It was Sunday and Arun Mehta, a well know psychiatrist from Mumbai City, was busy helping his wife, Shweta, in packing her luggage. The 40-year-old doctor was 6 ft tall, dark and handsome. His masculine cuts were visible through a tight blue t-shirt. 

Shweta was going to attend a marriage ceremony in her native village in Rajasthan. Her flight was at 7:00 in the evening. By 5:00 they were at the airport, departing very sadly. 

Arun couldn’t attend the function because he had a lot of patients to attend to. At least this was the reason he had given to his wife.

Shweta was a traditional Marwari girl, who wore a simple saree with minimal accessories and makeup always. Her father was a famous global spice producer and seller based in Rajasthan, with an annual turnover of over 600 crore rupees. And she was the only child, the only heir.

Arun and Shweta fell in love when she was pursuing her engineering degree in Mumbai. They had met through a social networking site. 

After Shweta left, Arun came back to his car and called his secretary, Aliya. She was 25 years old, 5’7 ft tall, fair, and had an hourglass figure. She used to wear high street fashion clothes, carry a Michael Kors bag, wear Dior sunglasses and Jimmy Choo stilettos, all these, and many more, were gifted by Arun.

‘Hey! My wife left. Want to join me for dinner?’

‘Won’t she be back?’ She knew that his wife wouldn’t be coming back soon but still she wanted her boss to explain her everything one more time. She wanted that man to say that he wants her, again and again.

‘Oh! Don’t worry about her. I am not into her, you know that. I want you. C’mon please.’

‘hahaha I was just kidding. I am already ready.’

‘Ok. I am reaching in half an hour.’

Arun drove till her apartment in Bandra and called her up. She cut the call and came down soon. As she was walking towards the car, Arun couldn’t take his eyes of her. 

She had worn a black mini bodycon dress with a deep neck, a black velvet choker and red 7-inch high stilettos, all gifted by him. The red lipstick and the brown highlights in her hair were perfectly complementing her look. That figure-hugging dress was revealing her body shape, 36DD-28-40. She got into the car, hugged Arun, and they headed towards his home for some wine and dine. After dinner, things turned steamy, they had a lusty love making session. 

Their relationship was somehow perfectly in equilibrium. They both were in a win-win situation. She used to get expensive gifts, and he used to get his sexual desires fulfilled.

Next day Arun woke up with the sound of the doorbell. He saw that Aliya was gone. He came to the door and peeped through the keyhole. There were three people outside- maid, milk man (who also delivered newspaper) and sweeper (who also collected garbage). 

With a sulked face, Arun opened the door. He collected the milk packets and the newspapers, and emptied the dustbin in the sweeper’s basket. The maid entered, and she started doing her chores. 

He picked his phone and called Aliya. 

‘Good morning sir!’

‘Where are you?’

‘I am reaching the clinic in another 15 mins.’ 

‘Okay I’ll be there soon. Hope you have worn something hot.’

‘Why don’t you come and see for yourself?’ She disconnects the call. And Arun was already imagining about the next love making session. 

After an hour he was in his car, stuck in a traffic jam at a signal, when his phone rings. It was his wife.

‘Hi Sweetheart.’

‘Hey, how are you? Busy?’

‘Absolutely not. For you, I am always free my love.’

‘Hehehe is it? Listen I am out with dad, and my phone isn’t working properly, that’s why I couldn’t call you once my flight landed. So if you want to call me then you can call on my dad’s number.’

‘Yes sure honey, i got it.’

‘Okay!’ After a small chitchat, they hung up. 

He reached his clinic, and parked his car outside. As he was about to enter the clinic, he gets a call. It was an unknown number.

He picks up.

‘Hello! Dr Arun Mehta!’

The voice was strong and heavy. 

‘Yes, who is this?’

‘This is your death speaking.’

‘Who?’

‘Listen to me you bastard. Betraying your wife is not good. Yesterday your wife wasn’t home and you brought a woman in your house.’

Listening to this, Arun was paralysed for a moment. He did not know what to say.

‘Who is this? Look mister, I have no idea what the hell you are talking about.’

‘You know everything what I am talking about.’

Arun disconnected the call and ran to his clinic. Aliya greeted him but in return he gave her an angry look, and called her inside his cabin.

‘Listen Aliya, whatever is happening between us is by mutual consent. You are giving me sex and in return, I am giving you a life you could only dream about. Why the hell you had to tell others about this?’

Aliya had no clue what her boss was talking about. 

‘Sir. What are you saying? Are you gone crazy? Why will I tell this to anyone?’

‘Then who is blackmailing me? I got a call from an unknown number. He knows about us.’

‘I have no idea, sir. Believe me.’

‘Okay. Reschedule all of today’s appointments. Tell them I’m busy.’

After some time, Arun’s phone rang again and he picks up.

‘Do not try to call the police. Because if you do so, I will send all the photographs of you and that lady to your wife.’

‘No, I haven’t called the police. What do you want?’

‘If you want me to keep my mouth shut then you will have to pay a price.’

‘Tell me how much? 50 thousand? One lakh?’

‘Hahahaa!’ He gave a sinister laugh and continued ‘I want One Crore.’

‘What the hell? One crore? Are you serious?’

‘Yes, I am very much serious.’

‘Listen moron, I don’t have that much money with me.’

‘You have. And don’t fool around with me. If you do so I will send the photogr…’

‘No, wait! Listen! I can pay you 50 lakhs. But don’t send the photographs. Please.’

‘Fine. But if you do anything stupid then I will double it. And I am not mad. Don’t try to trace my phone. A person who is demanding One crore is not ordinary. So just keep it simple.’

‘Yes, I understand’ and he disconnects the call.

Arun was very scared. He calls his secretary in his cabin.

‘I know this is one of your pranks. Tell him not to call me.’ 

‘I swear, I am not doing anything.’

‘Then who is it?’

Arun felt a surge of anxiety. But still, he went to the bank. Returned some fixed deposit slips, and withdrew some savings money. He also had some black money in his flat. He arranged 50 lakhs by night, and was waiting for the call.

At 12:00am sharp, he gets a call. 

‘Are you ready with the money?’

‘Yes. Tell me where should I come to give you?’

‘Tomorrow, at 3:00 pm, at Madh Fort. Come on the rear side and take the stairs from the left. At the top, there will be a sign, keep the bag and leave the place. Take the stairs to the right when you leave. Come alone and don’t try to call the police.’ 

‘Yes sure. But what is the guarantee that after giving you the money you will keep your mouth shut?’

‘Do you have any other option than trusting me?’

And he disconnects the call. 

The whole night he was thinking about who that person could be. Just then he remembers that Aliya had planned a 7 day vacation with her fiancé, and she had given the application long before. His doubt on Aliya was just getting stronger.

For a moment, the thought of his wife and all his wealth. All the luxuries he was enjoying, was because of his wife. Even the apartment he was staying in was a gift from his father in law. 

Next day he woke up and called his secretary as usual. She said she was in the clinic waiting for him. 

He reaches the Madh fort with the money. He reaches the top of of the fort from the rear taking the stairs to the left. He sees a piece of paper, with ‘Keep the bag here’ written on it. There was no one around. He keeps the bag filled with money and climbs down taking the stairs to the right. He drives back to the clinic as fast as possible. 

On the way, he called his wife. The moment she picked the call, she said, ‘Hi honey’, and he was relieved. The person had not sent the photographs to his wife. They had a small conversation and soon Arun reached his clinic.

After reaching the clinic, he takes Aliya’s phone just to check if she had got any message. But he found nothing. He kept a watch on her the next three days, but there was no difference in her behaviour.

After a week, his wife was back home. He still had no idea who that man was. He was now sure it wasn’t Aliya. He was suspecting his wife.

There was a possibility that she must have come to know about his and Aliya’s relationship and to teach him a lesson she must have played this game. But he couldn’t confront her directly. What if she knew nothing? And so, he kept his mouth shut.

Week past, and it was a Sunday. Arun woke up late, shweta had gone out for brunch with her friends. The doorbell rang. He peeped through the keyhole, there were three people- maid, milk man and sweeper. He opened the door, took the newspapers and the milk packets, and emptied the dustbin. The maid entered the house and headed straight to the kitchen. He kept the milk in the fridge and sat on the couch reading the newspaper.

Suddenly something struck his mind. He raised his eyebrows in a shock. He stood up and quickly opened the main door. There was no one. He ran downstairs. He looked around, children were playing, and some old men were sitting on the benches, a few ladies were jogging, and just outside the colony gate, there were two boys sorting the garbage.

 He walked towards them, hold a boy by his collar, and asked him in furiously..

 ‘Who are you?’ They got scared.

‘Sabji, he is the new guy. What happened? If he has done something wrong then please forgive him’ and they joined their hands.

 ‘Where is the other guy?’

 ‘Other guy?’

 ‘There was another man who used come for garbage collection in the D block.’

 ‘Don’t know sir, he went back to his village 15 days back. He never told any reason.’

 ‘Bloody hell.’

Exactly 15 days back, Arun had left the bag filled with 50lakhs at the Madh Fort. 

And Arun remembered further that, after the love session he had put the protection, bill of the food, and wine bottle in the dustbin.

Also, the day when his wife was leaving, she had told him that she would be going to Rajasthan for a couple of days to meet her father.

And Arun understood the scenario. The sweeper had no photographs, neither he was  sure about what and for how long he was seeing Aliya. But he spoke as if he knew everything, and took 50lakhs and escaped.

                           …The End…