The Vanished Truth

Next Morning.

Shraddha was fast asleep. For the first time in many days, she was having a peaceful sleep. But suddenly, someone splashed freezing cold water right onto her face. Shraddha snapped her eyes open. She woke up with a start and began looking around in a panic.

The worry on Shraddha's face was completely obvious. A strange thought crossed her mind. She felt as if someone had been sleeping incredibly close to her. The moment she realized this, she muttered to herself, "Why do I feel like someone was right next to me?"

Her eyes fell on the clock. It was ten in the morning. Seeing this, her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my God! Now what is happening to me?"

Suddenly, the thought of the Water Protector flashed in her mind. The moment his name came to her head, she quickly grabbed her hair and cursed herself, "This man is going to be the death of me!"

"I am not a man. I am a Water Protector."

All the color drained from Shraddha's face. Terrified, she quickly looked to her side. Rhythm was lying comfortably on the bed, as if it were his own room.

Shraddha immediately scrambled out of bed and asked in shock, "You... how are you here?"

Rhythm gently stroked the silky bedsheet with a faint smile, speaking in a low voice, "This bed is so beautiful, right? I wanted to sleep on it. That’s why I came close to you."

Shraddha's head began to spin. She took a deep breath and held her forehead. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Making a crying face, she whimpered, "Look, what you are doing is not right. You cannot just come and sleep near me without my permission. This... this is wrong!"

But this time, Rhythm's attitude was completely different. With a sudden jerk, he pulled Shraddha toward him. Looking straight into her eyes, he spoke in a dead serious tone, "I haven't done anything wrong to you. You know that very well. Then why do you have such bad thoughts about me? Especially when I am the one who saved your life."

Hearing Rhythm's words, Shraddha's eyes grew heavy with tears. With a broken heart, she said, "The truth is... I just don't believe in love anymore. Kartik completely shattered my trust. That’s why I can't trust anyone now."

As soon as he heard this, the expression on Rhythm's face shifted. His blue eyes flashed with light. Within a few seconds, he returned to his original form. Shraddha's breath caught in her throat, and she began to back away in fear.

But Rhythm pulled her right back toward him and whispered, "Look into my eyes. Just look."

With trembling eyes, Shraddha looked into his face. Those deep, blue eyes... they felt like the deepest parts of the ocean.

For a moment, all of Shraddha's fears completely vanished. A strange sense of peace washed over her heart.

Rhythm said in a calm, steady voice, "In your human world, promises are broken. But in our world, once a promise is made, we keep it even at the cost of our lives. If any Protector goes against their vow, they receive a punishment so severe that no one would ever dare to do it again."

Shraddha asked in amazement, "Do you guys... actually have a whole world of your own?"

A soft smile appeared on Rhythm's face. "Very soon, you will get to see my world. But before that, I need to go meet this Rhythm's family."

Curiosity sparked in Shraddha's eyes. She thought to herself, *'An underwater world... how beautiful must it be?'*

Perhaps for the very first time, an intense desire to see a whole new world outweighed the fear in Shraddha's heart.

But this was only the beginning.

The world of the Water Protector was yet to unfold.

A little later, the Water Protector left for Rhythm's house, and Shraddha got ready and came downstairs. She noticed Riya sitting on the sofa, wrapped tightly in a blanket. As for Ketan, both he and Janvi were sitting closely around Riya.

Janvi asked anxiously, "Riya, at least tell us who did this to you? Look at your condition!"

"Dad, it was a ghost! It terrified me so much last night and tortured me so badly that I... I ended up peeing my pants!" Riya burst into tears as she spoke.

Ketan’s heart shattered seeing his daughter like this. Looking at her miserable state, he comforted her, "Sweetheart, maybe it was just your imagination. There is no such thing. By the way, where is Kartik?"

Hearing Kartik's name, Riya cried, "Dad, he hasn't returned home since last night! I was waiting up for him, but he still hasn't shown up." Riya kept sobbing, pure panic written all over her face.

Janvi said sadly, "Hush now, Riya. Everything will be fine."

Just then, Janvi’s gaze shifted to Shraddha, who was walking down the stairs. Janvi paused for a moment, raising her eyebrows. "Shraddha, did you just wake up?"

Shraddha felt a sharp stab of pain in her heart. What daughter could bear to see her own mother fussing so much over Riya while completely ignoring her?

Though her heart ached, Shraddha ignored the comment and walked straight toward the dining table.

Janvi called out to her, "Shraddha, you could have at least asked Riya how she is doing. You should show some concern for her condition."

Shraddha turned and replied, "Mom, my relationship is with you. If you get even a single scratch, I will take the burden on my own head. But these people, who constantly poison your mind against me, have nothing to do with me. I don't care what they do or what happens to them."

Shraddha's sharp words stung Janvi, but she couldn't say anything back. Deep down, she felt a wave of guilt for slapping Shraddha the previous day.

As Shraddha sat down for breakfast, a servant immediately came over to serve her. Looking around, Shraddha casually asked the servant, "What happened to Riya?"

The servant instantly whispered back, "Word is that a ghost haunted her last night and treated her horribly."

Shraddha scoffed, "Oh please, there is no such thing as ghosts." But the moment she said it, Rhythm popped into her head. He had clearly offered to take revenge on everyone for her, but she had strictly told him no.

Taking a deep breath, Shraddha thought to herself, *'Oh God, did Rhythm actually do this to Riya?'*

At first, Shraddha felt a tiny bit of pity for Riya, but then she remembered what they had done to her. A cold look of anger washed over her face. *'They deserve exactly this! They literally planned to murder me. Thank goodness the Water Protector saved me, otherwise, I would be lying dead somewhere right now.'*

While Shraddha was lost in her thoughts, Riya suddenly stood up, walked over to her, and shouted to Janvi, "Mom! Shraddha definitely did this! She is the one who terrified me so that I would get scared and leave this house!"

Shraddha's eyes flared with anger. Glaring furiously at Riya, she snapped, "You better keep my name out of your mouth! Why on earth would I ever come into your room?"

"Yesterday was supposed to be my wedding night with Kartik, right? Since we couldn't celebrate it, you decided to scare me out of spite!" Riya ranted.

Everyone in the room heard her words and felt deeply embarrassed, but no one spoke up.

Riya continued wildly, "And wait a minute! Kartik has been missing since yesterday. Tell the truth, where is Kartik right now? Why hasn't he come home?"

Shraddha knew everyone would jump to blame her anyway. Taking a deep breath, she stated coldly, "My tie with Kartik was broken a long time ago. I wouldn't waste my time doing anything for a person whose face I don't even want to see."

Hearing this, Riya turned back to Ketan, crying, "Dad, where did my Kartik go? He still isn't back! Please Dad, bring my Kartik back to me. If this Shraddha has done anything to him, I won't spare her!"

Janvi, who had been quietly listening to the chaos for a long time, finally couldn't hold back. She spoke up firmly, "My daughter would never do something like that to Kartik. Forget Kartik, she wouldn't do something like that to anyone!"

Ketan and Riya, who were fully expecting Janvi to take their side, felt their blood boil with rage. They were so furious they wanted to kick Shraddha out of the house right that second. However, they chose to remain dead silent, remembering how much effort it had taken them just to stay in this mansion.

After all, just yesterday, Ketan had faked a fainting spell the moment there was talk of leaving the house.

Meanwhile, Shraddha had completely given up hope of ever getting her mother's support. She couldn't believe Janvi had actually defended her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought, *'I didn't expect this, Mom. But now that you are standing by me, I can endure anything. I will expose these people completely. They are the ones who tried to kill your daughter.'*

Shraddha blinked back her tears, refusing to let them fall. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her mother. "Thank you, Mom. At least you understood me."

Before Janvi could say anything, Riya's phone began to ring loudly. Riya answered the call. But before she could even utter a word, whatever she heard on the other end made her hands go weak. The phone slipped from her grip and shattered right onto the floor.

Seeing Riya freeze up like a statue, Ketan grabbed her hand anxiously. "Riya! Honey, what happened? Why are you reacting like this?"

"Dad... Kartik met with an accident."

Hearing those words, Shraddha's heart twisted in heavy agony. Against her own will, fresh tears began to stream down her face.

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