hand on his mouth.

"Keep your silence. She isn't hurt." He says, and I look at him in shock.

I push his hand away and say, "She is bleeding. We have to take her to the hospital.

"Why? So, you can report me." He asks.

"I won't, but please she needs treatment, otherwise she will..." I didn't finish my sentence.

"Well, this ought to teach you a lesson. I can't stay in this filth. I am leaving." He says.

"No, please don't." I say and go after him, but he just leaves after pushing me away and locks the door on my face.

I rush back to my room and try to wake Ramya up, but she isn't waking up.

"What do I do? What should I do?" I ask myself, "The key."

I pick up Ramya in my arms and take her to the kitchen. After cleaning her wound, I put turmeric on it to stop the bleeding, but I can't put pressure as I don't know how many glass shards there are. I take out money from my secret stash below the sink and move the cupboard away to get another key I hid there.

I knew he would never move a muscle and go near stinky places. I pick up Ramya again and rush to the nearest hospital.

"Please help my daughter. She is hurt, doctor. Please. Save her." I beg the doctor.

"Calm down. What happened?" She asks.

"A glass vase fell on her back." I say.

"You should have been more careful. Put her on her front." She says when the stretcher comes, "Fill up the form. We will look after her."

"Okay. Please save her doctor. She is my life. If something were to happen to her, I won't be able to live by myself." I say.

"Please, don't lose hope. We will do our best. Please stay strong." She says and they leave with Ramya.

Before bad thoughts could invade my mind, I went to fill up the form and pay the fees later on. I chant prayer to Maha Kaali, the Goddess my daughter believes in the most.

"She has always worshiped you with the purest of heart, Maa. Please don't let your little devotee face the consequences of my mistakes. Please. Keep her safe." I pray and pray and pray until the doctor comes back.

"Mrs. Mehra." the Doctor says.

"How is she, doctor? She is okay, right?" I ask.

"We have taken out every little piece of glasses and stitched her wounds." She says and I wince, thinking about how my daughter must be hurting.

"Does that mean she is fine?" I ask.

"We can't say anything right now. She has a high fever because of the infection. If it doesn't go down by tomorrow morning, we fear that... she won't make it." She says and I feel a sharp sting in my chest.

"That can't be. She was smiling just a few hours ago. This can't be. No." I say.

"Mrs. Mehra, you have to be strong! We can't lose hope. There is still a chance. If she wakes up and her fever goes down, we can save her with further medicines." She says.

Everything feels numb. My daughter's life depends on a 'if'. All because of me.

"Can I see her?" I ask.

"Yes, you can." She says and I nod.

I walk towards her ward, which is almost empty. She is at the end of the room. The sound of the monitor beeping and her breathing assures me she is here, but for how long, I don't know. When I pull the curtain away, I see my beautiful girl on a white sheet looking like an angel but surrounded by machines. She looks even smaller than before.

I go to touch her hand but back away. How can I touch her when I am the reason she is here? No. What if I end up hurting her more? I turn and walk away.

"I like it when Mum puts her hand on my head. It feels good."

Ramya's words echo in my mind, and I sob and turn back. I put my hand on hers and kissed her hot cheek and head. I caress her head and look at her. This is not how she should be raised. She is such a wonderful daughter and deserves the world. She deserves to be free.

But unfortunately, it feels too late for that.

As the dawn comes closer and her heart rate goes down by every second, I ask myself one question. Why am I still alive when my own daughter is counting her last breath? She is the purpose of my life, who kept me going, who made things bearable and who made me happy in those days when I almost forgot to.

"No. I can't live in a world where you don't exist. It would kill me every day and I don't want you to feel alone where you are going. So Mum is coming with you, Ramya. She will be waiting there for you and we will be free and happy." I say to Ramya and kiss her forehead one last time.

With a heavy heart, I turn towards the window. I wipe off my tears and take a deep but shaky breath then climb the window.

"I prayed and prayed and no one listened. But I will still pray one last time. Give her a better mother than me in the next life." I say, and the beeping sound goes flat.

I close and prepare to jump when the beeping starts suddenly again. I don't want to look back, but something in me doesn't want to jump either and wants to rush to Ramya's side. To give myself hope again. But what if it is false? What if it is just one last laugh on me?

"Mum? Mum? Where are you? Mum? It hurts. Mum?" Ramya's voice feels like a hallucination, but I rather have that hallucination than lose her.

I turn around and see her looking at me. "Ramya!"

"Mum." She says, looking at me with wide eyes.

I jump down from the window and fall. I get up and rush to her side.

"My Ramya. My Ramya." I say and kiss cheeks, head, hands then take her in my embrace.

She is still hot to touch, but she woke up. She woke up. I call out for the nurse and she rushes in. She checks Ramya's vitals while another nurse calls for a doctor. When the nurse said her temperature had gone down a little and now that she was awake, they could finally give her further care.

Before I could relive my joy, the exhaustion and the pain made me fall unconscious.

When I wake up next time, I hear the doctor, "She must be making a wish, dear. When you see a shooting star and make a wish, it comes true."

"Really?" I hear Ramya's voice.

"Yes. Now eat this. You want to be strong, right?" She asks and I look at Ramya, who is sitting on a bed next to mine.

"Yes. I want to be strong for Mum." She says with determination.

"Good. Open your mouth." Doctor says and Ramya obeys.

"Mum. You woke up." Ramya says when she feels my hand on her head, and tears start pouring down her cheeks.

"My baby." I gasp and hug her, but make sure I don't hurt her back.

Doctor warned me in privacy about what I was going to do but she also gave me help. She gave me treatment free of cost and some money when I refused any other help. I also denied that, but she insisted on it for Ramya's sake.

I decided that day I would never go back to that house. So I went to meet my mother. But she refused to see me. And I said nothing. I just took my certificates and my parents' picture and left the house.

But how could I let that monster loose for what he did with my daughter? I want to be free of him and the only way I could be is by getting a divorce.

So I bought a train ticket for myself and Ramya. I ate nothing to save money for her food as she has to take medicine. But when I reached there, I came to know he was already married and had a son too.

His family was shocked and repulsed by what he did to his own daughter. After years of pain, I was finally set free by Dad. he was the one who helped me get divorce even though it was unnecessary as my marriage was illegal but for my sake he made it possible, to set me free of this burden of the past.

I won Ramya's custody too because of him. Even after I refused him many times, he still helped me further my education while looking after Ramya himself and then helped me settle abroad with investment in my start-up.

Ramya and I were the happiest from that day forward. I still remember when I took her to an amusement park after my divorce. She laughed the most that day. And I promised myself to never lose hope, not for my daughter, at least.